A massacre is the killing of a large number of people, especially those who are not involved in any fighting or have no way of defending themselves.[1] A massacre is generally considered to be morally unacceptable, especially when perpetrated by a group of political actors against defenseless victims. The word is a loan of a French term for "butchery" or "carnage".[2] A "massacre" is not necessarily a "crime against humanity".[3] Other terms with overlapping scope include war crime, pogrom, mass killing, mass murder, and extrajudicial killing.
Le Massacre de Scio ("The Chios massacre") a painting (1824) by Eugène Delacroix depicting the massacre of Greeks on the island of Chios by Ottoman troops during the Greek War of Independence in 1822.
The modern definition of massacre as "indiscriminate slaughter, carnage", and the subsequent verb of this form, derive from late 16th century Middle French, evolved from Middle French "macacre, macecle" meaning "slaughterhouse, butchery". Further origins are dubious, though may be related to Latin macellum "provisions store, butcher shop".[4][5][6]
The Middle French word macecr "butchery, carnage" is first recorded in the late 11th century. Its primary use remained the context of animal slaughter (in hunting terminology referring to the head of a stag) well into the 18th century. The use of macecre "butchery" of the mass killing of people dates to the 12th century, implying people being "slaughtered like animals".[7] The term did not necessarily imply a multitude of victims, e.g. Fénelon in Dialogue des Morts (1712) uses l'horride massacre de Blois ("the horrid massacre at [the chateau of] Blois") of the assassination of Henry I, Duke of Guise (1588), while Boileau, Satires XI (1698) has L'Europe fut un champ de massacre et d'horreur "Europe was a field of massacre and horror" of the European wars of religion.
An early use in the propagandistic portrayal of current events was the "Boston Massacre" of 1770, which was employed to build support for the American Revolution. A pamphlet with the title A short narrative of the horrid massacre in Boston, perpetrated in the evening of the fifth day of March, 1770, by soldiers of the 29th regiment was printed in Boston still in 1770.[a]
The term massacre began to see inflationary use in journalism first half of the 20th century. By the 1970s, it could also be used purely metaphorically, of events that do not involve deaths, such as the Saturday Night Massacre—the dismissals and resignations of political appointees during Richard Nixon's Watergate scandal.
The term massacre, being a synonym of "butchery, carnage", is by nature hyperbolic or subjective, primarily used in partisan descriptions of events.[citation needed]
Robert Melson (1982) in the context of the "Hamidian massacres" used a "basic working definition" of "by massacre we shall mean the intentional killing by political actors of a significant number of relatively defenseless people... the motives for massacre need not be rational in order for the killings to be intentional... Mass killings can be carried out for various reasons, including a response to false rumors... political massacre... should be distinguished from criminal or pathological mass killings... as political bodies we of course include the state and its agencies, but also nonstate actors..."[11]
Similarly, Levene (1999) attempts an objective classification of "massacres" throughout history, taking the term to refer to killings carried out by groups using overwhelming force against defenseless victims. He is excepting certain cases of mass executions, requiring that massacres must have the quality of being morally unacceptable.[b]
The term "fractal massacre" has been given to two different phenomena, the first being the fracturing of Aboriginal tribes by killing more than 30% of the tribe on one of their hunting missions,[12] and the second being given to the phenomenon of many small killings adding up to a larger genocide.[13]
^The shortened name "Boston massacre" was in use by the early 1800s(Austin 1803, p. 314) The term "Massacre Day" for the annual remembrance held during 1771–1783 dates to the late 19th century.(De Grasse Stevens 1888, p. 126) The 1772 "Massacre Day of Oration" by Joseph Warren was originally titled An Oration Delivered March 5th, 1772. At the Request of the Inhabitants of the Town of Boston; to Commemorate the Bloody Tragedy of the Fifth of March, 1770.
^"Although it is not possible to set unalterable rules about when multiple murders become massacres. Equally important is the fact that massacres are not carried out by individuals, instead they are carried out by groups... the use of superior, even overwhelming force..." Levene excludes "legal, or even some quasi-legal, mass executions". He also points out that it is "...most often ... when the act is outside the normal moral bounds of the society witnessing it... In any war ... this killing is often acceptable."(Levene & Roberts 1999, p. 90)
Citations
^"Definition of a Massacre". Cambridge Dictionary.
^"the definition of massacre". Dictionary.com. Retrieved November 24, 2017.
^Gallant, Thomas W. (2001). "Review of Levene, Roberts The Massacre in History". Crime, History & Societies. 5 (1).
^Sleidanus, Johannes (1695). De Quatuor Summis Imperiis: An Historical Account of the Four Chief Monarchies Or Empires of the World. Nathaniel Rolls. p. 186. OCLC 11990422.
^Sleidanus, I. (1669). Sleidani de quatuor monarchiis libri tres. Apud Felicen Lopez de Haro. p. 301.
