gencide unit 2 - armenia

when did the armenian genocide primarily occur?

1915 -1918 (massacres also took place in the years following ww1)

how many armenians died by 1918? by 1923?

1 million, 1.5 million

who was responsible for the genocide pre-ww1?

the sultan at the time

who was responisble for the genocide during and post-ww1?

the Young Turk government (commitee of union and progress)

who were the three leading figures of the young turks?

Mehmet Talaat (minister of the int - 1915, grand vizier - 1917), Ismail Enver (minsiter of war), and Ahmed Jemal (minister of the marine and military gov of syria)

how were the armenians targeted during the genocide?

property taken, deported, kidnapped, tortured, starved and massacred

How were many armenians killed?

forced out of armenia/anatolia to syria, where they died of thirst and hunger in the desert

how were those responsible tried?

they feld the country, so they were tried in absentia and founf guilt, but nothing happened to them

under who did the killings and deportations continue?

the new Turkish Nationalist government (opposed Young Turks, but not their treatment of armenians)

in what time period did the killings by the Turkish Nationalist gov continue?

1920 -1923

How did GB, France and Russia respond to the genocide?

demanded that the Young Turks be prosecuted for their crimes, send aid to the armenians, but did nothing else to stop the killings

why didnt GB, France and/or Russia do anything more to stop the genocide?

fear of jeopardizing their relationship with the Turkish gov

why have some contries condemned the genocide while other have not? why did it take certain nations so long?

fear of jeopardizing their relationship with the Turkish government

how can incomplete mourning from the armenian genocide be fixed?

having the wounds recognized by the perps (or their descendants)

what was the millet system?

the way the ottoman empire categorized different religious/ethnic communities within it

how did the millet system work?

each group had their own millet, a community where they could rule themselves. Leaders of the millet ran most of the administration of the group including education and tax collection.

did christans have equal rights under the millet system?

No

what were some rights that the armenians did and didnt have in the ottoman empire

did: practise their religion freely, didnt: able to serve in military, higher taxes, legally viewed as infidels (and thus lesser)

the universe of obligation

lessening feelings of obligation towards different individuals/groups based on proximity (emotional, geo, etc)

when did the armenians live in peace in the Ottoman empire?

when the empire was prosperous and expanding

wht did the treatment of armenians get worse as the ottoman empire started to crumble?

because they were blamed/scapegaots for the empire’s problems

what was the outcome of the peace negotiations b/w russia and the ottoman empire in early 1878?

independance for some balkan countries and russian troops would not leave the western armenian districts until reforms were inacted to garantee the security of the armenians

what was the outcome of the Berlin negotiations (late 1878)?

russians had to withdraw their troops for the armenian districts, so the armenians had no garuntee that promises of reform would happen

what did the iron ladels for liberty stew thing mean?

other contries were getting freedom during the berlin negotiations, because of their weapons (iron ladels), but the armenian delegate only had a petition (paper ladel) so the armenians did not get any liberty stew (freedom/independance)

armenakan party (est 1885)

armenian underground political party that epoused self-defense and armenian rights to self-governance

hunchak party (est 1887)

armenian marxist/socialst party that wanted an independant armenia

armenian revolutionary federation - ARF (est 1890)

revoluntonary party wanted advancement and freedom for armenians

what did the ARF evolve into?

a more nationalist party who participated in armed struggles

what was the hamidian massacre (1895-1896)?

the sultan sent troops to stop an armenian protest and the soliders massacred the protesters

what was the protest that sparked the hamidian massacre?

the hunchak party encouraged regular armenians to withhold their taxes in protest

how many armenians died during the hamidian massacre?

almost 200, 000

what was the context for the constantinople massacre (1895)?

hunchak party planned a protest for equality in constantinople, the sulan sent troops to stop it, violence erupted, major servet was killed

what sparked/escalated the constantinople massacre by incresing tensions?

the death of major servet led to more massacres occuring

how long did the constantinople massacres last? how did armenians try to protect themselves?

about a week, by hiding in churches

what prompted the armenians to leave the churches?

the embassies saying that they would assure their safety

what was the bank ottoman crisis?

The ARF decided to occupy Bank Ottoman in protest/to get the european powers to step in, the europeans that control the bank argree to help, they negotiate with the sultan and he says that if the organizers go into exile he will end the massacres, the organizers agree and go into exile but the massacres continue

young turks

coalition of turkish groups that wanted to transform the ottoman empire into a constititional government, some were more libral and others nationalistic

commitee for union and progress (CUP)

a branch of the young turk movement

how did the young turk revolution (1908) happen?

the CUP was about to be exposed, so they marched from town to town, gaining supporters, the sultan couldnt fight all of them so agreed to their demands

what were the demands of the CUP during the young turk revolution?

to resore the consitition, hopfully to bring equality to the empire

what happened durning the military coup of 1913

Talat, Enver, and Djemal take over the government, they are the nationalistic side of the young turks/CUP

what was the Adana massacre?

Armenians in Adana were celebrting their (percived) new freedom after the young turk revolution, but there were still turks who were loyal to the sultan. High tension b/w these groups caused riots, pillaging and general violence that spread to nearby villages as well

Turkism

turkish nationailsm based on the idea that the turkish race is superior (based on race/speaking turkic languages)

Turan

the idealized unified turkish country that spanned across asia and united all turkic language speaking groups

Balkan league (est \~1912)

group of balkan contries working together to take macedonia from the ottoman empire (the balkans win their fight agaist the ottomans)

secret alliance (august 1914)

the ottomans sign a secret truce with germany against the russians

why did the CUP sign the secret alliance?

they wanted to have access to muslims in russia, but there were armenians on both sides of the border blocking them from invaiding russia

Pan-turkism

establish a contry only for turks (ex: employing only turks, removing all other lanauges from the empire, etc)

Jihad, definiton and importance

declaration of holy war, used to justify the genocide agaisnt armenians

what were the 10 commandments?

a 10 step document from the CUP that outlined how they would eliminate the armenians

after the war with russia, why were armenian soldiers disarmed, segregated then massacred?

the ottomas saw them as threats/unreliable because some defected to fight for russia

why is april 15 1915 seen as the start of the armenian genocide?

250 intellectual/cultural leaders were massacred, tortured, and arrested

what did the passage of emergency executive legistation mean for the armenians?

Legitimation from the government to arrest and deport the Armenian people throughout the empire, they were told to leave by people going house to house

what were the armenians told during the deportations?

that they would be relocated to the interior for their security, and that they would be able to return to their homes after, some even forced to buy their own train tickets

what was the actual role/outcome of the deportations?

they were death marches intended to kill them, many died of heat/dehydration/fatigue from walking for so long, their property was also stolen

what was the special organization that the turks formed?

secret wing of the military to be mobile killing units, they swore a special oath to the CUP

what were the death squads?

squads/groups with members chosen because they were convicts/”scum of the earth” who were tasked with massacring armenians

the mass assult of armenians refers to what?

mass rape of armenian women, young armenian girls being taken into harems

what did france, britain, and russia declare in may 1915?

the young turks were responsible for crimes agaisnt humanity

what did france britain and russia do after their declaration? why?

nothing, because they were fighting a war

why did woodrow wilson want to stay neutral about the situation in the ottoman empire?

so america could stay out of the war, and because it wasnt directly affecting americans

who was henry morgenthau?

the US ambassador to the Ottoman Empire (also a german jew)

was henry morgenthau an upstander or bystander in response to what he saw in the ottoman empire?

upstander

what did henry morgenthau do to be an upstander?

pushed for diplomatic intervention, pleaded for pres wilson to intervene, lobied NYT to give the story lots of coverage, raised money for armenian relief, and helped relocate survivors

who were other upstanders?

American Committee for Relief in the Near East, largely german and american missionaries

what did other upstanders do to help?

national poster campaign (money + awarness), raised millions of dollars, delivered food/clothing/materials for shelter, set up refugee camps/clinics/hospitals/etc, and cared for orphans

who were the georgetown boys?

109 orphaned armenian boys from ages 8-12 years old who were relocated to georgetown, ON

what group worked to bring the georgetown boys (and other orphans) to canada

The armenian relief association of canada