Fires of Hatred: Ethnic Cleansing in Twentieth-Century Europe

by Naimark

Of all the horrors of the last century―perhaps the bloodiest century of the past millennium―ethnic cleansing ranks among the worst. The term burst forth in public discourse in the spring of 1992 as a way to describe Serbian attacks on the Muslims of Bosnia-Herzegovina, but as this landmark book attests, ethnic cleansing is neither new nor likely to cease in our time.

Norman Naimark, distinguished historian of Europe and Russia, provides an insightful history of ethnic cleansing and its relationship to genocide and population transfer. Focusing on five specific cases, he exposes the myths about ethnic cleansing, in particular the commonly held belief that the practice stems from ancient hatreds. Naimark shows that this face of genocide had its roots in the European nationalism of the late nineteenth century but found its most virulent expression in the twentieth century as modern states and societies began to organize themselves by ethnic criteria. The most obvious example, and one of Naimark’s cases, is the Nazi attack on the Jews that culminated in the Holocaust. Naimark also discusses the Armenian genocide of 1915 and the expulsion of Greeks from Anatolia during the Greco–Turkish War of 1921–22; the Soviet forced deportation of the Chechens-Ingush and the Crimean Tatars in 1944; the Polish and Czechoslovak expulsion of the Germans in 1944–47; and Bosnia and Kosovo.

In this harrowing history, Naimark reveals how over and over, as racism and religious hatreds picked up an ethnic name tag, war provided a cover for violence and mayhem, an evil tapestry behind which nations acted with impunity.

Genres: History, European History, Nonfiction, Academic, Politics, School, War

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 22, 2000

Reviews

[Richard · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good work for someone interested in the three areas covered (Armenian/Greek, Jewish, Former Yugoslav Republic). Especially important to the individual who does not have much experience with the subject. provides an introduction and exhaustive definition of terms key to the area of study. A short read that will provide an adequate understanding of the field in general and of the three covered instances.

[Jackie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Naimark rejects the idea that ethnic conflicts are the result of “ancient hatreds,” but he also notes that the concept of ethnic cleansing is a uniquely twentieth-century phenomenon. It emerges out of the modern concept of the ethnic nation-state, with the support of the modern centralized state to carry out its implementation. In his analysis of five different cases of ethnic cleansing--of Armenians and Greeks from Turkey, of Jews from Nazi-controlled lands, of Chechens and Tatars from the Soviet Union, of Germans from Czech and Polish lands, and of Yugoslavian successor peoples--he identifies what all cases of ethnic cleansing have in common. There is always violence, because people do not willingly move out of their homes en masse. There is nearly always the cover of war, usually total war, to mask the intentions and efforts of the perpetrators, and because ethnic cleansing can be implemented more easily after the people are already numb from habituation to violence and death. Ethnic cleansing usually has a goal of being “total” rather than impacting merely a portion of a population. It usually makes an effort to eradicate all traces of the memory of the cleansed population, by changing street names and other markers, moving streets, and burying the language of the past. There is usually an element of expropriating the wealth of the cleansed people. Finally, ethnic cleansing is always disproportionately focused on the women and children, who are the cornerstone of the ethnic genetic “nation” that is to be cleansed. Naimark is careful to distinguish between ethnic cleansing and genocide, although he maintains that one has the potential to lead to the other. Therefore, he suggests that the persecution of Armenians under the Turks became a genocide in its final stages, and that the Nazi Holocaust was “only” ethnic cleansing in the years prior to the invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, at which point it evolved into something far more sinister by a few orders of magnitude.

[AJ T · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this novel, as It not only focused on a topic I personally find myself very deeply intrigued about, but it discussed a topic that appears to be often disregarded in today's times. Throughout the course of the 20th century, there were many mass genocides, either by military events, as a consequence for a failed revolutionary program, or due to indiscriminate brutality. Throughout Europe specifically, there were numerous cases of ethnic cleansings due to the consequences of the world wars, as well as the breakup of Yugoslavia. The results of these ethnic cleansings has left bitterness in the hearts of many, specifically in the cases of the Armenian Genocide and the Yugoslav breakup, with resentment still existing to the modern day. I thought this book was knowledgeful, and would recommend it to any person researching this topic as a stable guide.

[Petr · Rating 5 out of 5]

EN/CZ
This book just burns into the soul of any European human(ist). A factual description of genocides and ethnic cleansing that took place in Europe during the 20th century (Armenians, Turks, Greeks, Jews, Chechens, Ingushes, Crimean Tatars, Germans and Yugoslavs) . The books significant part are just references to the sources and the author, as far as I can judge, tries to really get to the bottom of the whole thing. He presents facts and if the facts are not clear yet (or never will be), he presents the most accurate estimates available. He even presents the Turkish attempts to downplay the Armenian genocide, although they really seem futile in the context of all the other sources and even witnesses from the given period. It is a heavy and sad read because the reader witnesses how easily we become beasts and how little do even centuries of tradition mean when faced with violent madness or with a cold will for extermination.

CZ:
Kniha faktů o tom, jaké hrůzy mohou na sobě lidé páchat ve vskutku masivním rozsahu, kdy se autor věnuje i upřesnění co etnickou čistkou myslí a co naopak již za ni nepovažuje. Jedná se o malou historii etnických čistek v Evropě z 20. století, kdy je výborné, že pod drobnohledem nejsou jen nacistické zločiny, ale celá škála evropských čistek (ač věřím, že ne všechny). Řeckoturecké spory, Arméni, sovětská likvidace nepohodlných etnik (Čečenci, Ingušové, krymští Tataři), nacistické čistky a holokaust, vzájemné čistky na území bývalé Jugoslávie a také naše a polské "vyrovnání" se s německým obyvatelstvem. Kniha nesoudí, je jen sbírkou faktů, citátů, kdy skoro čtvrtinu knihy tvoří seznam literatury a zdrojů. Autor uvádí např. i názory tureckých popíračů arménské genocidy, které však zasazeny do kontextu dobových zpráv a svědectví působí velmi uboze. Kniha je chladným popisem událostí, ze kterých mrazí. Je svědectvím, jak málo může znamenat staletá tradice a kultura proti krátkému neomezenému běsnění nenávisti. Zejména pak z často se opakujícího scénáře postupné eskalace útoků, pomalého otupování obyvatel k nepráví páchanému na jejich sousedech, často následováno, pokud umožněno, stejně krvavou a krutou odplatou (např. právě pomsta Turků na Řecích nebo Čechů a Poláků na Němcích). O to více pak bolí číst o případech etnik, která zpravidla ke krvavé odplatě nesahají a naopak se snaží o svá práva bojovat mírovou cestou (z knihy jsou to zejména krymští Tataři). Rád bych viděl někdy ještě kompletnější knihu zaměřenou např. i na světové dějiny. Řekl bych, že by tato kniha měla být povinnou četbou doprovázející výklad historie dvacátého století v Evropě pro každého, kdo chce pochopit nevraživosti, které přetrvávají dodnes. A snad si z ní lze i vzít poučení jak podobným hrůzám do budoucna předejít.

[Hadley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've always known people were garbage, but Jesus.
This book is absolutely fascinating. It's harrowing, but worth every ounce of horror. I would say it takes a general working knowledge of WWI and WWII to understand a lot of the references, but you can also quick google things as you go along and probably keep up just fine. I find Naimark's assertion of the differences between ethnic cleansing and genocide to be particularly astute, and have eased my fears of whitewashing in using the phrase "ethnic cleansing." I highly recommend.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

As we say in italy, "Nepotismo!!"

[Claire S]

Looks like a great resource for getting the facts straight and perhaps learning perspective on these tragedies past..

[Jeremy Raper · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tough subject matter - I read for a class on genocide. I would recommend to academics in the field only.

[Meihan Liu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sufficient for background knowledge but rather dull and unappealing.

[Allie B. · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is quite intense but insightful.