Political Violence During The 1900's

Terrorism is defined as an act of violence that is committed by an organization or a single person in order to be heard. Terrorist acts are usually based on a couple factors such as, historical grievances, foreign policy decision, poverty, and religion. Terrorism is not a new act amongst the world but something that has been around since the beginning. To understand a criminal you must think like a criminal, and understand why they committed a crime or a violent act, then you can prevent and conquer.

The term terrorism is used widely in present day especially in the United States. Terrorism is a double standard, the people who commit those terrorist acts, commit the acts out of beliefs and in their eyes ok. Terrorism can be described as the illegitimate use of force to achieve a political objective by targeting innocent people (Laqueur, 1987). To me the definition mention above is a great definition to describe terrorism as a crime. To aim for innocent people to prove a point which lead major injuries or death in most cases is to most people would be a crime, no questions asked. According to Martha Crenshaw (1995), “Terrorism cannot be defined unless the act, target and possibility of success are analyzed”. So to think, terrorist are people who commit these acts as a way to get their political or religious point across. If we look at the some of the most famous terrorist acts they are automatically labeled crimes. 9/11 was a crime because the persons affiliated with the act, targeted the

The Merriam Webster dictionary defines terrorism as the use of violence, or threatened use of violence, in order to achieve a political or religious goal. Terrorism is committed by groups that view themselves as victimized by a historical wrong. These groups of people will most likely have no formal connection to the government. Terrorism comes from the Reign of Terror initiated by Maximilen Robespierre during the French Revolution. The beginning of terrorism goes all the way back to the first

In the book War on Terror, by Patrick Coaty discusses issues that reference to terrorism. His main focus was the attack on 9/11 the terrorism issue has been more aware to the public on how dangerous it can be. According to Coaty terrorism was formed during the ending of the revolutionary France by the Jacobins they thought it was “cleanse” that it would take away all evil (Coaty 84) . The concept of terrorism was a form of have “power” over people a legitimate system was used to fear the public. In modern-day terrorism does not obey the law or have any law. Terrorism is not only based on bombing, killings and amonio, the government needs a title for a group it can be an individual whose against the government. A more popular group on terrorism is the Islamic fundamentalism. Terrorism comes from history, but recent it had shocked the world by different terrorist attacks and many innocent lives.

Due to its changing nature and different political viewpoints, terrorism is hard to define. Most definitions tend to include some form of fear created through an act of violence. While violence is the tactic, the goal is fear which will serve to create a desired change as a result. However, this definition has not always been appropriate for terrorism. Take for instance the words of Edmund Burke, a British philosopher, who described the situation in France in the 18th century French Revolution as a “Reign of Terror,” (White, Jonathan. 2013. "Defining Terrorism in Modern History." In Terrorism and Homeland Security 3-27, Wadsworth Centage Learning pp 7). In this time period terrorism was a word of the people in describing the brutal tactics of the government which were meant to keep the people in line. Because one time period is looking at

Terrorism is often associated nowadays with radical extremist groups, who use terror as their only method of power to attain their goals from others. The first time “terror” was actually used however was during the French revolution. The reign of terror was seen in the aftermath of the execution of the King. It was a product of the mentality of the revolution. With everyday that passed, the uncertainty amongst the people grew, and actions became more and more drastic. With the King no longer in the picture, the Jacobins and the Girondins were more enemies to one another than ever before. During the French Revolution, it can be debated whether or not the terror that was used can be seen as a sign of power or as a sign of weakness. Whether

The Central Intelligence Agency defines terrorism as “premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against noncombatant targets by subnational groups or clandestine agents” (CIA). This term was specifically created to differentiate terrorism between other acts of violence. These doings of terrorism are not just any act but are specific acts of violence. A dominant reason behind terrorism tends to fall upon religious beliefs and culture ties.

Terrorism is referred by a criminal act which influences someone beyond the immediate victim, and commits an act of violence that draws the attention of the population, government, and the world (Terrorism research). Goodman explains that Terrorists explode the values they claim to fight. Their victims’ blood blurs and blots whatever ends were meant to justify the carnage (Goodman, 2010, p. 89) We all remember September 11, 2001 and how many innocent lives and people where effected, and that that is what they aim for. The more devastating the damage, the more inhumane, the more avidly is it sought by the strategist, ideologues, and theologians of terror (Goodman, 2010, p. 90).

