Where have genocides occurred throughout history?

What is being researched and why is it significant?

I am researching where genocides have occurred throughout history. I believe that my research is significant as many people do not know about genocides, especially where and why they happened. Obviously, there are genocides that almost everyone know about, for example, The Holocaust, as it is often taught in schools. However, how many people know about the East Timor genocide or the California genocide, or the Dzungar genocide? How many people can say they know what occurred during the Dzungar genocide? I think that these lesser-known or even “forgotten” genocides are just as important to learn about as learning about the Holocaust is. Genocides are a part of our history whether we want to acknowledge it or not. Genocides are and will always be dark and horrific stains on our history and often considered a taboo subject. I believe that we cannot cherry-pick our history and only acknowledge and learn about what we want. I believe that there is a lot of desire to hide and not acknowledge or learn about the parts of our history that are truly disturbing. I believe that even though we don’t always want to accept these parts of history, they are still apart of it and I believe that they need to be talked and learned about. 

How is this topic related to you/why did you choose to focus on this topic?

Fortunately, I have never been a victim nor known a victim of genocide. I chose to focus on this topic, as I’ve always enjoyed listening and learning about history. Particularly, I loved reading and watching movies about the Holocaust. I’ve had a fascination with the Holocaust since I can remember, and as I grew older I wanted to expand my knowledge about similar occurrences throughout history. I took a History class and did a project on the Cambodian genocide, I had originally wanted to do my project on the Holocaust, but was encouraged to do the Cambodian genocide. I agreed to do the Cambodian genocide, and that was when I realized how little I actually knew about history, specifically genocides. I claimed to know so much about the Holocaust, which arguably is the most famous and well-known genocide to have occurred in our recent history, but hardly knew anything about any other genocides, at the time, I wasn’t even aware Cambodia had even had a genocide. Since I came to that realization, I’ve had an urge to learn and explore other genocides, which is what this project has allowed me to do.  

How does the use of geospatial inquiry help in answering this question? 

I believe that visuals always help to cement new concepts and information into the brain. That’s why I think that the 3 maps I will be showing and explaining will help convey the information I procured. While listening and learning about genocides is a very dark topic most of the time, I think that having a visual to see while listening will help lessen the potential confusion. My first map is a guided tour, that includes 26 genocides that date back to the 1750s all the way to present-day history. This map will show the user in chronological order the 26 different genocides I have chosen to focus on, with a summary of what occurred and the map will show the location of the genocide. My second map is to show everyone, that even though we have done terrible things to each other during the course of our history, there is still humanity within us. This map will show where different monuments, memorials, and museums are located for each of the previous genocides on the first map. I think that the second map is important to have to show that there is still good within us and that we can learn from our mistakes. Unfortunately, not all of the 26 genocides have monuments, memorials, or museums, as those genocides have either never been recognized, acknowledged or they may even still be active today. My last map is a live conflict map from the living atlas. I will be using this map to talk about certain trends I found in my research and explain the future I see for my topic. I believe that using maps will greatly improve the user's understanding of the information I have prepared.   

What was you approach and process for inquiry?

I approached my inquiry with as open a mind as possible. I started by looking up different genocides and was lucky enough to find a list on Wikipedia. I used that list to begin my research on the different genocides. After I had completed my research on the different genocides, I began to group them together. I found quite a few interesting themes and patterns when I began to analyze the genocides. I then began to dig even deeper. I looked for common instances within different genocides. I think that had I not approached this project with an open mind, I think I could have missed some really interesting patterns and themes.    

What are major themes in what you found from your research?

