Many mass killings occurred under 20thcentury communist regimes. The black book of communism, a set of academic essays on mass killings. The black book of communism, the seminal harvard university press work, which specialized in trying to get accurate data on the enormous volume of deaths produced by communist tyrants, states that. Thiessen sourced his downplaying of nazi crimes and hyping of those of communism from the black book of communism.
The authors show how and why, wherever the ideology of communism was established, it quickly led to crime, terror, and repression. The black book of communism gives a balance sheet of our present knowledge of communisms human costs, archivally based where possible, and otherwise drawing on the best secondary works, and with due allowance for the difficulties of quantification. The black book at last breaks the silence over the horrors of communism, ryan writes, the silence of people who are simply baffled by the spectacle of so much absolutely futile, pointless and inexplicable suffering. By stephane courtois, nicolas werth, jeanlouis panne, andrzej paczkowski. This number is accumulated from more than 10 different nations and various movements around the. Maos great leap forward needed only two years to destroy tens of millions of peasants. If we use the high estimate for leopolds reign and include the high estimates of deaths from the world wars not included in the holocaust, which we have already factored into this, we arrive somewhere around a towering 180 million, which dwarfs the black book of communism s claim that communism was responsible for 94 million deaths. This number is accumulated from more than 10 different nations and various movements around the world.
The black book of communism abuse wiki fandom powered by. And the work about totalitarian imprisonment systems, the gulag archipelago by solzhenitsyn 3 vol. Crime, terror, repression stephane courtois, nicolas werth, jeanlouis panne, andrzej paczkowski, karel bartosek, jeanlouis margolin, harvard university press, cambridge, massachusetts, london, england 1999 many archives and witnesses prove conclusively that. Death estimates vary widely, depending on the definitions of deaths included. The black book of communism, written by stephane courtois has been called into question on multiple different grounds. We need the equivalent of the black book of communism to document for history the almostincalculable human cost chinas atrocious behavior on coronavirus, he said in a series of tweets. Us govt and media whitewash nazi holocaust citing debunked. Aug 24, 2017 the black book of communism alleges that communism killed 94 million people during the 20th century. Oct 24, 2017 the black book of communism, the authoritative reference source for the deadly statistics of communism, conservatively estimates that soviet communism lead to the deaths of 20 million human beings. Crimes, terror, repression jeanlouis panne, andrzej paczkowski, karel bartosek, jeanlouis margolin, nicolas werth. Peasants often resisted communism more fervently than any group. Please see genocide according to the black book of communism, the number of people killed by the communist governments estimated amounts to an excess of 94100 million.
Crimes, terror, repression is a book which describes a history of repressions, both political and civilian, by communist states, including extrajudicial executions, deportations, and artificial famines. The revelations of the book will doubtless come as a surprise to those who have somehow managed to remain unaware of the. The black book of communism harvard university press. The black book of communism, while some of its claims have been disputed is nevertheless the source of material for any anticommunist, and should be mandatory reading for anybody to the right of karl marx. Is it true that communism has killed 100 million people.
The black book of communism the barbaric gentleman. The black book of communism, while some of its claims have been disputed is nevertheless the source of material for any anticommunist, and should be mandatory reading for anybody to. Myst2014 favorite favorite favorite favorite december 26, 2012 subject. The black book of communism crimes, terror, repression stephane courtois nicolas werth jeanlouis panne andrzej paczkowski karel bartosek jeanlouis margolin harvard university press cambridge, massachusetts london, england 1999 translated by jonathan murphy and mark kramer. This is odd, because capitalism has been around longer than communism, has been more powerful, and has controlled more of the world, and the world was. Crimes, terror, repression harvard university press, cambridge 1999, pp. This international bestseller plumbs archives in the former soviet bloc to reveal the actual, practical accomplishments of communism around the world. Dec 04, 2006 the black book of communism, a set of academic essays on mass killings under communist regimes, details crimes, terror, and repression from russia in 1917 to afghanistan in 19893940 courtois claims an association between communism and criminalitycommunist regimes turned mass crime into a fullblown system of. Oct 28, 2017 the black book of communism, a postmortem of communist atrocities compiled by european and american academics in 1997, concluded that the human cost of genocides, extrajudicial executions. In total, this is not far short of 100 million deaths at the hands of a single ideology. It includes two of some of the most populated nations on earth china and the soviet union. Attempting the impossible calculating capitalisms death. The book was originally published in 1997 in france under the title, le livre noir du communisme. Bolton calls for black book on chinas atrocious conduct.
