Why was the twentieth century so violent

It would take another, even more destructive, war to hasten their imperial retreat. It is an armistice for twenty years. Ferguson details the Bolshevik seizure of power in Russia, the Fascist takeover of Italy, the emergence of Hitler and the Nazis in Germany, and the rise of militarism in Japan that preceded the outbreak of war. Chinese soldiers and civilians were frequently beheaded, burned alive and buried alive.

Japanese atrocities followed their armies to Southeast Asia, Korea, the Philippines, and wherever the Rising Sun held sway. Ferguson makes clear, however, that the Western powers crossed moral lines in the war, too, when they deliberately inflicted civilian casualties by massive incendiary bombings of German and Japanese cities.

Yet, contrary to many conventional histories of the U. The chief geopolitical beneficiary of the Second World War, Ferguson believes, was the Soviet Union, which ended the war in control of much of eastern and central Europe, and whose communist allies achieved victory in China and elsewhere in Asia.

Determine which 20 th Century example of state homicide you wish to explore. Explain what were the causes of the state violence your group has decided to explore in depth.

Explain why you think the 20 th Century has seen so much state violence. What is the history of the term Genocide? What is the working definition of Genocide? What is the history of the term Holocaust? What would constitute a Holocaust? What is the problem in using these terms to describe the systematic killings of the Twentieth Century? What does Professor Rummel want to prove with the data and materials located at his Web Site? Does it seem logical? Click on the Democide button.

What is the definition of Democide? Why do we need a new term? What strikes you most about the materials contained at the Web Site? How does the Twentieth Century compare with Domicide in previous centuries? Who were the Twentieth Centuries biggest mass murders? Researching Mass Murder in the Twentieth Century Select one of the cases of Genocide, Democide or the Holocaust to look at a little closer and carry out the following assignment. Why did the events take place?

Who was involved in the events? What were the results? How did the rest of the world react? If we are to obtain a balanced view of the horrors of a particular century, it is essential to consider the overall picture.

In the 20th century, chemistry revolutionised public health, dramatically increasing the average life expectancy of a new-born child. Not only did we get better medicines, we also got more — and more nutritious — food, workplaces became safer, and there was a huge drop in everyday violence. Even though chemists also produced Zyklon-B, their medical innovations put the 20th century clearly on the positive side.

The best indicators are statistics for the world population, which increased from 1. Although many people suffered serious oppression under dictatorships during the 20th century, it was probably the least oppressive in history. Freedom has grown in many different fields.

Democracy became a more widespread political system. Market economies, with varying degrees of regulation, and well-functioning welfare states have provided billions of people with economic freedom and security.

Artist: Li Zhaodao, from the 11th century. So which was the most brutal century in world history? Our top candidate is the 8th. Both Christianity and Islam were spreading rapidly and the two religions clashed with enormous consequences for ordinary people.

And although there were a few exceptional periods, there was more-or-less permanent war in the most populated parts of the world. We find the deciding factor in China. Although the figures are highly debatable, the Middle Kingdom was already keeping track of its population at that time, and the post-rebellion census showed a fall in population of 30—40 million. Deaths were not the only factor: some of the population had fled, and the Tang Dynasty had suffered territorial losses.

Even so, the war must have been an almost unparalleled catastrophe. At that time the total world population was only around million. We have now passed the milestone without any outbreak of world war. We know this runs against the impression created by the ongoing wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Ukraine, Syria, Yemen, and other places, which have boosted the number of global conflict related deaths since The year was the worst year since , and although we do not yet have the figures, there is little to indicate that was better.