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The term Communist terrorism refers to left-wing terrorism committed by various movements that claim adherence to the doctrines of Karl Marx during a revolutionary struggle, as well as to state terror during the consolidation of power after revolutionary victory.

Many Orthodox Communists have emphasized revolution over reform and offered a vision of the working classes sweeping away the capitalist system. Some of these communist movements and parties had adopted armed struggle and seen terrorism as a viable option; on the other hand some dissident leftist terrorist organisations, including some of those in Western democracies, had little faith in the working classes, believing them to have been corrupted and sometimes argued that "liberating violence" was necessary to spur the revolution on.

Origin of Revolutionary terror

German Social Democrat Karl Kautsky trace the origins of revolutionary terror to the "Reign of Terror" of the French Revolution.

Western perspectives on terrorism committed by groups claiming adherence to Communist ideology

Terrorism in the form of 'communist fighting organizations' which operated in western Europe was seen as a threat by NATO and also by the Italian, German and British governments. In recent years, there has been a marked decrease in such terrorism, which has been substantially credited to the end of the Cold War and the fall of the U.S.S.R. However, at its apogee, communism was argued by some to be the major source of international terrorism (whether inspired by the ideology or supported by its states).

See also

• List of designated terrorist organizations

Further reading

• Deletant, Dennis (1999) Communist Terror in Romania, C. Hurst & Co, ISBN 1850653860
• Adelman, Jonathan (1984) Terror and Communist Politics: The Role of the Secret Police in Communist States, Westview Press, ISBN 0865312931
• Evgeni Genchev (2003) Tales from the Dark: Testimonies about the Communist Terror, ACET 2003, ISBN 9549320014

References

1. Martin, Gus (2009). Understanding Terrorism: Challenges, Perspectives, and Issues. SAGE. p. 44. ISBN 9781412970594. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
2. Alexander, Yonah; Pluchinsky, Dennis A. (1October 1992). Europe's red terrorists: the fighting communist organizations (1st ed.). Routledge. p. 183. ISBN 978-0714634883. {{cite book}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
3. Martin, pages 223-4
4. Karl Kautsky (1919). "Revolution and Terror". Terrorism and Communism. Kautsky said: "It is, in fact, a widely spread idea that Terrorism belongs to the very essence of revolution, and that whoever wants a revolution must somehow come to some sort of terms with terrorism. As proof of this assertion, over and over again the great French Revolution has been cited." (Translated by W.H. Kerridge) {{cite book}}: External link in |chapterurl= (help); Unknown parameter |chapterurl= ignored (|chapter-url= suggested) (help)
5. The Gulag Archipelago by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
6. Paoletti, Ciro (30 December 2007). A military history of Italy. Praeger Publishers. ISBN 978-0275985059.
7. Wills, David C., The first war on terrorism: counter-terrorism policy during the Reagan administration, p. 219, Rowman & Littlefield, 2003
8. Crozier, Brian, Political victory: the elusive prize of military wars, p. 203, Transaction Publishers, 2005

• Terrorism by form