Genocides in history: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia

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=== Genocides before World War I ===

{{main|Genocides in history (before World War I)}}

[[Raphael Lemkin]] applied the concept of genocide to a wide variety of events throughout [[human history]]. He and other scholars date the first genocides to [[prehistoric times]].{{sfn|Naimark|2017|p=vii}}{{sfn|Lemos|Taylor|Kiernan|2023|p=31}}{{sfn|Irvin-Erickson|2023|p=11}} Genocide is mentioned in various ancient sources including the [[Hebrew Bible]], in which God commanded genocide ([[Herem (war or property)|herem]]) against some of the Israelites' enemies, especially [[Amalek]].{{sfn|Naimark|2017|pp=7-9}}{{sfn|Lemos|Taylor|Kiernan|2023|pp=50-51}} Genocide in the ancient world often consisted of the massacre of men and the enslavement or forced assimilation of women and children—often [[urbicide|limited to a particular town or city]] rather than applied to a larger group.{{sfn|Lemos|Taylor|Kiernan|2023|pp=39, 50}} Potential [[medieval]] examples are found in Europe, even though experts caution against applying a modern term like ''genocide'' to such events.{{sfn|Fraser|2010|p=277}} Overall, premodern examples that can be considered genocide were relatively uncommon.{{sfn|Lemos|Taylor|Kiernan|2023|p=47}} Beginning in the [[early modern period]], racial ideologies emerged as a more important factor.{{sfn|Lemos|Taylor|Kiernan|2023|p=55}}

According to Frank Chalk, [[Helen Fein]], and Kurt Jonassohn, if a dominant group of people had little in common with a marginalized group of people, it was easy for the dominant group to define the marginalized group as a subhuman group; the marginalized group might be labeled a threat that must be eliminated.{{sfn|Jones|2006|p=3|ps=: "The difficulty, as Frank Chalk and Kurt Jonassohn pointed out in their early study, is that such historical records as exist are ambiguous and undependable. While history today is generally written with some fealty to 'objective' facts, most previous accounts aimed rather to praise the writer's patron (normally the leader) and to emphasize the superiority of one's own gods and religious beliefs."}}