Why did the Armenian genocide happen?

Answer 1

The Armenian Genocide is rather controversial, but the majority view is that it was a genocide, as expressed by the Pro-Armenian Views. The minority view, supported by Turkey and academics aligned with Turkey is placed second.

Pro-Armenian Views

Answer 1

There's an excellent book on the history of the Armenians. It's by David Marshall Lang. The title is "The Armenians: A People in Exile" and it was published in London by Allen and Unwin in 1981. Though the book is out of print, it should be available from most major public and academic libraries.

If you search the web for information, bear in mind that the Turkish government *denies* the Armenian Holocaust and there is a lot of Turkish Propaganda online.

The story behind the Armenian Holocaust is complex. In all, 1.2-1.5 million Armenians were murdered in 1915-17 and 1919-22. There is a mass of evidence from external sources (American and German, for example) and also in Turkish archives, too!

Answer 2

The Armenian Genocide happened in 1915. Armenians lived in their historical homeland for more than 5000 years, had kingdoms, cities, churches and schools. In the 13-14 centuries the Turkish nomad tribes came to the region, invaded the country of Armenians. Later they created the Ottoman Empire, a part of which was Western Armenia. Armenians were the intellectual Elite of the country, they were the richest shopowners, they were poets, politicians, doctors. Armenians were rich and what is more important they were CHRISTIAN, while Turkes were Muslim. And there was the Armenian Problem, by which the European Nations always made Turkey to do their bidding. Thus, the Best explaination is that Taliat Pasha (one of the organizers) gave : If there is no Armenian, there is no Armenian Problem". Armenians as rightful owners of the lend were a great threat for Turkish Tyrants.

Turkish Views

Answer 1

There are also an equal number of historical documents that support the fact that the tragedies resulted from armed Armenian revolt. The following quote is from Dr.Justin McCarthy a Professor at the University of Louisville.

"Conflict between the Turks and the Armenians was not inevitable. The two peoples should have been friends. When World War I began, the Armenians and Turks had been living together for 800 years. The Armenians of Anatolia and Europe had been Ottoman subjects for nearly 400 years. There were problems during those centuries-problems caused especially by those who attacked and ultimately destroyed the Ottoman Empire. Everyone in the Empire suffered, but it was the Turks and other Muslims who suffered most. Judged by all economic and social standards, the Armenians did well under Ottoman rule. By the late nineteenth century, in every Ottoman province the Armenians were better educated and richer than the Muslims. Armenians worked hard, it is true, but their comparative riches were largely due to European and American influence and Ottoman tolerance. European merchants made Ottoman Christians their agents. European merchants gave them their business. European consuls intervened in their behalf. The Armenians benefited from the education given to them, and not to the Turks, by American missionaries.

While the lives of the Armenians as a group were improving, Muslims were living through some of the worst suffering experienced in modern history: In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Bosnians were massacred by Serbs, Russians killed and exiled the Circassians, Abkhazians, and Laz, and Turks were killed and expelled from their homelands by Russians, Bulgarians, Greeks, and Serbs. Yet, in the midst of all this Muslim suffering, the political situation of the Ottoman Armenians constantly improved. First, equal rights for Christians and Jews were guaranteed in law. Equal rights increasingly became a reality, as well. Christians took high places in the government. They became ambassadors, treasury officials, even foreign ministers. In many ways, in fact, the rights of Christians became greater than those of the Muslims, because powerful European states intervened in their behalf. The Europeans demanded and received special treatment for Christians. Muslims had no such advantages.

That was the environment in which Armenians revolted against the Ottoman Empire-hundreds of years of peace, economic superiority, constantly improving political conditions. This would not seem to be a cause for revolution. Yet the nineteenth century saw the beginning of an Armenian revolution that was to culminate in disaster for both."