Armenians in Turkey 1915-1918 2,000,000 Deaths
The first genocide of the 20th Century occurred when two million Armenians living in Turkey were eliminated from their historic homeland through forced deportations and massacres.
For three thousand years, an Armenian community had existed inside the of the Middle East bordered by the Black, Mediterranean and Caspian Seas. This area is called Asia minor and it stands at the crossroads of three continents; Europe, Asia and Africa.
Despite the hardships of repeated invasions and occupations, Armenian pride and culture never faded. Armenia became the very first nation to accept Christianity as it's state religion.
In the eleventh century, the first Turkish invasion of Armenia occurred. By the sixteenth century, Armenia had been absorbed into the mighty Ottoman Empire.
But by the 1800s the once powerful Ottoman Empire was in serious decline. As the empire gradually disintegrated, Greeks, Serbs and Romanians finally achieved their independence. Only the Armenians and the Arabs of the Middle East remained in the empire under the rule of Sultan Abdul Hamid.
Between 1894 and 1896 over 100,000 inhabitants of Armenian villages were massacred by the Sultan's special regiments, because the Armenians began to demand the right to vote and for the end of discrimination towards them only because they were Christians.
But the Sultan's days were numbered. In July 1908, Turkish nationalists forced the Sultan to allow a constitutional government and guarantee basic rights.
Armenians in Turkey were delighted with this and had hope for a better future.
However, their hopes were dashed when three of the Young Turks seized full control of the government via a coup in 1913. They wanted to unite all of the Turkic peoples in the entire region, this would create a new Turkish empire, a land with one language and one religion.
But they saw a problem. Armenia lay right in the path of their plans to expand eastward. And on that land was a large population of Christian Armenians, making up about 10 percent of Turkey's overall population.
Christian Armenians were once again branded as infidels (non-believers in Islam) and many people wanted to get rid of them. Throughout Turkey, attacks against Armenians continued over the next several years.
When World War I broke out in 1914, leaders of the Turk regime sided with the Central Powers (Germany and Austria-Hungary). They thought that the war would provide the perfect opportunity to solve the "Armenian problem" once and for all. The world's attention was on the battlegrounds of France and Belgium. The Eastern Front eventually included the border between Turkey and Russia.Because of the war, extreme measures involving the civilian population would not seem too odd.
The Turks disarmed the entire Armenian population under the pretext that the people were in favor of Christian Russia. Every last fire weapon was seized.
About forty thousand Armenian men were serving in the Turkish Army at that time. In 1914 they were put into slave labor, building roads or were used as human pack animals. Because of poor work conditions they suffered a very high death rate. Those who survived would soon be killed. Time had come to move against the Armenians.
They had decided to get rid of the entire Armenian population and soon the orders were transmitted to all over Turkey. Armed roundups began in April 1915, as 300 Armenian political leaders, educators, writers, clergy and dignitaries in Constantinople (Istanbul) were taken from their homes, jailed and tortured, then hanged or shot.
Next, there were mass arrests of Armenian men throughout the country by Turkish soldiers, police agents and Turkish volunteers. The men were tied together with ropes in small groups then taken to the outskirts of their town and shot dead.
Then it was the turn of Armenian women, children, and the elderly. They were ordered to pack a few belongings and be ready to leave home, under the false claim that they were being relocated to a safer area. They were actually being taken on death marches heading south toward the Syrian desert.
For three thousand years, an Armenian community had existed inside the of the Middle East bordered by the Black, Mediterranean and Caspian Seas. This area is called Asia minor and it stands at the crossroads of three continents; Europe, Asia and Africa.
Despite the hardships of repeated invasions and occupations, Armenian pride and culture never faded. Armenia became the very first nation to accept Christianity as it's state religion.
In the eleventh century, the first Turkish invasion of Armenia occurred. By the sixteenth century, Armenia had been absorbed into the mighty Ottoman Empire.
But by the 1800s the once powerful Ottoman Empire was in serious decline. As the empire gradually disintegrated, Greeks, Serbs and Romanians finally achieved their independence. Only the Armenians and the Arabs of the Middle East remained in the empire under the rule of Sultan Abdul Hamid.
