Conflict, Political Violence, Terrorism, and Revolution

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering civil war definitions, political violence, terrorism strategies, social movements, and the timeline of the French Revolution.

Three Dimensions of Old vs. New Civil Wars

The three analytical criteria used to distinguish old civil wars from new civil wars: causes and motivation, support, and violence.

Old vs. New Civil War Distinctions

The contrasting characteristics across civil war eras: collective causes versus private motivations, popular support versus lack of support, and controlled violence versus gratuitous violence.

Global Civil War Toll (1945–1999)

The historical record from 1945 to 1999 during which roughly 127 civil wars occurred across 73 states, resulting in an estimated 16.2 million deaths.

Regional Distribution of Civil Wars (1945–1999)

The geographic breakdown of civil wars between 1945 and 1999: Africa (34), Asia (33), North Africa/Middle East (17), Latin America (15), the former Soviet Union (13), and the West (2).

Restrictive Definition of Violence (David Riches)

An act of physical hurt deemed legitimate by the performer and illegitimate by (some) witnesses.

Restrictive Definition of Violence (National Research Council)

Behaviors by individuals that intentionally threaten, attempt, or inflict physical harm on others.

Inclusive Definition of Violence (Barack, 2003)

Any action or structural arrangement that results in physical or nonphysical harm to one or more persons.

Inclusive Definition of Violence (Henry, 2000)

The use of power to harm another, whatever form it takes.

Harms of Reduction and Harms of Repression

The two primary categories of harm identified under inclusive conceptions of violence.

Political Violence

Violence in the political realm arising as a response by those who are forcibly prevented from peaceful participation in the processes of democratic politics.

Causes of Political Violence

Conditions leading to political violence, including state marginalization of a group's identity, interest, or culture; exclusion; lack of recognition; social deprivation or inequality; and globalization.

Democratic Responses to Political Violence

The policy responses available to liberal-democratic states facing violence, primarily institutional reforms or counter-violence and the exceptional state.

Five Goals of Terrorism

The strategic political objectives pursued by terrorist organizations: regime change, territorial change, policy change, social control, and status quo maintenance.

Attrition (Terrorist Strategy)

A strategy of terrorist violence characterized as a battle of wills, aimed at convincing the adversary that the group has the capability and resolve to impose continuous costs.

Intimidation (Terrorist Strategy)

A strategy of terrorist violence characterized as the reign of terror, aimed at deterring target populations and illustrating that the state is powerless to protect them.

Provocation (Terrorist Strategy)

A strategy of terrorist violence characterized as lighting the fuse, intended to force the state into disproportionate military retaliation that alienates the general population.

Spoiling (Terrorist Strategy)

A strategy of terrorist violence described as sabotaging the peace, designed to disrupt peaceful settlements by destroying mutual trust between moderates.

Outbidding (Terrorist Strategy)

A strategy of terrorist violence framed as zealots versus sellouts, where competing groups use attacks to prove superior resolve and claim leadership over a domestic constituency.

Suicide Terrorism

A tactical method increasingly utilized by organizations to achieve major political objectives, governed by five strategic principles and influenced by poverty, education, and ideology.

Social Movement

A persistent, organized effort by a relatively large number of people either to bring about social change or to resist it.

Reform Movements vs. Revolutionary Movements

A classification of social movements where reform movements pursue specific changes within an existing system, while revolutionary movements aim to overhaul and replace the established order.

Five Factors for a Successful Revolution

The essential structural and situational preconditions for revolution: mass frustration and popular uprisings, dissident elite political movements, unifying motivations for revolution, severe state crisis, and a permissive world context.

Theories of Revolution

The primary academic paradigms used to explain revolutionary origins: Marxism, Frustration-Aggression theory, Systems theory, Modernization theory, and Structural theory.

French Revolution (1789)

The 1789 uprising that overthrew the absolute French monarchy, leading to the creation of the National Assembly and the Declaration of the Rights of Man.

First French Republic (1792)

The republican form of government established in France in 1792 following the collapse of the royal monarchy.

Execution of King Louis XVI (1793)

The 1793 trial and execution of the deposed monarch of France by revolutionary authorities.

Coup d'état of 1799

The 1799 seizure of political power in France by Napoleon Bonaparte, which led to the creation of the Napoleonic Code and French rule across Europe.

Restoration of 1815

The return of the monarchical old regime in France in 1815 following the defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte by allied European powers.

French Republic of 1870

The end of the Second French Empire in 1870, marking the inception of a lasting republican regime in France.