Transcript Terrorism and Political Violence

Terrorism and
Political Violence
History and Geography
I. Terrorism is Old
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Definition in dispute: This lecture focuses
on violent attacks by nonstate actors for
political purposes, outside of the context of
war (more on state terror, insurgency, and
civil warfare later in the course)
A. Zealots, Thugs, and Assassins
1. Zealot attacks (63-72 CE) – Radical
Jewish assassins (Sicarri in Latin), known
for their fervent commitment to the Torah,
kill Roman soldiers and suspected Jewish
collaborators in an attempt to drive Rome
from ancient Palestine. Many public
assassinations using concealed swords in
full daylight.
2. Thugs and Assassins
a.
b.
Hindu Thugee -- Thugs originally (1200s)
a religious sect that strangled & robbed
victims in ritual sacrifice to delay arrival
of goddess Kali.
Muslim Assassins -- Persian Shiites who
targeted Sunni rulers with suicide attacks
from the 1000s to 1200s.
B. The Gunpowder Plot
1.
2.
Background: Protestant James I
assumes power in 1603; Catholics are
discouraged by executions of priests and
continued ban on Catholicism
Failed assassination plots in 1603 
torture and executions of plotters
3. 1605: The Guy Fawkes Plan
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Guy Fawkes and other plotters plant 36
barrels of gunpowder under House of
Lords (sufficient to destroy Parliament,
surrounding buildings, and windows
within a half-mile radius)
Goal = Kill James I and Parliament
(Protestant aristocracy), then mount a
Catholic coup
4. Discovery and Aftermath
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Plot discovered on November 5, 1605 after a
plotter tries to warn a fellow Catholic to avoid
Parliament
Guy Fawkes arrested under Parliament and
tortured for names of conspirators. Others are
tortured to death during interrogation
All surviving conspirators drawn and quartered
in public
C. The Invention of “Terrorism” –
The French Revolution
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The Reign of Terror (September 5, 1793 - July
28, 1794): struggles between rival factions led
to mass executions by guillotine. About 40,000
executed: 8% aristocrats, 6% clergy, 14% middle
class, and 70% workers or peasants accused of
hoarding, evading the draft, desertion, rebellion,
etc. “Terrorism” used to describe such methods
in 1795.
D. Terrorism and the North-South
divide, 1850s-1870s

Before civil war:
 Massacres
by small groups of pro/anti-slavery forces
in “bleeding Kansas”
 Abolitionist John Brown raids armory at Harper’s
Ferry in 1859 – sparks efforts to raise militia
throughout South (which become core of Confederate
Army after secession)
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After civil war: Ku Klux Klan formed to resist
Reconstruction, targets Northern officials
(carpetbaggers) and Black voters. Backlash
leads to decline beginning in 1868 and KKK is
virtually wiped out by federal government by
1871. (Reforms 45 years later)
II. Waves of Terrorism since the
1870s
A. The “First Wave” of modern
terrorism: Socialism, anarchism,
and nationalism
1.
The People’s Will: Socialists and
anarchists united in opposition to the
Russian Tsar; 30-500 members of various
levels of commitment.
People’s Will: A Timeline
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Nov 1879: Attempt to use nitroglycerine to destroy the Tsar’s
train destroys another train instead.
Attempt to destroy Kamenny Bridge as Tsar passes over it.
Feb 1880: People’s Will member gains employment in the
Winter Palace and plants dynamite under the dining room.
Mine detonates when Tsar is expected to be eating. However,
his main guest had arrived late and the dining-room was
empty. Tsar Alexander II was unharmed -- but sixty-seven
people were killed or badly wounded by the explosion.
The People's Will offers to call off the terror campaign if Tsar
grants a constitution, free elections, and end to censorship.
Alexander II announces plans for a constitution – but then
delays any substantive reforms and initiates a secret police
campaign against the People’s Will. Arrests decimate the
organization over the next year.
March 1881: Bomb-throwers from the remnants of the
People’s Will assassinate Tsar Alexander II.
Arrests of remaining members eliminate organization.
2. Anarchism
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Radical offshoot of socialism that
attempted to use “propaganda of the
deed” to spread anti-capitalist and antimonarchist ideology. Targeted leaders,
industrialists, and other “counterrevolutionaries.”
Notable Anarchist attacks, 1892-1912
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July 23, 1892. Alexander Berkman tries to kill Henry Clay Frick in retaliation for the killing of
workers by Pinkerton detectives during the Homestead Steel Strike.
December 9, 1893. Auguste Vaillant throws a nail bomb in the French National Assembly,
injuring one. He is executed by the guillotine, shouting "Death to bourgeois society and long
live anarchy!"
