THE MORALITY OF TERRORISM Meaning of terrorism and a brief history of terrorism. The word terrorism meant the reign of terror and it was imposed on the public in 1793 in France by the Jacobins. The Jacobin's main aim is to use terrorism as a means of reshaping societal values and human nature. Their plan was to destroy everything about the old regime, suppressing the enemies of the then present revolutionary government and making sure civic virtue was imposed. In achieving this aim, a tribunal with wide authorities was set up to deal with the enemies of the people, they went after “enemies of the people”, whether proven or not proven guilty, the law on the basis of which they were operating “enumerated just who the enemies of the people might …show more content…
Free from none understanding the other methods of political struggle, lawless groups, and other revolutionary organizations, later on, some nationalist groups too, took to political violence. These groups come to a conclusion that words were not enough, so they concluded on taking actions towards the unjust, oppressive social and political order, this act generates fear among its supporters, in so doing the oppressed showed vulnerability and ultimately force political and social change. This was “propaganda by deed” and the deed was for the most part assassination of royalty or high ranked government officials. The true Russian revolution organizations such as the People’s Will or Socialist Revolutionary Party (SR): they were of the support that, it is morally right, justified in assassinating a government official whose involvement in the oppressive regime was significant. This assassination makes an important contribution to the struggle. Examples of “propaganda by deed” carried out by the French and Spanish anarchist in the 1880s and the 1890s were indiscriminate killings of common citizens, but that was an exception rather than the rule. The wrong doers and some of the sympathizers to the cause say some of those acts were not morally legitimate, whether as retribution (exacted on the assumption that no member of the ruling class was innocent) or as a means necessary for the overthrow of the unjust order. Accordingly, in their parlance, too, the term “terrorism” implied no censure. When used by others, it conveyed a strong condemnation of the