Between 1894 and 1896 over 100,000 inhabitants of Armenian villages were massacred by the Sultan's special regiments, because the Armenians began to demand the right to vote and for the end of discrimination towards them only because they were Christians.
But the Sultan's days were numbered. In July 1908, Turkish nationalists forced the Sultan to allow a constitutional government and guarantee basic rights.
Armenians in Turkey were delighted with this and had hope for a better future.
However, their hopes were dashed when three of the Young Turks seized full control of the government via a coup in 1913. They wanted to unite all of the Turkic peoples in the entire region, this would create a new Turkish empire, a land with one language and one religion.
But they saw a problem. Armenia lay right in the path of their plans to expand eastward. And on that land was a large population of Christian Armenians, making up about 10 percent of Turkey's overall population.
Christian Armenians were once again branded as infidels (non-believers in Islam) and many people wanted to get rid of them. Throughout Turkey, attacks against Armenians continued over the next several years.
When World War I broke out in 1914, leaders of the Turk regime sided with the Central Powers (Germany and Austria-Hungary). They thought that the war would provide the perfect opportunity to solve the "Armenian problem" once and for all. The world's attention was on the battlegrounds of France and Belgium. The Eastern Front eventually included the border between Turkey and Russia.Because of the war, extreme measures involving the civilian population would not seem too odd.
The Turks disarmed the entire Armenian population under the pretext that the people were in favor of Christian Russia. Every last fire weapon was seized.
About forty thousand Armenian men were serving in the Turkish Army at that time. In 1914 they were put into slave labor, building roads or were used as human pack animals. Because of poor work conditions they suffered a very high death rate. Those who survived would soon be killed. Time had come to move against the Armenians.
They had decided to get rid of the entire Armenian population and soon the orders were transmitted to all over Turkey. Armed roundups began in April 1915, as 300 Armenian political leaders, educators, writers, clergy and dignitaries in Constantinople (Istanbul) were taken from their homes, jailed and tortured, then hanged or shot.
Next, there were mass arrests of Armenian men throughout the country by Turkish soldiers, police agents and Turkish volunteers. The men were tied together with ropes in small groups then taken to the outskirts of their town and shot dead.
Then it was the turn of Armenian women, children, and the elderly. They were ordered to pack a few belongings and be ready to leave home, under the false claim that they were being relocated to a safer area. They were actually being taken on death marches heading south toward the Syrian desert.
Homes and villages left behind by the Armenians were quickly taken over by Muslim Turks who assumed ownership of everything. In some cases, young Armenian children were spared by local Turks who took them from their families. The children were coerced into denouncing Christianity and becoming Muslims, and were then given new Turkish names.
The death marches,of over a million Armenians, covered hundreds of miles and lasted months.
Supplies being carried by the people quickly ran out and they were usually denied further food or water. Anyone stopping to rest was mercilessly beaten until they rejoined the march. If they couldn't continue they were shot.
75 percent of the Armenians on these marches perished, especially children and the elderly. Those who survived were herded into the desert. Others were killed by being thrown off cliffs, burned alive, or drowned in rivers.
The Allied Powers (Great Britain, France, Russia) responded to news of the massacres by warning Turkey: "...the Allied governments announce publicly...that they will hold all the members of the Ottoman Government, as well as such of their agents as are implicated, personally responsible for such matters."
The warning had no effect.
A sign of relief came for some Armenians as Russian troops attacked along the Eastern Front and made their way into central Turkey. But the troops had to withdraw in 1917 because of the Russian Revolution. Some Armenian survivors withdrew along with them and settled in provinces of the former Russian Empire. There were about 500,000 Armenians in this region.
In May 1918, Turkish armies attacked the area to achieve the goal of expanding Turkey eastward and also to resume murdering the Armenians. As many as 100,000 Armenians died because of the Turkish troops.
However, the Armenians fought back, finally repelling the Turks thus saving the remaining population from total extermination with no help from the outside world. Following that victory, Armenian leaders declared the establishment of the independent Republic of Armenia.
