The first genocide of the 20th Century 1915-1923 Armenian Genocide The first genocide of the 20th Century 1915-1923 Genocide: the deliberate killing of a large group of people, especially those of a particular ethnic group or nation.

Armenia 1915 - 1923

1. The Ottoman Empire, 1914 Armenia was a part of the Ottoman Empire. While the empire was Muslim, Armenians remained Christians.

2. Headlines from the Newspapers Armenians Are Sent to Perish in the Desert - Turks Accused of Plan to Exterminate Whole Population (New York Times, August 18, 1915) Million Armenians Killed or in Exile - American Committee on Relief Says Victims of Turks Are Steadily Increasing - Policy of Extermination (New York Times, December 15, 1915).

3. From the Mouth of Witnesses and Victims 87 years old Armenian survivor, Kosrov Derebegian. “I saw so many horses, so many people, so many children. Many Armenian villages evacuated. My father disappeared with a lot of other men. I remember people panicking. I see we are in the water. I saw a Turk kill a woman with a large knife and a naked man stabbed fatally. Swollen, dead bodies. Flies all over the place.” Joint Commemorative committee, Joyce Matz. “As in the Holocaust, Armenians were tattooed, men separated from their families, women were violated and children impaled upon Turkish bayonets,” http://www.armeniapedia.org/index.php?title=Newsday_Article_-_Genocide_Survivor_Accounts

4. Map of the Victimized Region

5. Culturally similar but… Turkish & Armenian Food/languages Differences: Baklava Currently many Armenian foods are the same as those in Turkey. The Turks claim they came up with all these foods, and the Armenians claim they created them. But this is what that region of the world eats. Armenians Better educated Professionals i.e.: Businessmen, lawyers, doctors, & skilled craftsmen Open to new scientific, political & social ideas from the west Turks Illiterate peasant farmers & shopkeepers Little value on education Previous rulers values loyalty & blind obedience above all Never heard of democracy Kabab Olives

The Young Turks In 1908, a group of young intellectuals called The Young Turks over threw the sultan. Goal: Make the Ottoman Empire exclusively Turkish and Muslim = Turkism or Pan Turkism. In 1910, the Armenians were labeled enemies of Muslim Turkey (due to not fitting the above description)

The Genocide Begins In 1914, Turkey entered WWI against Russia = a military disaster Turkey accused the Armenians of aiding Russia. On April 24, 1915-Turkish authorities arrested and executed Armenian leaders in Constantinople. This date would be forever remembered as the beginning of the Armenian genocide. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7z9CeLBi64Q BBC clip 5:44 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gE-XI6blXB0 A Story of Armenian Genocide https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xq9FgRQcJXQ Women survivor English 5:26 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bAAq1zSXCug Survivors speaking 100th Ann 8:30 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSchiqWIB6g Alt His 3;88

Genocide continues… In June 1915, the Armenian population (2M) was deported to the deserts of Syria and Iraq. Prior to deportation, all able-bodied males were shot. 25% of those that left Turkey would eventually arrive in Syria and Iraq. The majority of people were either murdered or died of thirst and starvation along the way.

The Genocide Ends In 1919, the Young Turks were put on trial for war crimes and were found guilty for the destruction of the Armenian people. In 1923, a war hero Mustafa Ataturk came to power, formed the Republic of Turkey, and released all prisoners found guilty of war crimes (including the Young Turks).

Effects of Armenian Genocide In the end, the Soviet Union carved out territory for the Armenians. 1.5 million Armenians died during the genocide. Today, the country of Turkey still formally denies that any premeditated genocide took place.

The International Response “The international community condemned the Armenian Genocide. In May 1915, Great Britain, France, and Russia advised the Young Turk leaders that they would be held personally responsible for this crime against humanity. There was a strong public outcry in the United States against the mistreatment of the Armenians. At the end of the war, the Allied victors demanded that the Ottoman government prosecute the Young Turks accused of wartime crimes. Relief efforts were also mounted to save "the starving Armenians." The American, British, and German governments sponsored the preparation of reports on the atrocities and numerous accounts were published. On the other hand, despite the moral outrage of the international community, no strong actions were taken against the Ottoman Empire either to sanction its brutal policies or to salvage the Armenian people from the grip of extermination. Moreover, no steps were taken to require the postwar Turkish governments to make restitution to the Armenian people for their immense material and human losses.” www.armenian-genocide.org

The Armenian Genocide: Context and Legacy---Adalian, Rouben Paul The Armenian Genocide: Context and Legacy---Adalian, Rouben Paul. Social Education: The Official Journal of the National Council for the Social Studies: 1991, (February). “At a time when global issues dominate the political agenda of most nations, the Armenian genocide underlines the grave risks of overlooking the problems of small peoples. We cannot ignore the cumulative effect of allowing state after state to resort to the brutal resolution of disagreements with their ethnic minorities. That the world chose to forget the Armenian genocide is also evidence of a serious defect in the system of nation-states which needs to be rectified. In this respect, the continued effort to cover up the Armenian genocide may hold the most important lesson of all."

Why do we know so little about this event during WWI? 1.5 million deaths is not a lot compared to millions lost in other countries. Europe is in shambles, each country has its own issues to deal with. The term “genocide” is created by Professor Raphael Lempkin in 1946, (after WWII ) and recognized at a United Nations convention in 1948. Genocide, briefly, is the intent to destroy, in whole or part, ethnic or religious groups.

You decide…. Based on the evidence provided and the UN covenant….. Do you believe the events in Armenia were genocide? Provide evidence to defend your position.