War and genocide have historically been closely related and even described as Siamese twins. Genocide can occur without war but war cannot occur without some elements of genocide as the distinction between legitimate war and genocide is not clear. War is defined as an armed conflict between different nations or groups within a nation. Scholars who have studied the relationship between war and genocide have argued that they are one in the same. It is a very convincing argument especially when examining the UN Convention on genocide. The UN Convention defines genocide as “any of the follow acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial, or religious group” (Jones 13). The wordings of the definition can …show more content…
In the UNSC’s article 51, individual and collective self-defense can be authorized by the UNSC under the framework of collective security. However, genocide is never justifiable in the eyes of the UN. Perhaps the most distinguishing feature between war and genocide is the disproportionally ability of those involved to fight back. Within war there is a certain level of understanding that those engaging in the conflict will have an ability to engage in battle. However, historically in genocides the effected groups have had little to no ability to proportionately fight against their attackers. On the other hand, Shaw argues that warfare is degenerate in nature. Therefore one can argue that propaganda and the demonization of entire nations during war matched with indiscriminate violence makes acts of war ultimately acts of genocide. This argument is particularly compelling when corresponded with the casualty rates of modern …show more content…
The Armenian Genocide occurred during the First World War when the Ottoman Empire was experiences the pressures of war from the Triple Entente. In 1915, the ANZAC forces had landed in Gallipoli and the Russian forces were advancing down from the Caucasian fields. During this time, the Ottoman Empire displaced and forced millions of Christian minorities to march through the desert. Historically, it had been Muslims who victims of violence in the area. However, Christian minorities were in a vulnerable position due to the decline of the Ottoman Empire and impending revolutionary violence (Jones 155). In April 1915, the Turkish army launched an assault on the Armenian populations in the city of Van. The Armenians were being depicted as spies for the Russians by propaganda. Mass deportation and massacre occurred with the remaining Armenian population sent out of the of a death march by Kurds. The First World War was the first instance of total war therefore during this conflict it was difficult to distinguish where the war ended and the genocide began. To this day, Turkey has not recognized the Armenian Genocide as a genocidal act. Instead, the government claims that the Armenian lives lots in the desert were casualties of war. Similarly, during the Second World War, Russian Prisoners of War (POWs) captured by German forces on
Survivor of the Holocaust and author of the well-respected memoir, Night, Elie Wiesel invites humane action with this statement: “Wherever men or women are persecuted because of their race, religion, or political views, that place must – at that moment – become the center of the universe” (1). One of the various “center[s] of the universe” presently is the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a struggling nation in which thousands of innocent civilians die each month from war-related causes and governmental forces. In the last decade alone, the Democratic Republic of the Congo suffered through two severe wars, one in 1996 and the other in 1998. The first resulted from ethnic tensions and, in particular, perpetrators of the Rwandan genocide, who,
There have been many more genocides that many people do not know have occurred or are still taking place to this day. One of them being in 2003, the Darfur genocide. The government of Sudan responded to a rebellion by civilians and this resulted in the deaths of over 300,000 when he began a genocide. This genocide is still occurring to this day. It was declared a genocide by the United States Secretary of State Colin Powell on 9 September 2004 and no genocidal policy has been pursued and implemented in Darfur by the Government authorities.
Anthony Pfeiffer Mr. West Sophomore English 1/21/16 Genocide in the World Today The word genocide is the combination of the Greek word "geno" (meaning tribe or race) and “caedere” (the Latin word for to kill). When used the definition of the word means the deliberate killing of a large group of people, especially those of a particular ethnic group or nation. This word has such a profound impact is due to it affecting millions of people 's lives because they don 't have the freedom to believe in what they want, however, if they do they can and will be punished or killed by the leaders in their country. Many countries are still facing the problem of genocide because it directly relates to people 's beliefs and ideas, where they think that
Many men were executed. Women were raped. People were even put into gas chambers. Some were put into caves or churches and burned alive (Atamian, pg 23-26). Still to this day, the Turkish government denies that the Armenian Genocide ever occurred.
