Theme 5: Mass Violence Flashcards
1
Q
What is significant about the Spanish Civil War?
A
‘Post-imperial war’
War of ideologies
Nationalism/tradition vs internationalism/modernity
2
Q
Examples of colonial violence in the early 20th century
A
- 1898-1902 - South African War (guns, camps)
- 1898 - Spanish-American War (notions of freedom)
- 1900 - Boxer Uprising (multi-imperial intervention)
- 1904-7 - genocidal campaign against Herero and Nama in German Southwest Africa (starvation)
- 1904-5 - Russo-Japanese War (imperial struggle)
^ rise of extensive violence against civilians
3
Q
What is C. Clark’s view of WW1?
A
Nationalism, expansionism, imperialism - ‘sleepwalking’ into war? (C. Clark)
4
Q
Summary of violent events in 1920s-30s
A
- 1922 - Squadrismo and Mussolini’s March on Rome
- 1923 - failed right-wing Putsches in Weimar Germany
- 1924 - death of Lenin, rise of Stalin
- 1930s - Holodomor, collectivisation campaign
- 1930-33 - Rise of Hitler and the Nazis, racial and political ‘cleansing’
- 1936-7 - Stalin’s ‘Great Purge’
- 1935-9 - Italy in Abyssinia, Spanish Civil War, Nazi expansionism
5
Q
Summary of violent events in 1939-45
A
- 1933/35/37 - internal radicalisation, external expansion of the Nazi Regime (Reichskritsallnacht, Austria, Czechoslovakia)
- 1939-41 - ‘Blitzkrieg’: conquests in East, Northern and Western Europe; racialised occupational regime (Poland)
- 22/6/1941 - Operation Barbarossa; ‘War of Extermination’ (e.g. siege of Leningrad)
- 1941-44 - Construction of an ‘Aryan Empire’ in the East (SS): ghettoization, deportations, mass executions (e.g. Babi Yar)
- 2/2/1943 - Battle of Stalingrad, Soviet advances
- 1943/44 - ‘Final Solution’; extermination on an industrialised scale (Jews, Roma, Soviet POWs, political opponents)
- 1943-45 - massive air raids, collapse of Italian Fascism
- 1944-45 - D-Day, Nazi ‘final stage’ terror (e.g. death marches), Soviet occupation
6
Q
Summary of violent events in 1931-41 in East Asia
A
- 1894-95 - Sino-Japanese War
- 1904-5 - Russo-Japanese War
- 1911 - Revolution in China
- 1918-21 - Siberian ‘intervention after the Russian Revolution
- 1931 - Manchurian invasion, brutal occupational regime
- 1937 - Sino-Japanese War, expanding colonial spheres
- 13/12/1937 - Nanjing Massacre
- 1941 - Attack on the US at Pearl Harbour, entry into WW2
- 6/8, 9/8/1945 - Nuclear Attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
7
Q
Examples of violence beyond Europe after WW2
A
- 1947 - independence and split of India and Pakistan
- 1947/49 - (UK/US suppressed) uprisings in Burma/Indonesia
- 1948 - foundation of Israel as a new state
- 1949 - Mao’s takeover of China, end of the civil war
- 1950-53 - Korean War (China/USSR v USA)
- 1954-75 - Vietnam War
- 1955 - Bandung Conference; ‘third world’?
- 1956/1962 - Suez Crisis/War of Algerian Independence
- 1960s/1970s - Waves of independence in Africa; ongoing racial tensions and inequalities (South African Apartheid)
8
Q
Summary of the Nanjing Massacre
A
- On December 13, 1937, Japanese troops entered Nanjing, the then-capital of China, after months of bombing since August 1937.
- Over the following six weeks, systematic atrocities were committed, including mass killings, widespread sexual violence, looting, and arson.
Modern estimates often cite death tolls between 200,000 and 300,000, with numerous civilians and captured soldiers among the victims.
Despite the chaos, military discipline and organization remained intact, showcasing a chilling bureaucratic efficiency in the violence.
9
Q
Did the Tokyo trials effectively address the Nanjing Massacre?
