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
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