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Congo
1886 - 1908
Leopold II of Belgium wipes out around 8,000,000 Congolese
Not officially considered "genocide"... -
Armenian genocide: The first Armenians are killed by the Turkish
Over 1000 Armenian shops are burned by the socialist and secular Turkish in the city of Diyarbekir -
Armenia
1,200,00 Armenians (1915) + 350,000 Greek Pontians + 480,000 Anatolian Greeks (1916-1920) + 500,000 Assyrians (1915-1920) are mass murdured.
The Turkish are led by Ismail Enver -
Josef Stalin rises to power in Russia
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USSR: The Arctic death camps
At the height of the Purges, Stalin orders an intensification of the hardships the prisoners at the Gulag camps are being forced to endure. Death in the Kolyma camps came in many forms, including: overwork, starvation, malnutrition, mining accidents, exposure, torture, murder at the hands of criminals, and beatings at the hands of guards. Many of the prisoners in these camps are political prisoners, imprisoned for speaking out against the government.
About 80,000 men die. -
USSR: Emergence of the Gulag camps
Gold and platinum are discovered in the Gulag region of Kolyma - Josef Stalin forces prisoners to work in harsh conditions to mine and build the Kolyma Highway, a.k.a The Road of Bones. -
Adolf Hitler becomes Chancellor of Germany
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Hitler implements the Nurenburg Race Laws
The Nurenburg Race Laws in Germany states that all Jews must wear the Star of David. Other laws within this cause the Jewish to lose their citizenship, rights, and general dignity. -
Josef Stalin begins The Great Purge
He begins to reform the security organizations, adopting official plans on purging -
The Purges: Josef Stalin begins the mass murder of 23,000,000
Ukraine, North Caucasus, Kazakhstan -
USSR: Death toll is 10 million
Stalin: "One death is a tragedy, one million is a statistic." -
WWII begins: Nazi Germany invades Poland
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WWII: Britain and France declare war on Germany
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Stalin and his circle realise that the purges have gone too far
However, the practise of mass arrest and exile continues until 1953 -
WWII: The Jewish Holocaust begins
The first concentration camp is built in Krakow, and the first of many Jews are Deported from Germany and Polan to this -
Nazi Germany, facist Italy, and imperial Japan sign pact
They become known as "The Triple Entente" -
The word "genocide" is coined
Raphael Lemkin - writer and doctor - coins this word after seeing the horrific events of the Jewish Holocaust -
The first Jewish prisoners are liberated from the concentrstion camps
At Majdanek: Russian troops liberate the first freed concentration camp. 360,000 Jews had been murdered there. -
Adolf Hitler commits suicide
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The Korean War begins
Communist North Korea invades Sout Korea. The Chinese enter the war and side with North Korea, forcing the United Nations - who were aiding the South Koreans - into a retreat during Christmas.
2.5 million South Koreans are mudered. -
The Allies finish liberating all the Nazi concentration camps
However, over the span of 6 yearsm approximaely 12 000 000 Jewish and uncountable Roma were mudered by Hitler. -
The Workers' Party of Korea is established
WPK is the ruling Communist party of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea). -
The People's Liberation Army forcibly occupies the Chinese city of Changcun
160 000 Chinese civilians die. -
The United Nations defines "Genocide"
Any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:
(a) Killing members of the group;
(b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the
group;
(c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life
calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or
in part;
(d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the
group;
(e) Forcibly transferring children of the group -
China and Tibet: Mao Ze-Dong kills 40-70 million
He is a controversial figure - a great revolutionary, political strategist, military mastermind, and savior of the nation.
Also responsible for the deaths of 40-70 million Chinese and Tibetans. -
Josef Stalin dies
Dies in his sleep. Guilty of the urder of 8 million people, making him one of the bloodiest dictators in history -
Stalin's death camps of Siberia shut down
The Arctic death camps are closed by international forces. Stalin's camps are responsible for 3 million deaths -
The Great Leap Forward
Mao Ze-Dong introduces a new economic plan for CHinese growth - similiar to Stalin's . With the same result, 20-43 million people starve to death.
Mao called anyone who was involved in previous campaigns of repression "a black element" and given the lowest food priority. They included landlords, rich peasants, former members of the nationalist regime, religious leaders, and rightists. -
Rwanda becomes independent from the Belgians.
After breaking away from Belgian colonization, Rwanda is granted independance under the Hutu government. Manu Tutsis flee Rwanda under threat of persecution from the Hutus. -
Mao Ze-Dong launches the Cultural Revolution
After millions starve to death, Mao attempts to lift the Chinee spirits. He throws China into chaos in an effort to reverse the historic changes happening, afer being told that they were heading in the same direction as the Soviet Union -
Mao Ze-Dong's Cultural Revolution
Mao Ze-Dong had four main goals: 1) to replace his successors with leaders more loyal to Mao's way of thinking; 2) to "fix" the Chinese Communist Party what he thought it should be, 3) to prove China's youth with experience in revolution; 4) to implement policy changes to make the educational, healthcare, and cultural systems less elitist.