World War I ended in November 1918 with a defeat for Germany and the Central Powers including Turkey.
After that representatives from the Republic of Armenia attended the Paris Peace Conference in the hope that they would get their historic land back. The European Allies responded to by asking the United States to assume guardianship of the new Republic of Armenia. However, President Woodrow Wilson's attempt to make Armenia an official U.S. protectorate was rejected by the U.S. Congress in May 1920.
But Wilson did not give up on Armenia. As a result the Treaty of Sevres was signed on August 10, 1920, by the Allied Powers, the Republic of Armenia and the new leaders of Turkey. The treaty recognized an independent Armenian state in an area of the former historic homeland.
However, Turkish nationalism once again caused trouble. The moderate Turkish leaders who signed the treaty were ousted in favor of a new nationalist leader who simply refused to accept the treaty and re-occupied the lands in question then expelled any surviving Armenians.
No one came to the aid of the Armenian Republic and it collapsed.
After the successful obliteration of the people of Armenia, the Turks demolished any remaining of Armenian culture including ancient architecture, old libraries and archives.
After achieving total power in Germany, Hitler decided to conquer Poland in 1939 and told his generals: "Thus for the time being I have sent to the East only my 'Death's Head Units' with the orders to kill without pity or mercy all men, women, and children of Polish race or language. Only in such a way will we win the vital space that we need. Who still talks nowadays about the Armenians?"
The death marches,of over a million Armenians, covered hundreds of miles and lasted months.
Supplies being carried by the people quickly ran out and they were usually denied further food or water. Anyone stopping to rest was mercilessly beaten until they rejoined the march. If they couldn't continue they were shot.
75 percent of the Armenians on these marches perished, especially children and the elderly. Those who survived were herded into the desert. Others were killed by being thrown off cliffs, burned alive, or drowned in rivers.
The Allied Powers (Great Britain, France, Russia) responded to news of the massacres by warning Turkey: "...the Allied governments announce publicly...that they will hold all the members of the Ottoman Government, as well as such of their agents as are implicated, personally responsible for such matters."
The warning had no effect.
A sign of relief came for some Armenians as Russian troops attacked along the Eastern Front and made their way into central Turkey. But the troops had to withdraw in 1917 because of the Russian Revolution. Some Armenian survivors withdrew along with them and settled in provinces of the former Russian Empire. There were about 500,000 Armenians in this region.
In May 1918, Turkish armies attacked the area to achieve the goal of expanding Turkey eastward and also to resume murdering the Armenians. As many as 100,000 Armenians died because of the Turkish troops.
However, the Armenians fought back, finally repelling the Turks thus saving the remaining population from total extermination with no help from the outside world. Following that victory, Armenian leaders declared the establishment of the independent Republic of Armenia.
World War I ended in November 1918 with a defeat for Germany and the Central Powers including Turkey.
After that representatives from the Republic of Armenia attended the Paris Peace Conference in the hope that they would get their historic land back. The European Allies responded to by asking the United States to assume guardianship of the new Republic of Armenia. However, President Woodrow Wilson's attempt to make Armenia an official U.S. protectorate was rejected by the U.S. Congress in May 1920.
But Wilson did not give up on Armenia. As a result the Treaty of Sevres was signed on August 10, 1920, by the Allied Powers, the Republic of Armenia and the new leaders of Turkey. The treaty recognized an independent Armenian state in an area of the former historic homeland.
However, Turkish nationalism once again caused trouble. The moderate Turkish leaders who signed the treaty were ousted in favor of a new nationalist leader who simply refused to accept the treaty and re-occupied the lands in question then expelled any surviving Armenians.
No one came to the aid of the Armenian Republic and it collapsed.
After the successful obliteration of the people of Armenia, the Turks demolished any remaining of Armenian culture including ancient architecture, old libraries and archives.
After achieving total power in Germany, Hitler decided to conquer Poland in 1939 and told his generals: "Thus for the time being I have sent to the East only my 'Death's Head Units' with the orders to kill without pity or mercy all men, women, and children of Polish race or language. Only in such a way will we win the vital space that we need. Who still talks nowadays about the Armenians?"