PROBLEMS IN DESCRIBING TERRORISM ARISE FROM THE DIVERGENCE BETWEEN POLITICAL AND HISTORICAL ANALYSIS, AND THE LEGAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL FIGHT AGAINST TERRORISM; THE FAILURE OF INDIVIDUALS WHO SUFFER FROM TERRORISM IN EVERYDAY LIFE TO SEE ITS DIVERSE ORIGINS; AND THE DANGER OF PRESENTING A MODEL FOR WAR-BY-PROXY ON THE LEVEL OF STATES OR SOCIAL SYSTEMS. TERRORISM IS DEFINED AS THE USE OF FORCE BY A SMALL, ISOLATED GROUP NOT POWERFUL ENOUGH TO ATTACK THE ESTABLISHED POWER STRUCTURE WITH CONVENTIONAL METHODS. TERRORIST GROUPS ARE GENERALLY FORMED AS PART OF NATIONAL OR ANTICOLONIAL MOVEMENTS, REGIONAL SEPARATIST MOVEMENTS, SOCIAL-REVOLUTIONARY ASSOCIATIONS, VIGILANTE GROUPS, OR OPPOSITION MOVEMENTS IN DICTATORSHIPS. OPERATING ACCORDING TO A STRATEGY OF FEAR, TERRORISM HAS ESCALATED SINCE THE NINETEENTH CENTURY TO A CONCEPT OF TOTAL WAR ON AN INTERNATIONAL LEVEL. THE MOST MODERN WEAPONS AND MEANS OF COMMUNICATION SERVE TO HEIGHTEN THE GENERAL PUBLIC SENSE OF FEAR WHILE DRIVING THE TERRORISTS TO INCREASINGLY RADICAL ACTS. THE ORIGINS OF THE BASQUES, THE IRISH REPUBLICAN ARMY, THE CELTS AND THE CORSICANS ARE TRACED, WHOSE COMMON CHARACTERISTICS ARE DENIAL OF PARTICIPATION TO THE GROUP, A FEELING OF COMMON IDENTITY AMONG MEMBERS, AND GENERALLY UNDERSTANDABLE COMPLAINTS. THE PALESTINIAN MOVEMENT IS EXAMINED FROM ITS ORIGINS IN JEWISH-ARAB TERRITORIAL DISPUTES TO INTERNATIONAL LEGITIMATION OF THE PALESTINIAN LIBERATION ORGANISATION BY UNITED NATION RECOGNITION IN 1974. TERRORISM IN INDUSTRIAL STATES, ESPECIALLY IN WEST GERMANY, IS ATTRIBUTED TO VIOLENT, ROMANTIC REJECTION OF EXISTING SOCIETY WITH EMPHASIS ON IMMEDIATE ACTION. THE VARIOUS MOVEMENTS FORM A LOOSE, FLEXIBLE NETWORK OF INTERNATIONAL TERRORISTS WHICH CAN SERIOUSLY IMPAIR INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION, GENERALLY LIMIT INDIVIDUAL FREEDOM, AND THREATEN THE INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL SECURITY OF VARIOUS STATES. SUMMARY DESCRIPTIONS OF THE KNOWN TERRORIST ORGANISATIONS, AND EXTENSIVE NOTES ARE PROVIDED. --IN GERMAN. (KMD)