Mankind is capable of great things. Love, compassion and empathy have allowed species to flourish and to survive. Human are also capable of horrible things as well genocide, mass murder and war. While we may like to talk about all the great achievements of man, we can never forget some of the most horrible moments as well if only so we never repeat it again. Here are some of the worst genocide’s committed by mankind.
Native American genocide (1492-1900)
It is impossible to determine exactly how many natives were present in the Americas before the arrival of Christopher Columbus; but even conservative estimates usually put the number at a minimum of one million. In the years following 1492, a deluge of Europeans arrived, each wave more determined than the last to seize control of the New World’s vast natural resources. The only thing standing in their way were the native populations, who, as it turned out, weren’t always willing to share.
Zunghar genocide (1757-1758)
The Dzungar genocide was the mass extermination of the Dzungar people, sometimes referred as "Zunghars", at the hands of the Manchu Qing dynasty of China and the Uyghur Muslims of Xinjiang. The Dzungars were a confederation of several Tibetan Buddhist Oirat tribes that emerged suddenly in the early 17th century. The Dzungar Khanate was the last great nomadic empire in Asia. Some scholars estimate that about 80% of the Dzungar population, or around 500,000 to 800,000 people, were killed by a combination of warfare and disease during or after the Qing conquest in 1755–1757. After wiping out the native population of Dzungaria, the Qing government then resettled Han Chinese, Hui, Uyghur, and Xibe people on state farms in Dzungaria along with Manchu Bannermen to repopulate the area.
Moriori genocide (1835)
The Maori are the indigenous Polynesian people of New Zealand. They have dwelled in the area for some eight hundred years. About five hundred years ago, a group of Maori migrated to the nearby Chatham Islands, where they began their own society that focused on peaceful living. They called themselves the Moriori.
The remaining, warlike Maori tribes soon came into contact with Americans and Europeans, and while initial meetings sometimes ended in cannibalization of the foreigners, the Maoris highly valued Western guns—so trade flourished. Beginning in 1835, the now well-armed Maori arrived at the Chatham Islands, where they proceeded to murder and devour their defenceless cousins. Those who survived were enslaved, and forced to intermarry with the Maori. In less than thirty years from the moment of contact, there were only 101 Moriori left. The last pure-blooded Moriori died in 1933.
Armenian genocide (1915)
The Ottoman Empire, whose centre point during its declining years was modern-day Turkey, was responsible for a great many human rights violations—none more horrifying than the Armenian Genocide. Beginning in 1915, while the rest of the world was distracted by World War One, the Ottomans turned fiercely on the Armenians, a Christian minority. Between 1915-1916, an estimated 1.5 million Armenians, or 75% of Armenians in their historic homeland which lies within the present-day Republic of Turkey, were killed in massacres or died as a consequence of military deportations, forced marches and mass starvation's carried out by the Young Turks.
The Holocaust (1942-45)
Since ancient times, the Jews have been highly persecuted by Egyptians, Romans, and Christians alike. But few genocides have been as sweeping or well-documented as the Nazi Holocaust, Adolf Hitler’s “final solution to the Jewish question.” It is important to understand the socioeconomic state of Germany in the years following World War One; the country had acquired a massive debt, and forced war reparations utterly destroyed their economy. Inflation was so bad that normal families’ entire life savings were depleted on few loaves of bread. The Holocaust perpetrated against the Jewish people by the Nazis resulted in about 6 million Jews killed. In other words, 67% of the entire Jewish population in Europe.
Bangladesh genocide (1971)
The genocide in Bangladesh began on 26 March 1971 with the launch of Operation Searchlight, as West Pakistan began a military crackdown on the Eastern wing of the nation to suppress Bengali calls for self-determination. During the nine-month-long Bangladesh war for independence, members of the Pakistani military and supporting Islamist militias from Jamaat e Islami killed an estimated up to 3,000,000 people and raped between 200,000 and 400,000 Bangladeshi women in a systematic campaign of genocidal rape.
Rwandan genocide (1994)
Like the Maori and Moriori, the Hutus and the Tutsi likely originated from common ancestors—offshoots of the Bantu people. In fact, there was little delineation between the two at all before the arrival of Belgian and German imperialists. The Europeans divided the two groups mostly by economic status, with Tutsis being wealthier (the ownership of ten cattle being the base requirement). Indeed, if a Hutu came into money, he could change his status to that of a Tutsi.
An estimated 500,000–1,000,000 Rwandans were killed during the 100-day period from April 7 to mid-July 1994, constituting as many as 70% of the Tutsi and 20% of Rwanda's total population. Some 50 perpetrators of the genocide have been found guilty by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, but most others have not been charged due to no witness accounts. Another 120,000 were arrested by Rwanda; of these, 60,000 were tried and convicted in the gacaca court system.
Pygmy genocide (1998-2003)
The pygmy tribes are found in central Africa, and while they comprise several tribes, the general term is used to describe people whose adult males are less than fifty-nine inches tall. Although there are several theories as to the reason for their tiny stature, no one has truly pinpointed the reason. The pygmies, who are a largely primitive, forest dwelling people, have suffered terribly during Congolese civil wars fought in the region. Pygmy representatives have appealed desperately to the United Nations, claiming that rebel factions such as the Movement for the Liberation of the Congo have been hunting and cannibalising their people as though they were wild animals. There are only an estimated 500,000 pygmies remaining, and their numbers are sharply declining in the face of slaughter and deforestation.