History of terrorism

History of terrorism frightist acts or the threat of such action keep up been in existence for centuries. Historical examples of terrorist planets can be traced, in writing, to biblical times the Romans were k straightawayn to feature both practiced and been the recipients of terrorist activities. (Carr, 2003).The earliest known organizations that exhibited aspects of juvenile terrorism were the Zealots of Judea, and the Sicarri, theand Jewish conclaves brisk during the Roman occupation of the first century Middle East. The preferential weapon of the Sicarri (literally, Dagger Men) was the sica, a short dagger which they apply it for murdering those those (mainly Jews) they believed to be traitorsy deemed apo disk operating system and, thus, selected for execution.The Zealots, who chiefly targeted Romans and Greeks, gave the modern term Zealot, one translation of which is a fanatical partisan.. (Merriam-Webster, 1984).such(prenominal) killings usually took place in daylight and in front of witnesses, with the perpetrators using such acts to send a message to the Roman authorities and the Jews who collaborated with them. This tactic was adopted by subsequent generation of groups which are now known as terrorists.The Assassins, too deemed as a terrorist organization, were an eleventh century offshoot of a Shia Muslim sect known as the Ismailis.They too maybe also recognized the significance of high publicity as do contemporary terrorists.Like the Zealots-Sicarri, the Assassins were also given to stabbing their victims (generally politicians or clerics who ref uptaked to adopt the purified strain of Islam they were forcibly spreading) (Bugress, 2003 Rapaport, 1965). The term Assassin (from where the modern term assassination is derived) literally meant hashish eater- , -which is in reference to the ritualistic drug-taking, they were perhaps falsely rumored to indulge in prior to undertaking their murderous missions. (Bugress, 2003 Rapaport, 1965). Often, the Assassins deeds were carried out at religious sites on holy days a tactic intend to publicize their make believe and incite differents to it.Similar to the numerous religiously motivated terrorists nowadays, they also looked at their deaths on such actions as sacrificial. Even though both the Zealots and the Assassins operated in the past, they are pertinent at once First as forerunners of modern terrorists in aspects of motivation, organization, targeting, and goals. Secondly, although both were eventual failures, the fact that they are remembered hundreds of years later, demonstrates the deep psychological impact they caused.Sacrifice was also a central element of the killings carried out by the Thugees (from which the word thug is derived). They were the followers of an Indian religious cult which ritually strang conduct their victims (usually travelers chosen at random) as an offering to the Hindu goddess of terror and destruction, Kali. In this case, the intent w as to terrify the victim (a vital consideration in the Thugee ritual) rather than influencing each external audience.The Thugees were active from the seventh until the mid-nineteenth centuries. They were known to have pull as many as one million murders. Perhaps they were the last example of religiously- providential terrorism until the phenomenon re-emerged a itty-bitty over 20 years ago. According to David Rapport, Before the 19th century, religion provided the only acceptable justifications for terror. (Robespierre, 2009).Probably all holy texts (not just the Quran) have been conveniently interpreted to justify violence against differents. Robiespierre described terror as the emanation of virtue. An additional tendency at the end of 19th century was the ever-increasing wave of nationalism finishedout the serviceman, which incorporated the nation (the identity of the citizens) and the political claim. Simultaneously, the states began to stress upon the national identities of the citizens who were conquered or colonized, much homogeneous the Jews during the period of Zealots who either chose to integrate or encounter back. Over the last several decades, the most well-known, Irish nationalistic struggle has still been unresolved. Nationalism, similar to Communism was the most ideological force of the 20th century. (Burgess, 2003).Nationalists and syndicalistsThe face word terrorism comes from the regime de la terreur that prevailed in France from 1793-94. In the beginning it was a device of the state, and was intended to strengthence the authority of the new-found radical government, shielding it from elements theme to be subversive. Always value-laden, terrorism was, initially, a positive term. The French ultra leader, Maximilien Robespierre, viewed it as vital if the new French Republic was to survive its infancy, and proclaimed in 1794 thatTerror is nothing other than justice, prompt, severe, inflexible it is therefore an emanation of virtue i t is not so much a special principle as it is a consequence of the general principle of democracy applied to our countrys most urgent needs.