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Contemporary History Topic 03: Genocide & Global Inaction

Contemporary History Topic 03: Genocide & Global Inaction. What is genocide?. Gen•o•cide The systematic and planned extermination of an entire national, racial, political, or ethnic group. [ Topic 03: Genocide & Global Inaction ]. Infamous Genocides.

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Contemporary History Topic 03: Genocide & Global Inaction

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  1. Contemporary History Topic 03: Genocide & Global Inaction

  2. What is genocide? Gen•o•cide The systematic and planned extermination of an entire national, racial, political, or ethnic group. [Topic 03: Genocide & Global Inaction]

  3. Infamous Genocides • With the definition of genocide in mind, list as many 20th Century genocides as you can… [Topic 03: Genocide & Global Inaction]

  4. Infamous Genocides The Herero Genocide, Namibia, 1904-05 Death toll: 60,000 (3/4 of the population) The Armenian Genocide, Ottoman Emp., 1915-23 Death toll: Up to 1.5 million The Ukrainian Famine, 1932-1933 Death toll: 7 million The Nanking Massacre, 1937-1938 Death toll: 300,000 (50% of the pop) The World War II Holocaust, Europe, 1942-45 Death toll: 6 million Jews, and millions of others The Cambodian Genocide, 1975-79 Death toll: 2 million The East Timor Genocide, E. Timor, 1975- 1999 Death toll: 120,000 (20% of the population) The Mayan Genocide, Guatemala, 1981-83 Death toll: Tens of thousands Iraq, 1988 Death toll: 50-100,000 The Bosnian Genocide, Bosnia, 1991-1995 Death toll: 8,000 The Rwandan Genocide, Rwanda, 1994 Death toll: 800,000 The Darfur Genocide, Sudan , 2003-present Death toll: Debated. 500,000? [Topic 03: Genocide & Global Inaction]

  5. The Herero Genocide, Namibia, 1904-05 • Under German colonial rule, German Southwest Africa is modern day Namibia; • German Lieutenant-General Lothar von Trotha said, “I wipe out rebellious tribes with streams of blood and streams of money. Only following this cleansing can something new emerge”; • von Trotha issued his order to exterminate the Herero from the region. • Any Herero found within German borders, with or without a gun, will be shot. No prisoners will be taken. This is my decision for the Herero people'. [Topic 03: Genocide & Global Inaction]

  6. The Armenian Genocide, Ottoman Empire, 1915-23 • U.S. Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, Henry Morgenthau Sr., concluded a “race murder” was occurring. He cabled Washington and described the Turkish campaign: • “Persecution of Armenians assuming unprecedented proportions. Reports from widely scattered districts indicate systematic attempt to uproot peaceful Armenian populations and through arbitrary arrests, terrible tortures, expulsions and deportations from one end of the Empire to the other accompanied by frequent instances of rape, pillage, and murder turning into massacre, to bring destruction and destitution on them. • These measures are not in response to popular or fanatical demand but are purely arbitrary and directed from Constantinople in the name of military necessity, often in districts where no military operations are likely to take place…there seems to be a systematic plan to crush the Armenian race.” [Topic 03: Genocide & Global Inaction]

  7. The Armenian Genocide, Ottoman Empire, 1915-23 • To this day, the Turks deny that the Genocide occurred, and is a VERY controversial issue to the Turks; • Turkey suspended its military ties with France in 2006 after the French Parliament's lower house adopted a bill that that would have made it a crime to deny that the Armenian killings constituted a genocide; • 23 countries acknowledge the event was genocide; • In early October 2007, the U.S. Congress opened debate on whether or not to declare the Armenian event a genocide… [Topic 03: Genocide & Global Inaction]

  8. The Ukrainian Famine, 1932-33 • Joseph Stalin, leader of the Soviet Union, set in motion events designed to cause a famine in the Ukraine to destroy the people there seeking independence from his rule; • As a result, an estimated 7,000,000 persons perished in this farming area, known as the breadbasket of Europe, with the people deprived of the food they had grown with their own hands… [Topic 03: Genocide & Global Inaction]

