Honors Theses

Date of Award

2006

Document Type

Undergraduate Thesis

Department

Croft Institute for International Studies

First Advisor

Andrew Long

Relational Format

Dissertation/Thesis

Abstract

This thesis offers insight into the causes of genocide through a comparative analysis of four incidents, two that are seen as ideologically-based and two that are seen as the result of ethnic conflict: the mass killing that occurred during Joseph Stalin’s reign in the Soviet Union, specifically the period from the early 1930s to the late 1940s, the genocide that occurred in Cambodia from 1975 to 1979, that which took place against Bosnian Muslims from 1992 to 1995, and the Rwandan genocide of 1994. To determine the of each of the respective genocides, constructivist theories of the factors behind ethnic conflict and rational choice theory were utilized. In gathering the data needed for each case, numerous sources were used, especially journalists’ accounts and testimonies from both victims and perpetrators. In studying the cases, it became apparent that, though the genocides occurred at different times and places and involved vastly differing peoples and cultures, they all shared the same causal factors, which, ultimately, were not ethnicity and ideology. Rather, each case of genocide can be attributed to the existence of a dictatorial leader who desired to maintain or increase his authority and did so by creating a scapegoat group. To polarize society and rally support of their own group, these leaders make use of massive amounts of incendiary propaganda. The population became motivated to participate in genocide not only because of the internalization of this propaganda, but also because of fears of being identified with the enemy group. In each case, there was also the presence of a desire for revenge in the perpetrator group, based on a history of political and economic superiority of the other group. Additionally, each country was suffering from an unstable, and usually failing, economy during the time of the genocide, and the population, especially young males, was partly driven to participation through the prospect of material gains. If genocide is to be prevented in the future, it is crucial that we look beyond specific ideologies or ethnic conflicts and examine the broader political and economic situations and their effects on populations.

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