08.06.2013 Views

Dictionary of Genocide - D Ank Unlimited

Dictionary of Genocide - D Ank Unlimited

Dictionary of Genocide - D Ank Unlimited

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.

tion for NATO intervention all along. On May 27, 1999, while the bombing campaign<br />

was in progress, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia indicted<br />

Slobodan Milosevic for crimes against humanity in Kosovo, which was yet another spur<br />

for NATO. In short, despite partisan criticisms to the contrary, all evidence points<br />

toward the conclusion that NATO’s intervention in Kosovo in 1999 was designed to preempt<br />

genocide and, in so doing, to save Kosovo from what Bosnia had suffered four years<br />

earlier.<br />

Nazi Ideology. Among the primary components comprising Nazi ideology, stemming<br />

from Adolf Hitler’s world view prior to his ascent to power, are the following: (1) antisemitism,<br />

simply defined as hatred <strong>of</strong> Jews and Judaism, thereby blaming Jews for all <strong>of</strong> the<br />

ills <strong>of</strong> Western and world civilization for which the solution would, ultimately, be their<br />

removal from the world scene; (2) social Darwinism and eugenics, the adaptation <strong>of</strong><br />

British biologist and naturalist Charles Darwin’s evolutionary thinking onto the plane <strong>of</strong><br />

history by understanding civilization as the “battleground” for the survival <strong>of</strong> the fittest<br />

and most adaptable, coupled with a process <strong>of</strong> selective breeding <strong>of</strong> the human species; (3)<br />

der Volk und Lebensraum, the mythical understanding <strong>of</strong> the German people (Volk) and its<br />

inherent right to incorporate into itself those populations that are truly Germanic (i.e.,<br />

Aryan) and obtain the land required for their growth, expansion, and creation <strong>of</strong> the<br />

unique community; (4) Volksgemeinschaft (the almost mythic allegiance to community<br />

inherent in being a German Aryan). This “right” to the land is also part <strong>of</strong> this Nazi concept<br />

<strong>of</strong> (5) Blut und Boden (blood and soil), that is, the relationship the “true” German<br />

has with German soil. These ideas cannot be divorced from an understanding <strong>of</strong> (6)<br />

racism, which also viewed the world in terms <strong>of</strong> superior and inferior human groups (i.e.,<br />

Germans-Aryans vs. Poles, Slavs, Jews, Roma), the latter to either serve the former and/or<br />

be destroyed. In Hitler himself, the various threads become entangled in the superior<br />

moral principle <strong>of</strong> his leadership; an example <strong>of</strong> this is (7) der Führerprinzip, by which good<br />

is now redefined as obedience to Hitler’s will and bad as opposition to it. Lastly, given the<br />

above ideas, the engine that enabled the Nazis to implement their designs was that <strong>of</strong> (8)<br />

war, which was understood as a legitimate activity <strong>of</strong> societies, states, and individuals.<br />

Nazim, Dr. Mehemed (1865–1926). One <strong>of</strong> the chief ideologues <strong>of</strong> the Young Turk party<br />

in the Ottoman Empire between 1909 and 1919, and a leading member <strong>of</strong> the inner executive<br />

<strong>of</strong> its radical wing. Nazim, as one <strong>of</strong> those who precipitated the Young Turk revolt <strong>of</strong><br />

1908, served as an éminence grise within the party, and acquired a strong power base as one<br />

<strong>of</strong> the key supporters <strong>of</strong> Mehemet Talaat Pasha (1874–1921), the minister <strong>of</strong> the interior<br />

during the Young Turk regime and the key figure responsible for the Armenian genocide. A<br />

passionate Turkish nationalist, Nazim was in the forefront <strong>of</strong> Turkifying the Empire through<br />

forced assimilation, expulsion or, where necessary, the killing <strong>of</strong> non-Turkish elements <strong>of</strong> the<br />

population. Nazim’s greatest acrimony was reserved for the Armenians. In February 1915—<br />

two months before the Armenian genocide broke out—he declared that a new pogrom<br />

should take place against the Armenians which would “produce total annihilation,” in<br />

which it would be “essential that no Armenian survives.” One <strong>of</strong> the positions for which<br />

Nazim subsequently became infamous, which he asserted in a Young Turk Central Committee<br />

meeting, was that Armenian children should not be spared but rather should be<br />

killed along with adults, lest they grow up seeking revenge against the Turks.<br />

Nazim fled to Germany at the end <strong>of</strong> the war, was indicted by a postwar Allied tribunal,<br />

and was sentenced to death in absentia. Later, upon his return to Turkey, he was<br />

NAZIM, DR. MEHEMED<br />

303

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!