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{{Short description|Policy of political repression and violence}} |
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{{other uses|Terror (disambiguation)}} |
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{{use dmy dates|date=March 2023}} |
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{{also|Political terror scale}} |
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[[File:Evpatoria red terror corpses at sea coast.jpg|thumb|Victims of ''Red Terror'' in [[Crimea]], 1918]] |
[[File:Evpatoria red terror corpses at sea coast.jpg|thumb|Victims of ''Red Terror'' in [[Crimea]], 1918]] |
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'''Terror''' (from [[French (language)|French]] ''terreur'', from [[Latin]] ''terror'' "great fear", [[wiktionary:terrere|''terrere'']] "to frighten"<ref>{{OEtymD|terror}}</ref><ref name="Safire2001"/>) is a policy of [[political repression]] and [[political violence|violence]] intended to subdue political opposition. The term |
'''Terror''' (from [[French (language)|French]] ''terreur'', from [[Latin]] ''terror'' "great fear", [[wiktionary:terrere|''terrere'']] "to frighten"<ref>{{OEtymD|terror}}</ref><ref name="Safire2001">{{cite news |author=William Safire |author-link=William Safire |title=The Way We Live Now: 9-23-01: On Language; Infamy |quote=Finally, the word ''terrorist.'' It is rooted in the Latin ''terrere'', "to frighten," and the ''-ist'' was coined in France to castigate the perpetrators of the [[Reign of Terror]]. |work=New York Times Magazine |date=2001-09-23 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/23/magazine/the-way-we-live-now-9-23-01-on-language-infamy.html |access-date=2019-01-14 |url-access=subscription}}</ref>) is a policy of [[political repression]] and [[political violence|violence]] intended to subdue political opposition. The term first appears in the [[Reign of Terror]], a [[Revolutionary terror|revolutionary violence]] during the [[French Revolution]],<ref name="Safire2001"/><ref>{{cite news |author=Geoffrey Nunberg |title=Head Games / It All Started with Robespierre / "Terrorism": The history of a very frightening word |work=San Francisco Chronicle |date=2001-10-28 |url=http://articles.sfgate.com/2001-10-28/opinion/17622543_1_terrorism-robespierre-la-terreur |access-date=2010-01-11}}</ref> which also gave rise to the term [[terrorism]].<ref>[https://www.britannica.com/topic/terrorism Terrorism], [[Encyclopedia Britannica]]</ref> |
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Before the late twentieth century, [[Definitions of terrorism|the term |
Before the late twentieth century, [[Definitions of terrorism|the term "terrorism" in the English language]] was often used interchangeably with "terror". The term "terrorism" frequently refers to acts by groups with a limited political base or parties on the weaker side in [[asymmetric warfare]], while "terror" refers to acts by governments. |
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==Terror and terrorism== |
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{{also|Definitions of terrorism}} |
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| ⚫ | [[Revolutionary terror]], also known as |
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Charles Tilly defines "terror" as a political strategy defined as "asymmetrical deployment of threats and violence against enemies using means that fall outside the forms of political struggle routinely operating within some current regime", and therefore ranges from "(1) intermittent actions by members of groups that are engaged in wider political struggles to (2) one segment in the modus operandi of durably organized specialists in coercion, including government-employed and government-backed specialists in coercion to (3) the dominant rationale for distinct, committed groups and networks of activists".<ref name="Tilly2004">{{cite journal |author=Charles Tilly |title=Terror, Terrorism, Terrorists |journal=Sociological Theory |volume=22 |issue=1 |date=March 2004 |pages=5–13 |doi=10.1111/j.1467-9558.2004.00200.x|s2cid=143553555 |url=http://professor-murmann.info/tilly/2004_Terror.pdf |citeseerx=10.1.1.183.7706 }}</ref> According to Tilly, the term "terror" spans a wide range of human cruelties, from Stalin's use of executions to clandestine attacks by groups like the Basque separatists and the [[Irish Republican Army]] and even ethnic cleansing and genocide.<ref name="Tilly2004"/> |
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| ⚫ | Counter-revolutionary terror is usually referred to as |
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== |
==State terrorism== |
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{{Main|State terrorism}} |
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{{Terrorism}} |
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State terrorism is a particular concept for a type of political terror that is charcterized as terror perpetrated by governments, complementing the general understanding of terrorism. |
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David Forte states that the primary difference between terror and [[terrorism]] is that while terror can be neutrally evil (i.e., random violence committed by [[robbers]], [[rapists]], and even [[military personnel]]), terrorism has the additional political or moral dimension, being the systematized use of randomly focused violence by organized groups against [[non-combatants]] to effect a political objective.<ref name="Forte1986"/> |