Crimes, terror, repression is a book which describes a history of repressions, both political and civilian, by communist states, including genocides, extrajudicial executions, deportations, and artificial famines. The statistics of victims include deaths through executions, manmade hunger, famine, war, deportations and forced labor. According to stephane courtois, the editor in chief of the black book of communism, the leading mass murderer is pol pot, whose attempt to communize cambodia resulted in the deaths of one fourth. But is also presents many facts and historical events regarding communism. The black book of communism harvard university press is the bible of the anticommunist movement. The black book of communism begins to show us that totalitarianism is totalitarianism, whether we call it fascist, communist or some other name. The black book of communism, a postmortem of communist atrocities compiled by european and american academics in 1997, concluded that. According to the black book of communism, the number of people killed by the communist governments estimated amounts to an excess of 94100 million. The black book of communism came up with a smaller total of 4 million for the holodomor, and 2 million for dekulakization, as well as a total communist death toll of 94 million smack dab in the middle of the 85100 million death toll estimate in the summary, broken down as follows. Its figures for deaths under communism are probably the most cited of any other work on the topic.
Black and red when modern conservatives associate activists of color with communism, theyre drawing on a racist history that goes back over 100 years. Crimes, terror, repression is a 1997 book by stephane courtois, nicolas werth, andrzej paczkowski and several other. The black book of communism, an 800page collection of essays about the human toll exacted by communist regimes in the twentieth century, reaches a much simpler conclusion. Crimes, terror, repression according to stephane courtois, writing in the introduction to the black book of communism. The black book of communism debunked the black book of communism is a collection of rightwing essays published in france in 1997, and subsequently translated into english and published by harvard university press in 1999. The contributors to the book include some of the finest scholars from both east and west, who have drawn extensively on new archival findings. Crimes, terror, repression 1997, approximately 100 million 94 million deaths have resulted from communism over its 85 year history. Crimes, terror, repression is a 1997 book by stephane courtois, nicolas werth, andrzej paczkowski and several other european academics documenting a history of political repressions by communist states, including genocides, extrajudicial executions, deportations, killing populations in labor camps and artificially created famines.
Sep 05, 2017 this book is a must read and discusses many scholarly issues regarding the nature of totalitarianism, communism and fascism. Jun 27, 2017 there is a famous book, the black book of communism, which claims to total up all the deaths communism responsible for. The black book of communism, the authoritative reference source for the deadly statistics of communism, conservatively estimates that soviet communism lead to the deaths of 20 million human beings. The book was originally published in 1997 in france under the title le livre noir du communisme. Jan 01, 2001 black book puts to rest the odious fiction that has softened communisms image for so long. Crimes, terror, repression 1997, approximately 100 million 94 million deaths have resulted from communism over its 85 year history this includes 20 million deaths in the soviet union alone from causes such as. The black book of communism alleges that communism killed 94 million people during the 20th century.
Totalitarianisms central feature is a state that desires total control and assumes the right to impose that control at any cost. Jan 20, 2018 claiming that communism or socialism could possibly work better at alleviating poverty seems absurd from that one statistic alone, but theres also the vast number of deaths from hunger under communism the black book of communism estimates 11 million in the soviet union alone, in certain cases leading people as far as cannibalism. Yet austere though this inventory is, its cumulative impact is overwhelming. Crimes, terror, repression jeanlouis panne, andrzej paczkowski, karel bartosek, jeanlouis margolin, nicolas werth, stephane courtois, mark kramer, jonathan murphy, mark kramer on. The breakdown of the number of deaths is given as follows. There is a famous book, the black book of communism, which claims to total up all the deaths communism responsible for strangely, there is no black book of capitalism this is odd, because capitalism has been around longer than communism, has been more powerful, and has controlled more of the world, and the world was hardly a utopia before communism. Some critics have objected to the book s depiction of communism and nazism as being similar, others have criticized the approach the book takes to assigning blame of deaths, and still others, most notably j. At the beginning of the book, tbboc figures in 2 million deaths due to north korean communism. This book is a must read and discusses many scholarly issues regarding the nature of totalitarianism, communism and fascism. Incredibly, the crimes of communism have yet to receive a fair and just assessment from both historical and moral viewpoints. What americans must know about socialism the heritage. Stephane courtois, nicholas werth, jean louis panne, andrzej paczkowski, karol bartosek, jeanlouis margolin.