(Hoffman, 1988). Under such rationalization, some 40,000 people were executed by guillotine, a exigency Robespierre and his top lieutenants would themselves suffered. In the meantime terrorism started to take negative undertones which it carries today. (AltThough the terrorists themselves do not consider themselves to be unconstructive or harmful to society). Edmund Burk, who demonized the French revolutionary practitioners, made the term popular in English writings.As a result of the French Revolution,new distinct concepts of nationalism and citizenship were evolved, which also led to the development of a new form of primary secular terrorism. The Italian revolutionary Carlo Pisacanes theory of the propaganda of the deed, which recognized the utility of terrorism to deliver a message to an audience other than the target, and draw attention and support to a cause was a hallmark to this new form of terrorism. (Laqueur, 1999). Pisacanes thesis was first put into practice by the Narodnaya Volya (NV), which was not in itself new and would probably have been recognizable to the Zealots-Sicarri and the Assassins. In 1878, a Russian populist group, (which was described as to Peoples Will) was formed to be in electric resistance to the Tzars regime. The groups most famous decisive action was the assassination of Alexander II inon 1 March 1881, which also effectively sealed their fate by subject bringing upon themselves, the full wrath of the Tsarist regime. Unlike most other terrorist groups, the Volya went to great lengths to avoid innocent deaths, carefully choosing their targets usually state officials who symbolized the regime. Often whippy operations rather than causing what would today be termed collateral damage. It is also called bluecalled blue on blue by the military.Volya actions inspired radicals in different place s. Anarchist terrorist groups were particularly enamored by the example set by the Russian populist Volya. Nationalist groupslike the ones in the Balkans and Ireland decided to resort to terrorism to meet their goals. As the 19th century gave way to the 20th century, terrorists attacks were carried out as far as India, Japan, and the Ottoman Empire. Two US presidents and a succession of other world leaders were victims of assassination by sundry(a) radical elements often affiliated to groups but operational without their explicit knowledge or support. 9 ( idler, 2001).As in atomic number 63 , terrorism arrived on American shoresalso arrived in America before the twentieth century Not only were Anarchists active in America throughoutall through the 1880s, but during the American Civil War, had seen acts deserving of the name, committed on both sidesAnarchists as were also instrumental in the formation of the Ku Klux Klan to fight the reconstructive memory effort which followed. (Ho ffman, 1988).Terrorism and the State Sponsored TerrorismLong before the outbreak of foundation War I in Europe in 1914, what would later be termed as state-sponsored terrorism had already started to manifest itself in Europe. For instance, many officials in the Serbian government and military were involved in supporting, training and providing arms to the various Balkan groups which were active prior to the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand inon 28 June 1914 in Sarajevo an act carried out by an activist from one such group, the Young Bosnians credited with background signal in progress the chain of events which led to the war itself. (Guelke, 1998). Similarly, the Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (MRO) survived extensively because it became for all intents and purposes a hawkshaw of the Bulgarian government, and was used mainly against Yugoslavia as well as against domestic enemies. ( Walter Laqueur )that it became for all intents and purposes a tool of the Bulg arian government, and was used mainly against Yugoslavia as well as against domestic enemies. Such examples all the way illustrate that state-sponsored terrorism is not a new phenomenon.The events in 1930s led to a fresh wave of political assassinations which justified the word terrorism. This led to proposals at the League of Nations for conventions to prevent and punish terrorism as well as to the establishment of an worldwide criminal court (neither of which came to being as they were overshadowed by the events which eventually led to World War II).12 (Volkan, 1997). Simultaneously, in between years of war, state terrorism increased a reference to the oppressive measures compel by various totalitarian regimes, particularly in Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy and Stalinist Russia.While terror from above, from the states ruling elite, was the predominant form of terror from Roman times through the French Revolution up to the present, even in the twentieth century, terror from above, such as the Hitlers Holocaust, Stalins purges, Pol Pots Killing Fields, the Rwandan massacres, and ethnic cleansing in Bosnia, has cl beforehand(predicate) claimed many more lives than the terror exerted from below. (Volkan, 1997).In the beginning of twentieth century, the term terrorism started to become synonymous with terror acts from below that attempt to disrupt, overthrow, or simply express rage against the existing political order. 14(Reich, 1990).Generally, academics agree that modern terrorism from below first surfaced as an identifiably notable entity with the emergence of the Narodnaya Volya (the Peoples Will) in Russia, at the close of the nineteenth century. This particular group harboured intellectual ideologies, and they believed that by creating an institution of the state, they could ferment a revolution to completely cleanse the existing system. They essay to accomplish this by terrorist acts such as assassinating numerous Tsarist officials, including, in 1881, th e Tsar Alexander II himself. (Parry, 1976).Even though they possessed an enduring hatred for their victims, this group showed remorse and regret for their actions, inflicting self-torture and beatings as punishment for taking the lives of their victims. In fact, they were so concerned, selective and meticulous about only killing their intended victim that if their target was accompanied by a family member, or if there was a danger that innocents dexterity be killed, they would call off the attack and wait for a better situation to present itself. (Laqueur, 2001). But they continued their actions because they comprehended that, political terror is unavoidable, moral and effective and that organized terror movements are the preferred resource to a blind, witless insurrection of dumb people. (Ivianski, 1987).More new-madely, other governments, such as those of military dictatorships which swayerd some South American countries in recent years, or the regimes in Zimbabwe, have also b een open to charges of using such methods as instruments of state. Some commentators, such as Bruce Hoffman, argue that, such usages are generally termed terror in order to distinguish that phenomenon from terrorism, which is understood to be violence committed by non-state entities. (Hoffman, 1988). However not everyone agrees that terrorism should be considered a non-governmental undertaking.For instance, Jessica Stern insists that states in deliberately bombarding civilians as a means of demoralizing enemy, states have indeed resorted to terrorism. According to Stern, such instances embarrass not only the Allied strategical bombing campaigns of World War II, andbut the American dropping of atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki that ended the Pacific phase of that conflict. (Stern, 2003). This issue covers controversial, with individuals such as the World War II British Air Chief Bomber Harris was simultaneously defended and despised for his belief in th e utility and morality of strategic bombing. It bears coincidence to the modern-day concept of collateral damage.Terrorism Sincesince World War IIIn By contrast, the predominanceprevalence of non-state groups active in the terrorism that emerged in the wake of World War II is less arguable. The immediate focus onfor such activitiesty primarily mainly shifted from Europe itself to various colonies in the continents.Across the Middle East Asia and Africa, emerging nationalist movements resisted European attempts to resume colonial business as usual after the defeat of the coalition Axis powers.As the colonialists had been recently expelled from or subjugated in their overseas empires by the Japanese, it provided psychological support to such indigenous uprisings by dispelling the myth of European invincibility.Often, these nationalist and anti-colonial groups conducted guerilla warfare, which differed from terrorism mainly in that it tended towards larger bodies of irregulars operat ing along more along towards military lines than their terrorist partners in the other regions.Similarly in China and Indochina, such forces conducted insurgencies against the Kuomintang regime and the French colonial government respectively. In other places, like the Algeria, campaigns were fought, in both rural and urban areas, using guerilla warfare, for license from French ruleStruggle for independence against British and French rule also took place in Kenya, Malaysia, Cyprus and Palestine. (Both the French and the British bore the brunt of this new wave of terrorism, a consequence of their large pre-war empires). These struggles were conducted by groups who can more pronto be described now as terrorist. These groups quickly learned to exploit the mushrooming globalization of the worlds media. According to HoffmanThey were first to recognize the publicity value inherent in terrorism and to choreograph their violence for an audience far beyond the immediate geographical loci of their respective struggles. (Hoffman, 1988).Furthermore, in some cases (such as in Algeria, Cyprus, Kenya and Israel) terrorism perhaps helped such organizations in the successful realization of their goals. As such these nationalist and anti-colonial groups are notable for any wider understanding of terrorism.Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, terrorist numbers swelledincreased to include not only nationalists, but also those motivated by ethnic and ideological considerations. Nationalists groupslike the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), and its several affiliates came into existence. Moreover, other groups mushroomed such as the Basque ETA and the Irish Republican Army (IRA). The IRA also comprised of organizations such as the Italian Red Brigade, and the Red Army faction in Germany (then West Germany). With As with the emergence of modern terrorism almost a century preliminary, the United States couldwas not remain immune from this latest wave of terrorism, although there the identity-crisis-driven motivations of the white middle-class Weathermen starkly contrasted with the ghetto-bred malcontent of the Black Panther Movement. (Lacqueur, 2001).Many of the terrorist groups of this period readily adopted methods that would allow them to publicize their goals and accomplishments internationally.The Palestinians were among one of the well-known groups who pioneered the hijacking of a gush airliner as a mode of operation and publicity. One such group, Black September, staged what was (until the terrorist attack of 9/11, 2001) perhaps the greatest terrorist publicity coup then seen, with the seizure and murder of 11 Israeli athletes at the 1972 Olympic Games.Such incidents resulted in the Palestinian groups providing the inspiration, in some cases, mentorship and training, for many of the new generation of terrorists organizations.Most of these organizations today have reduced their operations or ceased to exist altogether, whileothers, such as the Pales tinian, Northern Irish and Spanish Basque groups, motivated by more enduring causes, remain active today, although some of them now have made moves towards political rather than terrorist methods.Meanwhile, by the mid-1980s, state-sponsored terrorism re-emerged, the catalyst for the series of attacks against American and other occidental targets in the Middle East. Countries such as Iran, Iraq, Libya and Syria came to the forefront came to be supposedly believed to be the main sponsors of terrorism as a popular belief. Falling into a related to category were those countries, such as North Korea, who directly participated in covert acts of what could be described as terrorism.xviii (Guelke, 1998).In the recent years the re-emergence of the religiously inspired terrorist attacks are common. But the state-sponsored terrorism stiff a concern of the international community today ( in particular its Western constituents), although it has been somewhat overshadowed.The latest manifestat ion of this trend began in 1979, when the revolution that transformed Iran into an Islamic republic the West blamed Iran to use and support terrorism as a means of propagating its ideals beyond its own borders. (Hoffman, 1988). genuinely soon the trend had spread to places as far as Japan and the United States, and to other major world religions as well as many minor cults.Sarin gas used in Tokyo subway attack in 1995 may not have been the first breach of the psychological barrier in the use of toxic/chemical agents becausesmallpox-infected clothing was used by the Pilgrim Fathers against the indigenous tribes of North America. Also, plague-infected bodies were launched into besieged cities and used to pollute water supplies in the fourteenth century. The same year Oklahoma bombing took place in USA. At this stage, the complex mix of motivations included religion. But it was the 9/11 al Qaeda attack which made the world realize, particularly the United States, just how risky this l atest transformation had become.Contemporary TerrorismAt present, terrorism influences events on the international level to a degree which was not previously achieved. This was primarily the outcome of the 9/11 attacks in 2001 on the World Trade Center, which destroyed the symbolic Twin Towers and threatened the Pentagon. It thus dented the stronghold of America. Most Americans came to believe that an unmatched era of terrorism had erupted and the world had changed forever. Some observers of the event even believed that the daring, yet tragic, events of this particular day should be considered as an epochal moment in the history of the world. (24) (Carr, 2002). Soon after 9/11, US President George bush-league declared the start of a Global War on Terrorists an open-ended war with an undefined terminal objective. In a speech to the Congress, he committed all resources at his disposal, every means of diplomacy, every tool of intelligence, every instrument of law enforcement, and eve ry necessary weapon of war (Bertrand, S, 2003) to defeating Americas newest adversary in that nations first war of the twenty-first century. (26)(Mandelbaum, 2001).However, for most people in the world, terrorism was not new and these events, while spectacular and disturbing, did not constitute the dawn of a new era in terrorist activities. On the contrary, the attack became a continuous and developing reality for the world, which was present in different forms for centuries. Hence, for most of the world, terrorism was long-familiar and acceptable as an additional form of traditional warfare. (Henrichon, 2003). Still, for most North Americans and many other Western observers, the radical novelty of the 9/11 terrorist attacks delineated a new form of terrorism for the 21st century. (Deschenes, 2003).Since then, in the United States at least, terrorism has largely been equated to the threat posed by al Qaeda, a threat inflamed not only by the spectacular and deadly nature of the 9/1 1 attacks themselves, but by the fear that future strikes might be even more deadly and perhaps employ weapons of mass destruction.The planetary threat of terrorism by al Qaeda and its franchises, to a large extent remained egocentric, and were seen as the rhetoric of the US administration concerning a so-called Global War against Terrorism. This was far from unique, considering the implications that al Qaeda in fact intended to start a global