Historic Roots of
Terrorism
An exploration of early
terrorism and of the historic
roots of modern terrorism
Michael A. Bozarth, Ph.D.
Department of Psychology
University at Buffalo
www.PsychologyofTerrorism.com

Terrorism is not new
• it been used for to affect political,
social, economic, and religious
change for centuries
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The causes of modern conflicts
leading to terrorism are not new
• they have developed over decades
and in many cases over centuries
Copyright 2005-2006 Michael A. Bozarth
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Presentation briefly examines
• terrorism from a historical
perspective
• historic basis of some contemporary
terrorist organizations
• examples of historically significant
North American terrorist
organizations
Copyright 2005-2006 Michael A. Bozarth
Early History
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Zealots (2nd C B.C. - 1st C A.D.)
• Jewish fighters resisting Roman
occupation, most notably 66-73 A.D.
• used terrorist attacks against
Romans and against Jews
conforming to Roman subjugation
• last Zealot garrison at Masada was
taken by the Romans with 900
defenders committing mass suicide
Copyright 2005-2006 Michael A. Bozarth
More Early History
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Assassins (1200 - 1400+ CE)
• Arabic for “user of hashish”
• secret order of the Ismaili sect of
Shiites also called “Hashshashin”
• spread quickly through Syria &
Persia, eventually throughout the
Moslem world
• some surviving groups are reputed
to exist today in Northern Syria
Copyright 2005-2006 Michael A. Bozarth
Terrorism in the
Name of God
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Early Christians
• eradication of “paganism”
• schisms—especially 1054 &
the Reformation
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Catholic Church
• religious inquisition as terrorism—
suppression of dissonant views
• persecution of religious minorities
Copyright 2005-2006 Michael A. Bozarth
Huguenots
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French Protestants (also called
the Reformed Church of France)
Considered heretics by the
Roman Catholic Church
Challenged papal authority and
Roman Catholic dogma
Many were nobles who were
(too) active in French politics
Copyright 2005-2006 Michael A. Bozarth
The Huguenot Heresy
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Criticized Roman Catholic
rituals
images
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praying to saints
church hierarchy
Promoted Calvinist belief that
‘Christian life’ is to be lived not
just practiced by performing
rituals, prayers, and pilgrimages
Copyright 2005-2006 Michael A. Bozarth
Huguenots in
Catholic France
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Persecuted in Catholic France
• Edict of Orleans (1561—declared tolerance)
• St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre (1572)
• 8,000-10,000 killed in Paris over two days
• 50,000-70,000 killed during the following weeks in
other French cities
• Edict of Nantes (1598—declared tolerance)
• Revocation of the Edict of Nantes (1685)
• mass exodus from France including from the
Alsace region (Huguenot Diaspora)
• Simon Bossard emigrated to Jamestown (1700)
Copyright 2005-2006 Michael A. Bozarth
Papal Celebration of the
Huguenot Massacre
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Pope Gregory XIII
celebrated the St.
Bartholomew’s Day
Massacre (1572) by issuing
a special medal to
commemorate the slaughter
of the Huguenots
The medal shows God’s
angels smiting the
Huguenots, inscribed
[translation] “Slaughter of
the Huguenots”
Copyright 2005-2006 Michael A. Bozarth
Final Reconciliation with
Catholic France
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Edit of Tolerance (1787)
Recognized as full citizens after
the French Revolution (1789)
But France was ‘saved’ from the
Protestant Reformation
• Protestant population decreased from 15 to 20%
during the 17th Century to 1.7% today
• Muslims (6.9%) constitute a larger proportion of
the population of modern France (Jews, 1.3%)
Copyright 2005-2006 Michael A. Bozarth
More Terrorism in the
Name of God
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Fight over the “Holy Land”
• Christian Crusades
• Islamic Jihad
Copyright 2005-2006 Michael A. Bozarth
Crusades to Reclaim
the Holy Land
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First Crusade, 1095–99
Second Crusade, 1147–49
Third Crusade, 1189–92
Fourth Crusade, 1202–1204
Children’s Crusade, 1212
Fifth Crusade, 1217–21
Sixth Crusade, 1228–29
Seventh Crusade, 1248–54
Eight Crusade, 1270
Ninth Crusade, 1271–72
Crusader States, c. 1100
Copyright 2005-2006 Michael A. Bozarth
Irony of Contemporary
Religious Conflict
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Jews, Christians, and Moslems
• descended from a common Father
• “People of The Book”
• Old Testament—Jews, Christians, Moslems
• New Testament—Christians, Moslems
• Koran—Moslems
• struggled against
• polytheism
• social injustice
Copyright 2005-2006 Michael A. Bozarth
Historical Basis of Some
Current Conflicts
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Chechnya (Russian Federation)
Basque Separatists (Spain)
Sudan’s Darfur region
Northern Ireland
Middle East
Copyright 2005-2006 Michael A. Bozarth
Contrasting Conflicts
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Northern Ireland
• attacks limited to British Isles
• little impact worldwide
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Arab-Israeli Conflict
• attacks extended outside of region
• major impact worldwide
• anti-American sentiment
• potential global economic disruption
Copyright 2005-2006 Michael A. Bozarth
Early Ireland
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Five Gaelic kingdoms
St. Patrick (432 C.E.)
