Ottoman Preperation
When World War I erupted at the birth of the 20th century, leaders of the Young Turk regime sided with the Central Powers (Germany and Austria-Hungary). The outbreak of war provided a perfect disguise to solve the ‘Armenian question’ once and for all for the Young Turks. At the time, the world’s attention focused onto the battlegrounds of France and Belgium, where death and tragedy struck the young battalions of Europe. Eventually, the Eastern Front encompassed the unstable border between Ottoman Turkey and Russia. With the introduction of this global war, unusual measures involving the civilian population became normal practice.
As a prelude to the coming action, Turks disarmed the entire Armenian population under the accusation that the people were naturally sympathetic toward Christian Russia. Every last rifle was forcibly seized, accompanied with serious penalties for anyone who failed to turn in a weapon.
As a prelude to the coming action, Turks disarmed the entire Armenian population under the accusation that the people were naturally sympathetic toward Christian Russia. Every last rifle was forcibly seized, accompanied with serious penalties for anyone who failed to turn in a weapon.
Ottoman Execution & Implementation
At this time, about fifty thousand Armenian men were serving in the Turkish Army. In the fall and winter of 1914, all of their weapons were confiscated, and the soldiers were put into slave labor battalions, ordered with building roads or serving as human beasts of burden. An extremely high death rate followed these brutal work conditions, and those who survived would soon be shot in public events. Now, the time has come to answer the 'Armenian question'.
The decision to annihilate the entire Armenian population came directly from Ottoman government, more specifically the ruling triumvirate of ultra-nationalist Young Turks: Mehmed Talaat, Ismail Enver, and Ahmed Djemal. The final extermination orders were transmitted in coded telegrams to all provincial governors throughout Turkey. Armed roundups began on the evening of April 24, 1915, as 300 (the exact number is disputed, but placed anywhere between 250 and 500) Armenian political leaders, writers, teachers, clergy, and dignitaries in Constantinople (present day Istanbul) were taken from their homes, briefly jailed and tortured, and then hanged or shot.
Next, there were mass arrests of Armenian men throughout the country by Turkish soldiers, police agents, and bands of Turkish militia. The men were tied together with ropes and taken to the outskirts of their town and shot dead or bayoneted by death squads. Local Turks and Kurds armed with knives and sticks often joined in on the killing.
Then, Armenian women, children, and elderly became the target under the Ottoman trigger. On very short notice, they were ordered to gather their few belongings and be ready to leave home, under the idea that they were being relocated to a non-military zone for their own safety. When in reality, they were actually being taken on death marches, heading south toward the Syrian Desert.
Muslim Turks who assumed instant ownership of Armenian property quickly occupied most of the homes and villages left behind by the rousted populations. In many cases, local Turks who took them from their families spared young Armenian children from deportation. These children were forced into denouncing Christianity and becoming Muslims, and were then given new Turkish names.
Turkish militia escorted caravans consisting of thousands of deported Armenians These guards allowed roving government units of hardened criminals known as 'Butcher Battalions’ to attack the defenseless people, killing anyone they pleased. They also encouraged Kurdish bandits to raid the caravans and steal anything they wanted. In addition, sexual abuse was an issue, carried out at the hands of the Butcher Battalions and Kurdish bandits.
The death marches during the Armenian Genocide, involving over a million Armenians, covered hundreds of miles and lasted months. Indirect routes through mountains and wilderness areas were deliberately chosen in order to prolong the ordeal and to keep the caravans away from Turkish villages.
Food supplies being carried by the people quickly ran out and they were usually denied further food or water. Anyone stopping to rest or lagging behind the caravan was mercilessly beaten until they rejoined the march. If they couldn’t continue, then they were mercilessly shot.
An estimated 75 percent of the Armenians on these marches perished, especially children and the elderly. Those who survived the ordeal were herded into the desert without a drop of water. Being thrown off cliffs, burned alive, or drowned in rivers.