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However, Charles Tilly defines "terror" as a political strategy defined as "asymmetrical deployment of threats and violence against enemies using means that fall outside the forms of political struggle routinely operating within some current regime," and therefore ranges from:<ref name="Tilly2004"/> |
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<blockquote> |
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| ⚫ | [[Revolutionary terror]], also known as "[[Red Terror (disambiguation)|Red Terror]]", was often used by revolutionary governments to suppress [[counterrevolutionaries]]. The first example was the [[Reign of Terror]] during the [[French Revolution]] in 1794.<ref>{{cite book |title=Social Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy |author=Barrington Moore |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bZV2AAAAQBAJ&dq=%22Social+Consequences+of+Revolutionary+Terror%22&pg=PT113 |via=Google Books |date=1993 |isbn=0-8070-5073-3 |page=101 |chapter=Social Consequences of Revolutionary Terror|publisher=Beacon Press }}<br>- {{cite web |url=http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/April08/Lafayette.cov.cn.html |title=French revolutionary terror was a gross exaggeration, say Lafayette experts |author=Chandni Navalkha |work=Cornell Chronicle |date=2008-04-28 |publisher=Cornell University |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080511155018/http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/April08/Lafayette.cov.cn.html |archivedate=11 May 2008 |access-date=8 March 2023}}</ref> Other notable examples include the [[Red Terror]] in [[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic|Soviet Russia]] in 1918–1922, as well as simultaneous campaigns [[Red Terror (Hungary)|in the Hungarian Soviet Republic]] and [[Red Terror (Finland)|in Finland]]. In China, [[Red Terror (China)|Red Terror]] in 1966 and 1967 started the [[Cultural revolution]]. |
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#intermittent actions by members of groups that are engaged in wider political struggles to |
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#one segment in the modus operandi of durably organized specialists in coercion, including government-employed and government-backed specialists in coercion to |
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#the dominant rationale for distinct, committed groups and networks of activists. |
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</blockquote> |
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| ⚫ | Counter-revolutionary terror is usually referred to as "[[White Terror (disambiguation)|White Terror]]". Notable examples are the terror campaigns [[First White Terror|in France]] (1794–1795), [[White Terror (Russia)|in Russia]] (1917–20), [[White Terror (Hungary)|in Hungary]] (1919–1921) and [[White Terror (Spain)|in Spain]]. Modern examples of counter-revolutionary terror include [[Operation Condor]] in South America. |
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According to Tilly, the term "terror" spans a wide range of human cruelties, from Stalin's use of executions to clandestine attacks by groups like the Basque separatists and the [[Irish Republican Army|IRA]] and even ethnic cleansing and genocide.<ref name="Tilly2004-p9"/> |
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==See also== |
==See also== |
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* [[Balance of terror]] |
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* [[Demoralization (warfare)]] |
* [[Demoralization (warfare)]] |
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* [[Shock and awe]] |
* [[Shock and awe]] |
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==References== |
==References== |
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{{reflist}} |
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<references> |
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<ref name="Forte1986">{{cite journal |author=David F. Forte |year=1986 |title=Terror and Terrorism: There Is a Difference |journal=Ohio Northern University Law Review |volume=13 |issue= |pages=39–52 |publisher=Ohio Northern University Pettit College of Law |doi= |url=http://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?collection=journals&handle=hein.journals/onulr13&div=13&id=&page= |accessdate=2019-01-14}}</ref> |
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<ref name="Moore1993">"Social Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy", by Barrington Moore, Edward Friedman, James C. Scott (1993) {{ISBN|0-8070-5073-3}}, p.101: "Social Consequences of Revolutionary Terror"</ref> |
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<ref name="Navalkha2008">{{cite web |url=http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/April08/Lafayette.cov.cn.html |title=French revolutionary terror was a gross exaggeration, say Lafayette experts |author=Chandni Navalkha |date=2008-04-28 |accessdate=2009-05-20}}</ref> |
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<ref name="Nunberg2001">{{cite news |author=Geoffrey Nunberg |title=Head Games / It All Started with Robespierre / "Terrorism": The history of a very frightening word |publisher=San Francisco Chronicle |date=2001-10-28 |url=http://articles.sfgate.com/2001-10-28/opinion/17622543_1_terrorism-robespierre-la-terreur |accessdate=2010-01-11}}</ref> |
