FILIP SZCZEPAŃSKI

Questions Zamoyski:
1. ‘Phantom terror’ is a metaphorical title. In his text, Zamoyski depicts how rulers, state
administration, and governing bodies in general, fear revolution to a degree that makes
them see potential conspiracies in every sort of anti-government or even anti-‘current-
state-of-affairs’ movement. The author shows (on the example of situation from early 19 th
century) how movements are put down by the governing bodies (the Peterloo Massacre
for instance). In the title, Zamoyski puts emphasis on the word ‘phantom’ to remark that
those movements are not necessarily a real danger; some of them are, in fact, more likely
to be called ‘peaceful’. Moreover, ‘phantom terror’ could refer to the way how
movements are supressed before they even arise. They are supressed by scrupulous
invigilation and censorship, which give the ruling body tools to not only prevent
independent, revolutionary-like actions but also manipulate the information.

2. Zamoyski’s view on the Congress of Vienna is rather ambiguous. On the one hand,
nowhere in the presented extract of his text ‘Phantom Terror’ has he led an openly
pejorative narrative, but on the other hand, at some point it is noticeable that he is in fact
sceptical. As he writes: ‘many wanted something more than just peace, order and a full
stomach’. This line brings out a suggestion that Zamoyski considers world leaders’
intentions of uniting and bringing peace to Europe as insincere and self-interested.
However, in some way he seems to admire tsar Alexander I in this international, post-
Napoleonic disorder. Adam Zamoyski’s view on tsar’s Holy Alliance is rather favourable.
Therefore, he seems to not stand in line with the idea of one, generally-binding treaty that,
in theory, is intended to set future geopolitical rules and stabilise the situation in Europe.

3. Terrorism of the early 19th century is rather a matter of dissatisfaction and anger of certain
groups of people, either repressed or mistreated by the governments. According to
Zamoyski’s text, it was a time when terrorism was aimed directly at the authorities or
major public figures. It was being used as a form of statement and used so intensively and
frequently that heads of state were living in constant fear of being assassinated by a
discontented subordinate. Today, it is more likely that a terrorist act would be carried out
on a group of aleatory people, completely not related to the reason of the act. Moreover, as
governments seem to care more for their people, taking hostages has become much more
popular and much more significant for terrorism, as it has brought it onto a higher level of
danger for authorities and their communities. If it comes to counter-terrorism, nowadays
countries have commenced to cooperate internationally to stop terrorism. The visible
development of equipment, weaponry and civil control in general have made it much
more difficult to commit an act of terror. Both in the 21 st and 19th century, creating laws is
a form of preventing terrorism. However, suicide terrorism still remains a strongly
unsolved problem.
Questions Vick:
1&3 (combined) In his judgment of the Vienna Congress, Vick seems to try to be more
objective than Zamoyski. When Adam Zamoyski mentions that the meeting had not solely
political background, he mentions that in a substantially negative sense. Vick instantly
writes that the Congress was not meant to be purely political, but was also meant to serve
as a sort of post-Napoleonic celebration, which without a doubt took place. Moreover,
Vick elaborates on the topic of Vienna, analysing it through the prism of functioning
ideologies, views and political-psychological approach while it is playing only a
background role in Zamoyski’s work, who also analyses it rather by recalling coherent
events such as the conference of 1819, giving the Congress of Vienna a wider historical
context.

2. Conservatism, in the context of Vick’s text, is an ideology that lobbyed the return of
the pre-Napoleonic World order during the Vienna Congress. In the fragment, it
would be undoubtedly convenient to replace the word ‘conservative’ with ‘anti-
constitutional’, as for the Viennese conservatives modern constitutions seemed to be a
major issue. During the Congress they slowly started to open for more republican-like
solutions and move away from anti-constitutional approach they had been
representing.