Irish centers of enlightenment
during the European dark ages
Norse raids (795-1014 C.E.)
Pope awarded Ireland to the
English Crown (1155/1172)
Copyright 2005-2006 Michael A. Bozarth
The British Conquest
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English invasion (1171)
Plantation of Ulster (17th Century)
1641 Rebellion suppressed by
Oliver Cromwell (1649)
William of Orange (1690)
Act of Union (1801)
Genocide through famine (1840s)
(population: 1846, 8.3 million; today, 5.2 million)
Copyright 2005-2006 Michael A. Bozarth
Irish Independence
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Easter Rebellion (1916)
Anglo-Irish War (1919-1921)
Irish Free State (1922)
• dominion with 6 northern counties
remaining part of United Kingdom
• Irish Civil War (1922-1923)
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Republic of Ireland (1949)
Admitted to UN (1955)
Copyright 2005-2006 Michael A. Bozarth
The Solution
Partitioning Ireland
into the Irish Free
State and the
Northern Counties
which remain part
of the United
Kingdom of Great
Britain and
Northern Ireland
Copyright 2005-2006 Michael A. Bozarth
Northern Ireland

Limited independence 1921-1972
• dominated by the Unionist party
• Catholics excluded from government
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Home rule suspended 1972
Conflict continues between
Unionists (Protestant) majority
and Republicans (Catholic)
minority
Copyright 2005-2006 Michael A. Bozarth
British Home Office
Proscribed Irish Organizations
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Continuity Army Council
Cumann na mBan
Fianna na hEireann
Irish National Liberation Army
Irish People's Liberation Organisation
Irish Republican Army
Loyalist Volunteer Force
Orange Volunteers
Red Hand Commando
Red Hand Defenders
Saor Eire
Ulster Defence Association
Ulster Freedom Fighters
Ulster Volunteer Force
Copyright 2005-2006 Michael A. Bozarth
The Disputed Holy Land
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Roman Era (6 C.E.)
• Jewish Diaspora (135 C.E.)
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Christian Era (c. 391 - 636 C.E.)
Arab Conquest/Ottoman Empire
Post World War I (1918)
• Arab nationalism
• Zionism
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Post World War II (1945)
Copyright 2005-2006 Michael A. Bozarth
Formation of Israel
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Zionist movement (19th Century)
Immigration to the Holy Land
• 19th through early 20th Century
• pre World War II (c. 1930s)
• post World War II
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Independence declared (1948)
First Arab-Israeli War (1948)
Admitted to UN (1949)
Copyright 2005-2006 Michael A. Bozarth
Jewish Terrorist Groups
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Several terrorist groups, including
• Irgun Tsvai-Leumi (“Military-National
Organization”) or Etzel
• Lehi or Lohamei Herut Israel
("Fighters for the Freedom of Israel")
or Stern gang
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Attacked British & Arab interests
"Neither Jewish morality nor Jewish tradition can
negate the use of terror as a means of battle.”
Copyright 2005-2006 Michael A. Bozarth
Terrorism in the Israeli
Fight for Independence
• Haifa market bombing (1939)
• Lord Moyne assassination (British
government minister): advocated limiting
Jewish immigration to Palestine (1944)
• King David Hotel bombing (1946)
• British Embassy bombing, Rome (1946)
• Count Folke Bernadotte assassination (UN
mediator): supported Arab ‘rights’ (1948)
• Deir Yassin massacre: reprisal (1948)
Copyright 2005-2006 Michael A. Bozarth
The Proposal
The Reality
UN Partition Plan
for Palestine
(1947)
Map of Israel
Copyright 2005-2006 Michael A. Bozarth
Arab Response
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Rejected UN proposal
• “Drive the Jews back into the sea!”
