There is a post being passed around by my Facebook friends in which it is argued that Rhodes's actions in Africa led to a death toll "ten times that of Hitler's extermination of the Jews." Is there any historical data that supports this claim, or is it simple speculation and exaggeration?
If we take a rough number of 6 million jews murdered in the holocaust, a death toll of 60 million would be inferred as being caused by Rhodes.
Since this would be about two thirds of the entire population of sub-Saharan Africa at the time, let alone those parts under British control, then I think we can safely call BS on this one.
Seems to be an attempt at drawing a moral equivalency between Rhodes and Hitler.
What exactly is the argument?
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-01/idrp-sat010808.php
Follow-up question : same question but with Leopold of Belgium.
Do we have good historical sources for how many people Rhode's actions killed? What policies specifically did Rhode's enact that would justify such a comparison?