Mass Atrocities of the 20th Century

Introduction

  • The 20th century saw unprecedented levels of human atrocities.
  • Humans discovered more ways to kill each other than in any previous century.
  • Major causes included world wars and new technologies.
  • Extremist political ideologies led to the destruction of entire populations based on race or ethnicity.

World Wars

  • Two World Wars led to approximately 120120 million deaths (upper end estimates).
  • About half of these deaths were civilians, resulting from bombings and famine.

New Technologies

  • World War II saw the refinement of aerial warfare, including firebombing.
    • Firebombing: Setting entire urban areas on fire, killing hundreds of thousands.
  • Atomic bombs caused the death of hundreds of thousands of Japanese civilians in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Extremist Political Ideologies

  • The most sinister cause of mass atrocities was the rise of extremist political ideologies.
  • These ideologies aimed to destroy entire populations based on race or ethnicity. Three examples:
    • Armenian Genocide
    • The Holocaust
    • Cambodian Genocide

Armenian Genocide

  • Occurred at the beginning of the 20th century.
  • In 19151915-19161916, the Ottoman Empire, influenced by the Young Turks, sought to create a primarily Turkic state.
  • The large Armenian Christian population was viewed with suspicion.
  • Ottoman authorities feared Armenians might support enemy armies during World War I.
  • A program of mass extermination was initiated:
    • Outright slaughter of Armenians.
    • Forcible relocation with malnourishment and brutalization.
  • Approximately 600,000600,000 to 1,000,0001,000,000 Armenians were killed.

The Holocaust

  • Took place during World War II under Nazi Germany.
  • Hitler's extreme German nationalism aimed to create a purified German race.
  • The Final Solution: A program to exterminate groups that