The Defense of Van: Armenia's 1915 Uprising

The Story of Armenia: Survival Through Empires and Genocide — Fexingo History · Jul 27, 2026 · 6m · transcript

In April 1915, as the Ottoman Empire began its systematic genocide of Armenians, the ancient city of Van on the shores of Lake Van became a site of extraordinary resistance. For more than a month, Armenian civilians—led by the Dashnak leader Aram Manukian—held out against Ottoman forces, smuggling weapons, building barricades, and fighting street by street. This episode dives into the background of the Van uprising: the prewar Armenian reform movement, the Ottoman entry into World War I, the secret orders for mass deportations, and the desperate courage of a community that refused to go…