background preloader

Setting the Scene: Introduction to the Holocaust

Setting the Scene: Introduction to the Holocaust
The Holocaust was the systematic, bureaucratic, state-sponsored persecution and murder of six million Jews by the Nazi regime and its collaborators. Holocaust is a word of Greek origin meaning "sacrifice by fire." The Nazis, who came to power in Germany in January 1933, believed that Germans were "racially superior" and that the Jews, deemed "inferior," were an alien threat to the so-called German racial community. During the era of the Holocaust, German authorities also targeted other groups because of their perceived "racial inferiority": Roma (Gypsies), the disabled, and some of the Slavic peoples (Poles, Russians, and others). Other groups were persecuted on political, ideological, and behavioral grounds, among them Communists, Socialists, Jehovah's Witnesses, and homosexuals. WHAT WAS THE HOLOCAUST? Although Jews, whom the Nazis deemed a priority danger to Germany, were the primary victims of Nazi racism, other victims included some 200,000 Roma (Gypsies). Further Reading

About the Author The Age of Imperialism During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the United States pursued an aggressive policy of expansionism, extending its political and economic influence around the globe. That pivotal era in the history of our nation is the subject of this online history. Expansion in the Pacific A Letter to an Emperor Footholds in the Pacific The Spanish-American War Remember the Maine Yellow Journalism A Splendid Little War A Gift from the Gods The Boxer Rebellion Spheres of Influence Fists of Righteous Harmony The Panama Canal President Roosevelt Joining the Waters U.S. Teddy's Legacy The End of an Era Image Credits Bibliography Teacher's Guide now available Alfred Thayer Mahan After temporarily resolving the problems of Reconstruction and Industrialization, Americans began to resume the course of expansion. A leading expansionist, Captain Alfred T. Commodore Matthew Calbraith Perry American ships had long been active in the Pacific. Commodore Matthew C. [Return to Top] A Letter to an Emperor U.S.S. Capt.

Illegal drug trade International drug routes. History[edit] Chinese edicts against opium smoking were made in 1729, 1796 and 1800.[2] Addictive drugs were prohibited in the west in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.[3][4][5] An illegal drug trade emerged in the early 19th century. China retaliated by enforcing the ban on imports of opium that led to the First Opium War (1839–1842) between Great Britain and Qing dynasty China. Chinese authorities had banned opium, but the United Kingdom forced China to allow British merchants to trade opium with the general population. In 1868, as the result of the increased use of opium, the UK restricted the sale of opium in Britain by implementing the 1868 Pharmacy Act .[7] In the United States, control remained a state responsibility until the introduction of the Harrison Act in 1914, following the passing of the International Opium Convention in 1912. Between 1920 and 1933, alcohol was banned in the United States. Legal penalties[edit] Violent crime[edit]

Khmer Rouge The Khmer Rouge (/kəˈmɛər ˈruːʒ/; French for "Red Khmers", French pronunciation: ​[kmɛʁ ʁuʒ]; Khmer: ខ្មែរក្រហម Khmer Kraham) was the name given to the followers of the Communist Party of Kampuchea in Cambodia. It was formed in 1968 as an offshoot of the Vietnam People's Army from North Vietnam. It was the ruling party in Cambodia from 1975 to 1979, led by Pol Pot, Nuon Chea, Ieng Sary, Son Sen, and Khieu Samphan. Democratic Kampuchea was the name of the state as controlled by the government of the Khmer Rouge from 1975 to 1979. It allied with North Vietnam, the Viet Cong, and Pathet Lao during the Vietnam War against the anti-Communist forces. Pol Pot, leader of the Khmer Rouge and Prime Minister of Democratic Kampuchea, in 1978. Historic legacy[edit] Flag used by Khmer Rouge during their 1975 campaign. Flag of Democratic Kampuchea, was used by Khmer guerillas since 1950s with the building design varying. Pol Pot was a key leader in the movement after he returned to Cambodia from France.

War in Darfur The War in Darfur[12][13] was a major armed onslaught in the Darfur region of Sudan. It began in February 2003 when the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM/A) and Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) rebel groups took up arms against the Government of Sudan, which they accused of oppressing Darfur's non-Arab population. The government responded to attacks by carrying out a campaign of ethnic cleansing against Darfur's non-Arabs. One side of the conflict was composed mainly of Sudanese military and police and the Janjaweed, a Sudanese militia group recruited mostly among Arabized indigenous Africans and a small number of Bedouin of the northern Rizeigat; the majority of other Arab groups in Darfur remained uninvolved.[14] The other side was made up of rebel groups, notably the SLM/A and the JEM, recruited primarily from the non-Arab Muslim Fur, Zaghawa, and Masalit ethnic groups. Origins of the conflict[edit] There are several different explanations for the origins of the conflict.

Slavery in America Armenian Genocide In April 1915 the Ottoman government embarked upon the systematic decimation of its civilian Armenian population. The persecutions continued with varying intensity until 1923 when the Ottoman Empire ceased to exist and was replaced by the Republic of Turkey. The Armenian population of the Ottoman state was reported at about two million in 1915. An estimated one million had perished by 1918, while hundreds of thousands had become homeless and stateless refugees. The Ottoman Empire was ruled by the Turks who had conquered lands extending across West Asia, North Africa and Southeast Europe. In its heyday in the sixteenth century, the Ottoman Empire was a powerful state. In response to the crisis in the Ottoman Empire, a new political group called the Young Turks seized power by revolution in 1908. The deportations were disguised as a resettlement program. The genocidal intent of the CUP measures was also evidenced by the mass killings that accompanied the deportations.

During the second World War, a horrible tragedy began to occur in Europe, starting in Germany. Adolf Hitler, the dictator of Germany, announced the ban of jewish people's rights. They were no longer allowed to go to do their daily activities such as the cinema, shopping, going to restaurants or even going to school. Not long after, many families were in hiding from the nazis who were there to send them to concentration camps. This article relates to Sweetgrass basket when Mattie and Sarah, among many other aboriginal children were being obliged to go to the residential schools. Many families like during World War II were keeping their children in hiding to keep them from going to the residential schools. by stephnso Oct 30

Related: