Revolutionary terror, also referred to as revolutionary terrorism or reign of terror,[1] refers to the institutionalized application of force to counter-revolutionaries, particularly during the French Revolution from the years 1793 to 1795 (see the Reign of Terror).[2][3] The term "Communist terrorism" has also been used to describe the revolutionary terror, from the Red Terror in Russia and Cultural Revolution in China to the reign of the Khmer Rouge[4] and others. In contrast, "reactionary terror", often called White Terrors, has been used to subdue revolutions.[5]
^Encyclopædia Britannica (2011). "revolutionary terrorism". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved 7 April 2011.
^"Social Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy", by Barrington Moore, Edward Friedman, James C. Scott (1993) ISBN0-8070-5073-3, p.101: "Social Consequences of Revolutionary Terror"