comparative genocide table of the 20th century

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Disclaimers: this table is NOT in any way intended to either undermine the sufferings of other ethnic groups nor to imply that the tragedy and arguable genocide against the German expellees was 'worse' or more significant. So too, it must be acknowledged that every genocide is barraged with intense historiographic and cultural debate. One faction will vociferously demand recognition of what they consider a genocide (such as the Ukrainians), whilst the other faction (the Russians) will refuse to acknowledge any complicity. Even the word 'genocide' is a subject of tremendous debate (see our article). Keep in mind that the numbers and statistics of every genocide are highly disputed and subject to drastically ranged estimates. One source may claim one genocide affected three million, whilst another will include over fifteen.

 

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German starvation of Namibian tribes 1904-7- estimates range 30-80% of colonized Herero and Namaqua tribes [1]

Irish Potato Famine 1845-53- many consider it a genocide caused by the British. 4-6,000,000, more than half of Ireland's population starved and emigrated [2].

Armenian Genocide by Ottoman Empire 1916-23- Turkey denies it, Armenians claim expulsion and murder of 1-2,000,000. Almost half of the Armenian race sent into diaspora. Calculations difficult due to uncertainty of how many died due to famine, infirmity, or direct murder.

Genocide against Greek by Ottoman Empire 1916-23- Turkey denies it, Greeks claim as many as several hundred thousand killed [3].

Starvation of Ukrainians during collectivization- Russians deny it, Ukrainians claim from 3-20,000,000.

Soviet starvation of Kazakhs, Cossacks, Chechens, & Tatars- during collectivization, as many as 40% of the entire Kazakh population died by 1940 [4], and 25-50% of the Chechen Ingush populations died due to malnourishment. Over half of all Tatars starved to death [5].

Jewish Holocaust (Shoah)- including both systematic death camp killings and intense ethnic cleansings by Germans, Lithuanians, Estonians, Latvians, Austrians, Ukrainians, Poles, Croats, Bosniaks, Vichy France, Hungarians, and Romanians, the most corroborated total is over 6,000,000. Numbers are extremely controversial. Many argue far more, and some far less. Over 1,000,000 killed through forced labour and gassing at Auschwitz-Birkenau alone.

German genocide in Poland- many consider the Nazi General Government's rule in Poland during from 1939-1945, and the death of ~10-20% of Poland's population, to be genocide.

Galician Ukrainians and Poles from 1920-1945- estimates vary. Mostly considered inter-ethnic fighting, but others have emphasized the ethnicity-based violence as a genocide attempt. Ranges from 10 to even 80,000 [6].

Bulgarian genocide of Greeks, Jews, & Serbs in Macedonia- so far unrecognized and disputed. Axis Bulgaria rounded up over 10,000 Jews and forced them into makeshift concentration camps, with uncertain deaths [7].

Croatian Nazi genocide against Serbs, Gypsies, & Jews- over 70,000 Jews, Gypsies, Communists, and Serbs killed in concentration camps by Croats in Jasenovac alone [8]. Total number killed by Croatia may be 1 million.

Soviet-German transfers of Baltic Germans- ~150,000 forcibly relocated by the Molotov-Ribbentrop agreement between Hitler and Stalin in 1939. German civilians targeted after Soviet conquest of the Baltic for deportation, massacre, and expulsion (see our essay for sources).

Soviet deportation of all German civilians in USSR- nearly all of 1,084,828 expelled, over 300,000 may have died during the expulsions, or 30% total (see our essay for sources).

Soviet deportation of all Volga Germans- over 400,000 expelled, half may have died (see our essay for sources).

Polish and Soviet forced march of all Germans- over 5,000,000 Germans expelled, with a debated number dying in transit from starvation, hypothermia, disease, and murder (see our essay for sources).

Yugoslav imprisonment of Germans & Croats- at least 200,000 (the entire German population) gaoled, executed, or displaced, and subjected to forced labour in what many scholars call 'concentration camps' (see our essay for sources).

Czechoslovak forced march of Germans and Hungarians- over 3,000,000 expelled and displaced. As many as 100,000 may have starved to death or were executed (see our essay for sources).

Expulsion of Hungary's Germans- over 100,000 directly expelled, 300,000 displaced, 88% loss (see our essay for sources).

Deportation of Romania's Germans- 200,000 displaced by Hitler's population transfer, 75,000 deported for forced labour by Soviet Union (at least 15% dead), over 300,000 lost through relegated mass emigration (see our essay for sources).

Israeli 'genocide' of Palestinian Muslims since 1948- highly controversial. Arguably the largest forced refugee communities of the 20th century. Israel denies it; Muslims consider the 'Nakhba' (Catastrophe) of Israeli occupation to be one of genocide, starvation, enclosure, and massacre.

Australian whites against Aboriginals- controversial. Some consider it only relocation/resettlement. Others describe the intentional murder and movement of 10-50,000 natives [9].

India-Pakistan Bangladesh Conflict 1947-71- some consider the movement of nearly all Muslims from India to West and East Pakistan (Bangladesh) to be a forced march and a genocide. During the Bengali independence war between Pakistan and India, Muslims, Hindus, Pakistanis, and Bengalis engaged in mutual race wars. R. J. Rummel cites millions [10].

Rwanda/Burundi genocide between Hutus & Tutsis- estimates range drastically from 500,000-1,000,000.

Cambodian Killing Fields- controversial. Some emphasize that almost half of Cambodia's population was killed. Others emphasize that the killing was done by Khmer against Khmer, and is thus not a genocide.

Genocide of Azeris by Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh- highly controversial. Turks and Azeris emphasize that Armenians deserve no restitution for the Armenian genocide from Turkey because of their murder of as many as ten thousand Turkic Muslims in Azerbaijan [11]. Armenians claim the opposite, insisting that it is a civil war.

Hindu genocide of Buddhists in Sri Lanka after 1970- as many as 70-100,000 civilians slain by Tamil Hindu militias, especially the Tigers of Tamil Eelam [12].

Yugoslav Wars- extremely debated. Serbs deride the contumacy and revolt of the Croats and Bosniaks. Others insist that the Serbs committed mass rape and genocide of tens or even hundreds of thousands of non-Serbs, and 8-10,000 Muslims in Srbrenica alone [13].

Darfur war- extremely difficult to identify and ascertain statistics because of the wide array of tribes and religions involved in massive killings in the region that make it difficult to portray a phenomenon of one race slaughtering another. Sudan dismisses it. Human rights groups claim as high as millions are dead or displaced.

 

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Sources used (note: sources greatly dispute estimated dead, so the above table includes ranges from many sources)

[1] 'Sturm über Südwest'. Der Hereroaufstand von 1904. Bernhard & Graefe-Verlag, Koblenz 1989.

[2] http://irishfaminememorial.org/events/2002_shirley_fitzgerald.htm

[3] http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/SOD.CHAP5.HTM

[4] Olivier Roy, The New Central Asia: Creation of Nations (London: IB Tauris Publishers, 2008), 88.

[5] Burleigh, Michael. The Third Reich: A New History. Hill and Wang, 2001. Page 748.

[6] Niall Ferguson. The War of the World. New York: Penguin Press, 2006. Page 455.

[7] Glenny, Misha. The Balkans. New York: Penguin Group, 1999. Page 506-509.

[8] http://www.setimes.com/cocoon/setimes/xhtml/en_GB/features/setimes/articles/2007/01/08/reportage-01

[9] http://www.theage.com.au/news/robert-manne/the-cruelty-of-denial/2006/09/08/1157222325367.html

[10] http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/SOD.CHAP8.HTM

[11] De Waal, Thomas. Black Garden: Armenia and Azerbaijan Through Peace and War. New York: NYU Press, 2003.

[12] http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/2405347.stm

[13] http://www.potocarimc.ba/memorijalni_eng/favorite.htm