revolution. For instance the general public of countries such as Colombia or Northern Ireland that had long faced terrorism was more thoughtless with when and where the next FARC REVOLUTIONARY ARMED FORCES OF COLOMBIA ( FARC or FARC-EP, is a Marxist-Leninist revolutionary guerrilla organization based in Colombia. They have fought in the ongoing Colombian Civil War for more than 40 years)or Real Irish Republican Army attacks would occur rather than where the next al Qaeda hit lead descend.Thus, the above reflections indicate, terrorism goes beyond al Qaeda, which it not only predates but will also outlive. Hence if terrorism is to be tackled efficiently, any consideration of intervention it must be seen beyond the threat which is presently posed by this particular organization. Consequently, without a broad-based approach, this threat of terrorism will not only be difficult to resolve, but may become uncontrollable.The Evolution of Terrorism in the Twenty-First CenturyTerrorism is continuously changing. While at the surface it remains the calculated use of unlawful violence or threat of unlawful violence to inculcate fearit is fast becoming a major strategic tool of the opposing forces. In the twenty-first century, it has become the most predominant irregular warfare strategy. It is easily adaptable to changes in facilities acquirable to the terrorists, in order to operate, gather finances, and evolve new capabilities thereby developing a different relationship with the world at large.Two major events in the first h alf of the twentieth century predisposed the nature of present-day conflicts. The effects of two World Wars inflamed passions and hopes of nationalists throughout the world, and severely damaged the legitimacy of the international order and governments. During the earlier decades of the twentieth century nationalism and radical political ideologies were the major developmental forces acting upon terrorism. After World War I the Treaty of Versailles redrew the map of Europe by breaking up the Austro-Hungarian Empire and thus created new nations. It recognized the rule of self-determination for nationalities and ethnic groups. The minorities and ethnicities not receiving recognition to campaign for independence or autonomy were thus encouraged. Nevertheless, in most cases self-determination was limited to European nations and ethnic groups and deprived the others, especially the colonial assets of the major European powers, creating bitterness and setting the stage for the long confli cts of the anti-colonial period.The Arab nationalists particularly felt that they were betrayed. Believing they were promised post-war independence, they were doubly disappointed first when the French and British were given authority over their lands and then especially when the British allowed Zionist immigration into Palestine in keeping with a promise contained in the Balfour Declaration. In the last two decades, terrorists have committed enormously violent acts for so-called political or religious reasons. Their political ideologies range from the extreme left to the extreme right. For example, the far left can consist of groups such as Marxists and Leninists who propose a revolution of workers led by revolutionary elite. On the distant right, one finds dictatorships which typically believe in an amalgamation of state and business leadership. Consequently, all Arabs have been united in their opposition to the State of Israel and to the Western Powers, particularly the United St ates. The Western world feel feels equally a sense of guilt and remorse for the treatment of the Jews during the Second World War. (Berman, 2003). Consequently, the Western powers, under the patronage of the United Nations, have championed the Israeli right to a motherland at the expense of the Palestinians. (Hoffman, 1988). On the other hand, equally important has been the growth of Wahhabism in the Arab World. The indignation of the Wahhabis was initially directed, not against Western and colonial sources, but against those practitioners of Islam whom they believed were debasing and betraying the religion from within. The Wahhabi sect became true Islamic zealots who sought to eliminate anything or anyone who failed to meet the strict standards of their belief of purity and Islamic authenticity. (Hoffman, 1988). Even though initially a creation of eighteenth century Arabian Islam, Wahhabism has flourished because of its association with the ruling parties in most Arab countries. T hese particular regimes were installed by the Western powers when the various countries were created, because these particular Arab leaders had either granted the European powers with legitimacy during their colonial rule of the region or had supported the Allied armies during the two World Wars. Under the old Arab system, brotherly injustice and power were limited. However, with the new structure of states, the oil wealth, and the prevalence of modern communications, the inequality gap has been widened and the discrepancies have become much more obvious.Hence, lacking any other outlet, new and growing discontents find expression in religious extremist movements (Hoffman, 1988), like the so called Islamic Fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood and terrorist groups like Al Qaeda. In contrast, for the