Mass Atrocities
Who, after all, speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?
—German Führer Adolf Hitler (August 22, 1939)
Learning Objectives
- H: Explain the various causes and consequences of mass atrocities in the period from 1900 to the present.
The deaths of fighting forces in the two world wars were only part of the
total casualties. Genocide, ethnic violence, and other atrocities took place as extremist groups rose to power. During and after World War I, the Ottoman Empire, ruled by a clique of “Young Turks” who were disturbed by the continuing decline of Ottoman power, perpetrated the Armenian genocide in which some 1.5 million Armenians died. As Adolf Hitler implemented the Holocaust, he referred to the Armenian annihilation as a reminder of how little the Nazis need fear for the systematic murder of six million Jews.
Ethnic atrocities did not end after World War II. Dictator Pol Pot wanted to “purify” Cambodian society along racial, social, and political lines, resulting in the deaths of 1.6 to 1.8 million Cambodians. (See Topic 8.6.) And in Rwanda, the majority Hutu government directed mass slaughter of the Tutsi minority.
Sections
Atrocities in Europe and the Middle East
Pandemic Disease
Suffering and Famine
Casualties of World War II
Genocide and Human Rights
Think As a Historian: THINK AS A HISTORAIN: [7.8]
Read more →
Reflect
REFLECT ON THE TOPIC ESSENTIAL QUESTION
1. In one to three paragraphs, explain the various causes and consequences of mass atrocities in the period from 1900 to the present.
AP Exam Practice
Start Practice →