Since everyone from Dick Cheney to Joe Lieberman believe that Muslim terrorists are the worst scourge in the entire history of western civilization, I thought it was time for a little history lesson to keep things in perspective.
Boo and others have done a great job of reminding us of the much more salient danger of the Soviet Union. I would however like to turn back the clock a little further… and look back in time about 100 years ago.
Here’s a few terrorists that seem to have been forgotten:
Gavrilo Princip: Born in 1894 as an ethnic Serb in territory belonging to the Austrian-Hungarian Empire (today Bosnia).
Grew up extremely poor and later joined a terrorist group known as the “Black Hand”, who agitated for an independence of the south Slavic people from Germanic-Hungarian domination.
Killed Archduke Franz Ferdinand (and his wife, Countess Sophia) of Austria, whose assassination triggered the beginning of what is now known as World War I on June 28, 1914. Was convicted and jailed in a maximum security prison until he died of tuberculosis.
Charles Guiteau: Born in 1841 in Freeport, Illinois.
Was beaten severely as a child. Later joined a fringe religious cult. Dabbled in non-mainstream theology. Came to believe in paranoid delusions of self-grandeur.
Shot President James Garfield twice in the back on July 2, 1881, who died of those wounds two months later. Was confined in a mental hospital after a highly publicized trial in which he represented himself and said his shooting of Garfield was on orders from God.
Ignacy Hryniewiecki – Born as an ethnic Pole in Belarus in 1855 in lands then under Russian rule, at a time when the Polish language was banned in public places and schools.
Born very poor and later joined the Russian revolutionary group Narodnaya Volya, which advocated the freedom of the vote (for all citizens), a permanent parliament and freedom of speech.
On March 13, 1881 he threw a bomb at the carriage of Russian Tsar (Emperor) Alexander II, who died a few hours later. Hryniewiecki died on the scene and some believe it was a suicide bombing.
Leon Frank Czolgosz – Born around 1873 in Detroit, Michigan to first generation Polish immigrants.
Grew up in extreme poverty. As an adult in 1898, he was working in a series of factories where he witnessed the police using brutality to break up unionizing efforts. Became devoted to radical anarchist ideas.
Shot President William McKinley two times at point blank range on September 6, 1901, who died of his wounds 9 days later. Czolgosz was tried and convicted less than a month later and executed on October 29, 1901 in the electric chair.
Gaetano Bresci: Born in 1869 in Tuscany, then under Austrian control.
Became attracted to militant anarchist thinking and founded an Italian-language anarchist paper. In 1898 he witnessed the military in Milan use force to disperse an unarmed group of people protesting high bread prices.
On July 29, 1900, he shot the King of Italy (Umberto I) three times. Bresci was put on trial and sentenced to hard labor and died under unclear circumstances less than a year later.
John Wilkes Booth – Born 1838 in Maryland to first generation English immigrants.
Had a prosperous and happy childhood. Received a high quality education. Became an actor and had commercial and critical success.
Although Booth was staunchly pro-Confederacy during the American Civil War, and gave numerous speeches and performances, he never joined the Confederate military. In 1864, Booth and his associates devised a plan to kidnap President Lincoln to force the Union to release Confederate POW’s.
Shortly after Lincoln’s re-election and the Confederacy’s surrender, Booth shot Lincoln in the back of the head on April 14, 1865. Booth was pursued by Union soldiers and was surrounded in a barn, where he refused to surrender and was shot to death.
Phoenix Park Murders – In 1882, a group of men known as the “Irish National Invincibles” slashed Lord Frederick Cavendish and Thomas Henry Burke to death. Cavendish and Burke were the Chief and Under Secretary for Ireland respectively.
At the time, the entire island of Ireland was under British rule. Catholics were not allowed to be members of Parliament and therefore the Irish people had no representation in their “democratic” government.
Five members of the group were caught and hanged, esp after two leaders (including James Carey) were given leniency in exchange for their testimony. Carey was later executed by an Invincibles member for being a traitor to the cause.
As a result of the assassinations, the British government tightened its control over Ireland and further restricted Irish rights.
John Bellingham – Born in 1769 in England.
As an adult became involved in a dispute over his trading with Russia. Bellingham was imprisoned in 1808 in Russia but was permitted to leave a year later after petitioning the Tsar himself.
Tried for 4 years to receive compensation from the British government for his imprisonment, to no avail.
On May 11, 1812, shot British Prime Minister Spencer Perceval once in the heart who died nearly instantly. Bellingham was convicted after trial in which he stated he preferred to have killed the British Ambassador to Russia but was “entitled” to kill any of his oppressors. Was hanged to death shortly thereafter.
Sante Jeronimo Caserio – Born in 1873 in Italy.
Was a member of radical anarchist movement. Fatally stabbed President of France, Marie Francois Sadi Carnot, on June 24, 1894 to avenge imprisonment of Emile Henry, a French anarchist who had previously detonated a bomb in Paris (that killed 1 bystander).
Luigi Lucheni – Born 1873 in Paris but an ethnic Italian (during which time Italy was largely under Austrian control).
Very poor during his childhood. Served a number of years in the military but then became attracted to radical anarchist thinking. Began to plan killing someone of the upperclass but did not care who.
Stabbed Austrian Empress Elizabeth Sisi von Wittelsbach of Bavaria to death with a needle in 1898. Sentenced to life in prison after confessing full guilt in trial but later committed suicide.
And just in case you think terrorism is only committed by men, I refer you to the case of Charlotte Corday, who stabbed Jean-Paul Marat (a leading French politician) to death on July 13, 1793.
Now… if you look at all those cases together (and there are many more, from both before and afterwards), what conclusions would you draw if you were Dick Cheney or Joe Lieberman?
Outlaw all Italians? Profile all members of anarchist movements? Be paranoid and suspicious of repressed nationalistic movements?
The truth is that just about everybody condemns terrorism and assassinations, both now and then. As oppressive as the various assassinated leaders were, killing them is to be abhorred. But at the same time it is worthwhile to look at the fundamental causes that LED to that extreme form of rectification through terror.
In the last decades of the 19th century, there were tremendous convulsions ongoing in Europe. The people were tired of being ruled by repressive monarchies or limited democracies wherein only the wealthy could vote. People in Ireland, Italy and Poland were struggling to overthrow the dominion by foreign governments. In some cases, these acts of terror were committed by those who had grown up in extreme poverty.
These are the roots of terrorism, not the excuse or justification for it, but the springs that feed into and nourish terrorism. And that is most definitely the most important lesson to learn from these acts that I’ve listed above.
Here at the beginning of the 21st century, there is a similar struggle ongoing. The Republicans and others like to portray it as radical Islam versus democracy, but there are terrorist movements in Hindu nations like Sri Lanka and Buddhist ones like Myanmar. Everywhere there is terrorism today, the same root causes appear as in the the late 19th century – endemic poverty, occupation by foreign governments and/or a struggle for ethnic/nationalist independence or autonomy. Addressing those issues is the only long-term cure or remedy for terrorism.
Alas, that’s too fine a concept for the warmongerers, who use the people’s fear and xenophobia for political ends.
Pax