Mao's Chinese utopia seemed to be heading for certain genocide. -
Burundi: Michel Micombero kills 150,000
Burundi -
Cambodia: Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge murder about 1,700,000 Cambodians, Vietnamese, and Chinese
The Khmer Rouge dictated Cambodia from 1975-1978 -
Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge overthrow the Cambodian government
After taking control of Cambodia, they begin an organized and systematic mission to reconstruct Cambodia to model Communist China. Pot's belief was that all citizens must work as labourers under one federation. He ordered the killings of all educated and azademic citizens. -
The Khmer Rouge are overthrown
The Vietnamese end the bloody Khmer Rouge regin. About 2 million people are found murdered. -
Soviet government responds to Afghan request for aid
The USSR sends a detachment of tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, and crew to guard the government in Kabul against the mujahideen rebels and secure the bagram and Shindand airfields. -
Afghanistan government requests Soviet aid in fighting against rebels
The Afghans request the USSR to send about 20 helicopters with soildiers -
Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan
Under Leonid Brezhnev, 700 Soviet Soldiers disguise themselves as Afghans and kill the Afghan president Hafizullah Amin -
The Arab and Islamic world condemns the Soviet invasion, and the UN protests.
Foreign ministers from 34 Islamic nations adopt a resolution which condemns the Soviet intervention and demand "the immediate, urgent, and unconditional withdrawal of Soviet troops" from the Muslim nation of Afghanistan.
The United Nations General Assembly pass a resolution protesting the Soviet invasion. -
Afghanistan rebels against the Soviet occupation
The presence of Soviet troops doe snot have the desired pacifying effect. The Afghans get nationalistic, causing the rebellion to spread. Karmal, the new Aghan president charges the Soviets with causing an increase in unrest, and Soviet troops find themselves drawn into heavy fighting. However, their airpower and artillery makes short work of the Afghans. -
Soviet occupation of Afghanistan makes half of the world's refugees Afghan
The implementation of Communist Soviet law leads to 2 million Afghani deaths. 5 million Afghanis flee to Pakistan and Iran. The 1980's saw nearly half of the world's refugees as Afghani. -
The warlords of Afghanistan band together to fight the occupying Soviets; America, Saudi Arabia, the UK, and the Middle East are all against the Soviet Union.
Due to the pressure from the above countries, and the fact that many Western countires (including the US) were supplying the Afghani rebels with weapons, leads to the Soviets withdrawing from Afghanistan. They leave millions dead, and many more displaced within the country. As well, the creation of rebel groups (including Al-Qaeda) leaves the country in social and civil disorder. -
Bosnia-Herzegovina is officially recognized as an independent state
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A mortar shell fired from Serbian positions in Sarajevo kills 16 people waiting in a food line.
This causes the United Nations to impose sanctions on the Serbian-led Yugoslavia. -
Nationalist Serbian snipers fire on peaceful demonstraters in Sarajevo, marking the beginning of the Bosnian war. Bosnian Serb soldiers are formally dischraged from the Yugoslav army.
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The first acts of genocide are committed in Sarajevo by Serbian leader Radovan Karadzic
Reports come in of "ethnic clensing" - slaughtering Muslims or driving them away, - to create an "ethnically pure" region. Reports of concentration camps and mass rapes. -
The UN peacekeeping mission UNOMUR - including Canadian Romeo Dallaire - is sent to Rwanda
With the creation of rebel groups amongst both Tutsi and Hutu tribes, international aid is required to keep peace -
Croatians, originally fighting with the Bosnian Muslims against the Serbs, are presuaded by the Serbians to start their own "ethnic cleansing" campaign
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France calls for NATO to use air strike to relieve the humanitarian crisis in Bosnia.
Bernard-Henri Levi and other European intellectuals start an election party whose only platform is that Europe's humanity and civility is challenged by its inactivity in the Bosnia crisis. -
The Sarajevo marketplace massacre leaves 68 people dead and over 200 wounded.
This ignited public outcry against this and other atrocities leading NATO to issue ultimatum for Serbs to withdraw their artillery to 20 km from Sarajevo, and for all warring parties to hand over their heavy weapons to UN observers.
Serbia ignored this. -
President Habyarimana and Burundian President Cyprien Ntaryamira are killed when the Rwandan leader's plane is shot down as it is about to land at Kigali Airport. Hutu extremists opposed to the Arusha Peace Accords are believed to be behind the attack.
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The Rwandan armed forces and Interahamwe militia begin the systematic killing of Tutsis and moderate Hutus. UN forces, unwilling to breach their mandate, fail to intervene. 10 Belgian UN peacekeepers are killed.
