1937 Massacre

1937 Massacre

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How and why does the 1937 massacre of Haitians in the Dominican Republic either fit or not fit with the larger pattern Ferguson identifies?

As the Second World War was on the verge of starting, people were struggling to recover from the Great Depression, Haitians were in trouble. This period is well over seventy years old, as also during this time, in Europe, Nazism was spreading at a fast rate. During this time, Haitians were trying to cope with their lives after being under the power of the occupation by American military. There were many immigrants workers from Haiti, and nearly 20,000 of them were massacred in Haiti. They were murdered using the crudest weapons such as machetes and bayonets. Not even babies were spared by these heinous acts through the orders of the then dictator of the Dominican Republic known as Raphael Trujillo. He believed that by murdering the Haitians, the Dominican Republic “would be cleansed” (Human Rights Watch, 2002). In turn, wealthy landowners took over the land owned by peasants. On the other hand, Niall Fergusson believes that “the twentieth century will be remembered for many horrific crimes against human beings” (Ferguson, 2007). He claims that, despite their being advances in the social, political and economic arenas, violence took place. Furthermore, withdrawal of empires, ethnic group’s heterogeneity as well as economic volatility were the cause of the horrific violence.

This paper seeks to give an analysis on how the 1937 massacre by the Dominicans on the Haitians fits into Ferguson’s theory. The reasons for the massacre include; pogroms on ethnicity cleaning, ruling classes and economic progress.

Analysis of the 1937 Massacre and how it fits into the theories presented by Fergusson concerning identity

(CL). The classes that ruled in Haiti and the Dominican Republic were the ones responsible for the horrific massacre. (EV). The Dominican gave minimal compensation to the state of Haiti. It has also been proven in previous history that reactionary policies existed between the two states. The latter was through the efforts of the ruling classes in both countries. According to Wucker (2000) in Why Cock’s Fight, “two nations share more than a porous common border” and thus the reason for their fights. This means that the various upper classes join each other in many ways. Furthermore, according to the report on human rights, the various feudal classes had been struggling for many years. (WA). Ferguson believes that the need to attain power and prestige made the upper classes murder the lower classes.

(CL). Matters concerning ethnicity played an immense role in causing the horrific massacre on the Haitians by the Dominicans.  (EV). For a long time, since the 1820’s there had been fights betwe.............