• Israel immediately attacked by Egypt,
Syria, Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon
• Palestinian Exodus (Nakba: “tragedy”)
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Sustained terrorist campaign
against Israel
Intermittent wars with Israel
Copyright 2005-2006 Michael A. Bozarth
Arab-Israeli Wars
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First Arab-Israeli war (1948)
Other wars
•
•
•
•
•
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1956
1967
1970
1973
1982
(Suez War)
(Six Day War)
(War of Attrition)
(Yom Kippur War)
(Lebanon War)
Numerous skirmishes & raids
Copyright 2005-2006 Michael A. Bozarth
Palestine Population Shifts
with Israeli Independence
5,000,000
4,000,000
3,500,000
3,000,000
Arab
2,500,000
Jewish
2,000,000
1,500,000
1,000,000
500,000
97
19
89
19
69
19
54
19
48
19
39
19
31
19
22
19
90
18
50
18
00
0
16
Population
4,500,000
Year
Copyright 2005-2006 Michael A. Bozarth
Events Related to Shifting
Population in Palestine
Year
Arab
Jewish
1600
250,000
5,000
1850
480,000
17,000
1890
530,000
43,000
1922
590,000
84,000
1931
760,000
174,000
1939
900,000
450,000
1948
980,000
650,000
1954
192,000
1,530,000
1969
423,000
2,500,000
1989
843,000
3,700,000
1997
1,120,000
4,640,000
Important Events
1800s
Rise of Zionism
1917
Balfour Declaration
1930s
Rise in European anti-Semitism
1948
Israeli Independence
Arab Nakba
1991
Dissolution of the Soviet Union
423
Note: Arab population statistics include 8-10% Christians.
Copyright 2005-2006 Michael A. Bozarth
Progress Towards
Peaceful Resolution
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Recognition of the right for the
state of Israel to exist
• Anwar Sadat (1977)
• Yassar Arafat (1989)
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Recognition of the right for an
independent Palestinian state
Israeli withdrawal from some
occupied lands
Copyright 2005-2006 Michael A. Bozarth
North American
Terrorist Groups
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SDS Weatherman
Symbionese Liberation Army
FLQ (Quebec)
Ku Klux Klan (KKK)
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The New Anarchists
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Copyright 2005-2006 Michael A. Bozarth
SDS Weathermen
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Active 1969-1976
More militant faction of the SDS
Advocated the overthrow of the
U.S. government and capitalism
Organized bombings, jailbreaks,
and riots (with few casualties)
Members diffused back into
society escaping prosecution
Copyright 2005-2006 Michael A. Bozarth
Symbionese Liberation
Army (SLA)
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Active 1973-1975
13-member group committed
two murders and several bank
robberies
Kidnapped publishing heiress
Patty Hearst (1974-1975)
Criminal terror masquerading as
sociopolitical terrorism?
Copyright 2005-2006 Michael A. Bozarth
Patty Hearst as “Tania”
(Extreme Stockholm Syndrome?)
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After her kidnapping and
forced indoctrination, she
became an active
member of the SLA
iconic photograph with
assault rifle while
robbing a bank (1974)
captured in 1975
released from prison in
1979 with sentence
commuted by President
Carter; pardoned by
President Clinton (2001)
Copyright 2005-2006 Michael A. Bozarth
FLQ (Québec)
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Front de Libération du Québec
(Quebec Liberation Front)
Active 1963-1970
Organized bombings, bank
robberies, and kidnappings
targets included English owned businesses, banks, McGill
University, and homes of prominent anglophones in the
wealthy Westmount area of Montréal; murdered Quebec
Vice-Premier and Minister of Labour Pierre Laporte
Copyright 2005-2006 Michael A. Bozarth
Response to FLQ
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Climax reached during the October Crises
(1970) when the Canadian government
evoked the War Measures Act resulting in
troops and tanks in downtown Montréal
and hundreds of people arrested and
detained without charge
After 1970 the separatist movement
became less violent and more political,
electing the Parti Québécois (PQ) in 1976
Canadian government claims its strong
response deterred further political
violence Copyright 2005-2006 Michael A. Bozarth
Troops in Downtown
Montréal (1970)
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A few terrorists or a
provincial insurrection?