  9. The Nanking Massacre, 1937-38 • In December of 1937, the Japanese Imperial Army marched into China's capital city of Nanking and proceeded to murder 300,000 out of 600,000 civilians and soldiers in the city; • The six weeks of carnage would become known as the Rape of Nanking and represented the single worst atrocity during the World War II era in either the European or Pacific theaters of war… [Topic 03: Genocide & Global Inaction]

  10. The Holocaust, Europe, 1939-45 • The Holocaust was the systematic, bureaucratic, state-sponsored persecution and murder of approximately six million Jews by the Nazi regime and its collaborators; • “Holocaust” is a word of Greek origin meaning “sacrifice by fire”; • The Nazis, who came to power in Germany in January 1933, believed that Germans were “racially superior” and that the Jews, deemed “inferior”, were an alien threat to the so-called German racial community… [Topic 03: Genocide & Global Inaction]

  11. The Cambodian Genocide, 1975-79 • Under the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia, 2 million people were executed in places known as the Killing Fields; • Reasons included crimes or opposition to the government; • Khmer Rouge Slogan: • “To spare you is no profit, to destroy you is no loss.” • The massacres ended in 1979, when Communist Vietnam invaded the country and toppled the Khmer Rouge regime… [Topic 03: Genocide & Global Inaction]

  12. The East Timor Genocide, 1975-99 • The Indonesian invasion of East Timor in December 1975 set the stage for the long, bloody, and disastrous occupation of the territory that ended only after an international peacekeeping force was introduced in 1999; • Only gained worldwide attentionafter the Santa Cruz Massacre… [Topic 03: Genocide & Global Inaction]

  13. The Mayan Genocide, Guatemala, 1975-99 In the words of the 1999 UN-sponsored report on the civil war: “The Army's perception of Mayan communities as natural allies of the guerrillas contributed to increasing and aggravating the human rights violations perpetrated against them, demonstrating an aggressive racist component of extreme cruelty that led to extermination en masse of defenseless Mayan communities, including children, women and the elderly, through methods whose cruelty has outraged the moral conscience of the civilized world.” [Topic 03: Genocide & Global Inaction]

  14. The Iraq Genocide, 1988 • The Anfal Campaign against the Kurds was a systematic and deliberate murder of at least 50,000 and possibly as many as 100,000 Kurds; • It was the culmination of a long term strategy to solve what the government saw as its “Kurdish Problem”; • Halabja was one chapter of this campaign in which chemical weapons were used against this Kurdish Village… [Topic 03: Genocide & Global Inaction]

  15. The Rwandan Genocide, Rwanda, 1994 • The origin of the conflict was tribal, pitting Hutus against the minority Tutsis; • The Belgian gov’t had given control to the tribal minority Tutsis during periods of colonization; • When the Belgians acquired the land from the Treaty of Versailles in 1918, they split the two; • Everyone who was not a Tutsi was labeled a Hutu; • Gov’t passcards gave preferential treatment to Tutsis… [Topic 03: Genocide & Global Inaction]

  16. The Rwandan Genocide • People were often killed by their neighbors and fellow villagers; • Most killing was done by machete; • Ordinary citizens formed Hutu gangs and were encouraged by state-sponsored radio to kill their neighbors; • Everyone killed so that they would not be killed… [Topic 03: Genocide & Global Inaction]

  17. The Darfur Genocide • Gov’t sponsored killings via Janjaweed militias; • Extermination of black Africans to gain access to their land; • Systematic rape being used as a weapon; • Estimated that 300,000 to 600,000 people have been killed, mostly men; • 15,000 people a day at its peak; • 3 million+ in refugee camps… [Topic 03: Genocide & Global Inaction]

  18. The Darfur Genocide • The countries that are currently supplying the Sudanese gov’t with arms are: • China, Russia, France, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Belarus, Poland, and Lithuania; [Topic 03: Genocide & Global Inaction]

