Democide facts for kids

Democide is when a government causes the death of many of its own people. This can include different types of killings, like genocide (killing a specific group) or mass murder (killing many people). It's not always about wiping out an entire cultural group. Sometimes, it's about a government deciding to get rid of groups within its country for political reasons or because they see them as a future threat.

The word "democide" was first used by a historian named R.J. Rummel. He studied the Holocaust and statistics. He wrote about it in his book called Death by Government. Rummel explained that the word "genocide" can have a few meanings. One common meaning is when a government murders people because of their nationality, ethnicity, race, or religion. There's also a legal meaning of genocide, which is part of an international agreement called the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. This legal meaning also includes actions that might not directly kill people but aim to destroy or seriously harm a group.

Rummel created the term "democide" to describe a broader idea. This idea includes all intentional killings by a government. It covers not just specific groups but also political opponents or anyone else the government decides to murder. He wanted to avoid confusion because "genocide" sometimes has a narrower meaning. So, "democide" helps describe all these different ways governments have killed their own people throughout history.

Democide and Communist Governments

R.J. Rummel applied the idea of democide to Communist regimes. In his book Death by Government, he estimated that about 148 million people were killed by Communist governments between 1917 and 1987. Some experts have questioned Rummel's numbers. They say his figures are higher than what most other scholars have estimated. They also have questions about how he calculated these numbers.

Examples from History

According to Rummel, many historical events can be seen as democide. These include times when governments caused the deaths of their own people.

World War II Incidents

For example, he included people killed during city bombings in World War II. This happened when countries like Germany and Japan targeted cities.

Other Historical Events

Other examples include the large-scale killings of Filipinos during the American colonization of the Philippines. Also, deaths in British concentration camps in South Africa during the Second Boer War are considered. Civilian deaths from starvation during the British blockade of Germany after World War I are another example. The Boxer Rebellion in 1900 is also listed among these events.

See also