The Canadian government
sent a strong message to
Québec separatists
The separatist movement
had widespread popular
support, but nobody
knows the actual number
of terrorists
Québec independence
remains a prominent issue
today
Copyright 2005-2006 Michael A. Bozarth
Ku Klux Klan (KKK)
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First KKK: 1866-1869 (1880)
Second KKK: 1915-1944
Current KKKs: various
competing factions
• American Knights of the Ku Klux Klan
• Imperial Klans of America
• Knights of the White Kamelia
Copyright 2005-2006 Michael A. Bozarth
KKK Orientation
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Considered a white-supremacist
organization, but also excludes
Jews, Catholics, and other
non-Protestant whites
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Has used terrorist
tactics throughout its
history, often instigating
actions rather than acting
as the official KKK
Copyright 2005-2006 Michael A. Bozarth
KKK Self-Perception
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‘Protector of the White AngloSaxon Protestant (WASP) way of
life’ exemplified by the romantic,
pre-Civil War American South
•
•
•
•
Christian
Patriotic
Fraternal
protector of weak widow women
Copyright 2005-2006 Michael A. Bozarth
A “Knightly” Meeting?
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Ghosts of the
Confederate Army or
Teutonic Knights, the
effect is largely the
same—if they didn’t
have guns under those
costumes, it would be
comedic!
Copyright 2005-2006 Michael A. Bozarth
The First KKK
(1866-1880)
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Anti-reconstruction, attacking
• freed slaves exercising their new rights
enforced by Federal troops in the South
• white Northern liberals & ‘carpet baggers’
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Undermined by
• disbanding (1869) by its founder (Nathan
Bedford Forrest) because it became too violent
• The Klan Act and The Enforcement Act (1871)
(probably American’s first antiterrorist acts)
Copyright 2005-2006 Michael A. Bozarth
The Second KKK
(1915-1944)
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Founded 1915 (‘Patriotic Movement’)
Popularity peaked around 1922 with
over 4 million members including
many in Northern States
Added socialists and communists to
its list of undesirables and targets
Lost popularity by the 1930s
Officially disbanded in 1944
Copyright 2005-2006 Michael A. Bozarth
The Little KKKs
(1960s-present)
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Popularity of white-supremacist
groups resurfaced with the civil
rights movement during the early
1960s and continues subdued today
Currently three KKK factions exist
• little popularity or power
• U.S. Hate-Crime laws & aggressive law
enforcement have proved effective in
minimizing their impact on American society
Copyright 2005-2006 Michael A. Bozarth
The “Klan” Today
Once America's preeminent terrorist organization, the Ku Klux
Klan today is a fragmented and amorphous collection of
independent groups and individuals, constantly squabbling over
diminishing memberships and limited resources. Passed over by
most young white supremacists, who consider Klansmen to be
ineffectual and faintly ridiculous old-timers, the group presents far
less of a threat to public order than at any time in the past century.
Despite its dwindling influence, however, the Klan continues to be
a specter that haunts the American psyche and the sight of a
flaming cross can still inspire both horror and terror.
Anti-Defamation League (www.ADL.org)
Copyright 2005-2006 Michael A. Bozarth
The New Anarchists —
One-Man Terrorist Cells?
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Unabomber (19781996)
Oklahoma City
bombing (1995)
Psychopathology or
disorganized
terrorist movement?
