7.8 Mass Atrocities After 1900

TLDR

Mass atrocities after 1900 happened when extremist groups gained power and tried to harm specific populations through genocide and ethnic violence. The clearest example is the Nazi persecution and murder of Jews in the Holocaust during World War II, but you should also know other cases like the Armenian genocide, the Holodomor in Ukraine, the Cambodian genocide under the Khmer Rouge, and the Rwandan genocide. For the AP World History exam, focus on the causes (often ideology, nationalism, and authoritarian power) and the consequences (huge loss of life plus new attention to human rights).

AP World 7.8: What to Know

AP World Topic 7.8 asks you to explain the causes and consequences of mass atrocities from 1900 to the present. The CED highlights the rise of extremist groups in power and the attempted destruction of specific populations, especially the Holocaust during World War II.

Use this topic as causation evidence. Strong answers connect a specific atrocity to a cause, such as extremist ideology or state power, and to a consequence, such as displacement, loss of life, war-crimes trials, or the growth of human rights language after 1945.

Why This Matters for the AP World History Exam

This topic sits inside Unit 7, Global Conflict, which makes up about 8 to 10 percent of the exam. It connects directly to causation, which is a major historical reasoning skill in this course. You are expected to explain the various causes and consequences of mass atrocities from 1900 to the present, so you need more than a list of events. You need to be able to say why these atrocities happened and what changed afterward.

These events also link to other Unit 7 topics, especially the rise of totalitarian and fascist regimes (7.6 and 7.7) and the way governments used ideology to control populations during total war. On the exam, you might use the Holocaust or another genocide as specific evidence in a free-response answer about 20th century conflict, state power, or human rights.

Key Takeaways

• The required focus is that extremist groups in power attempted to harm specific populations, most notably the Nazi persecution and murder of Jews in the Holocaust during World War II.
• The Holocaust is the central required example. The Armenian genocide, the Holodomor, the Cambodian genocide, and the Rwandan genocide are examples that show the same pattern in different places and times.
• Common causes across these cases include ideological extremism, intense nationalism, and authoritarian or totalitarian control of the state.
• Common consequences include massive loss of life, displaced refugees, and growing global attention to human rights and international law.
• Be ready to explain causation, not just describe what happened. The exam rewards clear cause-and-effect reasoning.

The Holocaust

The Holocaust is the central case for this topic. Under the Nazi regime led by Adolf Hitler, the German state carried out the systematic persecution and murder of Jews during World War II. Millions of others were also targeted, including Roma, Slavs, disabled people, political opponents, and others the regime labeled as enemies.

Key stages to understand:

• Legal discrimination: Starting in 1933, Nazi laws stripped Jews of citizenship and rights, pushed them out of jobs, and seized property.
• Kristallnacht (1938): A state-backed wave of violence that harmed Jewish synagogues, homes, and businesses.
• The "Final Solution" (1941): The Nazi plan to exterminate Europe's Jews. Victims were deported to concentration and death camps such as Auschwitz, where many were murdered in gas chambers or worked to death.
• Scale: About 6 million Jews were killed, along with millions of other victims.

Why it matters: The Holocaust pushed the world toward stronger human rights commitments, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948.

The Nuremberg Trials

After the war, Allied powers held the Nuremberg Trials to prosecute Nazi leaders for crimes against humanity, war crimes, and genocide. These trials set an international precedent for holding state leaders accountable for mass atrocities.

Other Major Mass Atrocities After 1900

These cases are examples that show the same pattern as the Holocaust: a group in power targeting a specific population. They are useful as supporting evidence on the exam, but the Holocaust is the named required example.

Armenian Genocide

Carried out by the Ottoman Empire during World War I and its aftermath:

• Armenians were deported on death marches into the Syrian desert.
• Many died from starvation, disease, and mass murder.
• Women and children were often forced into servitude or converted.
• Recognition of this genocide is still debated by some governments.

Holodomor (Ukraine)

Under Joseph Stalin, Soviet policies of forced collectivization led to a man-made famine in the early 1930s:

• Harsh grain requisitioning left peasants with little or no food.
• The Soviet government continued exporting grain while people starved.
• Millions of Ukrainians died, and many scholars consider it a genocide.

Cambodian Genocide

Led by Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge regime from 1975 to 1979:

• The regime tried to force a radical agrarian communist society.
• Urban populations were driven into rural labor camps.
• Targets included intellectuals, ethnic minorities, and religious figures.
• Roughly a fifth of Cambodia's population died from execution, forced labor, starvation, or disease.

Rwandan Genocide

Took place in 1994 over about 100 days:

• Hutu extremist militias targeted Tutsis and moderate Hutus.
• Civilians were killed in schools, churches, and homes.
• Sexual violence was used as a weapon.
• The international community failed to stop it despite warning signs.

This case is often used to discuss the limits of international intervention and later efforts to prevent genocide.

How to Use This on the AP World History Exam

Free Response

When a prompt asks about 20th century conflict, state power, or human rights, mass atrocities can be strong, specific evidence. Lead with the Holocaust because it is the required example, then use another case like Rwanda or Cambodia to support a comparison or to show a pattern across regions.

Causation

This topic is built around causes and consequences. Practice writing one clear sentence on why an atrocity happened (ideology, nationalism, authoritarian power) and one on what changed afterward (loss of life, refugees, new human rights efforts). That structure matches what graders look for.

Comparison

You can compare two genocides to show similarities and differences. For example, the Holocaust and the Rwandan genocide both involved a group in power targeting a specific population, but they differed in technology, scale, and the role of the state versus militias.

Common Trap

Do not just narrate the horror of an event. The exam wants analysis. Always tie your details back to a cause or a consequence.

Common Misconceptions

• Mass atrocities are only about World War II. The Holocaust is the central required example, but these events stretch across the whole period from 1900 to the present, including the Armenian genocide, the Holodomor, Cambodia, and Rwanda.
• All of these were carried out the same way. Some were run directly by a centralized state (Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union), while others relied heavily on militias and local violence (Rwanda). The methods and actors varied.
• Genocide always means immediate mass shooting or gassing. Famine policy, forced labor, and death marches were also used to harm populations, as in the Holodomor and the Armenian genocide.
• Listing facts is enough on the exam. You need to explain causes and consequences, not just describe the events.
• Only ethnic or religious groups were targeted. Regimes also targeted political opponents, intellectuals, and other groups they labeled as enemies, especially under the Khmer Rouge.

Related AP World History Guides

• Unit 7 Overview: Global Conflict
• 7.1 Shifting Power After 1900
• 7.2 Causes of World War I
• 7.4 Economy in the Interwar Period
• 7.5 Unresolved Tensions After World War I
• 7.3 Conducting World War I