Feuds are sustained hostility between related groups, often families or clans, and can involve physical violence and revenge. They can last for generations and are difficult to end due to collective identity. Feuding is less common in nations with strong legal systems.
A feud is a sustained state of hostility between two families, clans, or other collective groups. Throughout history, there have been a few notable feuds, including that which ranged between the Hatfields and the McCoys in the American South, the Campbells and McDonals feud in Scotland, and England’s Wars of the Roses, fought between competing clans for power. Feuds also appear in fiction, perhaps most famously in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.
For it to be considered a feud, several conditions must be met. The first is that the feud typically takes place between groups that are related in some way. Classically, a feud has involved families or people who have allied themselves into a clan, although a feud can also take place between corporations, sports teams, or even schools. Each group has a very cohesive identity, so an attack on one member is treated like an attack on the entire group.
A feud must also be protracted, typically continuing through several generations. Over time, the root cause of the feud may be forgotten or distorted, but the feud is continued through a series of attacks and counterattacks. It can be very difficult to end a feud, as the collective identity of the groups involved leads people to participate in acts of revenge in solidarity, and neither side wants to admit their weakness by ending the competition.
The word was first used in the sense of revenge in 1425 and comes from the Old High German fehida, meaning “contention.” Of course, humans have been arguing with each other for much longer, of course. Historically, many feuds have taken the form of blood feuds, involving, as one might imagine, a fair amount of physical violence up to and including murder.
A feud typically begins with a perceived insult or insult. In some cases, the perception may be legitimate, as has historically been the case in nations with weak legal systems, where murderers have sometimes gone unpunished. A feud could be triggered by the murder of a family member, which required retaliation from the head of the family. Of course, once a family has taken revenge for a murder, the family that committed the crime in the first place would be forced to take revenge as well, creating a vicious cycle.
Feuding is relatively unknown in most nations with strong legal systems, as people can use the law to ensure that justice is done for things like stolen property, murder, rape, and other violations of a family or clan. However, feuding certainly still happens, especially between subcultures such as gangs and in countries with weak or corrupt legal systems.
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