Terrorism : Systematic use of violence, terror, and intimidation to achieve an end.

History of Terrorism

The events of 9/11 and daily news from the Middle East might make terrorism seem like a modern problem. Unfortunately, it has a long and bloody history. Terror as a weapon began almost with the history of man. The word terrorism was first used in France in the late 1700s and early eighteenth century.

Leaders of the French Revolution used terror to force people to submit to their authority. In what was called the "Reign of Terror," citizens were locked up, tortured, and guillotined. French scholars of the time defined terrorism as "the system or rule of terror."