A History of Terrorism

This first episode will focus on the beginnings of the phenomenon, the sudden swings in history that transform the notion of resistance into a notion of terrorism. It will look at the period covering World War Two and the colonial wars.

Part Two will plunge us into the heart of terrorist organizations to examine from the inside the internationalization of the phenomenon in the 1960s, 70s and 80s. From radical groups formed in the developed world, such as the Baader-Meinhof Gang, the Red Brigade, the Japanese Red Army, and also ETA (the Basque separatists in Spain) to the appearance of Palestinian terrorism, the terrorism of the 1970s, its geopolitics, its founding fathers, its filiations and its means.

The final episode examines the reaction of modern democracies confronted by terrorism, with, as a focal point, the nebulous al-Qaeda. For this, we will look back at certain sequences of Islamist terrorism, on the campaign waged by al-Qaeda henchmen and on the "War Against Terror" led by the US and its allies after the New York attacks of 2001.