Extermination in Genocide
Bryan Ramirez
Mrs. Burton
English 10 Honors
25 March 2012
Extermination in Genocide
All genocides that have occurred in human history include various stages that are usually present; however, extermination, the 7th stage of genocide, is one that is present in all genocides. From the Armenian genocide and Darfur genocide, to the Rwandan and Jewish genocides, extermination is ever present in all of these.
Extermination is explained to be mass killings of people, which defines the legal term “genocide”, and is caused when the killers do not consider their victims to be fully human (Stanton, 8 Stages). Regardless of the genocide that you research, all present extermination in one way or another. One perfect example is the Armenian genocide. Approximately six-hundred thousand to one and a half million Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire were brutally assassinated beginning around 1915. The first of numerous genocides in the 20th century, the Armenian genocide lasted around 20 years, and led to the murder of men, women, and children alike (ABC-CLIO, Armenian). The Turks ordered Armenian men to join the military, where they were then killed or they were worked to death. In addition, Armenians were forced to march for many months without food or water, much like the fate of many Jewish people that were transported from camp to camp during the Holocaust. Although killing of Armenian people is dated back to 1894, systematic killing occurred throughout Armenia until 1917 (History Study Center, Armenian). The extermination was brutal and wide-spread, and today the Turkish government denies that the murders were planned by the government, and only estimates numbers of dead to be around 300,000 (Facts on File, Key).
Another example of a genocide where extermination was evident is the Darfur Crisis. This genocide, among all in history, is the most frightening in the sense that it is still occurring today. Millions of citizens in Darfur,
Mrs. Burton
English 10 Honors
25 March 2012
Extermination in Genocide
All genocides that have occurred in human history include various stages that are usually present; however, extermination, the 7th stage of genocide, is one that is present in all genocides. From the Armenian genocide and Darfur genocide, to the Rwandan and Jewish genocides, extermination is ever present in all of these.
Extermination is explained to be mass killings of people, which defines the legal term “genocide”, and is caused when the killers do not consider their victims to be fully human (Stanton, 8 Stages). Regardless of the genocide that you research, all present extermination in one way or another. One perfect example is the Armenian genocide. Approximately six-hundred thousand to one and a half million Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire were brutally assassinated beginning around 1915. The first of numerous genocides in the 20th century, the Armenian genocide lasted around 20 years, and led to the murder of men, women, and children alike (ABC-CLIO, Armenian). The Turks ordered Armenian men to join the military, where they were then killed or they were worked to death. In addition, Armenians were forced to march for many months without food or water, much like the fate of many Jewish people that were transported from camp to camp during the Holocaust. Although killing of Armenian people is dated back to 1894, systematic killing occurred throughout Armenia until 1917 (History Study Center, Armenian). The extermination was brutal and wide-spread, and today the Turkish government denies that the murders were planned by the government, and only estimates numbers of dead to be around 300,000 (Facts on File, Key).
Another example of a genocide where extermination was evident is the Darfur Crisis. This genocide, among all in history, is the most frightening in the sense that it is still occurring today. Millions of citizens in Darfur,
Cited: "Armenian Genocide." World History: The Modern Era. ABC-CLIO, 2012. Web. 12 Mar. 2012. "Armenian Massacres." The Penguin Dictionary of Twentieth-Century History. 2002. History Study Center. Web. 12 Mar. 2012. "Darfur Crisis." Issues & Controversies On File: n. pag. Issues & Controversies. Facts On File News Services, 10 Apr. 2009. Web. 12 Mar. 2012. . "Key Events in the History of Armenian Genocide (sidebar)." Issues & Controversies On File: n. pag. Issues & Controversies. Facts On File News Services, 2 Nov. 2007. Web. 12 Mar. 2012. . Lemarchand, Rene. “Genocide in Rwanda and Burundi.” Encyclopedia of Genocide. Ed. Israel W. Gharny. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO, Inc. 508. Print. Spalding, Frank. Genocide in Rwanda. New York: Rosen Publishing. Print. Stanton, Gregory H. “The 8 Stages of Genocide”. Genocide Watch. 1998. Genocide Watch. 1998. Web. 16 Mar. 2012 Straus, Scott. "Darfur and the Genocide Debate." Foreign Affairs Vol. 84 No. 1. Jan. /Feb. 2005: 123-133. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 13 Mar. 2012. Wiesel, Elie. Night. Trans. Marion Wiesel. New York: Farrar, Strauss and Giroux. 2006. Print.