ABSTRACT
Ethnic and nationalist violence has been one of the basic causes for terrorism in the world. Terrorism may be the first step in efforts to create the nationalist feelings necessary to force the occupying colonial power to consider giving up control of the territory. When European colonial empires were being challenged after World War II, nationalist movements lacked the military power to directly confront the European military and security forces, so they had to rely on guerrilla warfare and terrorism. The Algerian National Liberation Front used both a guerrilla insurgency and urban terrorism to force France to begin the negotiations that led to independence. Many of the nationalist struggles in the world also have a strong religious element that strengthens the nationalist feeling, but the dominant political goals of the groups are separatist or involve efforts to be united with fellow members of their ethnic group.
