Narrative

The Armenian Genocide

Armenian Genocide Map

Until the year 1944, the term “genocide” was simply described by Winston Churchill as a crime without a name. The word is now used to define a specific set of violent crimes that are committed against a certain group with an attempt to exterminate and abolish an entire group of people from existence; whether its race, religion, culture and or governmental structure. In 1915, leaders of the Turkish government set in motion their own form of genocide. They planned to expel and massacre Armenians, a thriving Christian nation, living in the Ottoman Empire. Nearly two million Armenians were living in the Ottoman Empire at the time of the genocide. The massacres and deportations finally ended in early 1920’s and by that time, about 1.5 million of Turkish Armenians were killed, with many more forcibly removed from the country. Although many historians today believe that the Armenian genocide was a premeditated and methodical campaign to eliminate the entire people, the Turkish government until 2008 did not recognize the atrociousness or extent of the events.

Screen Shot 2015-12-01 at 9.09.02 AMFor some 3,000 years, the Armenian people have made their home in the Caucasus of Eurasia (the region at the border of Europe and Asia between the Black and Caspian Sea). The kingdom of Armenia became the first nation in the world to make Christianity its official religion, but for the most part, control of the region shifted from one empire to another. During the 15 century, Armenia was absorbed into the Ottoman Empire and like most of their subjects, the Ottoman rulers were Muslim. They tolerated minorities, like the Armenians, and allowed them to maintain some independence, but they also subjected them to unequal and unjust treatment because they viewed them as “infidels.” Christians had to pay higher taxes than Muslims and had very few political and legal rights. Despite many of the difficulties they endured, they were able to thrive under Ottoman rule, which led to bitterness by their Turkish neighbors who resented their success.

For some 3,000 years, the Armenian people have made their home in the Caucasus of Eurasia (the region at the border of Europe and Asia between the Black and Caspian Sea). The kingdom of Armenia became the first nation in the world to make Christianity its official religion, but for the most part, control of the region shifted from one empire to another. During the 15th century, Armenia was absorbed into the Ottoman Empire and like most of their subjects, the Ottoman rulers were Muslim. They tolerated minorities, like the Armenians, and allowed them to maintain some independence, but they also subjected them to unequal and unjust treatment because they viewed them as “infidels.” Christians had to pay higher taxes than Muslims and had very few political and legal rights. Despite many of the difficulties they endured, they were able to thrive under Ottoman rule, which led to bitterness by their Turkish neighbors who resented their success.

In 1914, the Turks entered World War I on the side of the Germans and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Meanwhile, the Ottoman religious authorities declared jihad, or Holy War; against all Christians expect their allies. Military leaders began to argue that the Armenians were traitors. They further believed that if the Allies were victorious, the Armenians would be eager to fight for the enemy and rise up against the Empire. As the war intensified, Armenians organized volunteer battalions to help the Russian army fight against the Turks in the Caucasus region. The general Turkish suspicion of the Armenian people increased because of these events, leading to the Turkish government to push for the “removal” of the Armenians from the war zones along the Eastern Front.

The Armenian genocide began on April 24, 1915. On that day, the Turkish government arrested and killed several hundred Armenian intellectuals. Following that, commonplace Armenians were removed out of their homes and sent on a death march through the Mesopotamian desert deprived of food or water. They were stripped naked and forced to walk in blistering heat until they died. If anybody stopped, they were shot. In addition, the Young Turks created a “Special Organization” which organized “killing squads” or “butcher battalions” to carry out the elimination of the Christian Armenians. Many of the people in these groups were murdered and ex-convicts. They drowned people in rivers, threw them off of cliffs, and crucified and burned them alive. It wasn’t until 1922 that the genocide ended and there were just 388,000 Armenians remaining out of the original 2 million living in the Ottoman Empire.

When looking at the World History TEKS, the Armenian genocide is a topic that is in one of the last TEKS and is a supporting/optional event to discuses in the classroom (p17, 22C). Often it is briefly discussed when learning about WWI, and or at the end of the year when learning about other genocides throughout the world. So we challenge you to ask yourself, with these sobering death tolls, horrific executions, and millions of lives destroyed, why does the first real genocide of its kind in the 20th century, get over shadowed by more recent events such as the Holocaust and those occurring in Africa? Are the lives lost and atrocities that occurred less important because there are fewer deaths in comparison to the others? Maybe, the text book and the world fails to tell and learn about this genocide because of how small the Armenian country is, with fewer people who can trace their ancestors back to them, can we argue that their voice is too small compared to the Jewish population to be heard? Why would it matter and be important for the United States to recognize the Armenian Genocide as an official “genocide?” What could be the political implications of doing so?

As you ask yourself these questions, we want you to focus on answering and exploring why America and many other nations fail to recognize the Armenian Genocide as a genocide, and whether or not you would push to the President of the US to acknowledge it.