Elsian massacres
| Elsian massacres Rzëcniô | |
|---|---|
| Part of the First Great War and the Senian Uprising | |
 Monument to the Elsian massacre in Eĺsogoŕsk, Senia | |
| Location | Senia, Tyrnica |
| Date | 1912–1915 |
| Target | Elsians, other West Ludic groups |
Attack type | Massacre, ethnic cleansing, genocide (debated) |
| Deaths | 250,000–400,000 |
| Perpetrators | Committee of National Resurgence Tyrnican Armed Forces Novogrodian Armed Forces Individual groups and perpetrators |
| Motive | Anti-Elsian sentiment, Senian nationalism, Tyrnican nationalism |
The Elsian massacres (Elsian: Rzëcniô, lit. 'the Slaughter'; Tyrnican: Elsisch-Massaker; Senian: Погроми эльски, pogromy eĺski, lit. 'Elsian pogroms') were the systemic killing and dispossession of predominantly Elsians during the First Great War. Organized primarily through local groups allied with the Tyrnican and Novogrodian Armed Forces, as well as the Senian nationalist Committee of National Resurgence, Elsian communities along the Els river valley were targeted for a variety of causes, ranging from fears of engaging with enemy forces to beliefs in ethnic cleansing and homogeneity.
Initially limited to attacks in Tyrnican-administered Cernia and Upper Elsia by the Committee of National Resurgence in mid-1912, ethnic violence quickly spread into the rest of Senia and neighbouring Lower Elsia through individual action and mass paranoia. By 1914, an estimated 250,000–400,000 Elsians were murdered, almost half of the ethnic group's population. Although Elsians were the predominant target of the massacres, smaller groups of Lassians, Orns, and Senians were also targeted, especially those that constituted multi-ethnic families and groups. Today, the massacres are defined as an ethnic cleansing brought on by nationalist sentiments, desperation and fear during wartime, and opportunism to seize property and assets. There is a controversial debate if the actions that took place during the Elsian massacres constitute genocide, with such accusations being primarily made within the Elsian community. Most scholarship attests that although the events clearly denote ethnic cleansing, they do not reach the qualifications of a genocide.