Motifs and Motives

Lauren Journet

Professor Shirk

Global Politics of Terrorism

25 February 2018

Motifs and Motives

            During the early 1700s, the Golden Age of Piracy roared in popularity as pirates took over ships and claimed fortune and followers. Towards the end of the 1700s, the Reign of Terror took the lives of the noble and civilian alike. The early 1900s and the Holocaust brought methods of eugenics and ethnic cleansing to an entire country. Beginning with the Golden Age of Piracy and the Reign of Terror and then shifting towards the Holocaust, there appears to be a theme with the attacks that occurred across the globe. Not only are these three periods of time examples of extraneous violence, but these incidents of terror also stem from both political and economic motives.

The pirates came to power during the Golden Age of Piracy from the years of 1716 to 1726. At this time, there was an expansion in trade and commerce across the Atlantic Ocean, giving pirates access to valuable goods on ships. At first glance, pirates seem like merely troubled criminals. But the political effects of the time were paramount. The pirates were well acquainted with their surrounding political circumstances. However, their knowledge of the absolute monarchy did not mean that they respected its power. In fact, the pirates directly rejected the monarchy. Being against trade meant being against the empire. Even some of the more developed countries such as Britain, France, Portugal, and Spain were not powerful enough to protect themselves from the pirates (“Golden Age of Piracy”). They lacked the fleets and men necessary to successfully regulate the pirates- another testament to the political atmosphere of the Golden Age of Piracy. The more obvious motivations were still present, and economics did play a large role in piracy. The pirates collected immense riches while simultaneously wreaking havoc on the system of trade. The pirates were stealing money and goods not only to make a statement but also out of pure enjoyment. Most pirates associated their time on the ship with a vacation from the normal life of poverty.

The Reign of Terror took place in France and lasted from September of 1793 to July of 1794. During this time, there were about 16,594 death sentences in the country. While savage, these sentences were did not come without warning. The political infrastructure in France was crumbling, with the traditional absolute monarchy faltering. The leader at the time, King Louis XVI, called the Etats-General into session for assistance and was shocked when the assembly refused to disband until a new constitution was created. The functions of the monarchy were then suspended, and the king and queen were held prisoner before both being executed (“Marie Antoinette and the French Revolution”). In The French Revolution and Early European Revolutionary Terrorism, Mike Rapport explains, “Private citizens also had a part to play, not least in offering denunciations and information on ‘suspects’” (Rapport 68). Anyone who was suspected to support the nobility was executed along with the king and the queen. This made up a great portion of the 16,594 death sentences. There were also outstanding economic difficulties in France. The country was deep in their debts due to a series of wars fought and financed alike, such as the Seven Years War. In addition, the noble paid little to no taxes but spent excessive amounts of money living their lavish lifestyles.

            The Holocaust itself lasted from roughly 1939 to 1941, but years of oppression and destruction preceded and followed this timeline. Many people know this to be an era of time in which mass genocides and killings were rampid, but there was much more that contributed to the madness. The Treaty of Versailles, effective in 1920, initiated the Guilt Clause, which labeled Germany as an aggressor of World War One. This clause restricted the German army to 100,000 troops and resulted in reparations for the country. The Nazi Party then ran on an anti-government nationalist platform. After this, when Hitler came to power, he used politics to spread the ideas of eugenics and the oppression of Jewish people. The Law for the Prevention of Genetically Diseased Offspring (1933) constructed a mass sterilization program. The Blood Protection Law (1935) criminalized marital and sexual relations with Jewish persons (“The Holocaust and World War II: Timeline”). Hitler implemented these laws and used his political power to isolate the entire groups of people, the Jewish population included. But this maltreatment also stemmed from a deficient economic system. Germany’s state of depression worsened following the Treaty of Versailles. The country was crippled by debt and high unemployment after World War One.

            The Golden Age of Piracy, the Reign of Terror, and the Holocaust all claimed countless lives. On the surface, these attacks appear as isolated incidents of violence. Spanning across nearly two hundred years, each of the incidents shares a common trait. A closer examination of the three attacks brings a theme of political and economic motives to light. This understanding of the three incidents serves as an explanation for the use of violence amongst three very different dominating powers- the pirates, the French, and Hitler.

Works Cited

“Golden Age of Piracy.” Notorious Privateers, Buccaneers, Pirates and

Their Exploits, www.goldenageofpiracy.org/.

“The Holocaust and World War II: Timeline.” United States Holocaust Memorial Museum,

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum,

www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007653.

“Marie Antoinette and the French Revolution.” PBS, Public Broadcasting Service,

www.pbs.org/marieantoinette/timeline/reign.html.

Rapport, Mike. “The French Revolution and Early European Revolutionary Terrorism.” The

Routledge History of Terrorism, Routledge Publishing, 2015.