Ethnic Cleansing in Former Times

Abstract

This chapter suggests that since in premodern states class usually trumped ethnicity (thesis 2), there was little ethnic cleansing (thesis 1). Though mass murders are obviously not new to human history, few earlier historical regimes intended to wipe out or expel whole civilian populations. Conquerors normally wanted people to rule over; they wanted to subordinate and enslave them, not remove them. Yet some disagree, declaring that murderous cleansing is equally ancient and modern, citing the notorious Assyrians or incidents like the Carthaginian destruction of Greek city-states and the Roman destruction of Numantia and Carthage (Chalk & Jonassohn, 1990; du Preez, 1994: 4–5; Freeman, 1995; Jonasson, 1998: chap. 17). Smith (1997) declares that “Genocide has existed in all periods of history,” though he distinguishes different types – conquest, religious, colonial, and modern genocide – in different historical eras. No age has had a monopoly on mass murder. Earlier ages may have been far more cruel than our own, more at ease, for example, with public torture and executions. We moderns prefer indirect, callous killing at a distance. We bomb from a safe height but are appalled by butchery with axes and swords (Collins, 1974: 421). In former times treatment of the lower classes, including common soldiers, was much crueler than it is today. Discipline was harsh and exemplary, floggings were routine, executions were common. The enemy's lower classes were treated even worse. Armies lived off the countryside; besiegers sacked, looted, and raped their way through a captured city.