^Melson, Robert (July 1982). "Theoretical Inquiry into the Armenian Massacres of 1894–1896". Comparative Studies in Society and History. 24 (3): 482–3. doi:10.1017/s0010417500010100. S2CID 144670829.
^"Definition". Colonial Frontier Massacres in Australia, 1788-1930. Centre For 21st Century Humanities. Retrieved August 1, 2022.
^Dyck 2016, pp. 192–193. sfn error: no target: CITEREFDyck2016 (help)
Sources
Austin, Benjamin (1803). Constitutional Republicanism, in Opposition to Fallacious Federalism: As Published Occasionally in the Independent Chronicle, Under the Signature of Old-South. To which is Prefixed, a Prefatory Address to the Citizens of the United States, Never Before Published. Adams & Rhoades, editors of the Independent Chronicle.
De Grasse Stevens, (Augusta (1888). Old Boston: An American Historical Romance. George Allen. ASIN B00087E73Q.
Levene, Mark; Roberts, Penny (1999). The Massacre in History. Berghahn. ISBN978-1-57181-934-5.
Further reading
Kenz, David El. "GLOSSARY TERM: Massacre". Online Encyclopedia of Mass Violence. Retrieved November 22, 2013.
Levene, Mark; Roberts, Penny, eds. (1999). The massacre in history (1. publ. ed.). Providence: Berghahn Book. ISBN978-1-57181-934-5.
April 05, 2023
massacre, other, uses, disambiguation, massacre, killing, large, number, people, especially, those, involved, fighting, have, defending, themselves, massacre, generally, considered, morally, unacceptable, especially, when, perpetrated, group, political, actors. For other uses see Massacre disambiguation A massacre is the killing of a large number of people especially those who are not involved in any fighting or have no way of defending themselves 1 A massacre is generally considered to be morally unacceptable especially when perpetrated by a group of political actors against defenseless victims The word is a loan of a French term for butchery or carnage 2 A massacre is not necessarily a crime against humanity 3 Other terms with overlapping scope include war crime pogrom mass killing mass murder and extrajudicial killing Le Massacre de Scio The Chios massacre a painting 1824 by Eugene Delacroix depicting the massacre of Greeks on the island of Chios by Ottoman troops during the Greek War of Independence in 1822 Contents 1 Etymology 2 Definitions 3 See also 4 References 4 1 Notes 4 2 Citations 4 3 Sources 4 4 Further readingEtymology EditThe modern definition of massacre as indiscriminate slaughter carnage and the subsequent verb of this form derive from late 16th century Middle French evolved from Middle French macacre macecle meaning slaughterhouse butchery Further origins are dubious though may be related to Latin macellum provisions store butcher shop 4 5 6 The Middle French word macecr butchery carnage is first recorded in the late 11th century Its primary use remained the context of animal slaughter in hunting terminology referring to the head of a stag well into the 18th century The use of macecre butchery of the mass killing of people dates to the 12th century implying people being slaughtered like animals 7 The term did not necessarily imply a multitude of victims e g Fenelon in Dialogue des Morts 1712 uses l horride massacre de Blois the horrid massacre at the chateau of Blois of the assassination of Henry I Duke of Guise 1588 while Boileau Satires XI 1698 has L Europe fut un champ de massacre et d horreur Europe was a field of massacre and horror of the European wars of religion The French word was loaned into English in the 1580s specifically in the sense indiscriminate slaughter of a large number of people It is used in reference to St Bartholomew s Day massacre in The Massacre at Paris by Christopher Marlowe The term is again used in 1695 for the Sicilian Vespers of 1281 called that famous Massacre of the French in Sicily in the English translation of De quattuor monarchiis by Johannes Sleidanus 1556 8 translating illa memorabilis Gallorum clades per Siciliam i e massacre is here used as the translation of Latin clades hammering breaking destruction 9 The term s use in historiography was popularized by Gibbon s History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire 1781 1789 who used e g massacre of the Latins of the killing of Roman Catholics in Constantinople in 1182 The Abo Bloodbath has also been described as a kind of massacre which was a mass punishment carried out on the Old Great Square in Turku on November 10 1599 in which 14 opponents of the Duke Charles later King Charles IX in Finland were decapitated in the Battle between Duke Charles and Sigismund Duke Charles defeated King Sigismund s troops in the Battle of Stangebro in Sweden in 1598 and then made an expedition to Finland where he defeated the resistance during the Cudgel War and executed the estates in Turku without consulting Finland s leading nobles 10 An early use in the propagandistic portrayal of current events was the Boston Massacre of 1770 which was employed to build support for the American Revolution A pamphlet with the title A short narrative of the horrid massacre in Boston perpetrated in the evening of the fifth day of March 1770 by soldiers of the 29th regiment was printed in Boston still in 1770 a The term massacre