The 1904 Assassination of Governor General Bobrikov: Tyrannicide, Anarchism, and the Expanding Scope of “Terrorism”

Abstract

The little-known assassination in 1904 of governor general Bobrikov, the Russian ruler of Finland, by the Finnish Senate clerk Eugen Schauman can be explained as an act of tyrannicide, anarchism, or terrorism. The article analyzes the question of which category this deed fits into and discusses the local and international background of one of the most significant acts of violence in Nordic history. It also postulates that around the time of Bobrikov’s murder in 1904 a fundamental shift occurred in the usage of the term “terrorism,” which began to replace “anarchism” as the standard signifier for violent crimes against civilization as well as against specific political grievances and institutions.