Latest / The Story of Armenia: Survival Through Empires and Genocide — Fexingo History / The Armenian Genocide: Ottoman Annihilation and Survival
Transcript
- Lucas: So we've talked about Armenia under Ottoman rule before — the millet system, the Hamidiye massacres in the 1890s. But today we're diving into the catastrophe that reshaped everything: the Armenian Genocide. It's the event that, for many Armenians, defines their modern identity. Luna: Right. I've heard the numbers, but I want to understand how it actually happened, step by step. Lucas: Absolutely. So by 1914, the Ottoman Empire is in its final decades — the 'Sick Man of Europe.' A group of nationalist officers called the Committee of Union and Progress, or the Young Turks, had taken control. Key figures were Talaat Pasha, Enver Pasha, and Djemal Pasha. Lucas: They saw the empire's Christian minorities — especially Armenians — as a potential fifth column, especially after the Balkan Wars where Muslims were massacred. Then World War I started, and the Ottomans suffered a devastating defeat at Sarikamish against the Russians in early 1915. Luna: And that defeat triggered the genocide? Lucas: It was the pretext. The CUP blamed Armenian volunteers fighting with the Russian army. But the reality is, the decision to annihilate the Armenian population was premeditated. On the night of April 23-24, 1915 — what Armenians call Red Sunday — Ottoman authorities arrested about 250 Armenian intellectuals and community leaders in Constantinople. Lucas: They were deported to the interior and most were killed. That was the decapitation of the Armenian elite. Then came the deportation orders for the general population. Luna: So they targeted the leadership first, to make the rest defenseless. Lucas: Exactly. Throughout May and June 1915, Armenians in Anatolia — from villages and cities — were given orders to leave. They were told it was for their own safety during wartime. But in reality, they were forced into death marches toward the Syrian Desert. Lucas: The routes varied, but many converged on the Euphrates River valley. At places like the Kemah Gorge near Erzincan, thousands were thrown off cliffs into the river. Further south, at Ras al-Ayn and Deir ez-Zor, they were marched into concentration camps where they died of starvation, disease, or were massacred. Luna: This is horrific. How many people died? Lucas: The consensus among historians is about 1.5 million Armenians out of a pre-war population of around 2 million. That's roughly three-quarters of the Ottoman Armenian population. The killing methods were varied — shooting, drowning, burning alive in barns, death by exposure. There were also organized massacres by special units called the Special Organization. Lucas: One infamous incident happened in the city of Diyarbekir in June 1915, where the local governor, Mehmed Reshid, organized the massacre of thousands of Armenians — and also Assyrian Christians — in a coordinated wave. Luna: And all this while World War I was raging. The outside world knew? Lucas: Yes, the Allies — Britain, France, Russia — issued a joint declaration in May 1915 denouncing the massacres as 'crimes against humanity and civilization.' But there was little they could do militarily. Missionaries and diplomats, like the American ambassador Henry Morgenthau Sr., sent detailed reports back. Lucas: Morgenthau's dispatches are some of the most vivid accounts. He wrote about convoys of women and children being marched for weeks, with guards raping and killing at will. He tried to intervene, but the Ottoman authorities ignored him. Luna: Did any Armenians survive? How? Lucas: Some survived by converting to Islam — at least nominally. Others were taken in by Kurdish or Arab families, often as servants or forced wives. A few managed to escape to Russian-controlled territory. After the war, survivors scattered across the world, forming the Armenian diaspora in places like Beirut, Aleppo, Marseille, and eventually Los Angeles. Lucas: The genocide also left a deep imprint on international law. The term 'genocide' itself was coined by Raphael Lemkin — a Polish-Jewish lawyer — partly in response to the Armenian case. Lemkin lost family in the Holocaust, but he said the Armenian massacre was a key precedent. Luna: So the word 'genocide' was invented because of the Armenians. Lucas: Partly. Lemkin argued that the systematic destruction of a national group — like the Armenians — was a crime that had no name. He created the term from Greek 'genos' and Latin 'cide'. He pushed for the UN Genocide Convention in 1948, which now recognizes the Armenian Genocide as a precedent. Lucas: But the legacy remains contentious. Turkey still denies it was a genocide, arguing that the deaths were a result of wartime conditions and intercommunal violence. Most genocide scholars disagree, and 30-plus countries have officially recognized it. Luna: So what happened to the perpetrators after the war? Lucas: In 1919, Ottoman military courts tried some of the leaders in absentia and sentenced them to death. Talaat, Enver, and others had fled to Germany. But then came Operation Nemesis — a covert operation by Armenian revolutionaries to assassinate them. Talaat was gunned down in Berlin in 1921 by Soghomon Tehlirian, an Armenian survivor. Lucas: Tehlirian's trial in Germany became a sensation. He was acquitted after a jury heard testimony about the atrocities. That trial also influenced Lemkin's thinking. Luna: So even justice was a complex story. It's amazing — and terrible — that this event is still so present for Armenians today. Lucas: It is. For the Armenian diaspora, the genocide is a foundational trauma. April 24 is a day of remembrance. And despite the Turkish government's denial, the memory is kept alive through oral histories, monuments, and the campaign for recognition. It's a living history. Lucas: I think that's where we'll leave it today. The genocide is a dark chapter, but understanding it is key to understanding modern Armenia and its people. Luna: Thank you for walking us through it so clearly, Lucas. It's heavy, but important.