Massacres

The word massacre is host to a number of different meanings but most commonly refers to individual events of deliberate and direct mass killings. The term especially takes into account noncombatant civilians or other innocents who have no reasonable means of defense. In this sense, the term massacre does not typically apply to combatants, although the deliberate killing of prisoners of war would most often qualify for this distinction.

At the same time, the term massacre is used more widely to refer to individual, civil, or military killings on a smaller scale, but having a distinct political significance of shaping subsequent events. Individual or small group murders may also be described as massacres, as would be the case in school and post office shootings. At the same time, the term massacre is often used for political or propaganda purposes, and the choice to label an event as a massacre or not may become quite sensitive.

The sheer number and volume of incidents labeled massacres makes coherent exposition somewhat daunting. To provide coherence and structure to the issue, massacres will be divided into four categories: war and terror, sociopolitical events, ethnic conflict, and anomic/criminal behavior. Understandably, any given event will often fall into more than one category, but sufficient homogeneity should exist within each category to make this approach worthwhile.

War and Terror

The early part of the 21st century has been witness to the widespread use of the concept of terror to explain repeated incidents of multiple deaths, although the concept has been around for some time and is considered by many to be a form of warfare. The incident known as 9/11, in which thousands of Americans were massacred by militant terrorists, has come to symbolize modern terrorism. Indeed, modern terrorists have come to view their activity as warfare. Throughout history, war and terror have been inextricably linked.

During the early years of American history there were numerous incidents of massacre involving the Indian population. On December 29, 1890, several hundred Sioux were camped on the banks of Wounded Knee Creek. They were intercepted by the U.S. Army and a shootout ensued. As a result, some 300 Indians and 25 soldiers were dead.

The American Civil War was also witness to numerous massacres. Probably one of the best known was the Lawrence massacre in 1863. The Lawrence massacre was the result of Quantrill's Raiders' attack on Lawrence, Kansas, which was a pro-Union town and had long supported abolition. Prior to this incident, many raiders from Lawrence had attacked and burned proslavery farms in Missouri. Quantrill's raid was in retaliation. The raid left about 200 adult and young males dead; women were spared. Many of the raiders were caught by angry mobs and lynched on the spot.

World War II was especially productive of massacres related to war. During the Japanese occupation of Nanking (1937) over 300,000 unarmed and defenseless civilians were massacred by Japanese troops. The massacre was so large that it lasted for over six weeks. In 1945, during the battle for the Philippines, retreating Japanese forces massacred over 100,000 unarmed civilians, which included many children. European history also contained massacres. In 1945, during the Battle of the Bulge, advancing German soldiers took many American prisoners. In a field near the Belgian town of Malmedy, German forces massacred almost 100 American soldiers.

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