Genocides

GENOCIDES
 * || **Causes** || **Execution** || **Outcomes** ||
 * **Armenian** || * Turkish invasions of the Armenian kingdom began in 11th century.
 * by 6th century, most Armenian kingdoms were incorporated into Ottoman empire
 * As Christian minority, Armenians were relegated to second-class citizenship and suffered official discrimination
 * 19th century = weakening of Ottoman Empire, internal corruption increased, and economic conditions worsened, and Armenians desired political representation, ethnic tensions increased b/w Turks and Armenians
 * gov't ordered massacres in an effort to reduce Armenian efforts for representation and protection = over 300,000 deaths of Armenians
 * 1908 - Young Turks(CUP) led a revolution and seized power from the sultan.
 * initially proposed platform of equality and constitutionalism, but quickly turned to extreme nationalism
 * increased nationalism in 1914 WWI
 * "Turkism" replacing "Ottomanism" || * April 24, 1915- Turkish gov't began organized campaign of deportation and annihilation of the Armenians of the Ottoman Empire
 * Turkish officials claimed that Armenians planned to revolt and destroy Ottoman empire
 * produced mass support for Armenian deportation
 * Armenians were given 3 days to pack belongings and leave
 * long march to non-existent relocation centers in Syrian Desert
 * 1923 - 1.5 Armenians, over 2/3 of population were murdered, deported, or forced into the desert where they were starved to death || * W. Wilson characterized the situation in Ottoman Empire as a civil war, and to maintain neutrality, he kept America out of "sovereign affairs"
 * non-interventionist policy
 * US Ambassador Henry Mogenthau lobbied furiously for intervention
 * international community condemned the Armenian Genocide and threatened to hold the Young Turks personally responsible for the massacres against the Armenians
 * proved to be more of an idle threat, as foreign gov'ts were more preoccupied w/ WWI and personal domestic issues than to take action
 * some small international efforts to raise money and offer support:
 * not enough to curb increasing death toll, but did ensure the survival of those Armenians who escaped death
 * instances of resistance to Turkish gov't w/in Ottoman empire
 * 1918- end of WWI = four hundred Young Turks arrested
 * change in gov't within the empire
 * domestic trials ensued and charges were pressed for crimes ranging from "unconstitutional seizure of power" to "conspiring to liquidate Armenian population"
 * Young Turks condemned for to death for their roles in genocide, but many eluded by fleeing to foreign countries
 * many Turks joined Nationalist Turkish movement led by Mustafa Kamal and killing of Armenians continued, 1923 = 1.5 million killed ||
 * Holocaust || * 9/ 1/ 1939 = Nazi Germany began war of conquest an expansion in its invasion of Poland
 * 3 days later = British + French response by declaring war on Germany
 * w/in month, all of Europe at war
 * in 6 years, Nazis exterminated some 12 million civilians whom they considered inferior in the Holocaust
 * "Final Solution" & "Jewish Question"
 * 1933 = Germany in economic hardship
 * Nazi Party rose to power, with promises of revitalization to economy
 * w/ Hitler as leader, Nazis reduced unemployment and restored sense of national pride to the country
 * anti-semitism was at heart of Hitler's philosophy
 * Hitler wanted to exterminate Europe's 9.5 million Jewish population || *
 * 4/ 1/ 1933 - Hitler boycott of Jewish businesses
 * officially mark Jews as different and inferior, and plunge them into economic distress and strip them of political or social power
 * Nazis built concentration camps and trained traveling killing squads
 * 1941 = all Jews over six were forced to wear Star of David on outer clothing
 * during the war, ghettos were est. for all Jewish people as well as transit and labor camps
 * hundreds of thousands of people were sent to extermination camps where they were murdered in gas chambers
 * others worked at labor camps
 * inadequate sustenance and poor conditions
 * others killed by mobile killing squads
 * final months of the war = "death marches" ; food, water, rest not provided || * US, along with much of the world, ignored early signs of extent of Nazi fanaticism
 * due to Hitler's high popularity among German people,, some countries supported his endeavors
 * many countries allowed some German Jews to seek refuge in their country, and even support the militarily
 * prior to Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, many Americans supported isolationism
 * US was recovering from economic hardships of G.D.
