Before the Genocide

Armenia as a nation has encountered wars, violence, tyrants, and an increasing number of deaths throughout their history. The Armenian Genocide of 1915 was the largest of these events. During the rule of the Ottoman Empire, Armenians were persecuted by their Muslim rulers; they were subject have to pay a higher tax and had very few rights. On the suspicion that Armenia was not fully loyal to the Ottoman Empire, even in its downfall, Abdul Hamid II, the tyrannical Turkish Sultan, declared he would “soon settle those Armenians.” He followed through with his promise from 1894-96 when he issued a state-wide massacre of the Armenian people, rampaging villages and cities, and killing hundreds of thousands. When the “Young Turks” overthrew the Sultan and entered WW1 on the side of Germany, the Ottoman authorities declared holy war on their Christian enemies. They believed that Armenia would fight for the Allies to try and gain freedom and independence. With the fear of Armenian aid to the Allies, the Turkish Government pushed for the removal of the Armenian people along the Eastern front of the war.

(Soldiers looking at the remains of the people from an Armenian village)

During and After the Genocide

On April 24, 1915, the Armenian Genocide began when the Turkish government captured and killed hundreds of influential Armenians. They continued killing and torturing Christian Armenians in various ways, some of which include taking families out of their homes and sending them on death marches, forcefully converting the children to Islam, raping and using women as slaves, and moving Muslim families into the homes of kidnapped Armenians. During this “Turkification” campaign, families were forced to walk though the Mesopotamian desert with no food, water, clothes, rest, or protection. Those who would collapse under the heat of the sun, were shot. The Turkish government, to finalize their plan, created a special group of soldiers and murderers, specifically for the eradication of the Armenian people.

After the Turkish officials responsible for the Genocide were found guilty, they surrendered and fled to Germany in 1918 to avoid punishment. A group of Armenians who were a part of the ARF (Armenian Revolutionary Federation) devised a plan to kill the orchestrators of the genocide, and succeeded.

Turkey refuses to acknowledge the gravity of their actions and denies the killing of the Armenian people as being a genocide to this day. The United States did not recognize the Genocide until recently, in 2021, when president Biden officially stated their recognition of the Armenian Genocide of 1915.

The Effect of the Genocide on the Armenian People

The events of 1915 is what shaped Armenia into the country it is today. Their hopes to reclaim their land and identity gave them the resolve to defend their nation and religion from their enemies. The genocide displaced thousands of people who were able to escape to other countries; this resulted in a blending of cultural food, music, dance, language, and people. Despite the Armenian diaspora expanding across the world, the people are still connected by their culture. As said by William Sarayon, “Go ahead, destroy Armenia. See if you can do it. Send them into the desert without bread or water. Burn their homes and churches. Then see if they will not laugh, sing and pray again. For when two of them meet anywhere in the world, see if they will not create a New Armenia.”