Edit]Before the Reign of Terror

Artistic rendering of Hassan-i Sabbah.

Scholars dispute whether the roots of terrorism date back to the 1st century and the Sicarii Zealots, to the 11th century and the Al-Hashshashin, to the 19th century and Narodnaya Volya, or to other eras.^[15][16] The Sicarii and Hashshashin are described below, while the Narodnaya Volya is discussed in the 19th Century sub-section. Other pre-Reign of Terror historical events sometimes associated with terrorism are the Gunpowder Plot, an attempt to destroy the English Parliament in 1605,^[17] and the Boston Tea Party, an attack on British property by the Sons of Liberty in 1773, three years prior to the American Revolution.

In the 1st century CE, the Jewish Zealots in Judaea Province rebelled, killing prominent collaborators with Roman rule.^[15][18][19] In 6 CE, according to contemporary historian Josephus, Judas of Galilee formed a small and more extreme offshoot of the Zealots, the Sicarii ("dagger men").^[20] Their efforts also directed against Jewish "collaborators," including temple priests, Sadducees, Herodians, and other wealthy elites.^[21] According to Josephus, the Sicarii would hide short daggers under their cloaks, mingle with crowds at large festivals, murder their victims, and then disappear into the panicked crowds. Their most successful assassination was of the high priest Jonathan.^[20]

In the late 11th century CE, the Hashshashin (a.k.a. the Assassins) arose, an offshoot of the Ismā'īlī sect of Shia Muslims.^[22] Led by Hassan-i Sabbah and opposed to Fatimid rule, the Hashshashin militia seized Alamut and other fortress strongholds across Persia.^[23] Hashshashin forces were too small to challenge enemies militarily, so they assassinated city governors and military commanders in order to create alliances with militarily powerful neighbors. For example, they killed Janah al-Dawla, ruler of Homs, to please Ridwan of Aleppo, and assassinated Mawdud, Seljuk emir of Mosul, as a favor to the regent ofDamascus.^[24] The Hashshashin also carried out assassinations as retribution.^[25] Under some definitions of terrorism, such assassinations do not qualify as terrorism, since killing a political leader does not intimidate political enemies or inspire revolt.^[15][20][26]

[edit]The Reign of Terror (1793-1794)

Main article: The Reign of Terror

"Enemies of the people" headed for theguillotine during the Reign of Terror.

The Reign of Terror (September 5, 1793 – July 28, 1794) or simply The Terror (French: la Terreur) was a period of eleven months during the French Revolutionwhen the ruling Jacobins employed violence, including mass executions by guillotine, in order to intimidate the regime's enemies and compel obedience to the state.^[27] The number killed totaled approximately 40,000, and among the guillotined were Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette.^[28] Putting an end to the Terror, on July 28, 1794, its most well known leader, Maximilien Robespierre, was guillotined by other members of France's ruling National Convention.^[29]

The Jacobins, most famously Robespierre, sometimes referred to themselves as "terrorists," and the word originated at that time.^[30] Some modern scholars, however, do not consider the Reign of Terror a form of terrorism, in part because it was carried out by the French state.^[31][32]

[edit]19th century

McKinley shortly before his assassination.

Terrorism was associated with the Reign of Terror in France until the mid-19th century,^[30] when the term began to be associated with non-governmental groups.^[33] Anarchism, often in league with rising nationalism, was the most prominent ideology linked with terrorism.^[34] Attacks by various anarchist groups led to the assassination of a Russian Tsar and aU.S. President.^[35]

The 19th century saw the development of powerful, stable, and affordable explosives, and the gap closed between the firepower of the state and dissidents.^[36][37]Dynamite, in particular, inspired American and French anarchists and was central to their strategic thinking.^[38]

In mid-19th century Russia, many grew impatient with the slow pace of Tsarist reforms, and anarchists such as Mikhail Bakunin maintained that progress was impossible without violence.^[39] Founded in 1878 and inspired by Bakunin and others, Narodnaya Volya used dynamite-packed bombs to kill Russian state officials, in an effort to incite state retribution and mobilize the populace against the government.^[40] Inspired by Narodnaya Volya, several nationalist groups in the ailing Ottoman Empire began using violence against public figures in the 1890s. These included the Hunchakian Revolutionary Party, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, and theInternal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO).^[41]

Date: 2015-01-02; view: 911