Social 20-1 - Chapter 7: Ultranationalism & Crimes Against Humanity Chapter Issue: How can ultranationalism lead to crimes against humanity? Related Issue #2: To what extent should nations pursue national interests?
Name: ______
Darcy Owen Tuesday, January 28, 2014 1:51:51 PM MT #1 Chapter 7: Ultranationalism and Crimes Against Humanity Related Issue #2: Should nations pursue national interests? Chapter Issue: How can ultranationalism lead to crimes against humanity?
Begin by looking at the photos on page 158 and reading page 159. This chapter will examine some of the worst massacres in recorded history. I just wanted to add a warning label, or disclaimer to Chapter 7. Human beings are not perfect - and human beings that operate within an ultranationalistic government can often take their own national interests too far - which can lead to crimes against humanity. What are Crimes Against Humanity (pages 160-162) People's loyalty can help their nation grow and prosper. Strong, charismatic leaders can help people feel proud of belonging to a nation. But when nationalism becomes extreme, it can turn into ultranationalism. When this happens, people may commit crimes against humanity. These are crimes that offend nearly everyone because they reflect so badly on all humanity.
Read about the Nanjing Massacre on page 160. Naming the Crimes (page 161) Events like the Nanjing massacre horrified people in many countries. In 1998, the United Nations set up the International Criminal Court to try people accused of committing crimes against humanity, genocide and war crimes. The court developed definitions of these crimes. Summarize these crimes below: Crimes Against Humanity:
Genocide:
War Crimes:
Darcy Owen Tuesday, January 28, 2014 1:51:51 PM MT Examine this photo essay to learn about other examples of ultranationalistic governments crimes against humanity, genocide, and war crimes. Use a check mark to show which category the crime fits into. Photograph Genocide War Crime Crimes Against Humanity Figure 7-2 Mothers in Argentina Figure 7-3 Crimes of South Africa Figure 7-4 Japanese Murder Of Chinese Figure 7-5 Massacre in Rwanda Figure 7-6 Chilean Dictator Sentenced to Prison
Ultranationalism and Crimes Against Humanity (page 162) Ultranationalist may start by persecuting members of minority groups. They may segregate - separate - members of a minority group and treat them as if they were less than human. This is how Adolf Hitler and the Nazis treated Jews in the years before World War II.
The Nazis blamed the Jews for many of the problems in German society. So the Nazis passed racist laws that limited the rights of Jews. As time passed, these laws became more severe and more inhumane. Then the Nazis began rounding up Jews and transporting them to concentration camps, where they were forced to work as slave labour. Finally, the Nazis began executing Jews in death camps.
In ultranationalistic states such as Nazi Germany, racism can lead to an atmosphere that makes crimes against humanity possible. Governments may pass laws that: #1:
#2:
#3:
#4:
#5:
Darcy Owen Tuesday, January 28, 2014 1:51:51 PM MT How has Ultranationalism Caused Crimes Against Humanity (pages 163 - 168) Ultranationalist beliefs provide fertile ground for the growth of racism and prejudice. When a society tolerates - and even encourages - racism and prejudice, crimes against humanity may follow. If a government, for example, passes laws that support ultranationalism, people sometimes believe that committing crimes against humanity show their loyalty to their nation.
Around the world, people are studying crimes against humanity to try to understand why they have happened and what can be done to ensure that they do not happen again. Those who study these crimes have found that peer pressure plays an important role.
Peer pressure involves the desire to feel a sense of belonging by going along with group actions - even when individuals may not feel comfortable about what they are doing.
Genocide in Turkey: 1915 - Questions: 1. In the early 20th Century, what empire was Turkey still a part of and what was the dominant religion within that empire?
2. To which religious group did Armenians belong?
3. Which choices did Armenians make that lead to their discrimination within a Turkish society? What did they suffer as a result?
4. What did Armenians fight for in the late 1800's? What was the result?
5. Who did Armenians side with during World War I? How did the Turks view this decision? Why?
6. Who were the Young Turks? What did they order?
Darcy Owen Tuesday, January 28, 2014 1:51:51 PM MT 7. What did these orders tell Turks to do to Armenians?
8. What did the Turks do with the Armenians that were left after hundreds of thousands of Armenian soldiers, civilians, and community leaders were murdered?
