Revanchism
Etymology
From French revanche, “revenge,” from revancher, “to avenge.” The term arose in France after its 1871 defeat in the Franco-Prussian War, naming the fervent desire to recover the lost provinces of Alsace and Lorraine. It has since been applied broadly to any politics animated by the wish to undo a humiliating defeat and restore lost standing.
noun · /ruh-VAHN-chiz-um/
A political drive to reverse territorial losses or national humiliations suffered in a previous conflict.
What it names
The way old defeats keep shaping present politics — grievance over a past loss becoming a motive for future confrontation.
Example
Historians traced the buildup to a revanchism nursed for a generation after the earlier war’s bitter terms.
Related idea
Irredentism centers on the land itself; revanchism centers on the grievance and the urge to avenge a defeat, of which reclaiming territory may be only one part.