A
- Of the 28 Japanese officials tried, only two were directly linked to the Nanjing Massacre.
- Sentences were seen as lenient, with only a few executions and most defendants receiving imprisonment.
- Emperor Hirohito and corporate entities linked to Japan’s war economy were not prosecuted.
10
Q
In what ways was the 20th century’s violence distinctive?
A
- Scale: Tens of millions of deaths in conflicts like the two World Wars and genocides such as the Holocaust.
- Global Reach: Violence spanned continents, affecting all regions through imperial wars, decolonization conflicts, and global ideological struggles.
- Technological Intensity: Mechanized warfare, nuclear weapons, and industrial killing methods (e.g., gas chambers) intensified the lethality.
11
Q
In what way were the world wars ‘total wars’?
A
- Both World Wars were marked by unprecedented mobilization of resources, human lives, and economies.
- Technological advances, such as tanks, airplanes, and chemical weapons, amplified destruction, while total war doctrines blurred distinctions between civilians and combatants.
Global scope: - WWII, in particular, involved simultaneous conflicts in Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Pacific, with interconnected theatres of war.
- Examples include the Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) and North African campaigns that linked regional struggles to global conflicts.
12
Q
Explain how ideological violence played a part in the 20th century (competing ideologies)
A
- Fascism, Communism, and liberal capitalism shaped many conflicts. The ideological clash between these systems framed the Cold War and fueled proxy wars, such as those in Korea and Vietnam.
- Ethno-nationalist ideologies, such as Nazism, explicitly targeted entire populations, exemplified by the Holocaust, where six million Jews and millions of other marginalized groups were exterminated.
13
Q
Explain how ideological violence played a part in the 20th century (revolutionary and counter-revolutionary movements)
A
- The Bolshevik Revolution (1917) and the Chinese Communist Revolution (1949) initiated systemic violence through class purges, land redistributions, and suppression of dissent.
- Counter-revolutionary actions in Europe and the Americas, such as U.S. interventions in Latin America, were similarly brutal.
14
Q
Explain how colonial and post-colonial violence played a part in the 20thc (colonial atrocities)
A
- Violence during imperial expansion persisted into the 20th century. The Herero and Namaqua genocide (1904–1908) in German South-West Africa foreshadowed later genocides.
- Belgian Congo’s forced labor system caused millions of deaths
15
Q
Explain how colonial and post-colonial violence played a part in the 20thc (decolonisation conflicts)
A
- The 20th century saw violent resistance to colonial rule, such as in Algeria (1954–1962), Kenya (Mau Mau Uprising), and Indonesia. These struggles involved massacres, torture, and systematic repression.
- The partition of India (1947) led to communal violence and the displacement of over 14 million people, with an estimated one to two million killed.
16
Q
Examples of genocide and ethnic cleansing in the 20thc
A
- The Holocaust epitomizes 20th-century genocidal violence, with industrialized systems of extermination targeting Jews, Romani, disabled individuals, and others.
- Other Genocides:
- The Armenian Genocide (1915–1917) by the Ottoman Empire resulted in 1.5 million deaths.
- Post-WWII genocides, including Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge (1975–1979), Rwanda (1994), and the Balkans (1990s), demonstrate the persistence of ethnically and ideologically driven violence.
17
Q
How is the Holocaust an example of industrialised/systematic killing?
A
- It combined industrial systems (e.g., railways, gas chambers, and crematoria) with bureaucratic efficiency.
- Railways: Victims were transported across Europe to extermination camps such as Auschwitz, utilizing the extensive rail networks designed initially for economic purposes but repurposed for genocide.
- Gas Chambers: Facilities like those at Auschwitz employed chemical agents like Zyklon B for mass executions, reflecting how scientific advancements were misapplied for systematic killing.
- Crematoria: These industrial facilities disposed of bodies on a massive scale, underscoring how violence was operationalized with cold efficiency.
18
Q
How is the Nanjing massacre an example of systematic violence?
A
Japanese forces leveraged technology like machine guns to execute mass killings with efficiency, illustrating how military tools designed for combat were repurposed for atrocities against civilians.
