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Genocides and Politicides Since 1945

Different Types of Genocides and Politicides

No less than 44 genocides or politicides occurred between the years of 1945 and 1988. These are episodes of state sponsored mass murder directed against civilians. These are not normal wars. What distinguishes genocides from politicides is that genocides are directed against members of an ethnic, racial, national or religious group, while politicides are directed against members of political groups (actual or suspected) or members of a particular social class (like peasants or intellectuals).

When Did They Happen?

On average, one new episode of genocide or politicide began each year. The period between 1961 and 1966 was the heaviest, associated mainly with decolonization in Africa. There was one lull in this period (1951-1955) when only three new episodes began.

Figure 1. Number of Genocide or Politicide Episodes

How Long Did They Last?

Unless a state or regime is completely defeated by an enemy, it may not be clear when an episode of genocide or politicide actually ends. In some cases, what might count as a single episode can have peaks and troughs in terms of the intensity of the murder. In short, a period of relative peace does not mean that the violence has necessarily ended.

However, Harff and Gurr (making some “educated guesses and assumptions”) estimate the duration of the different episodes during this period.

Figure 2. Duration of Genocide and Politicide Episodes

While 18 episodes lasted less than two years, twenty lasted longer than six years.

In a typical year during this time period six different episodes were ongoing.

Where Did They Happen?

Episodes of genocide and politicide were distributed across the globe in the following manner (Figure 3).

Figure 3. Genocides and Politicides by World Geocultural Region

The different geocultural regions contain the following countries:

• European: Western and Eastern Europe plus Israel and European-settled countries of North America and the Pacific. All European cases during this period are from the USSR.
• Latin: Central and South America and the Caribbean,
• Islamic: Islamic countries from Morocco to Pakistan plus Indonesia,
• Asian: Countries east of Pakistan (not including Indonesia),
• African: the entire continent and offshore islands except the predominantly Islamic countries in the north.

What Kinds of Genocide or Politicides Occurred?

Harff and Gurr identify different types of genocides and politicides based on the goals or policies of the state or regime. Sometimes the goal was revenge, sometimes it was repression, sometimes it was a fear of the group and in other cases the goal was to model society after a revolutionary ideology. They identify six different types of episodes:

• Hegemonial genocide: the racial, ethnic, national or religious groups are being forced to submit to the authority of the state,

• Xenophobic genocide: Murder campaigns are part of a state policy of national protection or social purification where victims are defined as alien or threatening,

• Retributive politicide: Mass murders target groups that formerly held power or were dominant within the state. Members of the group are targeted out of resentment for past privileges or abuses.

• Repressive politicide: Mass murder targets groups engaged in some sort of oppositional activity against the state. This may include members of political parties, factions or movements.

• Revolutionary politicide: Mass murder targets the political enemies of a state that is pursuing revolutionary ideologies,

• Repressive/Hegemonial politicide: The victim group is an ethnically or nationally distinct group, but is targeted because of some form of oppositional activity (rather than because of their ethnicity or nationality per se). So, it is considered politicide since the policy of the state is to repress opposition to the state, but because the opposition group (or groups) share some communal trait, it has genocidal characteristics.

Harff and Gurr divide the period between 1943 and 1987 into two periods (1943-1965 and 1966-1987). They find that episodes of genocide and politicide occurred in the following say (see Figure 4).

Figure 4. Type of Genocide or Politicide Episode by Period

Two politicides had genocidal features but are listed as politicides in Figure 4. One episode in Indonesia and one in Uganda.

There were six genocides during the entire period. The remaining episodes were politicides. Repressive politicides were the most common between 1943 and 1965 and the most common overall. There were two main variants of repressive politicides: campaigns against Communist sympathizers (in Indonesia, Guatemala, El Salvador, Chile and Argentina), and campaigns against any and all opposition groups to a newly empowered ruler (in Equatorial Guinea, Uganda and Zaire).

Retributive politicides were the least common types of politicides.

How Many Were Killed?

Given the nature of murderous regimes to cover up their crimes, concrete numbers of the people killed are impossible to come by. However, best estimates can be made in most cases.

Harff and Gurr divide up the episodes according to the estimated number of people killed (see Figure 5).

Figure 5. Proportion of Genocides or Politicides by Estimated Deaths

The largest proportion of episodes had somewhere between 10,000 and 99,000 people killed. No reliable estimates were available in 11% of the episodes.

Based on the best estimates, the total number of people killed in genocides and politicides during this period runs upwards of 16 million.

Other Keytexts from this source

Different Types of Genocides and Politicides

Genocides and Politicides Since 1945