A major theme I found while doing my research was that almost every single perpetrator of a genocide denies committing genocide. For example, Pol Pot, the leader of the Khmer Rouge, who were the perpetrators of the Cambodian genocide, denied that he and his regime committed genocide against the Cambodians. In a 1997 interview with the “Far Eastern Economic View”, he said, “I came to carry out the struggle, not to kill my people. Even now, and you can look at me: am I a savage person?” ( https://www.biography.com/political-figure/pol-pot ). Pol pot also claimed, “my conscience is clear”(  https://www.biography.com/political-figure/pol-pot ). Pol Pot, however, was not the only leader of the Khmer Rouge to deny committing genocide. Khieu Samphan, a very high-ranking Khmer Rouge, who was later tried in the ECCC (Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia), said during the final stage of the trial, “the term murder, I categorically reject it”. He also said, “the communist people of Kampuchea leaders did not exterminate our people. What was the interest in doing so?”(  https://www.reuters.com/article/us-cambodia-rouge/khmer-rouge-leader-denies-mass-murder-blames-vietnam-idUSKBN19E0UO ). These are both quotes from Khieu Samphan, who was partially responsible along with Pol pot and several other leaders for the death of an estimated 2.5 million Cambodians during their reign of terror. The Khmer Rouge are not the only perpetrators of genocide to deny that they committed genocide. The Turkish government has never acknowledged that they committed genocide against the Armenian people a majority of Turkish citizens opposed recognition of the genocide. “One of the most important reasons for denial is that the genocide enabled the establishment of a Turkish nation-state; recognition would contradict Turkey's founding myths. No Turkish government has acknowledged that a crime was committed against the Armenian people. Since the 1920s, Turkey has worked to prevent  official recognition  or even any mention of the genocide in foreign countries; these efforts have included millions of dollars in lobbying, the creation of research institutes, as well as intimidation and threats. Denial also affects Turkey's domestic policies, and is taught in Turkish schools; Turkish citizens who acknowledge the genocide have faced prosecution for " insulting Turkishness ". The century-long effort by the Turkish state to deny the genocide sets it apart from other cases of genocide in history. Azerbaijan also denies the genocide, and campaigns against its recognition internationally. According to opinion polls, the majority of Turkish citizens oppose the recognition of the genocide. The denial of the genocide is hypothesized to contribute to the  Nagorno-Karabakh conflict  as well as ongoing  violence against Kurds  in Turkey.”-  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armenian_Genocide_denial 

However, it cannot be said that all perpetrators deny committing horrendous acts. The Guatemalan army itself acknowledged destroying 440 Mayan villages.

Another interesting theme I found while researching, was that out of the 26 genocides I researched, only 5 of the 26 were committed based on Religion. Even those genocides that were based on religion only 3 out of the 5, were genocides where religion was the determining factor. The Greek genocide, The Holocaust, and the Bangladesh, Yazidi, and Uyghur genocides were all based on religion rather than ethnicity. However, with the Greek genocide and The Holocaust, religion was not the determining factor. Regarding the Greek genocide, the Ottoman government targeted Christian Greeks. The determining factor was their ethnicity, not their religion. The government prosecuted the population-based on if they identified as Greek. Religion in this case was not the determining factor but rather a sub-factor. The same can be said about the Holocaust. Although their Nazi regime based its prosecutions primarily on the Jewish religion, they did so in an attempt to turn Judaism into an ethnicity or “race”, so to make the segregation stages easier. The Nazis knew that if they could successfully segregate the Jewish population from the rest, the inevitable extermination stages would be much easier. Of the 26 genocides I collected data from, 88% were based on ethnicity. Less than 12% were instances where religion was a determining factor.  I think the reason most of us, myself included, immediately group religion and genocide together is a result of the Holocaust being taught so frequently and widely. Since the most well-known example of genocide is The Holocaust, which to the average surface reader looks like a genocide based on religion, I believe that this causes us to want to immediately associate the two together. Even though we know better now, I think that this is the perfect example of how little most of us know about genocides and furthers my point that my research is not only significant but is also needed.  

What are the geospatial trends with your project and what are causing these trends?

I think the question we all ask ourselves is, "can genocide really happen again?". The short answer to that question is yes. Gregory H Stanton, president of Genocide Watch, developed the 10 stages to a genocide, which explains the different stages which lead to genocide.

I think the best way to explain the stages is to use previously explained genocides. Let's use The Holocaust as an example.

The stages are:

  1. 1 Classification - The differences between people are not respected. There’s a division of ‘us’ and ‘them’ which can be carried out using stereotypes or excluding people who are perceived to be different. - The Nazi's classified the Jewish practicing German citizens as Jews, not German citizens. (No longer considered to be German citizens)
  2. 2 Symbolisation - This is a visual manifestation of hatred. -Forced the Jewish population to wear the yellow Star of David as a way of showing the rest of the population they were different.
  3. 3 Discrimination - The dominant group denies civil rights or even citizenship to identified groups. -The 1935 Nuremberg Laws stripped Jews of their German citizenship, below is an article that explains the Nuremberg Law in detail.
    4 Dehumanisation - Those perceived as ‘different’ are treated with no form of human rights or personal dignity. -The Nazis referred to Jews as ‘vermin’.

