History of Terrorism from the American Revolution to Present Day

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The history of terrorism is best described as a history of who in power determines how they will categorize those who oppose their power. Throughout history, the notion of terrorism has been construed by many to encompass the use of freedom fighters and those seeking to end their oppression and victimization by authoritative state governments and tyrants through the only means available to them. Using tactics such as guerilla fighting, bombings, and other quick and precise attacks on the much larger armies, state powers, and czars have all be necessary tools for those seeking to end the repressive and tyrannical reigns of their enemies. Beginning with the American Revolution that many could concur used terroristic tactics to attack British forces but is now known as revolutionary tactics, those who attempt to categorize the term terrorism are typically those in power being targeted with doses of their own violence.

In this summary I will provide insight into the important roles that the Russian revolution and the Irish Republican Army has had on terrorism around the world and in the Western hemisphere. The reason that the IRA and the Russian revolution were able to become so influential throughout the Western hemisphere and the world in regard to "revolutionary" or terroristic ideologies, depending on how you interpret their actions, was because they literally spread out across the globe to develop networks with other groups who also were engaged in revolutionary struggles. The idealization of revolutionary terrorism surfaced first in Russia. Revolutionary Terrorism in Russia emerged out of the various radical ideologies that were borne throughout the mid-1800s in many corners of the ...