19
Q
Examples of technological advancement/ mechanised warfare in the 20thc
A
Tanks and armoured vehicles
Artillery and firepower
Air power
Naval power
20
Q
Examples of technological advancement/ mechanised warfare in the 20thc (tanks and armoured vehicles)
A
- The mechanized forces deployed in WWII revolutionized ground combat:
- German Blitzkrieg tactics relied on fast-moving Panzer divisions supported by mechanized infantry, artillery, and air support. These combined-arms operations demonstrated how machines could dominate the battlefield.
21
Q
Examples of technological advancement/ mechanised warfare in the 20thc
A
- Artillery was the most lethal weapon of both World Wars:
- In WWI, artillery accounted for the majority of casualties. Innovations like howitzers and rocket artillery expanded during WWII, creating devastating effects in battles like Stalingrad.
22
Q
Examples of technological advancement/ mechanised warfare in the 20thc
A
- Air technology allowed states to attack enemy industries and cities far from front lines:
- The document references the firebombing of Dresden and Tokyo, where incendiary bombs destroyed entire urban areas, causing mass civilian casualties.
- The development of bombers like the B-29 Superfortress enabled long-range, high-altitude missions, culminating in the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
23
Q
Examples of technological advancement/ mechanised warfare in the 20thc
A
- Naval technology, particularly aircraft carriers, transformed maritime warfare:
- The U.S. Navy’s dominance in the Pacific War was facilitated by carriers like the USS Enterprise, which allowed for mobile airbases far from American shores.
- Submarines, particularly German U-boats, demonstrated the lethal effectiveness of underwater technology in disrupting supply chains.
24
Q
Casualties in WW2
A
- The war caused approximately 70–85 million deaths, representing about 3% of the global population at the time.
- The Soviet Union experienced 27 million deaths, including both military personnel and civilians.
- Civilian casualties were particularly high due to genocidal campaigns, such as the Holocaust, which resulted in 6 million Jewish deaths alongside the deaths of Romani people, disabled individuals, and political dissidents.
The war displaced 60 million people, including 12 million Volksdeutsche expelled from Eastern Europe after the war and millions of Jewish Holocaust survivors.
25
Q
Economic costs of WW2
A
- The financial cost of the war exceeded $1.5 trillion USD in 1940s dollars, equivalent to over $30 trillion today. This includes:
- U.S. wartime spending of approximately $341 billion, which transformed its economy into a dominant global power.
- Rebuilding efforts such as the Marshall Plan, which allocated $13 billion ($150 billion today) to European recovery.
26
Q
Examples of infrastructure destruction in WW2
A
- Entire cities were obliterated. For example:
- Tokyo suffered massive destruction from firebombing, with 100,000 dead in a single night in 1945.
- Warsaw lost 85% of its buildings, necessitating a complete reconstruction post-war.
27
Q
Explain hybrid armies as an element of the global reach of WW2
A
- The British war effort included 2 million Indian soldiers fighting across Asia and Africa.
- The U.S. military integrated 1.25 million African Americans, alongside thousands of Native Americans, Mexicans, and Puerto Ricans.
- Japan utilized hundreds of thousands of conscripted workers from China, Korea, and Taiwan, while the Soviet Red Army relied on soldiers from non-Russian republics, which accounted for half of its manpower.
28
Q
Explain the scale of weaponry in WW2
A
- The Allies dropped 2.7 million tons of bombs, causing widespread destruction and civilian deaths.
- Massive production included 300,000 U.S. aircraft, 86,000 tanks, and 12,000 warships, demonstrating the industrial scale of the war effort.
29
Q
Examples of the expanded geographical scope of WW2
A
- The Second World War extended far beyond Europe, encompassing major theaters in Asia, Africa, and the Pacific. For example:
- The war’s origins in Asia are traced back to Japan’s invasion of Manchuria in 1931, with subsequent aggression in China, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific.
- The Italian invasion of Ethiopia (1935–1936) and British colonial campaigns in Africa marked the war’s extension into the African continent.