During the Armenian Genocide, the Turkish countryside became littered with decomposing corpses. At one point, Mehmed Talaat responded to the problem by sending a coded message to all provincial leaders: ‘I have been advised that in certain areas unburied corpses are still to be seen. I ask you to issue the strictest instructions so that the corpses and their debris in your vilayet are buried.’ But his instructions were generally ignored. Those involved in the mass murder showed little interest in stopping to dig graves. The roadside corpses and forced deportees were a shocking sight to foreigners working in Turkey. Eyewitnesses included German government liaisons, American missionaries, and U.S. diplomats stationed in the country.
Throughout the Ottoman Empire, this atrocious genocide resulted in about 1.6 million Armenian deaths within eight grueling years.
The decision to annihilate the entire Armenian population came directly from Ottoman government, more specifically the ruling triumvirate of ultra-nationalist Young Turks: Mehmed Talaat, Ismail Enver, and Ahmed Djemal. The final extermination orders were transmitted in coded telegrams to all provincial governors throughout Turkey. Armed roundups began on the evening of April 24, 1915, as 300 (the exact number is disputed, but placed anywhere between 250 and 500) Armenian political leaders, writers, teachers, clergy, and dignitaries in Constantinople (present day Istanbul) were taken from their homes, briefly jailed and tortured, and then hanged or shot.
Next, there were mass arrests of Armenian men throughout the country by Turkish soldiers, police agents, and bands of Turkish militia. The men were tied together with ropes and taken to the outskirts of their town and shot dead or bayoneted by death squads. Local Turks and Kurds armed with knives and sticks often joined in on the killing.
Then, Armenian women, children, and elderly became the target under the Ottoman trigger. On very short notice, they were ordered to gather their few belongings and be ready to leave home, under the idea that they were being relocated to a non-military zone for their own safety. When in reality, they were actually being taken on death marches, heading south toward the Syrian Desert.
Muslim Turks who assumed instant ownership of Armenian property quickly occupied most of the homes and villages left behind by the rousted populations. In many cases, local Turks who took them from their families spared young Armenian children from deportation. These children were forced into denouncing Christianity and becoming Muslims, and were then given new Turkish names.
Turkish militia escorted caravans consisting of thousands of deported Armenians These guards allowed roving government units of hardened criminals known as 'Butcher Battalions’ to attack the defenseless people, killing anyone they pleased. They also encouraged Kurdish bandits to raid the caravans and steal anything they wanted. In addition, sexual abuse was an issue, carried out at the hands of the Butcher Battalions and Kurdish bandits.
The death marches during the Armenian Genocide, involving over a million Armenians, covered hundreds of miles and lasted months. Indirect routes through mountains and wilderness areas were deliberately chosen in order to prolong the ordeal and to keep the caravans away from Turkish villages.
Food supplies being carried by the people quickly ran out and they were usually denied further food or water. Anyone stopping to rest or lagging behind the caravan was mercilessly beaten until they rejoined the march. If they couldn’t continue, then they were mercilessly shot.
An estimated 75 percent of the Armenians on these marches perished, especially children and the elderly. Those who survived the ordeal were herded into the desert without a drop of water. Being thrown off cliffs, burned alive, or drowned in rivers.
During the Armenian Genocide, the Turkish countryside became littered with decomposing corpses. At one point, Mehmed Talaat responded to the problem by sending a coded message to all provincial leaders: ‘I have been advised that in certain areas unburied corpses are still to be seen. I ask you to issue the strictest instructions so that the corpses and their debris in your vilayet are buried.’ But his instructions were generally ignored. Those involved in the mass murder showed little interest in stopping to dig graves. The roadside corpses and forced deportees were a shocking sight to foreigners working in Turkey. Eyewitnesses included German government liaisons, American missionaries, and U.S. diplomats stationed in the country.
Throughout the Ottoman Empire, this atrocious genocide resulted in about 1.6 million Armenian deaths within eight grueling years.