Spoils of War

Here are two more words courtesy of those who follow in William F. Buckley’s footsteps and refuse to eschew words that require a dictionary. Both have come from the pages of National Review.


Irredentism is the collective noun form of the individual noun irredentist, and has nothing to do with dentists, but does have a connection to redemption. When referring to the Italian political party formed in 1878 it should be capitalized. That party sought to recover for Italy regions adjacent to its borders (Tyrol, Nice, Corsica, etc.) that were inhabited largely by Italians but were not under Italian control. An irredentist is anyone who advocates a policy of recovering territory formerly part of their country. Mexicans who want the southwest USA back would be irredentists. Those in the US who think we should take back the Panama Canal also fit this category.

In its broad usage, irredentism refers to any type of seeking of recovery of what was formerly owned – a business divestiture that is rued, the selling of personal property and trying to regain it, even a couple trying to work out their differences after the relationship has broken up (or down – interesting how both directions convey the same thing).

The Italian name of the political party, Irredentista, comes from the Italian word for unredeemed, which is irredenta.

Revanchism is a word related to irredentism in its concept. It refers to “the revengeful spirit moving a defeated nation to aggressively seek restoration of territories.”  The individual form – revanchist – is not in my dictionary.

According to etymonline.com, the word is of French origin, having come to English in 1926 from the French word revanche, or the noun form revanchiste. Revanche is literally translated revenge, a much different emotion than redemption. Etymonline.com says its coinage related to the recovery of territory lost by Germany after World War I, but that doesn’t make sense to me. I prefer to accept the Wikipedia explanation, which attributes its origin to the movement in France after the loss of Alsace-Lorraine as a result of the Franco-Prussian war of 1870-1871. Alsace-Lorraine is a ping-pong ball of territory that went back and forth between French and German and Swiss and Hapsburg and independent and other territorial status 10 times between 1465 and 1945.

Revanchism is similar to irredentism, but where irredentism seeks inclusion of territory because of its continuing connections and is more positive in its motivation (at least on the surface), revanchism has a more negative motivation. Where irrendentism is the couple seeking to restore a relationship, revanchism is the scorned lover seeking through every means possible to “make them pay.” Where irredentism is the seeking to regain a business that shouldn’t have been sold off, revanchism is trying to get back a business lost in a hostile takeover.

So, the difference between irredentism and revanchism is not only one of tone but of intent. One could make the case that your irredentism would lead to my revanchism. The case could also be made that revanchism is a negative motivation for, and one type of, irredentism. They are close enough in definition to be interchangeable, as long as you knowingly use revanchism when you wish to convey a vengeful motivation.