xix GENOCIDE: A HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION “Genocide” is a new word for an ancient practice and has taken many forms in the past. Ancient history provides us with numerous examples ranging from the Hit- tites of antiquity through the Babylonians, while the Hebrew Bible contains sev- eral important passages referring to mass destruction that we would today identify as genocide. The Greeks engaged in the practice, as chronicled by Thucydides in the famous case of the island inhabitants of Melos, as also did the Romans—most notably in the fate that befell the inhabitants of Rome’s archenemy Carthage, where both the people were destroyed and the land on which they lived was despoiled. Genocide is often, however, looked at as a phenomenon characterizing the mod- ern world. This must be understood clearly. While World War I, the greatest conflict in history up to that time, hit civilians to the extent of 5 percent of all those who died, this figure was to rise enormously as the twentieth century proceeded: World War II, for instance, saw a 60 percent civilian death rate. The conclusion to be drawn is that genocide, while occurring often throughout history, reached its zenith during the twentieth century. BEFORE WORLD WAR I Signaling where the modern world war was heading, the German invasion of the Herero people in South-West Africa (now Namibia) can be termed the first true instance of genocide in the twentieth century. In late 1903, Herero leaders learned that the German colonialists were planning the construction of a railway through Her- ero territory, to be followed by their concentration in reservations. In response, in January 1904, the Herero rebelled with the intention of driving the Germans out. At this time, according to best estimates, the Herero numbered some 80,000. After the German counterattack, reinforcement, and a widespread campaign of annihilation and displacement that forced huge numbers of Herero of both sexes and all ages into INTRODUCTION
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