| The 20th century
witnessed great changes in the use and practice
of terrorism. Terrorism became the hallmark of a
number of political movements stretching from the
extreme right to the extreme left of the political
spectrum. Technological advances such as automatic
weapons and compact, electrically detonated explosives
gave terrorists a new mobility and lethality. Terrorism
was adopted as virtually a state policy, though
an unacknowledged one, by such totalitarian regimes
as those of Nazi Germany under Adolf Hitler and
the Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin. In these states
arrest, imprisonment, torture, and execution were
applied without legal guidance or restraints to
create a climate of fear and to encourage adherence
to the national ideology and the declared economic,
social, and political goals of the state.
Terrorism has most commonly become identified,
however, with individuals or groups attempting
to destabilize or overthrow existing political
institutions. Terrorism has been used by one or
both sides in anticolonial conflicts (Ireland
and the United Kingdom, Algeria and France, Vietnam
and France/United States), in disputes between
different national groups over possession of a
contested homeland (Palestinians and Israel),
in conflicts between different religious denominations
(Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland),
and in internal conflicts between revolutionary
forces and established governments (Malaysia,
Indonesia, the Philippines, Iran, Nicaragua, El
Salvador, Argentina).
Terrorism's public impact has been greatly magnified
by the use of modern communications media. Any
act of violence is certain to attract television
coverage, which brings the event directly into
millions of homes and exposes viewers to the terrorists'
demands, grievances, or political goals. Modern
terrorism differs from that of the past because
its victims are frequently innocent civilians
who are picked at random or who merely happen
into terrorist situations. Many groups of terrorists
in Europe hark back to the anarchists of the 19th
century in their isolation from the political
mainstream and the unrealistic nature of their
goals. Lacking a base of popular support, extremists
substitute violent acts for legitimate political
activities. Such acts include kidnappings, assassinations,
skyjackings, bombings, and hijackings.
The Baader-Meinhof gang of West Germany, the
Japanese Red Army, Italy's Red Brigades, the Puerto
Rican FALN, al-Fatah and other Palestinian organizations,
the Shining Path of Peru, and France's Direct
Action were among the most prominent terrorist
groups of the later 20th century.
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