    5 Organisation - Genocides are always planned. Regimes of hatred often train those who go on to carry out the destruction of a people. -The Hitler Youth, SA, SS, and the Gestapo, were all regimes trained to hate and persecute the Jewish population.

    6 Polarisation - Propaganda begins to be spread by hate groups. -The Nazis used the newspaper Der Stürmer, as well as posters and the radio to spread and incite messages of hate about Jewish people.

    7 Preparation - Perpetrators plan the genocide. -They often use euphemisms such as the Nazis' phrase 'The Final Solution' to cloak their intentions. They create fear of the victim group, building up armies and weapons.

    8 Persecution - Victims are identified because of their ethnicity or religion and death lists are drawn up. People are sometimes segregated into ghettos, deported, or starved and the property is often expropriated. Genocidal massacres begin.-The Nazis used intricate and methodically placed ghettos to segregate the Jewish from the rest of the population, "liquidations" and mass deportations to death camps from the ghettos were very frequent.

    9 Extermination - The hate group murders their identified victims in a deliberate and systematic campaign of violence. Millions of lives have been destroyed or changed beyond recognition through genocide.-The Nazis used a web of concentration camps and death camps to exterminate the Jewish population. Most famously Auschwitz-Birkenau, where over a million Jews were murdered.

    10 Denial - The perpetrators or later generations deny the existence of any crime.-Below is an article that explains Holocaust deniers. Only 54% of the world has knowledge about the Holocaust.

What is controversial about your topic?

So, what is a genocide? According to Oxford Languages, genocide is "the deliberate killing of a large number of people from a particular nation or ethnic group with the aim of destroying that nation or group" -https://languages.oup.com/google-dictionary-en/

A question i often ask myself while researching genocides and mass killings is, "why isn't this considered genocide?". For example, The Great Leap Forward.

Although Mao Tse-tung is responsible for the deaths of tens of millions of his own people, this example is not a genocide. The reason being that even though he did kill his own people, it was not directed at a particular group of ethnicity, race, or religion. This raises the question of "who decides what is a genocide and what is not?".

According to this article, Genocide was first recognized as a crime under international law in 1946 by the United Nations General Assembly. So essentially the UN decides what is a genocide and what is not. While it's great that there is a forum for genocides, this system could run into problems. The United Nations only recognises 193 countries, 2 countries are considered to be non-observing (Palestine and the Holy See, Taiwan is not considered a country). If there was a genocide to occur in either of those places, would they not be considered genocides? Or if you're from a very small country, perhaps a third world country, would the UN still recognize the genocide? This now gets into why I think there are so many genocide deniers and why it's so easy for them to dismiss history.

For some people, the perpetrators of genocide could have held prominent roles. Maybe even been people's idol, no one wants to believe that their idol or the person they look up to could be capable of doing such things. For others, it's a feeling of shame, that their homeland could perpetrate such a disturbing event. In some places, it may even be illegal to acknowledge a genocide. As long as we let genocide deniers continue dismissing history, we will never be able to fully prevent genocides from re-occurring. Another very controversial topic I found was that it seems to be a common theme to rank genocides. While ranking genocide can help aid visually, it can also be very misleading sometimes. Below are two graphs a made myself, graphing the highest estimated death toll for each of the 26 genocides, and then a graph with the death magnitude. According to this article, genocides can be graphed using a death magnitude. "The death magnitude is a non-linear scale developed by the PITF to classify the number of people killed in each episode, as shown in the table. In the map we sum across all episodes in this period: for countries that experienced multiple episodes of genocide, we use the midpoint of the magnitude range to calculate the sum."

