Latest / The Story of Armenia: Survival Through Empires and Genocide — Fexingo History / Armenian Resistance in the Hamidian Era
Transcript
- Lucas: We often think of the Armenian Genocide as starting in 1915, but for communities in the eastern Ottoman provinces, the struggle for survival began decades earlier, under the hammer of Sultan Abdul Hamid II. Lucas: While the Safavid merchants were building commercial empires in Isfahan and New Julfa, their cousins in Turkish Armenia were facing a different kind of siege, one that targeted their very existence rather than just their commerce. Luna: So this was before the great deportations, when local communities could still fight back? Lucas: Exactly. In the 1890s, two specific regions became flashpoints: Sasun in the southeast and Zeytun further north. These weren't just villages; they were fortified mountain strongholds with deep roots in military tradition. Lucas: The Ottoman government wanted to disarm them completely, to strip away their autonomy and integrate them fully into the imperial tax and conscription systems, which the Armenians saw as a death sentence. Luna: And they actually managed to hold off the regular army? Lucas: They did, repeatedly. The most famous figure from this era is Hovsep Papajian, known as Dro. He wasn't just a warlord; he was a charismatic leader who organized the defense of Sasun against multiple Ottoman expeditions. Lucas: In 1894, when the Ottomans sent a large force to crush the rebellion, Dro used the terrain to his advantage, ambushing supply lines and forcing the imperial troops to retreat in disarray. Luna: That sounds incredibly dangerous for everyone involved. Lucas: It was brutal. The Ottoman response was the Hamidian massacres, state-sponsored violence intended to terrorize the population into submission. Thousands died, but the core communities of Sasun remained defiant. Lucas: This period also saw the rise of political organizations like the Dashnaktsutyun and the Hunchak Party, who moved from mere charity work to armed self-defense, believing that only strength could guarantee survival. Luna: Did the Russian Empire try to intervene on their behalf? Lucas: Russia played a complex game. They positioned themselves as protectors of Orthodox Christians, using the Armenian plight for diplomatic leverage against the Ottomans, but they rarely intervened militarily to save Armenian lives directly. Lucas: Instead, many Armenian revolutionaries looked across the border to Russian Armenia, seeing it as a potential refuge or a base for operations, though the Tsarist regime had its own repressive policies toward dissent. Luna: I remember hearing about Johannes Lepsius and the relief efforts. Lucas: Right. Johannes Lepsius was a German missionary who traveled through these devastated regions and documented the atrocities with remarkable precision, sending reports to Berlin that tried to pressure the Ottoman government. Lucas: His work is crucial because it provides one of the earliest, most detailed eyewitness accounts of what would later be termed genocide, capturing the scale of the destruction in places like Van and Erzerum. Luna: It feels like those early resistances set the stage for everything that followed. Lucas: Absolutely. The trauma of the Hamidian era forged a collective memory of betrayal by European powers and a reliance on self-reliance that defined the Armenian national consciousness for the next century. Lucas: Even the survivors of these massacres carried that resilience into the refugee camps of Aleppo and Antoura, where they tried to rebuild identities while holding onto the hope of return. Luna: It’s heavy to think about how much history was shaped by those specific mountains. Lucas: It is. And while we’ve talked about merchants in Isfahan and monasteries in Geghard, this story of armed resistance in Sasun and Zeytun shows how ordinary people turned their entire society into a fortress. Luna: Did any of those leaders survive to see the Republic? Lucas: Many did not. Dro was assassinated in 1920 during the chaotic transition period, a victim of the very instability he had fought against for so long, but his legacy endured. Lucas: The spirit of Sasun lived on in later conflicts, including the defense of Musa Dagh, where survivors of the 1890s helped organize the final stand against deportation columns. Luna: So the patterns of resistance really repeated over generations. Lucas: They did. And it’s important to remember that this wasn't just passive suffering; it was active, strategic, and deeply human resistance against overwhelming odds. Luna: It makes you wonder how many other stories like this are still being uncovered. Lucas: Probably dozens. But for now, let’s take a moment to support the work that keeps these histories alive. Lucas: If you've been stepping into history with us episode by episode, your support helps us keep this ad-free space open for listeners who value deep research. Luna: You can find us at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. Lucas: Every contribution allows us to dig deeper into archives and bring you stories like the resistance in Sasun without compromise. Luna: Thanks for helping us continue these conversations. Lucas: Let’s go back to Zeytun, which had its own unique path of autonomy, distinct from Sasun's more militant approach. Lucas: While Sasun relied heavily on guerrilla warfare, Zeytun negotiated a degree of internal self-rule through treaties, creating a hybrid system that lasted for decades. Luna: How did they manage to keep that autonomy for so long? Lucas: They leveraged the fear of Russian expansion. The Ottomans knew that if they crushed Zeytun too violently, it might push the region entirely into the Russian sphere, which they wanted to avoid. Lucas: So they allowed Zeytun to collect its own taxes and maintain its own militia, as long as they paid tribute and didn't openly rebel, a fragile balance that held until the Young Turk Revolution. Luna: It’s fascinating how geopolitics sometimes protects minority groups. Lucas: Only when it suits the empire’s strategic interests. Once the Young Turks centralized power and aligned closer with Germany, that protection vanished, and the old treaties were discarded. Lucas: But for a time, Zeytun stood as a testament to the possibility of Armenian self-governance within a hostile empire, a model that inspired others across the Caucasus. Luna: And those models were erased almost overnight in 1915. Lucas: Yes. The end of that era marked the beginning of the final tragedy, but the resistance of Sasun and Zeytun ensured that the world couldn't ignore what was happening. Lucas: Their defiance kept the Armenian question alive in international diplomacy, even as the Ottoman state sought to make the Armenians disappear. Luna: It’s a powerful reminder that survival isn't always quiet. Lucas: No, it often looks like standing your ground in the mountains, knowing the cost, and choosing to stay anyway.