Hostage

A hostage is the victim of a hostage situation and thus a prisoner.

Throughout history, people have to guarantee that a contract will be respected, taken hostage by the other Party and had to live there. Often it was the sons of distinguished representatives of tributary states. These were usually treated and educated honorably in the host country. Well-known examples are Theodoric the Great and Attila.

The doctrine of nuclear deterrence included the idea that deterrence is more effective when no country had nearly enough shelter places. The population thus came to the role of a hostage.

Today hostage by criminals be taken as prisoners to use them to extort a ransom, to enforce terrorist demands or to secure the trigger.

From a hostage is when the period of captivity takes longer.