HIS 431 - Genocides in 20thc Eurasia

For much of the twentieth century, millions of ethnic minorities across Eurasia were victims of state-led mass killing, aided by the participation of ordinary individuals. This extraordinary violence often took place during moments of political, societal, or economic crisis, such as imperial collapse and war, and within the broader context of European colonialism and imperialism. In the wake of the Nazi-German extermination of European Jews, the Polish-Jewish scholar Raphael Lemkin introduced the term “genocide,” to describe the mass killing of a whole or part of a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group and as a way to seek means of international justice and protection.

This seminar introduces the field of Genocide Studies by looking at three major events of mass killing in twentieth century Eurasia: the Armenian Genocide, the Holodomor, or the Ukrainian Famine, and the Holocaust. We will approach these three events of mass killing as part of the longer history of European nation-building and the collapse of empires. What was the relationship between genocides and the new nation-state? Did the rise of nationalism and the end of empires produce the kind of state-led killing that marked the twentieth century? How do genocide scholars treat mass violence directed toward political and social groups? We will consider political, legal, and historiographical definitions of the term ‘genocide’ from its origins to the present day, covering debates over which historical events constitute a genocide, and the stakes of these questions. How has the term ‘genocide’ been used to understand terrible histories of violence, and to seek justice or retribution in events of mass violence? To uncover these difficult histories, we will rely on witness testimony, primary sources, documentary films, as well as historical, theoretical, and legal analyses.

Satisfies History major and minor requirement.
Satisfies Russian Studies major and minor requirement.