Throughout the 21st Century, the September 11 terrorist attacks have often been described as “the most devastating terrorist attacks in history”(). However, while the scale of death and destruction that resulted from these attacks was “indeed staggering”(), the millions of people killed by government acts of terror continues to go unnoticed by orthodox terrorism research(). In this case, there is a need to examine the repressive state practices that critical scholars describe as the “single greatest threat to human and societal security”(). While there has been a large number of human rights groups that have contributed to the wide body of literature on political violence(), the overall neglect on the subject is due to “politically biased research”() that rejects the concept of ‘state terrorism’. For instance,

Political violence is the leading cause of wars today. Personal agendas have led to many of the political objectives that cause violence today this has caused many problems throughout the world and will continue to do so until a solution to this issue is found. Political objectives have been advanced involuntarily dependent upon the kind of government a nation exercises. For instance, in a democratic nation political groups must worry about convincing the majority in order to advance ethically. Those who try to influence the majority through acts of violence are considered today as “terror” organizations. Though perhaps if it were not because of the recent 9/11 terror attacks that maybe such warrants would not be seen as terror attacks,

The concept of terrorism as defined by Hoffman in his book, Inside Terrorism, is not easily defined. Hoffman indicates that most definitions do not give the word “terrorism” a clear definition for today (Hoffman 2006). However, according to Hoffman, the Oxford English Dictionary does provide a definition that embodies terrorism since its beginnings. “Any one who attempts to further his views by a system of coercive intimidation.” (Hoffman 2006, 3). The views that are typically political or idealogical in nature (Hoffman, 2006, 2-3).

To attempt to understand terrorism and pass judgment on it one must look to the origin of the word itself. The word terrorism was first used during the “Reign of Terror” that happened after the French Revolution. The French word it is based on meant “one frightens” and primarily referred to state-sponsored acts. Although the current official definition of terrorism has remained mostly unchanged for decades it does not construe the use of fear and harm to non-combatants to force change be it political or not. The international community’s inability to precisely define what terrorism is further muddies the waters. The United Nations General Assembly in 1994 did record:

Terrorism in the twenty-first century has some similarities and differences from terrorism in the twentieth century. Terrorism is, in its broadest sense, the use or threatened use of violence in order to achieve a political, religious, or ideological aim. Also useful to remember that because the two entities involved, the terrorists and the terrorized, are on the opposite end of the political, religious or ideological continuum, the same act is viewed by them differently. There is much sense in the phrase one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter.

One of the most spoken topics in the media today is terrorism besides any other type of violence. What is terrorism, everyone has a different version in their dictionary. Some blame a whole nation for terrorism, some blame a whole religious group for the actions of only a few. As we know the word “terror” means extreme fear. A terrorist is someone who creates an atmosphere filled with fear amongst the people that are there. They go against rules and ethics and do very disturbing things which is called terrorism. Terrorism is the unlawful use of violence and intimidation, this type of violence is used especially against civilians, in the pursuit of political aims. They kill innocent people or government/state/or city officials who oppose their wants. The purpose of the actions the terrorists have is to create an atmosphere of fear to suit their wants. Terrorists murder and kidnap people, set off bombs, hijack airplanes, set fires, and commit other serious crimes. But the goals of terrorists differ from those of ordinary criminals. Most criminals want money or some other form of personal gain. Most terrorists commit crimes to support political causes. Features of terrorism. Terrorist acts are committed for various reasons.

From history terrorism, has been in session since the biblical times. One word associated with terrorism in those days was “Zealots”, these were people in those days who would use violence in pursuance in a political or religious cause. They are known to have killed and assassinated many in the first century in their course of overthrow the Roman rule. The word terrorism historically, comes from the French revolution otherwise known as the “Reign of Terror”. It was used in takingly counterrevolutionary idealists, hence ridding France from opposing ideologists as anarchists. Robespierre, a radical leader then is famously known to have said, “Terror is nothing but justice, prompt, severe and inflexible”. This idea is what has spread to this day, with the modern terrorist voicing it daily in their unconventional videos of executions that they seek nothing but justice, though I think it is pretty rationale that justice is not assassinating innocent people. Terrorist are known to have agenda and this, my research has yielded a few from the place where modern terrorism in supposed to have begun. In Tsarist Russia, the opponents to the government embarked their acts on these aims: