Analysis of Ethnic Cleansing Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Analysis of Ethnic Cleansing - Research Paper Example The practice dates back in historical times and as old as the eleventh century. Just like modern populations, ancient communities also grappled with conflicts and wide-ranging social problems. The compelling urge for power is the main reason why respective communities engaged in gruesome practices such as ethnic cleansing. It is against this background that this paper reviews the various episodes of ethnic cleansing that occurred before as well as during the two World Wars. In addition, it explains the extent to which the nature of these World Wars contributed to the state of affairs. To ensure a harmonic consideration, it begins by defining the term ethnic cleansing. Ethnic cleansing is an all-encompassing term that is closely related to the concept of genocide. It refers to the removal from a certain territory a faction of a population through intimidation and violence (Thum, 2010). It is comprehensive and includes population transfer, forced migration and or deportation. In most i nstances, this occurs between neighboring communities and is geared towards ensuring the purity of a certain population. Historical evidence ascertains that it is a major cause of genocide that occurs on a wider scale. Comparatively, genocide tends to be more violent and has wide-ranging implications on both the perpetrating and affected community. Also worth noting is the fact that the relative negative implications are lasting and contribute significantly to future conflicts. As indicated earlier, ethnic cleansing is a historical occurrence that has its roots in ancient conflicts. According to Brubaker (1996), conflicts are a common characteristic of both current and historical populations. However, the complexity of conflicts and relative wars increased during the twentieth century. These further culminated in the first and second world wars. Notably, ethnic cleansing was a common occurrence during both instances. Thus apart from being one of the contributory factors, it can also be considered to have been a major product of the two world wars. There are various instances of ethnic cleansing that attest to the foregoing proposition. To begin with, between 1919 and 1920, there was an ethnic cleansing occurrence between the Bolshevik regime and Don Cossacks. This took place during the Russian civil war and its implications were immense. In particular, it saw a significant 500,000 Don Cossacks being deported within this short period of time (Merriman, 2010). Another episode of ethnic cleansing occurred in 1923 between the Greeks and Turkish. In this regard, there was a major population exchange between Turkey and Greece that can be defined as ethnic cleansing.