In Beslan, a city in the Russian Republic of North Ossetia, militants seized a school and took 1,200 hostages in 2004. In the end, 331 people died, and nearly 800 others were injured. Given the horrific violence and the fact that the hostage-takers were ethnic foes, observers expected a violent backlash along ethnic lines. But violent retribution was minimal, and victims largely responded with peaceful activism.