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  • silent_water [she/her]
    ·
    2 years ago

    I mean, counting them as the same is part of the genocidal process -- where else would we consider exterminationist wars against distinct ethnicities and nationalities to be the same?

      • silent_water [she/her]
        ·
        2 years ago

        those conflicts are all recorded history, at least going back to the Moghul Empire. India prior to colonization was more similar to Europe -- except not a backwater as vital trade routes went through it -- in that the wars that took place on the subcontinent were largely between local powers, of which there were many, even while under one empire or another. the back and forth wars with the Persians, Moghuls, etc., were about who owed whom tribute/feudal fealty -- I don't recall any of the involved groups attempting to just wipe out all the serfs or something. like I'm not saying this to excuse any of the combatants - they willingly threw the lower classes through the meat grinder regularly just because they wanted some piece of land held by their rivals, and the stories that survive from this time period all reflect an awareness of how much the ruling classes sucked for not recognizing this.

        but none of it comes close to comparing with Europe's colonial wars after contact with the Americas. those sit in a category of their own because they decided from the start that they didn't want to rule the people who lived here but rather exterminate them in order to claim their wealth and land.