- Battles like the Burma Campaign connected European imperial interests in Asia with the global conflict.
30
Q
Examples of colonial powers relying on their colonies’ resources in WW2
A
- Resources from Africa and Asia sustained Allied war efforts. For instance:
- Uranium from the Congo was critical for the U.S. nuclear program.
- African soldiers and laborers were instrumental in British and French campaigns.
- Japan’s efforts to create the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere sought to exploit Asian resources and undermine European colonial powers.
31
Q
How did wartime mobilisation in colonies accelerate decolonisation?
A
- In India, the war exacerbated anti-colonial sentiment, culminating in movements like Quit India (1942) and the eventual partition and independence in 1947.
- In Southeast Asia, Japanese occupation disrupted European colonial rule, paving the way for nationalist movements in Indonesia and Vietnam.
32
Q
How did WW2 facilitate economic and strategic globalisation?
A
- The war created new global networks of trade, logistics, and production:
- American and British maritime routes connected continents, while innovations in shipping and aviation laid the foundation for modern global trade.
- The construction of ports and transport infrastructure in Africa, Asia, and Latin America was critical for sustaining war efforts.
- Economic integration and resource extraction during the war gave rise to post-war institutions like Bretton Woods, reinforcing American global hegemony.
33
Q
WW2 casualty examples
A
- The Soviet Union suffered nearly 27–28 million deaths, accounting for almost half of the total fatalities.
- China experienced 10–20 million deaths, with millions dying from direct violence, famine, or forced labor during the Sino-Japanese War.
- Poland lost over 90% of its Jewish population, with a total of around 2.5 million deaths from occupation-related causes.
34
Q
Examples of genocide and systematic violence
A
- The Holocaust resulted in the murder of 6 million Jews, alongside Romani people, disabled individuals, and others targeted in genocidal campaigns.
- In Eastern Europe, Einsatzgruppen and local collaborators executed millions in mass shootings, often in isolated killing fields.
- Japanese forces engaged in atrocities such as the Rape of Nanjing, resulting in over 200,000 deaths, and employed forced labor and biological warfare in China and Southeast Asia.
35
Q
Stats about displacement and migration in WW2
A
- Over 60 million people were displaced globally by the war:
- Refugees fled advancing armies and genocidal policies.
- 12 million Germans were expelled from Eastern Europe after the war.
- Forced laborers included 7 million Eastern Europeans conscripted for work in Nazi Germany and 670,000 Koreans sent to Japan.
- In Asia, millions of civilians faced displacement due to Japanese expansion and post-war famines, such as the Vietnamese famine of 1945, which killed 1–2 million.
36
Q
Examples of Middle Eastern and South Asian displacement
A
- In Palestine, 750,000 Palestinians fled or were expelled in 1948 during the creation of Israel, a process still debated for its political and military motivations.
- The partition of India in 1947 caused the forced migration of 10 million Sikhs, Hindus, and Muslims, amid intense violence and upheaval.
37
Q
How did WW2 create an aggressive sexual environment?
A
- Wartime militaries often viewed male sexual activity as a necessary component of morale and combat readiness. For example, General Patton infamously remarked, “If they don’t f***, they don’t fight.”
- Alcohol consumption, separation from civilian life, and the normalization of male camaraderie and sexual boasting further contributed to an environment conducive to sexual violence.
38
Q
Case studies of sexuality in war historiography
A
Japan:
- Comfort Women System:
- The Japanese military institutionalized sexual slavery, recruiting or coercing women (often under false pretenses) from occupied territories like Korea, China, and Southeast Asia.
- “Comfort stations” were set up across the Japanese Empire to cater to soldiers, with women subjected to repeated rape and abuse under the guise of maintaining military discipline and health.
- Health and Hygiene:
- The Japanese military emphasized controlling venereal disease through systematic medical inspections and the distribution of condoms. Women’s health was disregarded unless it directly impacted soldiers’ fitness.
Germany:
- Wehrmacht and SS Policies:
- The German military established brothels for soldiers, often staffed by women coerced from occupied territories or concentration camps.
