Life and death in captivity : the abuse of prisoners during war

275 Pages·2015·3.52 MB·English

by  Geoffrey P. R. Wallace

Life and Death in Captivity
T A P W
HE BUSE OF RISONERS DURING AR
G P. R. W
EOFFREY ALLACE
Cornell University Press
I L
THACA AND ONDON
For Fia

Contents
List of Figures and Tables
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. Repertoires of Violence against Prisoners
2. The Captor’s Dilemma
3. Prisoners by the Numbers
4. World War II, Democracies, and the (Mis)Treatment of Prisoners
5. Territorial Conquest and the Katyn Massacre in Perspective
Conclusion
Appendix
Notes
References
Index

Figures and Tables
F
IGURES
1.1 Trends in the levels of prisoner abuse over time in interstate wars, 1898–2003
3.1 Relationship between democracy and prisoner abuse
3.2 Relationship between war of attrition and prisoner abuse
3.3 Relationship between territorial annexation and prisoner abuse
3.4 Relationship between expansive war aims and prisoner abuse
3.5 Relationship between cultural differences and prisoner abuse
5.1 Map of Soviet special camps for Polish POWs and locations of prisoner
executions
T
ABLES
1.1 Varieties of prisoner abuse with historical examples
1.2 Summary for each dimension of prisoner abuse in interstate wars, 1898–2003
1.3 Summary of overall prisoner abuse in interstate wars, 1898–2003
3.1 Effects of independent variables on the probability of high levels of prisoner
abuse
3.2 Democracy and prisoner abuse: first movers, retaliation, and escalation
3.3 Conditional effects of democracy on the probability of high levels of prisoner
abuse
4.1 Statistics of prisoners captured and death rates for the major powers in World
War II
5.1 Death and survival statistics at the three Soviet special camps for Polish
prisoners, April–May 1940
5.2 Rivalry, revenge, and prisoner abuse in interstate wars, 1898–2003
5.3 Communist regimes and prisoner abuse in interstate wars, 1898–2003
A.1 Summary statistics for main variables used in the analysis
A.2 Regression analysis for determinants of prisoner abuse in interstate wars,
1898–2003
A.3 Regression analysis for democracy interactions and prisoner abuse in
interstate wars, 1898–2003
A.4 List of interstate wars, 1898–2003

Acknowledgments
Over the course of writing this book, I have benefited immensely from the
kindness and generosity of many people. I originally entered graduate school
intent on studying a topic far removed from the subject matter of this book, yet
the ongoing wars and debates surrounding detainees at the time raised several
questions I have sought to address at least partially in the years that followed.
Although the project took a long and winding road, with several detours, I am
thankful to those who kept me on track and helped in so many respects along the
way.
Cornell, where I began researching prisoner abuse, offered an amazing
environment for thinking through the many issues that came up during this
project in open yet rigorous ways. Peter Katzenstein was always willing to read
numerous drafts of every chapter, irrespective of their quality. He constantly
challenged my preconceptions on key points and pushed me to consider the
broader implications of my argument. Chris Way instilled the need to be my own
harshest critic and look at my findings from as many different angles as possible. I
may not have always achieved this goal, but his advice on theory and research
design gave me something to aspire to. I was also able to draw on Matt
Evangelista’s insights into international humanitarian law, which played such a
large role in informing the central concept of prisoner abuse in this book. When I
began venturing somewhat cautiously into the world of Soviet history, I benefited
from his extensive knowledge of Russia to make sure any deviations were kept to
a minimum. Jonathan Kirshner time and again was able to pinpoint things I took
for granted and reveal differences in important concepts or events I had
previously thought to be indistinguishable.
Many individuals commented and offered valuable feedback throughout various
stages of the project. For their thoughtful suggestions I thank Ben Appel, Laia
Balcells, Christian Davenport, Alex Downes, Kristine Eck, Tanisha Fazal, Ryan
Grauer, Paul Huth, Stathis Kalyvas, Holger Kern, Michael Koh, Sarah Kreps, Jay
Lyall, Walter Mebane, Mark Peffley, Benjamin Valentino, and Justin Wedeking.
Jessica Weeks read an entire earlier version of the manuscript and greatly helped
in refining the main ideas. Al Tillery did the same and pushed me to think
through the contributions that could be made in the book. At Rutgers, I have been
fortunate to be surrounded by a wealth of knowledgeable and supportive
colleagues: Jan Kubik, Jack Levy, Roy Licklider, Manny Midlarsky, Michael
McKoy, and Paul Poast all helped make this a better book than it would have been
otherwise. I thank Roger Haydon at Cornell University Press for taking an interest
in this project and for guiding me through the formidable process of translating