began to see inflationary use in journalism first half of the 20th century By the 1970s it could also be used purely metaphorically of events that do not involve deaths such as the Saturday Night Massacre the dismissals and resignations of political appointees during Richard Nixon s Watergate scandal Definitions EditFurther information List of events named massacres The term massacre being a synonym of butchery carnage is by nature hyperbolic or subjective primarily used in partisan descriptions of events citation needed Robert Melson 1982 in the context of the Hamidian massacres used a basic working definition of by massacre we shall mean the intentional killing by political actors of a significant number of relatively defenseless people the motives for massacre need not be rational in order for the killings to be intentional Mass killings can be carried out for various reasons including a response to false rumors political massacre should be distinguished from criminal or pathological mass killings as political bodies we of course include the state and its agencies but also nonstate actors 11 Similarly Levene 1999 attempts an objective classification of massacres throughout history taking the term to refer to killings carried out by groups using overwhelming force against defenseless victims He is excepting certain cases of mass executions requiring that massacres must have the quality of being morally unacceptable b The term fractal massacre has been given to two different phenomena the first being the fracturing of Aboriginal tribes by killing more than 30 of the tribe on one of their hunting missions 12 and the second being given to the phenomenon of many small killings adding up to a larger genocide 13 See also Edit Law portal Society portal Look up massacre in Wiktionary the free dictionary Democide Disaster Ethnic cleansing Genocide Killing spree List of events named massacres Mass killing Mass murder Pogrom Tragedy Tragedy event War crimeReferences Edit Wikiquote has quotations related to Massacre Notes Edit The shortened name Boston massacre was in use by the early 1800s Austin 1803 p 314 The term Massacre Day for the annual remembrance held during 1771 1783 dates to the late 19th century De Grasse Stevens 1888 p 126 The 1772 Massacre Day of Oration by Joseph Warren was originally titled An Oration Delivered March 5th 1772 At the Request of the Inhabitants of the Town of Boston to Commemorate the Bloody Tragedy of the Fifth of March 1770 Although it is not possible to set unalterable rules about when multiple murders become massacres Equally important is the fact that massacres are not carried out by individuals instead they are carried out by groups the use of superior even overwhelming force Levene excludes legal or even some quasi legal mass executions He also points out that it is most often when the act is outside the normal moral bounds of the society witnessing it In any war this killing is often acceptable Levene amp Roberts 1999 p 90 Citations Edit Definition of a Massacre Cambridge Dictionary the definition of massacre Dictionary com Retrieved November 24 2017 Gallant Thomas W 2001 Review of Levene Roberts The Massacre in History Crime History amp Societies 5 1 Massacre Merriam Webster com Retrieved January 8 2017 Harper Douglas Massacre Etymonline com Archived from the original on January 8 2017 Retrieved January 8 2017 Massacre Oxford Dictionaries Oxford University Press Archived from the original on January 8 2017 Retrieved January 8 2017 Massacre Tresor de la Langue Francaise informatise in French Retrieved March 22 2019 Sleidanus Johannes 1695 De Quatuor Summis Imperiis An Historical Account of the Four Chief Monarchies Or Empires of the World Nathaniel Rolls p 186 OCLC 11990422 Sleidanus I 1669 Sleidani de quatuor monarchiis libri tres Apud Felicen Lopez de Haro p 301 Jutikkala Eino Pirinen Kauko 1988 A history of Finland Dorset Press ISBN 0 88029 260 1 Melson Robert July 1982 Theoretical Inquiry into the Armenian Massacres of 1894 1896 Comparative Studies in Society and History 24 3 482 3 doi 10 1017 s0010417500010100 S2CID 144670829 Definition Colonial Frontier Massacres in Australia 1788 1930 Centre For 21st Century Humanities Retrieved August 1 2022 Dyck 2016 pp 192 193 sfn error no target CITEREFDyck2016 help Sources Edit Austin Benjamin 1803 Constitutional Republicanism in Opposition to Fallacious Federalism As Published Occasionally in the Independent Chronicle Under the Signature of Old South To which is Prefixed a Prefatory Address to the Citizens of the United States Never Before Published Adams amp Rhoades editors of the Independent Chronicle De Grasse Stevens Augusta 1888 Old Boston An American Historical Romance George Allen ASIN B00087E73Q Levene Mark Roberts Penny 1999 The Massacre in History Berghahn ISBN 978 1 57181 934 5 Further reading Edit Kenz David El GLOSSARY TERM Massacre Online Encyclopedia of Mass Violence Retrieved November 22 2013 Levene Mark Roberts Penny eds 1999 The massacre in history 1 publ ed Providence Berghahn Book ISBN 978 1 57181 934 5 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Massacre amp oldid 1134238526, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