9. How many of the country's 2 million Armenians survived?
10. Who was the American ambassador to Constantinople?
11. What did these foreign observers call the forced marches of Armenian women and children?
12. What did Turkey do to those responsible for the Armenian massacre? Why could they not punish all of those responsible?
13. Why do you think it is illegal to talk about the Armenian genocide within Turkey?
14. What effect did the Armenian genocide have on the people of Germany? Is it possible that this genocide in Turkey led to Holocaust in Nazi Germany?
Darcy Owen Tuesday, January 28, 2014 1:51:51 PM MT Famine in Ukraine - 1932-1933 Questions: 1. What was the Ukraine called in the early 20th century? Why?
2. What empire was much of the Ukraine apart of ? What changed in 1922?
3. Who were the kulaks and what did they want?
4. What did Stalin order the kulaks to do and what was his plan?
5. What are collective farms?
6. What did Stalin do to crush the Kulak resistance? How?
Darcy Owen Tuesday, January 28, 2014 1:51:51 PM MT 7. What was the real devastation of sealing the Ukraine border?
8. What happened to anyone caught hiding grain in the Ukraine?
9. How many Ukrainians had died by 1933? Go by the HIGH number!
10. How did the Soviets keep their actions in Ukraine a secret?
Please read the impact section “Shoah - The Holocaust” from pages 166 and 167 in your textbook.
Darcy Owen Tuesday, January 28, 2014 1:51:51 PM MT Ultranationalism and Crimes against Humanity
Crime What Happened? How Ultranationalism against Contributed Details of the Crime! to the Crime? Humanity
Armenian genocide (pages 163/164)
Ukraine famine (page 165)
Darcy Owen Tuesday, January 28, 2014 1:51:51 PM MT The Holocaust (pages 166/167)
Dropping the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki (page 168)
Darcy Owen Tuesday, January 28, 2014 1:51:51 PM MT The Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (page 168) Governments pursue national interest to protect the physical security of a country and its people, to ensure people’s economic stability and prosperity, and to protect and promote people’s values, beliefs, and culture.
Many people argued that dropping the atom bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 was in the national interest of the United States. Some U.S. military experts had warned that ultranationalist warrior values would prevent Japanese soldiers and civilians from giving up. Japanese prime minister Kantaro Suzuki, for example, had said that Japan’s only option was to “fight to the very end”. As a result, the experts warned that up to 250,000 Americans might die in an invasion of Japan. They believed that dropping the bombs would save American lives.
What do you think? Read The View From Here on page 169. Next, with a partner, complete the chart on the following page List arguments for dropping the Atom bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki and arguments against dropping the Atom bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
We will have this discussion as a class…. Points to consider: *Germany was also working on an Atomic bomb. If they would have succeeded and used it, what would other nations have said? *Germany used mass bombings on London and other British cities. Are these crimes against humanity? *The allies firebombed Dresden and Tokyo. Does it matter what force is applied and to what purpose when discussing ultranationalism? *How could the discussion change if chemical and biological weapons are used in the future?
Since 1945, many countries have built atomic or what we now call nuclear bombs – but no country has ever used one to settle a conflict. How would building nuclear weapons serve a country’s national interest?
Do nuclear bombs act as deterrents against other countries’ aggression? Is it like arming police officers, hoping they don’t have to use their weapon against criminals that do have them? Or does building these weapons present the risk that they may perhaps one day be used – and not always in the right circumstance.
Darcy Owen Tuesday, January 28, 2014 1:51:51 PM MT Arguments “for” and “against” Dropping the Atomic Bombs
For Against
Darcy Owen Tuesday, January 28, 2014 1:51:51 PM MT Chapter 7: Ultranationalism and Crimes Against Humanity What are some contemporary consequences of Ultranationalism? (pages 170-177) Since the end of World War II, people have tried to rid the world of the extreme forms of nationalism that can lead to crimes against humanity. They believe that is in the interest of all countries – and all peoples and nations – to do this. These crimes threaten the peace, security, and well-being of everyone.
Bringing Criminals to Justice After the League of Nations failed to prevent the horrors of World War II, world leaders tried to find a new way to preserve peace in the world. They formed the United Nations (UN), an international organization that all countries could join. They hoped that the UN could help find peaceful ways for countries to work out disagreements.
One of the UN’s strategies for preventing crimes against humanity was to create an international court. But in 1945, the UN was still young. No permanent court had been established. So the victorious Allies set up the international military tribunals to try German and Japanese officials for crimes they had committed during World War II.