Genocides, the deliberate killing of a large group of people, especially those of a particular group or nation, has affected various countries. Genocide not only brings a war but also problems like decreasing economic affairs and social problems. When genocide starts, society overlooks economic affairs like their agriculture since they focus on the war. In the case of Rwanda, once the genocide had begun many farmers fled or were killed. "All was
The Turks felt that the Armenians would betray them while Emperor Qianlong wanted to punish the rebellion by Prince Amursana of the Dzungar. Both genocides also ended with the significant loss of one’s population. Finally, they both share the fact that they are considered forgotten. We should learn from others’ pasts so we can learn to not make the same mistakes. Everyone must try to remember these horrible events, because if we chose to ignore that they ever happened, they could happen
American Jewish writer, and political activist Elie Wiesel, in his sympathetic speech “The Perils of Indifference” to send a strong message to the audience. As a survivor of the Holocaust, he supports his claim through his speech explaining the dangers of indifference from first hand experience. Specifically in his speech he refers to himself, “A young Jewish boy [..] woke up in a place of eternal infamy called Buchenwald”(par 1).. In addition, Wiesel use of rhetorical questions is for the audience to question or to think about indifference. Wiesel’s purpose is to warn people about indifference in order to “save” our future.
The discard of the genocide has greatly affected the Armenian people and has made this event even more devastating for them; knowing that their ancestor’s deaths will not be recognized or
The Armenian genocide, also known as the genocide of 1915, happened during World War One. It is labeled as the Armenian genocide because approximately 1.5 million Armenians were killed, even though other minorities like the Greeks and other Christians were also massacred. The genocide of Armenians began before 1915. From 1894-1896, hundreds of thousands of Armenians were wiped out and forcefully removed from their domiciles. When the Europeans powers threatened to take action the massacres stopped.
Genocide Convention defined genocide as "any acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group" shortly after World War II (Gunter). The Armenian genocide took place in the Ottoman Turkish empire from 1915-23. This genocide was the first genocide of the twentieth century (Miller). The Armenian genocide started April 24th, 1915. Two million Armenians were targeted by the Turks, and only half a million survived the genocide (Sargsyan).
The Rwandan genocide vs. the Holocaust “Genocide is an attempt to exterminate a people, not to alter their behavior.” Jack Schwartz. Genocide is mass murder, it happens in all parts of the world. A common known genocide is the Holocaust. Where a group known as the“Nazis” (lead by Hitler) murdered more than six million people (many were Jewish).
During World War I, over 1 million Armenians died at the hands of the Ottoman Turks. In the documentary, The Armenian Genocide, there is an extremely in depth examination off what happened during these times and why, in what has been called one of the greatest untold stories of the twentieth century. To this day in 2016, the country of Turkey, which was once the Ottoman Empire during World War I, denies to define the killing of the Armenians in Turkey in 1915 as genocide. Well, with this information at hand, one might ask, what is the definition of genocide, and what does genocide consist of? Genocide can be defined as, the deliberate killing of a large group of people, especially those of a particular ethnic group or nation.
Genocide is the act of mass murdering groups of people because of someone 's disliking. In other words getting rid of people or stop their existence,mostly because of their religion, ethnic, or race. One of the most atrocious ones was the Armenian Genocide(April 24,1915-1916), in which 1.5 million of the Armenian population, living in the Ottoman Empire were either deported or killed. During this time,the Turkish government had planned the genocide to get rid of the entire Armenian population in the Ottoman Empire(which was one of the largest empires to rule on the border of the Mediterranean Sea) because they feared that the Armenian community would join their enemy troops during WWI in 1915.
When speaking of the Genocide most people think of the Jewish Holocaust, which was a massacre in itself, however so was the Armenian Genocide, which some do not look as this being
Claim that the deniers’ group also suffered huge losses in the “war.” The killings were in self-defense. Deny facts that fit legal definition of genocide