The current paper examines the use of political violence during the Ruhr Uprising of 1920. Its main focus is the reaction of the SPD and the KPD to the uprising and its bloody suppression by the...Show moreThe current paper examines the use of political violence during the Ruhr Uprising of 1920. Its main focus is the reaction of the SPD and the KPD to the uprising and its bloody suppression by the Reichswehr and Freikorps. It also contextualises the Uprising and violence that followed by connecting local events in the Ruhr with national developments, such as the Kapp Putsch and international trends of post-war instability and brutality. The paper through its examination of Vorwärts and Die Rote Fahne argues that both the SPD and KPD changed their understanding of the role of violence in preserving or overthrowing the Weimar Republic, respectively. On the one hand, the KPD, weakened by the failures of 1919 did not push for the spread of revolutionary violence. On the other hand, the SPD shifted ideologically from its 1919 of understanding state-sponsored violence as necessary for preserving the integrity of the State. It now understood violence as a tool for protecting the well-being of Germany’s citizenry. A tool to be used sparingly and with restraint, because it needed popular support to be legitimate. This new understanding of state-sponsored violence was not shared by the men tasked with suppressing the Uprising. The result was another bloody chapter in the life of the young RepublicShow less
From 2010, the historically isolated state of Myanmar began a transition to democracy, a transition which would bring the first elections in nearly two decades. The regime diluted political power...Show moreFrom 2010, the historically isolated state of Myanmar began a transition to democracy, a transition which would bring the first elections in nearly two decades. The regime diluted political power between the military and new civilian institutions, allowing for significant democratisation, market liberalisation and de-censoring of communications and media in the years which followed. Simultaneously, the military implemented the most intense period of atrocities in the northwestern periphery of Rakhine State, against the Rohingya Muslim minority. To date, no research has sufficiently explained why the opening up of the state of Myanmar to the international community coincided with atrocities, the severity of which may well amount to genocide. Scholarship generally attributes Myanmar’s crimes to ‘ethnic-cleavages’, a narrative which has been debunked in scholarship on other atrocity cases; or over-zealous counter-insurgency, despite no significant Rohingya insurgent group being in existence at the time these atrocities began. Rather than atrocities being coincidental to the democratisation process, this paper argues transition in fact sparked atrocities in Myanmar’s northwestern periphery, by destabilising an internal balance of power between elite rival factions. Based upon extant research into political violence, it poses a novel explanation for the timing of Myanmar’s atrocities against Rohingya Muslims. It argues that the resignation of elites in the military junta in order to compete in the 2010 elections resulted in heightened elite rivalry between the generals which took their place. Changes to the strategic environment of Myanmar’s new military leadership led to a calculation by which atrocities in Rakhine State were perceived as useful for new Commander-in-Chief Min Aung Hlaing. Having faced insecurity upon taking office in 2011, Senior General Hlaing had insurmountable control by 2018, suggesting atrocities in the northwest periphery had proven successful from the perspective of the new leadership. A new mechanism for the regression of democratisation to mass atrocities is posed, combining research into political violence with the chronology and context of Myanmar’s transition.Show less
This thesis assess the role of Kenya's constitutional reform in preventing electoral violence. Kenya faced an unprecedented level of electoral violence in 2007, with over 1,100 people losing their...Show moreThis thesis assess the role of Kenya's constitutional reform in preventing electoral violence. Kenya faced an unprecedented level of electoral violence in 2007, with over 1,100 people losing their lives and hundreds of thousands internally displaced. Constitutional reform was introduced ahead of the 2013 elections to address some of the issues that caused violence in 2007. The 2013 elections were relatively peaceful for a multitude of reasons, understanding the role of the constitutional reforms in this process is key to identifying strategies and policies for preventing electoral violence in the future.Show less