February 12, 1894. Emile Henry set a bomb in Café Terminus, killing one and injuring twenty.
During his trial, he declares: "There is no innocent bourgeois.”
June 24, 1894. Italian anarchist Caserio stabs to death French president Sadi Carnot to avenge
Auguste Vaillant and Emile Henry. Caserio is then executed by guillotine on August 15.
November 3, 1896. Anarchist shoe-maker Dimitris Matsalis stabs the banker Dionysios
Fragkopoulos and the merchant Andreas Kollas.
August 8, 1897. Michele Angiolillo assassinates Spanish Prime minister Cánovas, who had been
a key figure in the 1874 overthrow of the Republic, helping the Bourbon monarchy back to the
throne.
September 10, 1898. Luigi Lucheni stabs to death with a needle file Elisabeth of Bavaria,
Empress consort of Austria and Queen consort of Hungary because of her marriage to Emperor
Franz Joseph.
July 29, 1900. Gaetano Bresci shoots dead Umberto I of Italy, avenging a massacre in Milan.
September 6, 1901. Leon Czolgosz shoots and kills U.S. president William McKinley.
October 1902. Gennaro Rubino attempts to murder Leopold II of Belgium.
May 31, 1906. Catalan Anarchist Mateu Morral tries to kill Alfonso XIII of Spain and Victoria
Eugenie of Battenberg after their wedding.
September 14, 1911. Dmitri Bogrov shoots to death Russian prime minister Pyotr Stolypin.
November 12, 1912. Anarchist Manuel Pardiñas kills Spanish Prime Minister José Canalejas in
Madrid.
March 18, 1913. Aleksander Schinas assassinates king George I of Greece.
3. Early Nationalist Terror
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Irish Republican Brotherhood: Strengthened by
influx of Irish veterans from the US Civil War –
begins to attack British in 1867
IMRO: Radical Bulgarian group fights Ottoman
Turks as well as rival Serbs, Romanians, and
Greeks in Macedonia beginning in 1890s
Black Hand: Serbian group targets AustroHungarian Empire. Assassination of Archduke
Franz Ferdinand in 1914 initiates chain of events
leading to World War I.
4. Common characteristics of “First
Wave”
Circles of conspirators rather than
organizations are key – organizations are
quickly dismantled and new conspiracies
formed
 Focus on leaders – assassination is key
tactic, with mass casualties being
“collateral damage”
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B. The Second Wave: Anti-colonial
movements, 1920s-1960s
1. The Irish Republican Army (the “Old IRA”)
 1916:
Failed anti-British revolt; execution of
conspirators radicalizes Irish public opinion
 1919: IRA leader Michael Collins, (who studied
tactics of Russian revolutionaries) initiates campaign
of bombs, murder, ambushes to fight Protestant
police force and British army.
 1921: Treaty grants most of Ireland independence
but British retain northern Ireland.
 1922: Anti-Treaty IRA members kill Michael Collins.
Irish government outlaws IRA – “Old” IRA defunct by
1930s
2. Irgun in Palestine
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Offshoot of Jewish militant group Haganah (also splits
several times itself)
Formed in response to 1929 anti-Jewish riots (100s of
Jews and Arabs killed)
Focused on armed attacks
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Initial campaign targeted Arabs, especially during Arab revolt of
1936-39  targeted Arabs to avenge attacks on Jews (usually
by different Arabs  = difference from Haganah)
Shifted to campaign against British by 1944: Seeks expulsion of
Britain so Jewish state can be founded in Palestine. Targets
railways, British embassies, military clubs and facilities
After British leave, “cleanses” Arab areas to create
contiguous Jewish state during War of Independence.
Folded into Israeli Army (IDF) in 1948. Several future
Israeli Prime Ministers were members (Begin, Sharon)
3. Puerto Rican Nationalists
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1950: Uprising by about 2000 nationalists
suppressed
 Two
days later: Attack on Blair House
(temporary residence of President Truman) by
armed gunmen. One attacker and one police
officer killed.
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1954: Attack on Congress from visitor’s
gallery, using automatic weapons. Five
members of Congress wounded
4. Other Anti-Colonial Movements
(1950s)
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Successful:
 Africa:
FLN (vs. French in Algeria), Frelimo (vs.
Portugal in Mozambique), groups in Angola, Tunisia,
Indonesia, Vietnam, Cameroon
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Unsuccessful:
 Mau
Mau: Attacked those who collaborated with
British in Kenya; suppressed using concentration
camps
 MDRM: Led a 1947 rebellion against the French on
Madagascar. Suppressed using counterinsurgency
and mass killings.
