Terrorism as a means for the radical groups to achieve secession: the cases of Northern Ireland and the Basque Country

Abstract

Terrorism, which has become an important phenomenon in today’s world, has its roots in many historical events that have negatively affected the welfare of certain nations. Throughout man years, several nationalist groups have found terrorist acts and methods useful in order to provoke fear in people and achieve their goals. The examples of such groups include the ones operating in Northern Ireland of the United Kingdom and the Basque Country of Spain. It is remarkable that they have made a significant effort to utilize the terrorist means for the separatist ends.

The purpose of this paper is to study the terrorist acts that were carried out by the radical groups in Northern Ireland and the Basque Country and find out whether they managed to fulfil their intentions on secession by depending on these violent measures. First and foremost, the paper is oriented on the brief description of the two cases and the essence of the thesis in the introduction. After describing research methods and reviewing the scientific sources, the focus is mainly on analyzing the cases in details in order to find out whether the terrorist activities were useful or useless for the secession. Finally, the major findings are discussed in the conclusion.