Terrorism is defined as the unlawful use of violence or threats to intimidate or coerce governments, organizations, or societies in pursuit of political, religious, or ideological goals. It has a long history dating back thousands of years and has taken various forms throughout history from individuals and groups to states. Modern terrorism emerged in the late 19th century and has increasingly been used by religiously-motivated groups in the last 20 years of the 20th century. Terrorism is a form of asymmetrical warfare and propaganda that aims to achieve political objectives through psychological means of spreading fear.

1. TERRORISM
The History of

2. • Is violence act of
Definition an unlawful
• Intimidates or
governments
societies
• Goal is to achieve
political, religious
or ideological
objectives

3. “The calculated use of violence or the threat of violence to
inculcate fear; intended to coerce or to intimidate
governments or societies in the pursuit of goals that are
generally political, religious, or ideological.” (U.S.
Department of Defense)
“Terrorism constitutes the illegitimate use of force to
achieve a political objective when innocent people are
targeted.” (Walter Laqueur)

4. “Terrorism is defined here as the recurrent use or
threatened use of politically motivated and clandestinely
organised violence, by a group whose aim is to influence a
psychological target in order to make it behave in a way
which the group desires.” (C. J. M. Drake)
“The unlawful use of force or violence against persons or
property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian
population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of
political or social objectives.quot; (FBI)

5. Early history of terrorism
• Terror has been ends and has
used to
achieve political
a long history
• AsJewishas 66 – 72 A.D.Roman
early
resistance to
occupation, terrorists killed
Roman soldiers and
destroyed Roman property.
• Terror was used to resist
occupation.

6. Terrorism as
biological warfare
14th Century – Kaffa - City on the Crimean Peninsula
The Tartars hurled plague infested corpses over walls of city to infest it, effectively
breaking a three-year stalemate - led the the Black Death as the plague spread
through Europe
18th Century French and Indian War
British Officers gave blankets from
smallpox victims to Indians aligned
with French
Caused an epidemic in tribes, which
resulted in the death of 1/3 of the
population
Effective means of incapacitating group

7. Early History
of Terrorism
Suicidal martyrdom represented being
killed by invaders, which resulted in
rewards in heaven. It dates back
thousands of years in most societies
and religions.
Terrorism against the enemy is
often viewed as a religious act.

8. Terrorism -
where does the term come from?
• The term quot;terrorismquot;French
became
prominent during the
Revolution, when the word
quot;terreurquot; was used to describe
the action of the revolutionary
government known as the
quot;Régime de la terreurquot;, led by
Maximilien Robespierre (July
1793 — July 1794).

9. • At that time, the wordof opposition withintoand outside
quot;terrorquot; was used describe
the violent repression
the government and the use of fear to achieve
political goals. Unlike today, terrorism at the time was
used primarily by state representatives and not by
clandestine non-state actors. Another difference can
be seen in the connotations of the term. Whereas
today, terrorism is regarded as negative and
illegitimate, it was not originally perceived that way.

10. This can be seen in a fragment of
Robespierre's speech Republic of Virtue:
If the strength of popular government in
peacetime is virtue, the strength of popular
government in revolution is both virtue and
terror; terror without virtue is disastrous, virtue
without terror is powerless.
Terror is nothing but
prompt, severe, and
inflexible justice; it is
thus an emanation of
virtue [...].
Maximilien Robespierre

11. Modern History of Terrorism
Anarchists were seen in the late 19th century
Individual terrorism
The use of selective terror against an individual in order to
bring down a government, e.g. Lincoln assassination

12. Modern History of Terrorism
Anarchists were also responsible for the assassination of Tsar Alexander II

13. Irgun 1940s Palestine
The Irgun, a group of Jewish nationalists
planted bombs across Palestine through the
1930s and 1940s, which targeted both British
soldiers and Palestinian civilians. Ninety
people killed and forty five wounded after
Jewish terrorists blow up the King David
Hotel in Jerusalem, Palestine, which was home
to British government and military offices. It
had two goals: to drive the British
imperialists out, and to coerce the
Palestinian population into unconditionally
accepting the creation of Israel.

14. State Sponsored Terrorism
quot;The Disappeared.quot; For thousands of Argentine families,
this word has become a symbol of a long, harrowing
nightmare.
In a coup on March 24, 1976, a military junta seized power in
Argentina and went on a campaign to wipe out left-wing
terrorism with terror far worse than the one they were
combating. Between 1976 and 1983 - under military rule -
thousands of people, most of them dissidents and innocent
civilians unconnected with terrorism, were arrested and then
vanished without a trace.

15. DISAPPEARED
In 1983, after democracy was restored, a national commission revealed the
systematic abductions of men women and children, the existence of about 340
well-organized, secret detention centers, and the methodic use of torture and
murder. The disappeared have not been heard of to this day.

16. Propaganda by deeds …
terrorists acts
Terrorism became tool of communication, propaganda
American electrical contractor Nick Berg
was assassinated by Al Quaeda in Iraq and
video of his decapitation was sent to media
outlets and broadcast on the internet

17. Modern History of Terrorism
20th century, terrorism became a tool used by both sides of colonial
conflicts.

18. T T
E E
R R
R R
O O
R R
In the last 20 years of the 20th century, religious based terrorism became
more and more frequent.

19. Terrorism is Asymmetric Warfare
Asymmetric warfare is the use of apparently
random/unpredictable violence by an weak
military against a stronger military to gain
advantage. (Allen, 1997).
The key of Asymmetric warfare is using
unexpected, unconventional tactics in combat
(Craig, 1998).

20. Terrorism conclusions
Terrorism is an ancient tactic.
Terrorism is a mode of
communication.
Terrorism is a special type of
violence and Asymmetrical
warfare.
Terrorism is used in times of
peace, conflicts and war.
Terrorism is designed to make a
point, through psychological
means, fear.
Terrorism is a political act.

21. Terrorism
Terrorism is different from regular crime
because of its strong political properties
The definition of terrorism can vary from people
to people due to the differences in standpoint
One person’s terrorist can be another’s freedom
fighter