Actually terrorism goes back over 100 years. It's specifically ideologically & politically motivated generalized violence against the general population to coerce political outcomes.
Terrorism, specifically unaffiliated with government actors, should be a category.
Akshully if you want to get technical, records of acts of terrorism go back millennia, and in fact a familiar name shows up even back then
While terrorism is not normally thought of as a phenomenon that was prevalent in the ancient world, there are at least some examples of it from early periods of history. There were secret societies in ancient China that worked against early dynasties, but their revolts involved conventional warfare, and there is no indication that anti-government activities involved the use of any terrorist techniques.1 The clearest indications of early uses of terrorism in ancient times came from the internal politics of Rome during some periods of the Republic, Jewish revolts in the Eastern Mediterranean first against the Seleucid Greeks and then against its incorporation into the Roman Empire, and battles between different factions in the Eastern Roman/Byzantine Empire. In these cases there is little doubt that organized groups were using violence directed toward target audiences beyond the immediate victims in order to achieve political objectives. In these cases the violence was frequently organized and widespread enough to meet the criteria for terrorism.
Terrorism and Urban Warfare aren't normally thought of in the ancient world, and they're not well documented, but they are fascinating topics because of it. And yeah, terrorism (both from state and non-state actors) was a prevalent part of the Jewish Revolts
Technically the reason you exclude government actors is because it's a different kind of terrorism, and normally could just be called "war". "War" as we typically understand it requires a state actor to mobilize a population and economy. Hence why the term applied to governments is "state-sponsored terrorism". Because the terrorist organizations (that may exist with or without state backing) are being backed by a state to conduct operations. And that's an important factor: a terrorist group might operate independently of a state, then be paid to operate by a state to conduct a campaign, then the state might stop funding it all while the terrorist group remains.
If military units (or official paramilitary units) are engaging in unrestricted violence against a general population, we can almost move past "state-sponsored terrorism" and move straight into "war crimes", "crimes against humanity", or potentially "total war" if all sides are already doing it.
Understanding an enemy guerrilla force; motivated not by profit, power, or government; but by an ideological force, dedicated to it's destruction.
Terrorists, as a concept, do not fall under the normal categories of criminals, belligerent nations, or organized crime. They are a far more aggressive, destructive, and subversive force dedicated to the extermination of people, culture, and societies. They are an existential threat to society, while also not being a normal enemy outside of it, and they attack like traitors from the inside. They are a special caliber of enemy that must be rooted out and destroyed because they are fundamentally incompatible with the society they infest.
It is a special kind of enemy that has the aggression of a foreign state, but the infiltration of a traitor, but acts at the direction of few if any. It means that terrorists, and anyone working with them, must be hunted down and destroyed because of their threat level to both the general population as well as the institutions of the society. They're the worst of all worlds.
Actually terrorism goes back over 100 years. It's specifically ideologically & politically motivated generalized violence against the general population to coerce political outcomes.
Terrorism, specifically unaffiliated with government actors, should be a category.
Akshully if you want to get technical, records of acts of terrorism go back millennia, and in fact a familiar name shows up even back then
:)
https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1057/9781403978585_3
Hell, why exclude the government actors? They’re the number one cause of terrorism as far as I can tell.
Terrorism and Urban Warfare aren't normally thought of in the ancient world, and they're not well documented, but they are fascinating topics because of it. And yeah, terrorism (both from state and non-state actors) was a prevalent part of the Jewish Revolts
Technically the reason you exclude government actors is because it's a different kind of terrorism, and normally could just be called "war". "War" as we typically understand it requires a state actor to mobilize a population and economy. Hence why the term applied to governments is "state-sponsored terrorism". Because the terrorist organizations (that may exist with or without state backing) are being backed by a state to conduct operations. And that's an important factor: a terrorist group might operate independently of a state, then be paid to operate by a state to conduct a campaign, then the state might stop funding it all while the terrorist group remains.
If military units (or official paramilitary units) are engaging in unrestricted violence against a general population, we can almost move past "state-sponsored terrorism" and move straight into "war crimes", "crimes against humanity", or potentially "total war" if all sides are already doing it.
What benefit does society derive from using the category of terrorist?
Understanding an enemy guerrilla force; motivated not by profit, power, or government; but by an ideological force, dedicated to it's destruction.
Terrorists, as a concept, do not fall under the normal categories of criminals, belligerent nations, or organized crime. They are a far more aggressive, destructive, and subversive force dedicated to the extermination of people, culture, and societies. They are an existential threat to society, while also not being a normal enemy outside of it, and they attack like traitors from the inside. They are a special caliber of enemy that must be rooted out and destroyed because they are fundamentally incompatible with the society they infest.
It is a special kind of enemy that has the aggression of a foreign state, but the infiltration of a traitor, but acts at the direction of few if any. It means that terrorists, and anyone working with them, must be hunted down and destroyed because of their threat level to both the general population as well as the institutions of the society. They're the worst of all worlds.