Terrorism
October 25, 2004
The word terrorism stems from "la Terreur", a period in French history. In 1793, the revolution was in danger of being overturned and the country was about to be invaded. As a consequence, the French government implemented the Reign of Terror, a system allowing a wave of arrests and executions to, well, terrorise the population into keeping quiet and letting them stay in power. On 17 September, they voted in the "law of suspects", allowing the police to arrest "people who, having done nothing against freedom, have done nothing for it", in other words, absolutely anyone. The Terror finished on 27 July 1794. Around 40,000 people were executed.
Posted by céline, in Words, on October 25, 2004Hmm. Well that stopped all discussion in its tracks, didn't it? Horrified silence in the face of both past and present manifestations of terror. As an ardent francophile, it grieves to me to dwell on this particular debt to your native land.
Posted by Jean on October 27, 2004 2:41 PMPrevious: October 22, 2004
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