Global Terrorism

Defining Terrorism Terrorism was seen at that time as a way of protecting democracy. As the rev- olutionary leader Maximilien Robespierre put it: “Terror is nothing but justice, prompt, severe, and inflexible; it is therefore an emanation of virtue.” However, the pursuit of “traitors” gradually got out of hand. In July 1794, Robespierre announced that he held a new list of those suspected of treasonable offenses. There were many who were fearful that their names were on the list, and they joined forces to suppress the “terror.” As a result, Robespierre and his close associates went to the guillotine, and terrorism became a word associated with the abuse of power. English politician Edmund Burke spoke of “thousands of those hellhounds called Terrorists . . . let loose upon the people.” The example of the French Revolution sparked off a wave of revolts against the rule of kings in Europe. In 1848, the “year of revo- lution,” there were popular uprisings in Italy, France, Austria, Poland, and other countries, all demanding changes in their constitutions and the establishment of the rights of common people. One of the most active republicans in Italy was Carlo Pisacane, who gave up his title of Duke of San Giovanni. He put forward the doctrine of “propaganda by deed,” arguing that violence was necessary, not only to attract publicity to revolt, but also to educate the masses and gain their support. Pisacane’s theory has become the justification behind modern terror- ism: as it has been expressed recently, “one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter.” The Anarchists One of the first movements to put Pisacane’s principles into practice was the Narodnaya Volya (People’s Will), founded in Russia in 1878 to oppose the rule of the czar. Unlike modern-day terrorist organizations, however, they carefully selected individual targets, such as the czar and members of his family or senior government had to find a way of suppressing the “enemies of the people.” The Committee of General Security and the Revolutionary Tribunalwere givenwide-ranging powers of arrest and judgment, and anybody found guilty of treason (antigovernment activity) was put to death on the guillotine. One of the first people to die was King Louis XVI, who went to the scaffold in January 1793. Many others followed (an estimated 40,000), unhappy victims of the “terrorists.”

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GLOBAL TERRORISM