  19. The United States Response • Rwanda • The United Nations peacekeepers consisted of United States, France, Belgium, and Italy; • Ten Belgian soldiers were captured, tortured, and killed by the Hutus; • The UN removed all peacekeepers… [Topic 03: Genocide & Global Inaction]

  20. The Sociology of Genocide • Research Questions • [Answer the following questions with 150-200 word responses. Being sure to make your point clear.] • What societal factors lead to neighbors becoming genocidal killers of neighbors? • Should the United States respond to acts of genocide? If so, when? If not, why? • At what point does an act of violence become genocide? [Topic 03: Genocide & Global Inaction]

  21. The Eight Stages of Genocide Source: Dr. Gregory Stanton, Genocide Watch [Topic 03: Genocide & Global Inaction]

  22. The Eight Stages of Genocide • Understanding the genocidal process is one of the most important steps in preventing future genocides; • The Eight Stages were first outlined by Dr. Gregory Stanton, US Dept. of State, 1996; • The first six stages are Early Warnings: • Classification; • Symbolization; • Dehumanization; • Organization; • Polarization; • Preparation… Source: Dr. Gregory Stanton, Genocide Watch [Topic 03: Genocide & Global Inaction]

  23. Stage 01: Classification • “Us vs. Them” Mentality; • Distinguish by nationality, ethnicity, race, or religion; • Bipolar societies (Rwanda) most likely to have genocide because no way for classifications to fade away through inter-marriage; • Classification is a primary method of dividing society and creating a power struggle between groups… Source: Dr. Gregory Stanton, Genocide Watch [Topic 03: Genocide & Global Inaction]

  24. Stage 01: Classification Belgian colonialists believed Tutsis were a naturally superior nobility, descended from the Israelite tribe of Ham. The Rwandan royalty was Tutsi. Belgians distinguished between Hutus and Tutsis by nose size, height & eye type. Another indicator to distinguish Hutu farmers from Tutsi pastoralists was the number of cattle owned. Source: Dr. Gregory Stanton, Genocide Watch [Topic 03: Genocide & Global Inaction]

  25. Stage 02: Symbolization • Names: “Jew”, “German”, “Hutu”, “Tutsi”; • Languages; • Types of dress; • Group uniforms: Nazi Swastika armbands • Colors and religious symbols: • Yellow star for Jews • Blue checked scarf Eastern Zone in Cambodia Source: Dr. Gregory Stanton, Genocide Watch [Topic 03: Genocide & Global Inaction]

  26. Stage 02: Symbolization “Ethnicity” was first noted on cards by Belgian Colonial Authorities in 1933. Tutsis were given access to limited education programs. Hutus were given less assistance by colonial authorities. At independence, these preferences were reversed. Hutus were favored. These ID cards were later used to distinguish Tutsis from Hutus in the 1994 massacres of Tutsis and moderate Hutus that resulted in 800,000+ deaths. Source: Dr. Gregory Stanton, Genocide Watch [Topic 03: Genocide & Global Inaction]

  27. Stage 02: Symbolization The Nazis required the yellow Star of David emblem to be worn by nearly all Jews in Nazi-occupied Europe by 1941. Source: Dr. Gregory Stanton, Genocide Watch [Topic 03: Genocide & Global Inaction]

  28. Stage 02: Symbolization Jewish Passport: “Reisepäss” Required to be carried by all Jews by 1938. This preceded the yellow star. Source: Dr. Gregory Stanton, Genocide Watch [Topic 03: Genocide & Global Inaction]

  29. Stage 02: Symbolization Under the Nazis, homosexuals were identified by pink triangles. The symbols identified homosexuals to SS guards in the camps. They also caused discrimination by fellow inmates who shunned homosexuals . Source: Dr. Gregory Stanton, Genocide Watch [Topic 03: Genocide & Global Inaction]

