Critical essay on establishing the time of terrorism emergence and its predecessors

Abstract

Though in political theory there is a broad conglomerate of suppositions on the time of its emergence, the terrorism as a modern phenomenon has existed since the 19th century only. In studying the terrorism as a complex form of political violence, particular confusion in establishing the cause of emergence of terrorism and its predecessors is brought in by those who come forth from ideological and religious positions, not from scientific or professional ones. As to 'the first terrorists', two types of mistakes are usually made. First - when some historical examples of some types of political violence, which are not terrorism, are uncritically quoted as a phenomenon of terrorism. Second, proceeding from the first one - when those are classified as terrorist predecessors who cannot be sometimes designated as such according to any terrorist characteristics. Particular attention is addressed to elaborating the organizations of Thuggee, assassins, and zealots, with the purpose of exemplifying the notion of terrorism.

Iako u političkoj teoriji postoji širok konglomerat pretpostavki o vremenu nastanka terorizma, on, kao moderan fenomen, postoji tek od 19. veka. U izučavanju terorizma kao složenog oblika političkog nasilja, posebnu zbrku u utvrđivanju uzroka, nastanka i njegovim pretečama unose oni koji nastupaju sa ideoloških i religijskih pozicija, a ne sa naučnih ili stručnih. Kada je reč o 'prvim teroristima', prave se obično dve vrste grešaka. Prva, kada se nekritički kao fenomen terorizma navode istorijski primeri neke vrste političkog nasilja koji nisu terorizam. Druga, koja proizilazi iz prve, kada se u preteče terorizma svrstavaju oni koji nisu, ponekad, ni po jednoj karakteristici terorizma njegove preteče. Posebna pažnja je posvećena elaboriranju organizacija - Taga, Asasina i Zilota radi egzemplarnog objašnjenja pojma terorizma.