Modern Genocide: What are they
Prompt of Discussion: “The victims of genocide in the modern era included U.S Indians during the nineteenth century, the Herero under German imperial rule, the Armenians of Anatolia during World War I, Soviet peasants during the Great Famine, the victims of Stalin’s Great Terror, and European Jews from 1933 to 1945.” Assess and evaluate this statement in an essay.”
While it is hard to believe that humans tried to kill all of a certain group more than one but countless times in history, it can not be ignored nor denied. The term genocide, first coined by Raphael Lemkin, a Polish lawyer, means the act of killing a certain or specific group intentionally with the goal of destroying the certain group completely. With that term, other subgroups of genocide were also created, such as eliticide, the genocide of the elites, or gendercide, the genocide of certain gender. The topic of genocide is not often talked about as it is a very sensitive subject, however, the deaths are still history and must be discussed. The statement, stating that the modern genocide includes the genocide of Herero, Armenians, Soviet peasants, Soviet people, and Jews, is, in some measure, true. However, some, including the Great Famine, Great Terror, and the removal of Native Americans can be said otherwise.
The most obvious ones in the statement that can be ruled as genocide are the Armenian Genodice by the Ottoman Empire and the European Jews by the Nazis. The Armenian Genocide was the killing of Armenian by Ottomans for their impurity and belief that they were running the empire. The Holocaust (Jewish Genocide) was the killing of Jews by the Nazis for their genetic impurity. These two cases have very clean motives and proof of genocide. Both the Ottoman and the Nazis deliberately acted and tried to wipe out a specific group, the Armenian and the Jews. They even had an ideology or belief that they were impure or caused most of the problems in their country. These are and can be easily classified as genocide as the action, the motive, and the intentions are all there. The other more clear killing that could be classified as genocide is the Herero genocide by the German imperialists in the early 20th century. The Herero Genocide was the killing of Herero, the African tribe in the West German African Colony, by the German imperials. While it is less known, shadowed by the other more grim genocide by the Germans, the Holocaust, the facts can not be hidden. While the government nor the civilians supported the killings, even stopping the act when it was brought up by the news, the motive of wiping out the Hereros and other African tribes from their colonies can not be gloss over. Even though it wasn’t the government, German general Trotha still committed the killing with the intention.
While the killing of the Herero, the Armenians, and the Jews are easily identified as a genocide, it can not be said the same for the Indians and the Great Famine. The three cases that were discussed in the previous paragraph were easily classified as they had the motive of killing all of the certain groups, but the Indian and the Great Famine cases do not have the intention of killing all of the group. The Great Famine (also known as the Holodomor), the massive side effect of collective farming, killed more than 7 million people. If it was the number of the death toll that was the major decider, it would be easily considered a genocide. However, the Great Famine wasn’t caused with the intent of killing its own people, but the opposite. Collective farming, the reason for the Great Famine, was made so that the country would have enough food and could be more focused on modernization and industrialization. Collective farming was not intended to kill so many or rather no to kill any. While Stalin did use the famine to starve our Ukraine, weaponizing the famine as a killing tool, which could easily be considered genocide as it has the intention, the majority of the famine that was in the Soviet Union can not be considered genocide.
The Indian Removal/The Trail of Tears/Native Americans in the 19th century can not be considered a genocide. The Native Americans faced a great tragedy in the 19th century in America. As the idea of manifest density and territorial expansion continued, Native Americans were forced out from their reservation countless time, promising peace and quiet in their new land, the U.S. government would force them out for the land and moved the Indians more and more West. These chain reactions of Indian removal caused the Trail of Tears and other terrible marches to their new reservation, not only this but starvation and disease from their new land, exhaustion from travel, and more. The removal killed many, however, it can not be identified as genocide. Similar to the Great Famine, the key factor of deliberate killing of the group to destroy all is missing. History would tell the U.S. government, the majority of its time, did not care about the Native Americans, maybe even hatred towards them. However, the removal and the Trail of Tears wasn’t caused due to a motive of wiping out the Native Americans from the continent but were simply to remove them from a certain land. In spite of the fact that many died due to the poor condition as the government simply did not care about the Native Americans, there is no visible intention of simply killing them to exterminate them. Similar to the forced immigration of Korean by the Soviets, it wasn’t to kill but rather to move them elsewhere, the death simply being the result of neglect and poor condition. Making the death of Native Americans in the 19th century, not a genocide.
The Great Terror is very distinct as it can be considered genocide but much weaker than the major three (Armenian, Holocaust, and the Herero). The Great Terror, the mass killing that was orchestrated by Stalin to wipe out his political enemy, terrorize the public, and secure his role as leader of the Soviet Union. From the start, it is different from the Great Famine as the death was on purpose. However, at some point, it can not be identified as genocide. While the intention of mass killing is very clear, the killing was too random. The beginning could be considered as a politicide, a genocide due to political reasons, as many killed or sent to the work camps were political enemies, but the majority were civilians. Some civilians were taken due to their resentment of Stalin, but still, the majority were taken without specific or major reason. The Great Terror is not as clean or directly be classified as a genocide like the Holocaust, Herero, or the Armenian, but at the same time, it had a much more compelling argument than the Great Famine. While its case can be defined as a politicide, the majority of the victim being innocent civilians can not be forgotten, leaving the Great Terror in the category where it can be considered a genocide but much weaker than others.
There were many deaths in history, some intended, some by mistake. From the killing, some are considered genocide, if the killing were due to the intention of wiping the specific group completely. The statement gives six accounts of genocides, the Armenian Genocide by the Ottoman, the Herero Genocide by the Second Reich, the Native Americans in the U.S., the Great Famine and the Great Terror by the Soviets, and the Holocaust by the Nazis. From these, three can be clearly stated as a genocide, the Herero, Holocaust, and the Armenians, as the killer had the intention of total annihilation. The Great Famine and the Native Americans can not be considered as the intention is missing, the death caused by poor management rather than on purpose. The Great Terror, however, is hard to decide. The death was intended for a political reason, making it a politicide, but at the same time, the death was at random and was not to exterminate a group but to institute fear. Making a Great Terror a tricky case.
