ABSTRACT
The doctrinal origins of the philosophy of the bomb emerged in the nineteenth century but its antecedents predate the invention of modern explosives. Terrorism has always been justified as a means of resisting despotism and as such its origins are of course to be found in antiquity. The only victim of Nechaev's terrorism was a fellow conspirator, a student, Ivan Ivanovich Ivanov, who was killed in 1869 by his com rades for reasons which have remained obscure. Romanenko's views were on similar lines: terrorism was not only effective, it was humanitarian. Indian terrorism was relatively infrequent and on the whole quite ineffective: more often than not the Indian terrorists managed to kill some innocent bystanders rather than their intended victims. Terrorism in Spain ought to be viewed in the light of Spain's long tradition of political violence, and the country's particular social conditions. The Irish proponents of terrorism were much interested in gim micks, whereas doctrinal issues hardly bothered them.