United Nations peacekeeping general Romeo Dallaire is helpless to stop the mass killings, as he has barely 60 peacekeepers - the West refuses to help -
French, Belgian and American civilians are rescued by their governments.
Despite desperate cries of help from the Rwandans, the Western governments refuse to aid them, instead paying attention only to their civilians. -
Uganda genocide
Ugandan rebel group, Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) wants to run Uganda along lines of the biblical Ten Commandments. Led by self-titled "prophet" Joseph Kony, they have kidnapped thousands of children, killed over 300,000 villagers, and displaced thousands. -
Rwanda
Jean Kambanda incites the Hutus to kill around 800,000 Tutsis -
NATO bombs the runways in the Serb-held airport in Krajina from which bombing raids are flown. The Serbs hold over 200 United Nations troops hostage against further bombings.
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Rwandan killings cease
After only 100 days with over 800 000 murders, the Rwandan Patriotic Front captures Kigali (the capital of Rwanda). Its leadership claims it will form a government on the basis of the Arusha Accords.
Refugees fleeing the RPF advance in north-western Rwanda flood into Zaire. Approximately 10,000-12,000 refugees per hour cross the border into the town of Goma. The massive influx creates a severe humanitarian crisis, as there is an acute lack of shelter, food and water. -
1000th day of the Serbian seige of Sarajevo, Bosnia.
Ceasefire violations by Bosnian Serbs are increasingly common. -
The United Nations withdraws from Bosnia
The United Nations' report on the fall of Srebrenica, Bosnia states:
“The United Nations experience in Bosnia was one of the most difficult and painful in our history... Through error, misjudgement, and an inability to recognize the scope of the evil confronting us, we failed to do our part to help save the people of Srebrenica from the Serb campaign of mass murder... The tragedy of Srebrenica will haunt our history forever.” -
The United Nations tribunal on human rights violation charges 21 Bosnian Serb commanders with Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity.
This action marks the first time that a Western political body openly chraged Serbs with genocide. -
Effective military intervention finally begins in Bosnia
A massive NATO-lead bombing campaign in Bosnia finnaly begins to stop the genocide.
The Serbians began to be defeated by the Bosnian Muslims who were recieving weapons from the Islamic world. -
Sudan begins to export oil
China is it's main buyer, and they rely on the Sudanese government heavily for this oil. -
Sudan and Uganda sign agreement aimed at containing the Lord's Resistance Army, who still continue their brutal attacks on the villages.
In October, the Army evacuates more than 400,00 civilians caught up in the fight. -
Sudanese government and the Sudan Liberation Army sign a landmark ceasefire agreement in central Nuba Mountains - a key rebel stronghold
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Darfur: Fighting breaks out again between the Sudan Liberation Army and the Sudanese government
The Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) and Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) groups in Darfur take up arms, accusing the Sudanese government of oppressing non-Arab Sudanese in favour of Sudanese Arabs, and that Darfur is being neglected by Khartoum. -
The Sudanese army moves to quell rebel uprising in webstern region of Darfur; hundreds of thousands of refugees flee to neighbouring Chad
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Uganda: LRA rebels slaughter more than 200 people at a camp for displaced people in northern Uganda
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Pro-government Arab Janjaweed militias begin to carry out systematic killings of non-Arab villagers in Darfur
Army officers and opposition politicians are detained over an alleged coup plot. -
US Secretary of State Colin Powell describes Darfur killings as genocide.
United Nations says Sudan has not met targets for disarming pro-government Darfur militias and must accept outside help to protect civilians. -
UN Security Council votrs to refer those accused of war crimes in Darfur to International Crimminal Court
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DR Congo accuses Uganda invaded in 1999, killing and looting. Uganda rejects these accusations.
In December, the International Court in the Hague rules that Uganda must compensate DR Congo -
Sunda: Vice president and former rebel leader John Garang is killed in a plane crash. His death sparks deadly clashes in the capital between southern Sudanese and northern Arabs
POINT TO REMEMBER: The issues of whether the genocide in Darfur is Arabs vs. Non-Arabs or not, is a very precarious one. It has been noted that there are Arabs on both sides of the conflict! -
Because of the horrific killings and deadly clashes, the African Union extends mandate of its peacekeeping force in Darfur for six months
Hundreds are thought to have died in the heaviest fighting between northern Sudanese forces and their former southern rebel foes since they signed a peace deal last year. Fighting is centred on the southern town of Malakal.
Un humanitarian chief says 300,000 people have been killed in the five-year Darfur conflict. -
The International Crimminal Court's top prosecutor calls for the arrest of Sudanese President Bashir for genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes in Darfur
The appeal is the first ever request to the ICC for the arrest of a sitting head of state. -
Uganda: Two bombs attacks on people watching the World Cup final kill at least 74 people.
The Somali Islamist group Al-Shabab says it was behind the blasts. -
Members of the rebel Hutu war party are being tried as war crimminals in the UN War Crimes Tribunal