*Note: The death magnitude numbers are all based on the highest death toll estimate -The Uyghur genocide has no data

*Note: Death toll numbers are based on the highest death toll estimate -Uyghur genocide has no data

As you can see from the two graphs, is that there is no real "worst genocide". Generally speaking, all genocides are equally as horrific as the next. However, I do think that empirically, there are genocides that would be considered worse. As shown on the "death magnitude" graph, even though one genocide may have a death toll of 6 million, another genocide with a death toll of 300,000 would be considered to have the same death magnitude. Even though one is obviously so much bigger. For example, the Selk'nam genocide is empirically worse than the Holocaust in regards to the success of the genocide. 97.5% of the Selk'nam tribe were murdered and exterminated. While their death toll is a fraction of the Holocaust's (about 3,900 Vs the Holocaust 6 million), the genocide was more successful. The Nazi's were only able to exterminate 2/3 of the European Jewish population. While their death toll was astronomical, the genocide was not as successful as the Selk'nam. This is the perfect example of how controversial genocide really is. If you were a descendant of a victim of the Holocaust, you would probably feel the Holocaust was the worst genocide, but if you were a descendant from a Selk'nam victim, you would probably feel your genocide was the worst. I believe that there is no real right or wrong answer to the question of whether certain genocides are worse than others.

Monuments, Memorials, and Museums

This map above is an example of the humanity that is still within us. On the map, I have located memorials, monuments, and museums you can visit for each genocide. Unfortunately, some genocides have yet to be recognized and acknowledged, so those genocides do not have any memorials, monuments, or museums. The Dzungar genocide, the genocide of the Bosniaks and the Croats by the Chetnik, Ikiza genocide, Darfur genocide, and the Uyghur genocide, all have no monuments, memorials, or museums. The Yazidi genocide does not yet have a memorial/museum but one is currently being planned. https://www.sitesofconscience.org/en/2019/12/the-yazidi-memorial-and-museum-of-remembrance/

Video Break!

I decided to add this video, as it shows all the different genocides by death toll. I obviously could not cover all the genocides but hope this video helps expand the knowledge on other lesser-known genocides. Also a good reading break!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upYUFv-0rKY (No matter what I tried, Storymaps would not let me embed my video so this is the link to it instead)

What does the future of your topic look like?

Below is a link to a Live Armed Conflict map: https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/003f05cc447b46dc8818640c38b69b83/page/page_5/?views=view_16 (Storymaps, would not let me embed the map). Based on what I see on the map, the armed conflict against civilians is most prominent in Central Africa, the centralized areas of Central and South America, and Afghanistan. The rest seems to be protests from around the world. I believe that genocides will occur no matter what. We will never be able to eradicate them altogether, but by expanding our knowledge we help prevent genocides from being successful. Remember, the final step in a successful genocide is denial. If we can prevent the perpetrators from achieving denial, we have prevented a successful genocide. The more educated people become regarding genocides, the lower chances of new genocides occurring today.

What did you learn about your geospatial problem?

I learned that there are so many more genocides than I ever expected to see. Even though I covered 26 genocides in this project, that number is still almost insignificant compared to the sheer number of genocides. Not only are there genocides that are just less well known, but there are also genocides we may not know about yet. This doesn't even include genocides in the Before common era. I also learned that even though all the genocides may look and seem different, if you dig far enough, you're sure to stumble upon some themes and patterns within each genocide.

Which of the 5 themes of human geography from chapter 1 has influenced your topic the most and why?

I would say that the theme of place scale is the most influential on my topic. I say place because, when I mapped each genocide, there was a pattern of certain areas in the world having a larger concentration of genocides. This raises the question of if the place has an effect on the genocide. I say scale because, even though it may not seem right to compare genocides, as humans we can't help but want to. Scale gives us the option to compare and even rank the information that was given. I think that the themes of scale and place had the most influence on my topic.

What is a claim you can make after finishing your project?

A claim that I can make now that I have completed this project is that genocides will always occur. To answer the question we stated earlier, "can genocide really happen again", I stand by my answer, yes. As we've learned, genocides will always be able to occur, but it's up to us to prevent them from achieving the later stages. If we can educate as many people as possible, we lower the chances of perpetrators being able to successfully commit genocide.

*Note: The death magnitude numbers are all based on the highest death toll estimate -The Uyghur genocide has no data

*Note: Death toll numbers are based on the highest death toll estimate -Uyghur genocide has no data