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Genocide, The Rwandan Genocide And The Bosnian Genocide

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Three genocides that have taken place since the Holocaust are the Cambodian genocide, the Rwandan genocide, and The Bosnian Genocide. The term genocide was defined by the United Nations in 1948 meaning following acts such as killing, causing serious physical/mental harm, or deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring physical destruction, with intent to destroy a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group. Genocides do not just happen out of nowhere, often it is due to long-standing conflicts with religious or cultural groups and a desire to have power and control from either sides of conflict. Although the Holocaust is the most well known genocide, people often forget that genocides still happen and that some have ended only recently.
One genocide that occurred after World War II was in the 1970’s. The Cambodian genocide lasted from 1975 till 1979 and was caused by a number of events. In 1970 Cambodia’s ruler, Prince Sihanouk, was deposed in a military coup. A new right wing government was established and a lieutenant-general, Lon Nol, was made president of the ‘Khmer Republic.’ Sihanouk and his followers joined forces with a communist guerrilla organization lead by Pol Pot known as the Khmer Rouge. They attacked Lon Nol’s army and a Civil war broke out. Cambodia was also caught up in the Vietnam war by becoming part of the battlefield. The Khmer Rouge and Pol Pot were suspicious of Vietnam’s relations with Cambodia and Lon Nol’s Collaboration with

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