Copyright 2005-2006 Michael A. Bozarth
Unabomber (1978-1996)
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Theodore John Kaczynski (b. 1942)
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UC-Berkeley professor (Ph.D., mathematics)
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mail bombs killed 3, injured 29
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6-year break in bombings (1987-1993)
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“Unabomber Manifesto” (1995)
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arrested Lincoln, Montana, April 3, 1996
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pleaded guilty January 22, 1998
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—”Industrial Society and Its Future”
reluctantly published by the
New York Times and the Washington Post
sentenced to life in prison
without possibility of parole
Copyright 2005-2006 Michael A. Bozarth
Oklahoma City Bombing (1995)
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Timothy McVeigh (1968-2001)
decorated Gulf War veteran
5,000 lb. truck bomb: 168 killed including
19 children in a day care center,
over 800 injured
destroyed Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building
arrested within an hour after attack
convicted June 2, 1997
executed June 11, 2001
others convicted
• Terry Nichols sentenced to
life in prison (manslaughter)
• Michael Fortier sentenced to
12 years in prison (failure to warn)
Copyright 2005-2006 Michael A. Bozarth
Status of American
Domestic Terrorists
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American domestic terrorists are
probably not a serious threat to
anybody but themselves
• white-supremacist groups exist but
lack power or widespread support
• solitary anarchists are few and
probably detectable by their
underlying psychopathologies
Copyright 2005-2006 Michael A. Bozarth
Status of Terrorism in
Northern Ireland
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The “troubles” in Northern
Ireland remain unresolved, but
• IRA and Ulster terrorist activities
have diminished to a whisper, and
• the conflict is strictly regional
Copyright 2005-2006 Michael A. Bozarth
Status of Arab-Israeli
Terrorism through 2004
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Continues although there is
renewed optimism for a resolution
• the Palestinian conflict is the
dominant issue today
• focus for anti-American sentiment in the
Arab world and elsewhere
• part of the justification for terrorist
attacks on America
• peaceful coexistence seems possible
Copyright 2005-2006 Michael A. Bozarth
Recent Progress in the
Arab-Israeli Conflict

2005 signaled more progress
• Yassar Arafat died:
many believed his dominant
control of the Palestinian government and his tacit
support of terrorism were obstacles to peace
• Israel relinquished control of several key
areas claimed by the Arab Palestinians:
the land included valuable agricultural areas that
could provide considerable economic opportunity for
the Palestinian people (the U.S. government provided
over $100 million in compensation to Israel for the
loss and continues to provide economic aid to both
Israel and the Palestinians)
Copyright 2005-2006 Michael A. Bozarth
Current Set-Back in the
Arab-Israeli Conflict
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2005 ended and 2006 began with
renewed tensions
• Iran suppressed its movement towards
liberalization with a new conservative
president who pledges to destroy Israel:
Iran continues to support radical Islamic
fundamentalist in Iraq and may be resuming
work towards developing atomic weapons
• Hamas won a major victory in a
democratic election and will most likely
form the new Palestinian government:
Hamas maintains its terrorist organization status
committed to the destruction of Israel
Copyright 2005-2006 Michael A. Bozarth
Prospects for Peace in the
Middle East
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Radical Islamic fundamentalists in
Iran (official government) and in Iraq
(Shiite majority) may present a
unified threat
Palestinian “struggle” provides the
focal point, but the objective is to
destabilize secular governments and
to restore Islamic rule in the Middle
East while obliterating Israel
Copyright 2005-2006 Michael A. Bozarth
Development of
Global Terrorism
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Radical Islamic
Fundamentalists
• view the West as
the source for Arab
problems
• demand American
and other Western
influences out of the
nations of Islam
Copyright 2005-2006 Michael A. Bozarth
Radical Islamic
Fundamentalists
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Short-term goal (majority view)
• Predominantly Muslim countries
should be governed by Islamic law
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Intermediate goal (plurality view)
• Reconquest of Muslim lands
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Long-term goal (minority view?)
• Global Islamic state and the
conversion of all nonbelievers
Copyright 2005-2006 Michael A. Bozarth
Muslim World Views
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Many are progressive
Some are conservative
A few are fundamentalists
Only a very few fundamentalists
are radicals who preach
intolerance and terror in the
name of God
Copyright 2005-2006 Michael A. Bozarth
The Radical Islamic
Fundentalist Threat
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The threat comes from the very few and
from those driven to adopt their radical
beliefs by socioeconomic and other
conditions that deprive Muslims
Despotic rulers, apostates, and evil
Western leaders are believed to be the
source of the Arab ‘problem’
Copyright 2005-2006 Michael A. Bozarth
Global Terrorism in the
New Millennium
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Unable to achieve success in their
home countries
Now targeting the United States and
other Western powers
• the West is viewed as the supporters of
despotic, apostate Arab regimes
• the West is viewed as easier, soft targets

Islamic terrorists are considered the
most serious threat worldwide
Copyright 2005-2006 Michael A. Bozarth
The ruling to kill the Americans and their allies–civilians and military–is an individual duty for
every Muslim who can do it in any country in which it is possible to do it. Osama bin Laden (1998)
Copyright 2005-2006 Michael A. Bozarth