Who were the world’s first terrorists?
The Taliban, al-Qaeda, ISIS … sadly the murderous activities of these groups follow in a long and bloody history of the use of terrorism to advance political and religious aims.
You could make a case that the first modern terrorists were a Russian group called People’s Will. They were formed in 1879 and they assassinated Tsar Alexander II in 1881. You can learn more about People’s Will here.
I came across this group recently when it was mentioned in the third and last episode of the fascinating BBC4 television series “Empire Of The Tsars: Romanov Russia With Lucy Worsley” – see here.
We have been to St Petersburg and seen the site of the assassination of Alexander II which is now marked with an amazing church – see the account of our visit here.