- Sexual violence was pervasive, with systematic rape in Eastern Europe rationalized under racial hierarchies that dehumanized Slavic and Jewish populations.
- Sexual Politics:
- Nazi ideology promoted conservative gender roles and eugenic policies. Prolific “Aryan” mothers were celebrated, while interracial relationships and homosexuality were harshly penalized.
39
Q
Examples of sexual violence as a weapon of war
A
- Mass Rapes:
- Incidents like the Nanjing Massacre and rapes in Eastern Europe by both Axis and Allied forces highlight the prevalence of sexual violence as a weapon of war.
- Rape was used to terrorize populations, enforce subjugation, and assert dominance, often with tacit or explicit support from military authorities.
- Institutionalized Exploitation:
- Brothels for military personnel institutionalized sexual violence, with women forcibly recruited under brutal conditions. Survivors faced severe physical and psychological trauma.
40
Q
Evidence of the rise of paramilitarism and organised violence
A
- Rise of Paramilitary Groups:
- In Germany, the Freikorps (right-wing paramilitary groups) suppressed communist uprisings while also destabilizing democratic institutions.
- Italy’s fascist squadristi engaged in violent campaigns against socialist organizations, using arson, murder, and intimidation to secure Mussolini’s rise to power.
- Institutionalized Violence:
- Many states tacitly supported or tolerated paramilitary violence, using it to suppress opposition while maintaining plausible deniability.
- For example, Italian fascists were co-opted into state structures, while German authorities often overlooked violence by the Nazi SA.
41
Q
Evidence of gender dynamics in political violence
A
- Masculinization of Violence:
- The culture of violence during this period was predominantly male, with veterans forming the backbone of paramilitary groups.
- Fascist regimes glorified hyper-masculinity, presenting the soldier and the paramilitary as ideal male archetypes.
- Exclusion of Women:
- Women were largely excluded from direct participation in violent politics, relegated to supporting roles such as logistics or propaganda.
- In leftist movements, women played more prominent roles in organizational capacities, though they rarely participated in physical confrontations.
42
Q
Examples of strategic bombing campaigns
A
- Germany’s Blitz:
- The Luftwaffe’s bombing of London and other British cities (1940–1941) resulted in over 40,000 civilian deaths and displaced hundreds of thousands.
- RAF Bombing of Germany:
- The Royal Air Force transitioned to “area bombing,” targeting industrial cities like Hamburg during Operation Gomorrah in 1943. Over 40,000 civilians died, and 1 million were displaced.
- The firebombing of Dresden in February 1945 killed an estimated 25,000 civilians in one of the war’s most controversial campaigns.
- U.S. Bombing of Japan:
- U.S. B-29 bombers conducted sustained incendiary raids on Japanese cities. The firebombing of Tokyo on March 9–10, 1945, killed an estimated 100,000 people, destroyed 16 square miles of the city, and left over 1 million homeless.
- By the end of the war, 66 Japanese cities had been heavily bombed, with civilian casualties exceeding 500,000.
- Japanese Bombing in China:
- Japan’s aerial campaigns during the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) devastated cities like Chongqing. Sustained bombings from 1939–1941 killed an estimated 10,000 civilians and displaced millions.
43
Q
Examples of weapon development
A
- Incendiary bombs became the weapon of choice for targeting cities with flammable structures.
- The U.S. developed napalm, first used in Dresden and Tokyo, which caused widespread fires and fatalities.
- High-altitude bombers like the B-29 Superfortress allowed precision and mass bombings from safer distances.
Germany’s V-1 and V-2 rockets represented early precision-guided munitions, targeting London in 1944–1945. These weapons killed over 9,000 civilians and military personnel.
44
Q
Examples of international war crimes trials
A
Tokyo war crimes trials (1946-8) - over 5,700 individuals tried
Nuremberg - 199 defendants tried (of which 161 were convicted and 37 sentenced to death)
45
Q
Challenge facing the Allies at the Tokyo war crimes trial
A
Allied efforts faced challenges, including lack of legal precedents for crimes against humanity and political compromises that excluded Emperor Hirohito from prosecution