Palestinian movements, which had concentrated and limited their efforts in the Middle East against Israel and for the repossession and recreation of an independent Palestinian state, these n ew organizations have a worldwide reach. Their supporters believe that the remedy for all of the ills of modernization is to return to true Islam. This thought process, included the abolition of all laws and social borrowings from the West and the restoration of the Islamic hallowed Law, the Sharia (Berman, 2003). Their aim was not only to remove the Western intruders from their homelands they also wanted to transport their message through violent means into the heart of the Western nations, especially the hegemonic United States, their most dangerous enemies, as they see it, are the false and renegade Muslims who rule the countries of the Islamic world and who have imported and imposed infidel ways on Muslim peoples. (Lewis, 2003). In addition to the traditional terrorist groups, the nationalists, and the religious, the 1980s and 1990s also saw a growth of terrorist groups with a physique of motivations, such as narco-terrorists, eco-terrorists, anti-abortionists, and sentient b eing liberationists. Some terrorists were simply motivated by common criminal activities. (Laqueur, 1999). Religious inspired terrorism has a universal a priori basis. The patterns of religious violence of the Sikhs could be exactly that of Irish Catholics or Shiite Muslims in Palestine or a fundamentalist Christian bomber of abortion clinics in the United States. (Juergensmeyer, 2001).Special interest groups include people on the radical fringe of many legitimate causes e.g., people who use terrorism to uphold antiabortion views, animal rights, and radical environmentalism. These groups consider that violence is morally justified to achieve their objectives.With the disintegration of the Soviet Union and the end of Cold War in the early 1990s, the features of international terrorism took on a new face. The changing geopolitical situation, following the end of the East-West conflicts, a third radical concept has evolved in the form of twentieth century terrorism. There was no Sovie t Union, no Warsaw Pact, no Cold War, and no consensus on what came next. (Lacqueur, 1999). However, it was now clear that the Soviets were no longer available to provide financial support or ammunitions to terrorist organizations or to their sponsoring states. (Bell, 1999).However, instead of retreating into their own nationalistic or religious cocoons, some of these terrorist groups adapted and evolved into truly global multinational organizations.As a result, counter terrorist organizations are not confronting a specific state, nor are they confined to their old norms of understanding and operations. In addition, todays terrorist groups are very well-financed. (Kushner, 1998). Such transnational groups no longer rely on handouts from sponsoring states, but, instead, have developed exceptional methods of gaining and handling their financial resources. Today robbery and ransom are replaced by high-tech criminal businesses, such as growing drugs fine processing and distribution ope rations and, finally, money laundering through legitimate businesses. (Combs, 2003). The modern terrorist is also very well-trained and well-educated. They have not only learnt from their past experiences, but also from military and criminal training methods, and integrated them into their own training programs. The former independence and isolation of many terrorist groups has given way to complex, multilayered, transnational organizational structures, resembling the corporate hierarchy of a multinational corporation. Lastly and most significantly, todays terrorist groups are said to have access to the knowledge of highly sensitive destructive weapons and have the ability to use Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs), such as chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear weaponry, although use of this type of armaments is still abhorrent to many terrorists. (Schweitzer, 1998).The use of terror has, throughout history, been known as an effective technique to achieve political, criminal , religious and ideological aims. The profound objective to use the terror was aptly captured by the fourth century BC Chinese strategist, Sun Tzu, kill one, frighten ten thousand. The Anatomy of Terror (Sinclair, 2003) indicates that history is replete with examples of the use of terror in the pursuit of religious aims (e.g. the massacres by the Crusaders) material aims (e.g. the Stranglers of Southern India who terrorized road travellers, and the Mafia) quasi-moral, and ideological aims (e.g. General Bedfords supremacist Ku Klux Klan and the Shining Path) state and political aims (e.g. the Tzarist Okrhana and the Nazi Geheime Staatspolizei) and in the current context, religio-political aims (e.g. Al Qaeda and Hamas).Terror is easier to define than terrorism. Over 100 definitions of terrorism have been evolved. Sinclair gave interesting examples of the early use of biological and chemical agents as means of inducing fear and terror. These include the use of poison gas by the Spart ans during the siege of Plataea in 428 BC the use of smallpox infected materials by the Pilgrim Fathers from England to conquer the indigenous population