The UK had over 350 deaths in one year alone! Really reminds one what the UK was dealing with during the height of the conflicts in Northern Ireland.<p>Also helps me at least understand why the UK feels a little more fortress like (cameras everywhere, very strong intelligence services, my fellow Brits also seem quite supportive of surveillance measures). They've been dealing with terrorism for 40+ years. Just as I noticed a massive shift in mood visiting the US pre-9/11 vs post 9/11 I wonder what the national mood was like in the UK before the violence spiralled.
"Why does it look like the level of fear in Western Europe is so much higher today than in the 1970s and 1980s?"
I can only answer for Germany, but I doubt the level of fear was lower at the height of the RAF in the 70s/80s. There were fewer deaths than in, say, Paris, and the attacks were concentrated mostly at businessmen and politicians. Yet there was a very widespread fear in the late 70s and early 80s, and pretty desperate measures as well (google "Berufsverbot" - people in communist parties were forbidden to work in certain professions).