GENOCIDE
Genocide: An attempt to eliminate, in whole or in large part, a
particular group of people (such as national, ethnic, racial,
religious, social, or political groups).
Mass Murder: The intentional killing of a large number of people who
are either unwilling or unable to defend themselves.
Ethnic Cleansing: The attempt to remove a particular group of people
from a particular geographic area through the use of terror.
Discrimination: Positive or negative behavior toward a particular
group
• rules or laws directed against a group or its members;
• or practices that subordinate people of a particular group.
• positive behaviors, policies and practices that systematically
advantage one group over another.
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examples of genocide, mass murder, ethnic cleansing and discrimination
GENOCIDE
Nazis: (19331945)
Jews, Gypsies,
gays &
lesbians,
communists,
mentally ill
KILLED: @11
MILLION
Turks:
Armenians in
WWI (19141918)
KILLED:@2
MILLION
MASS
MURDER
ETHNIC
CLEANSING
Slave Trade
U.S. & Native
Americans
DISCRIMINATION
(U.S. & many
History of many nonW. European Pop. of NAs reduced Northern European
from about 2million groups in U.S.
countries):
to 500,000 over 300
@1600-1850
-- Irish, Italians,
years.
eastern Europeans,
KILLED:@20 -- mass murder
Jews, African-- starvation
MILLION
Americans, Latinos,
-- war
Turks
Asians, etc.
-- forced removals
Armenians, -- disease
Women around the
1890s
world
Yugoslavia
Serbs in Bosnia
KILLED
Hindu Caste system
300-400,000 (1980s,1990s) -terror, expulsion, and
thousands found in
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mass graves
Ethnic
GenocideCleansing
Mass murder
1. Genocide is a type of ethnic cleansing, mass murder, and discrim.
2. Ethnic cleansing is a type of discrimination.
3. Mass murder can be used for genocide and ethnic cleansing, but can
also occur for reasons other than genocide, ethnic cleansing, and
discrimination.
4. There are many types of discrimination that have nothing to do with
genocide, ethnic cleansing, or mass murder.
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Relationships between Democide, Mass Murder,
and Genocide
Democide
Genocide
All genocides are democides.
Most mass murder is democide.
Some mass murder is genocide, but some is not.
mass
murder
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Mass Murder and Genocide in the 20th Century
from R. J. Rummel, http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills
TOTALITARIAN REGIMES
USSR, 1917-1987
Chinese Communists, 1923-1987
Nazi Germany, 1933-1945
62,000,000
39,000,000
21,000,000
AUTHORITARIAN REGIMES
Chinese Nationalists, 1928-1949
Japan, 1936-1945
Turkey, 1909-1923
Cambodia, 1975-1980
10,000,000
6,000,000
2,600,000
2,000,000
Note: These numbers are best guesstimates. In most cases, because
of denials, secrecy, and coverups, it is impossible to know the
exact number with precision.
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Mass Killing is common in Africa
Congo
4 million deaths since 1998, prompted by endless fighting between armed
gangs/warlords.
Sudan (Darfur)
800,000 dead since 2002, in tribal/religious warfare/genocide
Uganda
Idi Amin (dictator) killed 400,000 of his own people in the 1970s and
1980s. (Last King of Scotland)
Since 2002, another 100,000 dead from rebellion in North.
Nigerian Civil War (1970s)
400,000 dead
Rwanda (1990s)
800,000 dead (about half from gov’t-sponsored genocide)
(Hotel Rwanda)
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Civilian Death Tolls by Democracies vs.
Totalitarian/Authoritarian Regimes in WWII
Numbers Approximate
Civilian Dead Resulting from
German Invasion, mass murder:
@21 million
Civilian Dead Resulting from
Allied invasion&bombing of
Germany
Total German civilian dead:
@2 million
Japanese Invasion, mass murder:
@20 million
Allied bombing (including
nuclear) of Japanese cities
Total Japanese civilian dead:
@600,000
Sources:
R. J. Rummel, http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills
Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II_casualties
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_deaths_and_atrocities_of_the_twentieth_century
J.V. O’Brien, http://web.jjay.cuny.edu/~jobrien/reference/ob62.html
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Civilian Deaths in the Modern Middle East,
since 1975
Authoritarian Regimes:
Ethiopia: 800,000 (“class enemies,” Eritrean war)
Iraq: 100,000 (Kurds, Shi’ites, Kuwaitis)
Iran: 60,000 (Kurds, Bahai, Monarchists)
Sudan: 2,000,000 (Darfur, Africans, Christians)
Syria: 21,000 Kurds, Sunnis
Democracy:
Israel: @15,000 (Palestinians, Lebanese)
Sources: http://genocidewatch.org/aboutgenocide/genpolmmchart.htm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3694350.stm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1982_Lebanon_War#Casualties
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Civilian Deaths by
Authoritarian Regimes vs. Democracies
Authoritarian/Totalitarian
Regimes
Democracies
WWII
Modern
Middle East
35 million
3 million
2.5-3 million
@15,000
llustrates two key points:
1. War pushes democracies in an authoritarian direction
• democracies kill civilians mostly during wars
• willingness to cause and justify civilian deaths
2. Democracies almost never commit mass murder of their
own people, whereas authoritarian and totalitarian
regimes frequently do so.
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