The idea of communism in the twentieth century, his last book, furet presents the soviet experience as an illusion. This international bestseller plumbs archives in the former soviet bloc to reveal the actual, practical accomplishments of communism around. Communism may be in its death throes but its many innocent victims require an eternal voice of which this is part. Black book puts to rest the odious fiction that has softened communisms image for so long.
This would include, the already mentioned black book of communism. Milne argues that if the soviets are considered responsible for deaths caused by famine in the 1920s and 1930s, then britain would be responsible for as many as 30 million deaths in india from famine during the 19th century, lamenting. There is a muchlauded black book of communism, but no such comprehensive indictment of the colonial record. Why my communist critics are wrong capital research center. The book is often cited as an academic work proving the barbarism of communism. The black book of communism stephane courtois, nicolas. Nevetheless, the book, published in paris in 1927, was one of the first to describe the soviet unions earliest political prisons, located on the solovetsky islands in the white sea. Quoting survivors, escapees, and what little information had been published in the soviet press, the black book of communism. In late 1997 a leading french publishing house, robert laffont, published le livre noir du communisme the black book of communism, an 850page book of scholarly essays that collectively provide a history of communism in the 20th century.
In total the entire black book details 100 million deaths by communism, most of that supposedly caused by the great leap forward. In the chapter devoted to that brutal dictatorship, he gives more detailed estimates. Crimes, terror, repression is a book which describes a history of repression s, both political and civilian, by communist state s, including extrajudicial executions, deportation s, and artificial famine s. This supposed number comes from the highest possible estimate by roderick macfarquhars book. To put this in perspective, 20 million is roughly the entire current population of the state of new york. So many people in our country are ignorant of these things and they need to be informed so we dont buy into the propaganda and repeat the. The black book of communism, a set of academic essays on mass killings under communist regimes, details crimes, terror, and repression from russia in 1917 to afghanistan in 19893940 courtois claims an association between communism and criminalitycommunist regimes turned mass crime into a fullblown system of government41and says that this criminality lies at the level of ideology rather than state practice. The bogus black book of communism the black book of communism is a collection of rightwing essays published in france in 1997, and subsequently translated. As an aside, my personal view is that the nazi holocaust of the jews was the greatest single crime of the modern era, while communism was the greatest criminal system. This book is one of the first attempts to study communism with a focus on its criminal dimensions, in both the central regions of communist rule and the farthest reaches of the globe.
The leading ideological cause of death in the 20th. An 800page compendium of the crimes of communist regimes worldwide, recorded and analyzed in ghastly detail by a team of scholars. Crimes, terror, repression is a 1997 book by stephane courtois, nicolas werth, andrzej paczkowski and several other european academics documenting a history of political repressions by communist states, including genocides, extrajudicial executions, deportations, killing populations in labor camps and artificially. The more than 100 million deaths that communism caused. As an ideology in the 20th century, only atheistic communism, with its murder and mass killings, are responsible for more deaths and violence than any religion or political system. Crimes, terror, repression by stephane courtois isbn. If we use the high estimate for leopolds reign and include the high estimates of deaths from the world wars not included in the holocaust, which we have already factored into this, we arrive somewhere around a towering 180 million, which dwarfs the black book of communisms claim that communism was responsible for 94 million deaths. This bloody orgy was a pure exercise in class genocide, asserts stephane courtois, the extrotskyite editor of the black book and historian of the french communist party, a reign of political carnage of planetary dimensions, a massacre designed to create a moral society through the extermination of the impure, through the silencing of any. By stephane courtois, nicolas werth, jeanlouis panne, andrzej paczkowski, karel bartosek, and jeanlouis margolin.
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