  30. Stage 02: Symbolization People in the Eastern Zone of Cambodia, near Vietnam, were accused of having “Khmer bodies, but Vietnamese heads.” They were deported to other areas to be worked to death. They were marked with a blue and white checked scarf, known as a Kroma. Source: Dr. Gregory Stanton, Genocide Watch [Topic 03: Genocide & Global Inaction]

  31. Stage 03: Dehumanization • One group denies the humanity of another group, and makes the victim group seem subhuman; • Dehumanization overcomes the normal human revulsion against murder… Der Stürmer Nazi Newspaper: “The Blood Flows; The Jew Grins” Kangura Newspaper, Rwanda: “The Solution for Tutsi Cockroaches” Source: Dr. Gregory Stanton, Genocide Watch [Topic 03: Genocide & Global Inaction]

  32. Stage 02: Dehumanization From a Nazi propaganda pamphlet. Caption: Does the same soul dwell in these bodies? Source: Dr. Gregory Stanton, Genocide Watch [Topic 03: Genocide & Global Inaction]

  33. Stage 03: Dehumanization • Hate propaganda in speeches, print and on hate radio vilify the victim group; • Members of the victim group are described as animals, vermin, and diseases. Hate radio, Radio Libre des Mille Collines, during the Rwandan genocide in 1994, broadcast anti-Tutsi messages like “kill the cockroaches” and “If this disease is not treated immediately, it will destroy all the Hutu.” • Dehumanization justifies murder by calling it “ethnic cleansing,” or “purification”, such euphemisms hide the horror of mass murder… Source: Dr. Gregory Stanton, Genocide Watch [Topic 03: Genocide & Global Inaction]

  34. Stage 04: Organization • Genocide is a group crime, so must be organized; • The state usually organizes, arms and financially supports the groups that conduct the genocidal massacres; • Plans are made by elites for a “final solution” of genocidal killings… Source: Dr. Gregory Stanton, Genocide Watch [Topic 03: Genocide & Global Inaction]

  35. Stage 04: Organization • “Hutu Power” elites armed youth militias called Interahamwe [Those who stand together]; • The government and “Hutu Power” businessmen provided the militias with over 500,000 machetes and other arms and set up camps to train them to “protect their villages” by exterminating every Tutsi… Source: Dr. Gregory Stanton, Genocide Watch [Topic 03: Genocide & Global Inaction]

  36. Stage 05: Polarization • Extremists drive the groups apart; • Hate groups broadcast and print polarizing propaganda; • Laws are passed that forbid intermarriage or social interaction; • Political moderates are silenced, threatened and intimidated, and killed… Source: Dr. Gregory Stanton, Genocide Watch [Topic 03: Genocide & Global Inaction]

  37. Stage 05: Polarization • Attacks are staged and blamed on targeted groups. • In Germany, the Reichstag fire was blamed on Jewish Communists in 1933. • Cultural centers of targeted groups are attacked. • On Kristalnacht in 1938, hundreds of synagogues were burned. Source: Dr. Gregory Stanton, Genocide Watch [Topic 03: Genocide & Global Inaction]

  38. Stage 06: Preparation • Members of victim groups are forced to wear identifying symbols; • Death lists are made; • Victims are separated because of their ethnic or religious identity… Source: Dr. Gregory Stanton, Genocide Watch [Topic 03: Genocide & Global Inaction]

  39. Stage 06: Preparation • Weapons for killing are stock-piled; • Extermination camps are built; • This build- up of killing capacity is a major step towards actual genocide… Source: Dr. Gregory Stanton, Genocide Watch [Topic 03: Genocide & Global Inaction]

  40. Stage 07: Extermination [Genocide] • Extermination begins, and becomes the mass killing legally called “genocide”; • Most genocide is committed by governments… Source: Dr. Gregory Stanton, Genocide Watch [Topic 03: Genocide & Global Inaction]

  41. Stage 07: Extermination [Genocide] Government organized extermination of Tutsis in Rwanda in 1994. Source: Dr. Gregory Stanton, Genocide Watch [Topic 03: Genocide & Global Inaction]

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