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<ref name="Safire2001">{{cite news |author=[[William Safire]] |title=The Way We Live Now: 9-23-01: On Language; Infamy |quote=Finally, the word ''terrorist.'' It is rooted in the Latin ''terrere'', "to frighten," and the ''-ist'' was coined in France to castigate the perpetrators of the [[Reign of Terror]]. |publisher=New York Times |date=2001-09-23 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/23/magazine/the-way-we-live-now-9-23-01-on-language-infamy.html |accessdate=2019-01-14}}</ref> |
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<ref name="Tilly2004">{{cite journal |author=Charles Tilly |title=Terror, Terrorism, Terrorists |journal=Sociological Theory |volume=22 |issue=1 |date=March 2004 |pages=5–13 |doi=10.1111/j.1467-9558.2004.00200.x}}</ref> |
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<ref name="Tilly2004-p9">{{cite journal |author=Charles Tilly |title=Terror, Terrorism, Terrorists |journal=Sociological Theory |volume=22 |issue=1 |date=March 2004 |pages=5–13 |doi=10.1111/j.1467-9558.2004.00200.x}}</ref>, specifically page 9 |
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</references> |
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[[Category:Fear]] |
[[Category:Fear]] |
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[[Category:Violence]] |
[[Category:Violence]] |
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[[Category:Political repression]] |
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Latest revision as of 01:08, 25 April 2024
Terror (from French terreur, from Latin terror "great fear", terrere "to frighten"[1][2]) is a policy of political repression and violence intended to subdue political opposition. The term first appears in the Reign of Terror, a revolutionary violence during the French Revolution,[2][3] which also gave rise to the term terrorism.[4]
Before the late twentieth century, the term "terrorism" in the English language was often used interchangeably with "terror". The term "terrorism" frequently refers to acts by groups with a limited political base or parties on the weaker side in asymmetric warfare, while "terror" refers to acts by governments.
Terror and terrorism[edit]
Charles Tilly defines "terror" as a political strategy defined as "asymmetrical deployment of threats and violence against enemies using means that fall outside the forms of political struggle routinely operating within some current regime", and therefore ranges from "(1) intermittent actions by members of groups that are engaged in wider political struggles to (2) one segment in the modus operandi of durably organized specialists in coercion, including government-employed and government-backed specialists in coercion to (3) the dominant rationale for distinct, committed groups and networks of activists".[5] According to Tilly, the term "terror" spans a wide range of human cruelties, from Stalin's use of executions to clandestine attacks by groups like the Basque separatists and the Irish Republican Army and even ethnic cleansing and genocide.[5]
State terrorism[edit]
State terrorism is a particular concept for a type of political terror that is charcterized as terror perpetrated by governments, complementing the general understanding of terrorism.
Revolutionary and counter-revolutionary terror[edit]
Revolutionary terror, also known as "Red Terror", was often used by revolutionary governments to suppress counterrevolutionaries. The first example was the Reign of Terror during the French Revolution in 1794.[6] Other notable examples include the Red Terror in Soviet Russia in 1918–1922, as well as simultaneous campaigns in the Hungarian Soviet Republic and in Finland. In China, Red Terror in 1966 and 1967 started the Cultural revolution.
Counter-revolutionary terror is usually referred to as "White Terror". Notable examples are the terror campaigns in France (1794–1795), in Russia (1917–20), in Hungary (1919–1921) and in Spain. Modern examples of counter-revolutionary terror include Operation Condor in South America.
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ Harper, Douglas. "terror". Online Etymology Dictionary.
- ^ a b William Safire (23 September 2001). "The Way We Live Now: 9-23-01: On Language; Infamy". New York Times Magazine. Retrieved 14 January 2019.
Finally, the word terrorist. It is rooted in the Latin terrere, "to frighten," and the -ist was coined in France to castigate the perpetrators of the Reign of Terror.
- ^ Geoffrey Nunberg (28 October 2001). "Head Games / It All Started with Robespierre / "Terrorism": The history of a very frightening word". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 11 January 2010.
- ^ Terrorism, Encyclopedia Britannica
- ^ a b Charles Tilly (March 2004). "Terror, Terrorism, Terrorists" (PDF). Sociological Theory. 22 (1): 5–13. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.183.7706. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9558.2004.00200.x. S2CID 143553555.
- ^ Barrington Moore (1993). "Social Consequences of Revolutionary Terror". Social Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy. Beacon Press. p. 101. ISBN 0-8070-5073-3 – via Google Books.
- Chandni Navalkha (28 April 2008). "French revolutionary terror was a gross exaggeration, say Lafayette experts". Cornell Chronicle. Cornell University. Archived from the original on 11 May 2008. Retrieved 8 March 2023.