Eliticide orelitocide is "the killing of the leadership, the educated, and the clergy of a group." It is usually carried out during the beginning of agenocide to cripple a possible resistance movement against its perpetrators. Eliticide occurred in theArmenian genocide, theGerman–Soviet occupation of Poland, theCambodian genocide, theIsaaq genocide,[1]BolshevikRed Terror in Russia and instances of eliticide during theYugoslav Wars.[2] The term was first used in 1992 by British reporterMichael Nicholson to describe theBijeljina massacre inBosnia and Herzegovina:[3] during theBosnian War, localSerbs would point out prominentBosniaks to be killed afterwards by Serb soldiers.[4][5]
Eliticide is also carried out in cases of political revolutions supported by the people and targeted against the elites of the overthrown establishment, rather than being unpopular and indiscriminatory, as in the above cases of genocide. For example, during theFrench Revolution the revolutionaries executed members of the feudalAncien Régime by the public use of theguillotine.