Massacres, Mass Killing, and Genocide in Warfare: Some Explanations

This paper examines massacres, mass killing, and genocide in modern warfare, arguing that such atrocities are neither historical anomalies nor the product of primordial hatreds alone. Drawing on scholarship from Holocaust and Perpetrator Studies, particularly the work of Christopher Browning and Jonathan Leader Maynard, it explores why political leaders choose extreme violence against civilians and why ordinary individuals participate in killing. The paper contends that massacres and mass killings emerge from the interaction of strategic objectives and ideological narratives. While elites employ violence to achieve political and military goals, ideology legitimises these actions, enabling ordinary people to become agents of extraordinary violence.

Image credit: Gravestones, Srebrenica Genocide Memorial, Bosnia and Herzegovina (public domain).