The International Criminal Court The tribunals set up after World War II highlighted the need for a permanent international court – and in 1948, the UN established a committee to do this. This task took 50 years to complete. One main stumbling block was differences of opinion over how the court would operate. Many governments feared that an international court would challenge their sovereignty
In the end, the International Criminal Court was set up as a court of last resort. This means that the ICC will step in only when a national court fails to do so.
Crimes Against Humanity in the Former Yugoslavia (pages 171-172) At the Paris Peace Conference of 1918-1919, the Allied leaders decided to create a new country: Yugoslavia, which means “land of the southern Slavs.” They did this by uniting a number of nations in the area known as the Balkans.
Over the centuries, the Balkan nations had often fought bitterly with one another. But in Yugoslavia, they coexisted more or less peacefully.
In the second half of the 20th century, Yugoslavia was a tightly controlled communist state lead by Josip Broz Tito . But in the late 1980’s, the Soviet Union started to crumble – and the nationalist and ultranationalist feelings of the Balkan peoples bubbled to the surface.
Darcy Owen Tuesday, January 28, 2014 1:51:51 PM MT In 1991, Slovenia and Croatia (look at Figure 7-13 on page 171) declared independence. In 1992, Macedonia and Bosnia and Herzegovina did the same thing. Serbia and Montenegro formed the federal Republic of Yugoslavia under the leadership of Slobodan Milosevic.
Ethnic Cleansing Milosevic believed that Serbs formed an ethnic nation – and that everyone else should be expelled from Serbian territory. In his view, Serbian territory included Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Kosovo, even though the Serbs were a minority in these areas. Milosevic called the expulsion process ethnic cleansing. He used this code term to make what was happening seem more socially acceptable. In reality, Serbs were killing non-Serbs.
With a partner, please work on the chart “Contemporary Examples of Crimes Against Humanity” on the following page. Answer for the former Yugoslavia only for the moment and then Rwanda next.
Crimes Against Humanity in Rwanda (page 173) Rwanda is home to tow ethnic groups: Hutus and Tutsis. At one time, Hutus formed the majority but Tutsis held much of the political power. This was because Tutsis were favoured by the Belgians, who had controlled the country when it was a colony.
Rwanda gained independence in 1962. When this happened, a power struggle erupted between Hutus and Tutsis. The majority Hutus finally gained control of the country, but the hard feelings between the two groups did not go away.
Genocide Many Rwandans cannot read or write. As a result, radio is the most popular form of mass communication. Hutu ultranationalists used radio broadcasts to spread hate propaganda against Tutsis. Some broadcasts urged Hutus to kill all Tutsis. Specific people were sometimes called enemies of the nation and targeted by death squads – and successful killers were sometimes congratulated on the air.
To try to control the violence, the United Nations sent a small force of soldiers to keep the peace in 1993. This force was commanded by Canadian general Romeo Dallaire.
The situation exploded in April 1994, when an airplane carrying Rwandan president Juvenal Habyarimana was shot down. The president was Hutu – and Hutu extremists blamed Tutsis for the President’s murder. A killing spree followed. An estimated 800,000 people were killed. More than 90% of the dead were Tutsis, but moderate Hutus who were against the massacre were also killed.
Darcy Owen Tuesday, January 28, 2014 1:51:51 PM MT Contemporary Examples of Crimes against Humanity
Former Yugoslavia Rwanda (page 173) (pages 171-172) What happened?
When did it happen?
How did the world community respond?
Darcy Owen Tuesday, January 28, 2014 1:51:51 PM MT What could the international community have done differently?
How was the situation resolved?
What role did ultranationalism play in the situation?
Acting for Good in the Face of Evil (pages 176-177) Ordinary people sometimes do extraordinary things when they stand up for the good in the face of evil, such as crimes against humanity and genocide. Oskar Schindler, Feng Shan Ho, and Paul Rusesbagina are just three examples of people who did this. The list includes thousands.
Darcy Owen Tuesday, January 28, 2014 1:51:51 PM MT We will read about all three individuals together in class and while we do that, please complete the chart “Acting for the Good in the Face of Evil” on the next page. Acting for Good in the Face of Evil
Who What This Person Did? Why This Person Did It? Oskar Schindler (Page 176)
Feng Shan Ho (Page 176)
Paul Rusesabagina (Page 177)
Darcy Owen Tuesday, January 28, 2014 1:51:51 PM MT