The Irish Potato Famine

Japanese and Ukrainian Internment

For centuries, reparations were the spoils victors exacted from the vanquished for their role in causing a war.  But in the past generation, a wide variety of groups who have suffered historical injustices at the hands of Western states have demanded both apologies and financial compensation.  These two sites consider cases in which victims have sought reparations for the injuries of the past.  The first site examines the history of the Irish potato famine of the 1840s, and explains why the British government is unlikely to atone for the loss of at least a million Irish lives--but why reparations might be an appropriate remedy.  The second site examines two cases involving the internment of civilian populations in Canada during the two world wars.  One group--the Japanese-Canadians who were interned during World War II--received a substantial compensation package from the federal government in 1988, while another group--Ukrainian-Canadians detained during World War I--had a much more arduous journey to obtain some form of reparations.  The site compares and contrasts their experiences.