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HIST232: Mass Violence and Genocide in the Twentieth Century

Mass violence has sullied the register of the twentieth century. In the colonies, across the battlefields of the two world wars, under totalitarian regimes or in the midst of bitter civil wars, mass violence has been a taboo broken on so many occasions with devastating and lasting consequences. The module examines the factors that shape the potential for mass violence in the longer term and the forces that help unleash it in particular spaces and moments in time. Why and how is the taboo of (mass) violence broken? Who are the 'perpetrators' and why do they inflict violence on others even if they are aware of its transgressive character? What is the role of leaders and 'ordinary people' in the discharge of violence? Can mass violence be effectively prevented?
Case studies range from protracted campaigns of genocide (the Holocaust, Rwanda), ethnic cleansing (former Yugoslavia), and democide (Cambodia, Soviet Union) to sporadic or smaller-scale episodes of violence.

For further information on HIST232 visit the Lancaster University Online Courses Handbook.

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