5. Common characteristics of
“Second Wave”
Mass movements with strong organization
 Terrorist attacks seen as prelude to fullscale rebellion
 Casualties are much higher than “First
Wave” attacks – ordinary “collaborators,”
civilians, soldiers targeted
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C. The “Third Wave” – Networks of
Terror (1960s-1980s)
1.
Nationalist-separatist groups
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
IRA re-forms in 1968-69 in response to deaths
of Catholics in Belfast
FALN forms in Puerto Rico in 1970s – carries
out bombings in 1970s, smaller attacks since
PLO forms in Arab Palestine in 1964 – Targets
Israelis and their supporters
ASALA forms in 1975 – attacks Turkish
ambassadors, airlines on behalf of Armenians
ETA seeks Basque independence in Spain –
Begins armed attacks in 1968
2. Marxist groups
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Origins: Many Marxist revolutions succeed (e.g. Cuba
and China)  inspires others to attempt to foment
revolution within capitalist societies
Some groups (sponsored by USSR or PRC) wage fullscale war in developing countries -- but groups in
wealthy countries remain small
Targets: US and local military personnel, politicians,
bankers and industrialists
Examples: Red Army Faction (West Germany),
Japanese Red Army, Red Brigades (Italy)
US:
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Weathermen bombed federal buildings (including a Senate
restroom in 1971) in opposition to Vietnam War.
Armed Resistance Unit bombs Republican Cloakroom in Senate
in response to 1983 invasion of Grenada
3. Common characteristics of
“Third Wave”
Small groups with little hope of waging fullscale war
 Lower body count than “Second Wave” –
Groups want publicity
 Linkages to each other – IRA, PLO, and
Marxist groups sold each other weapons
and trained each other’s members
 State support – Many groups had ties to
USSR or other states
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D. A “Fourth Wave”?
1. Fundamentalist terrorism has increased
 1979:
Iranian Revolution inspires radical
Muslims elsewhere
 1980s-1990s: Virtual anarchy in Lebanon,
Afghanistan, Somalia creates plethora of
armed groups competing for power (many
state-sponsored, but some branching off on
their own)
 Invasion of Afghanistan -- End of Cold War:
Splinter groups reject Marxism in favor of
Islamic principles (e.g. Hamas vs. Fatah-PLO)
2. Modern Religious Terrorism: A
Lack of Inhibition?
Al Qaeda – 9/11 and other attacks
 Aum Shinrikyo – Carried out anthrax and
nerve gas attacks in Tokyo
 Rajneeshee cult – Carried out biological
terror attack (salmonella) in The Dalles,
Oregon
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3. Terrorism may be decreasing
Terrorism may be decreasing
(continued)
Terrorism may be decreasing
(continued)
But terrorism statistics are unreliable
III. Common Tactics and
Responses are Old
A. Scapegoating: The fear of terrorism often
allows leaders to blame distrusted minority
groups. Examples:
 Nero
blames Jews for burning of Rome
 Hitler blames Jews for Reichstag fire
 Stalin blames Trotskyites for Kirov
assassination
B. Ancestors of the Car Bomb
Macedonia, early 20th century: Bulgarians,
Serbians, Greeks fight for control using
“donkey bombing” (animals packed with
dynamite and sent into crowded markets)
 New York City, September 1920: Italian
anarchist Mario Buda leaves a horsedrawn wagon packed with dynamite and
iron shrapnel on Wall Street (across from
JP Morgan Company). Explosion kills
40, wounds 200
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C. Mass Casualty Attacks
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More than 1000 Killed in a Single Attack
by Small Nonstate Groups in Peacetime
 24
March 1824: Powder magazine detonated
in Cairo’s Citadel – Disgruntled Albanian
troops suspected. Up to 4000 killed.
 11 September 2001: Hijacked jets flown into
Pentagon, World Trade Center – Al Qaeda
responsible. About 3000 killed.
IV. The Geography of Terrorism
A. Terrorism
is a global
problem, not
just a Middle
Eastern one
A. Terrorism
is a global
problem, not
just a Middle
Eastern one
B. European terrorism: concentrated in
UK, Spain, Italy, France
3. Americans: Risk of Death
Smoking 10 cigarettes a day
One in 200
All natural causes age 40
One in 850
Road accident
One in 8,000
Playing soccer
One in 25,000
Homicide
One in 100,000
Terrorism attack in 2001
One in 100,000
Hit by lightning
One in 10,000,000
Terrorism attack in 1990s
One in 50,000,000