Contemporary political cartoon portraying Hamid as a butcher of the Armenians

During the long reign of Sultan Hamid, unrest and rebellion occurred in many areas of the Ottoman Empire. One of the most serious of these incidents occurred in some Armenian populated parts of Anatolia. Although the Ottomans had crushed other revolts in the past, the harshest measures were directed against the Armenian community. They observed no distinction between the nationalist dissidents and the Armenian population at large, and massacred them with brutal force.^[1] However, this occurred in the 1890s, at a time when the telegraph could spread news around the world and when the Christian European powers were vastly more powerful than the weakening Ottoman state. Image File history File links SultanHamid. ... Image File history File links SultanHamid. ... Abdülhamid II (Ottoman Turkish: عبد الحميد ثانی , Turkish: Ä°kinci Abdülhamid) (September 21, 1842 – February 10, 1918) was the 34th sultan of the Ottoman Empire. ... Unrest is an indie rock band from the Washington DC area. ... Look up rebellion in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Motto: دولت ابد مدت Devlet-i Ebed-müddet (The Eternal State) Anthem: Ottoman imperial anthem Borders in 1680, see: list of territories Capital Söğüt (1299-1326) Bursa (1326-1365) Edirne (1365-1453) Constantinople (Istanbul) (1453-1922) Language(s) Ottoman Turkish Government Monarchy Sultans  - 1281–1326 Osman I  - 1918–1922 Mehmed VI... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... A dissident is a person who actively opposes the established order. ... The 1890s were sometimes referred to as the Mauve Decade, because William Henry Perkins aniline dye allowed the widespread use of that colour in fashion, and also as the Gay Nineties, under the then-current usage of the word gay which referred simply to merriment and frivolity, with no... Telegraphy (from the Greek words tele = far away and grapho = write) is the long distance transmission of written messages without physical transport of letters, originally over wire. ... Christians believe that Jesus is the mediator of the New Covenant (see Hebrews 8:6). ... This article is about the continent. ...

Background

The origin of Armenian unrest can be traced, in large part, to the success of Imperial Russia in the Russo-Turkish War, 1877-78. At the end of the war, based on the Treaty of San Stefano the Ottoman government had to give away a large part of territory (including the cities of Kars and Batumi) to the Russians. The Russian government claimed they were the supporters of the beleaguered Christian communities within the Ottoman Empire and clearly, the Russians could now beat the Ottomans. The Treaty of Berlin - which reduced the magnitude of Russia's gains on the other side of the Black Sea - stated that the Ottoman government had to give legal protection to the Christian Armenians, but in the real world, the treaty's protections were not implemented. Imperial Russia is the term used to cover the period of history from the expansion of Russia under Peter the Great, through the expansion of the Russian Empire from the Baltic Sea to the Pacific Ocean, to the deposal of Nicholas II of Russia, the last tsar, at the start... The Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878 had its origins in the Russian goal of gaining access to the Mediterranean Sea and dominating Constantinople (Istanbul) and the adjacent Turkish Straits. ... Borders of Bulgaria according to the Treaty of San Stefano of March 3rd, 1878 The Treaty of San Stefano was a treaty between Russia and the Ottoman Empire at the conclusion of the Russo-Turkish War, 1877-78. ... Kars (Armenian: Ô¿Õ¡Ö€Õ½) is a city in northeast Turkey and the capital of the Kars Province, formerly at the head of a sanjak in the Turkish vilayet of Erzurum. ... A general view of Batumi Batumi (Georgian: , formerly Batum or Batoum) is a seaside city on the Black Sea coast and capital of Adjara, an autonomous republic in southwest Georgia. ... The separate Bulgaria after The Treatry of Berlin - Lithography Nikolay Pavlovich The Treaty of Berlin was the final Act of the Congress of Berlin (June 13-July 13, 1878), by which the United Kingdom, Austria-Hungary, France, Germany, Italy, Russia and the Ottoman government under Sultan Hamid revised the Treaty... NASA satelite image of the Black Sea Map of the Black Sea The Black Sea is an inland sea between southeastern Europe and Anatolia that is actually a distant arm of the Atlantic Ocean by way of the Mediterranean Sea. ...

This article is part of the series on: Image File history File links LusignanCOA.gif‎ Coat of Arms of the Lusignan Dynasty of Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia Copyright©2004 Andrew Andersen Atlas of Conflicts File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... History of Armenia // Prehistory Archaeologists refer to the Shulaveri-Shomu culture of the central Transcaucasus region, including modern Armenia, as the earliest known prehistoric culture in the area, carbon-dated to roughly 6000 - 4000 BC. However, a recently discovered tomb has been dated to 9000 BC. