Terrorism In The 20th Century

Throughout the twentieth century, countless criminal groups have earned infamy by their violent acts of terrorism. Political assassinations, kidnappings, bombings, lynchings and hijackings have stunned the world. In recent decades, terrorism has become an increasing threat, especially when it comes to air travel. Although in this country terrorism is not a new phenomenon, it is one that is growing-and the fear of terrorism is growing faster.

This authoritative work provides an essential perspective on terrorism by offering a rare opportunity for analysis and reflection at a time of ongoing violence, threats, and reprisals. Some of the best international specialists on the subject examine terrorism’s complex history from antiquity to the present day and find that terror, long the weapon of the weak against the strong, is a tactic as old as warfare itself. Beginning with the Zealots of the first century CE, contributors go on to discuss the Assassins of the Middle Ages, the 1789 Terror movement in Europe, Bolshevik terrorism during the Russian Revolution, Stalinism, “resistance” terrorism during World War II, and Latin American revolutionary movements of the late 1960s. Finally, they consider the emergence of modern transnational terrorism, focusing on the roots of Islamic terrorism, al Qaeda, and the contemporary suicide martyr. Along the way, they provide a groundbreaking analysis of how terrorism has been perceived throughout history. What becomes powerfully clear is that only through deeper understanding can we fully grasp the present dangers of a phenomenon whose repercussions are far from over. This updated edition includes a new chapter analyzing the rise of ISIS and key events such as the 2015 Paris attacks.

*Includes pictures *Includes Carlos the Jackal's own quotes about his life and terrorism *Includes footnotes, online resources and a bibliography for further reading *Includes a table of contents "Excuse me for taking my time, but I'm a living archive, and most people at my level are dead." - Carlos the Jackal The history of terrorism as a self-appointed profession can be traced back to the dawn of the human community, and each era claims its own class of celebrities. However, it was in the 20th century in which individual terrorists first gained access to the type of advanced weaponry that could cause mass killings and destroy major public institutions. In the modern age, entire communities and countries can be held hostage to demands based upon the threat of personal or state violence, and playing upon mankind's greatest fears has risen to a new level of creativity as cultures, religions, and governmental ideologies square off in an ever-shrinking globe. From the early 1970s through the following two decades, the cult star of worldwide terrorism was Ilich Ramirez Sanchez of Venezuela, better known to the world as Carlos the Jackal. Sanchez, the most notorious of terrorists in the late 20th century before Osama bin Laden's destructive 9/11 attacks, was born on October 12, 1949, in the years following the most global example of state terrorism in the form of Nazi Germany. Sanchez was known to virtually every European and American who read the news between 1970 and 1990, but it was his moniker, Carlos the Jackal, that signified his status as a household word. During Sanchez' reign as what has been called, "the first super terrorist," the world found it unthinkable that any future attack on society could outdo his spectacular raids on Western targets, specifically European ones. For young generations growing up in the 21st century, the operative code-named Carlos may have slipped into distant history, but as one put it, "Before there was Osama bin Laden...before there was Ramzi Yousef, there was the jackal." Carlos the Jackal: The Life of the 20th Century's Most Notorious Terrorist looks at the violent life and legacy of the Jackal. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about Carlos the Jackal like never before, in no time at all.

"Is terrorism crime or war? Can there be a 'war against terrorism'? In this fully updated edition, Charles Townshend unravels the questions at the heart of the problem of terrorism - its causes, methods, effects, and limitations - suggesting that it must be understood as a political strategy whose threat can be rationally grasped and answered"--Publisher's description.

This is a comprehensive history of political violence during Europe's incredibly violent twentieth century. Leading scholars examine the causes and dynamics of war, revolution, counterrevolution, genocide, ethnic cleansing, terrorism and state repression. They locate these manifestations of political violence within their full transnational and comparative contexts and within broader trends in European history from the beginning of the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire in the late nineteenth-century, through the two world wars, to the Yugoslav Wars and the rise of fundamentalist terrorism. The book spans a 'greater Europe' stretching from Ireland and Iberia to the Baltic, the Caucasus, Turkey and the southern shores of the Mediterranean. It sheds new light on the extent to which political violence in twentieth-century Europe was inseparable from the generation of new forms of state power and their projection into other societies, be they distant territories of imperial conquest or ones much closer to home.