NCJ Number
62611
Date Published
1979
Length
402 pages
Annotation
VARIATIONS IN THE TECHNIQUES AND MOTIVATIONS OF POLITICAL ASSASSINS IN RUSSIA FROM 1878 TO 1938 ARE EXAMINED WITH EMPHASIS ON THE JUSTIFICATIONS FOR TERRORISM ENUNCIATED BY RUSSIAN ASSASSINS.
Abstract
AN ANALYSIS OF FOUR CRITICAL PERIODS IN RUSSIAN AND SOVIET HISTORY INDICATES THAT A PATTERN OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT OR EVOLUTION MAY LINK THE VARIOUS PATTERNS OF MOTIVATION AND LEGITIMATION. THE 19TH CENTURY ASSASSIN, KRAVCHINSKII, WAS ONE OF THE FIRST MEMBERS OF HIS GENERATION TO PUBLICALLY FAVOR TERRORISM AS A MEANS OF OPPOSING THE GOVERNMENT. HIS WRITINGS AND HIS ASSASSINATION OF THE HEAD OF THE SECRET POLICE WERE DIRECTED AT CREATING FAVORABLE PUBLIC OPINION FOR THE REVOLUTIONARY MOVEMENT IN RUSSIA. THE PREFERENCE OF KRAVCHINSKII AND HIS FOLLOWERS FOR INDIVIDUAL ACTS OF VIOLENCE, RATHER THAN MASS ACTION, WAS BASED ON JUSTIFYING THE USE OF ASSASSINATION WITH A THEORY OF PERSONAL SELF-DEFENSE. REVOLUTIONARIES COULD LEGITIMATELY KILL MEMBERS OF A CRIMINAL GOVERNMENT WHEN THE MAJORITY OF SOCIETY REMAINED SILENT TO ATTACKS BY THE SECRET POLICE. TERRORISM ALSO SERVED TO PUNISH THE OFFICIALS WHO DESERVED TO DIE FOR THEIR MISCONDUCT. BY THE 20TH CENTURY, TERRORISTS SOUGHT LEGITIMACY FOR THEIR ACTIONS IN THE COMMON VALUES OF THE REVOLUTIONARY ORGANIZATION. RATHER THAN ATTACKING SPECIFIC INDIVIDUALS, THE TERRORISTS LATER SOUGHT TO PUNISH AND DEMORALIZE THE ENTIRE GOVERNMENT. TERRORISM SERVED TO 'EQUALIZE' THE ABILITIES OF THE REVOLUTIONARIES AND THE GOVERNMENT UNTIL OPEN AGITATION BY THE MASSES COULD BE IMPLEMENTED. HOWEVER, THE TERRORISTIC METHODS OF THE REVOLUTION WERE CONTINUED BY THE COMMUNISTS FOR THE CONSOLIDATION OF THEIR REGIME. FOOTNOTES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY ARE PROVIDED. (TWK)