Historical Approaches to Terrorism

While many have considered terrorism to be a uniquely modern phenomenon, a review of terrorism over time indicates it has deep historical roots. Historical cases include violence in the late Roman Republic, the Zealots in Roman Judea, anti-colonial attacks against the British, Dutch, and Spanish in Asia, the prelude to the American Revolution, the Reign of Terror in France, and eventually the more modern manifestations and uses by nationalist or ethnic groups, extremists drawn from most religious traditions, leftist dissidents including the anarchist, and right-wing extremists including the Fascists and Nazis after World War I as well as the Ku Klux Klan in the United States. While terrorism has been present for centuries, there have been significant changes. Police and security forces have increased in quantity and quality, but terrorists have gained access to more lethal techniques and weapons.