 * Roosevelt unable to take action b/c domestic political opinion opposed
 * after Japanese attack, Germany declared war on US
 * 1942 = Roosevelt received information about Nazi extermination practices
 * conducted war missions and liberation efforts
 * Nazi death camps received high publicity in US newspapers
 * Allied forces est. refugee and displaced person camps
 * Israel = Jewish homeland
 * others relocated to countries around the world ||
 * **Cambodian** || * Communist Party of Democratic Kampuchea, or Khmer Rouge, took control of Cambodia on 4/ 17/ 1975, replacing Lon Nol's Khmer Republic
 * Sihanouk and supporters joined communist guerilla organization called Khmer Rouge
 * 1970- attacked Lon Nol's army, starting a civil war, and in 1975, overthrew Lon Nol's gov't and gained power
 * Pol Pot, leader of Khmer Rouge, imagined a classless society in Cambodia
 * after taking power, he wanted to rid the country of all class distinctions that existed b/w rurl and urban populations
 * envisioned Cambodia w/out cities, private property, or money, where all goods would have to be bartered or exchanged
 * all urban Cambodians were forced out of cities and must live agrarian lifestyle
 * Khmer Rouge attempted to destroy one society and institute another
 * Pol Pot wanted self-sufficient society, capable of feeding itself, defending itself, and expanding to gain more land and power in Asia || * all banks and forms of currency destroyed
 * telephone and postal services abolished
 * religion forbidden
 * media censored
 * country dress code: black pants and shirts
 * hospitals closed, medicines banned
 * educational system dismantled, books confiscated
 * ~1.7 million died b/w 1975- 79 due to execution, starvation, disease, exposure to new elements, and overwork
 * new leadership killed any resistors or "non-valuable" members of society
 * transition to communism resulted in abrupt transition to repressive and murderous regime
 * former Lon Nol gov't soldiers, civil servants, Buddhist monks, ethnic and religious minorities, elderly citizens, intellectuals, and groups thought to have contact with Vietnamese were hunted down
 * those who wore glasses, a sign of intelligence and literacy, were executed
 * urban dwellers forced into work camps in rural Cambodia; men, women, children often "disappeared"
 * starvation used as threat to keep resistors at bay
 * resistors faced disembowelment, beatings, or nails hammered into back of heads
 * rule of Pol Pot ended with Vietnamese overthrow of Khmer regime || * little effort to stop killing in Cambodia
 * Khmer Rouge expelled all foreigners from the country after taking power
 * nearly impossible for outside world to remain updated with events in Cambodia
 * many gov'ts focused with own affairs
 * networks of people who tried to smuggle Cambodians out of the country and to safety
 * small international efforts to raise funds
 * US policy in Vietnam War contributed to rise of Pol Pot and Khmer Rouge
 * In Vietnam war, Cambodia attempted to stay neutral, but N. Vietnamese and Vietcong used Cambodian territory to hide, supply, and train troops
 * Nixon authorized B-52 bomber raids on Cambodian sanctuaries
 * Under Ford - US maintained economic embargoes against Communist countries of Vietnam and Cambodia
 * 1976- Jimmy Carter- struggled to balance commitment to human rights with broader imperatives such as winning Cold War
 * made effort to give priority to human rights
 * genocide ended in 1979
 * Vietnamese overthrew Khmer gov't and forced them into exile in countryside
 * est. temporary coalition gov't under which it was legal to own property and Buddhism was revived as state religion
 * US, in recent years, began assisting in reconstruction and justice
 * 1991 = peace agreement among opposing groups, incl. Khmer Rouge
 * Democratic elections under observation of UN peacekeeping force were arranged in '93 ||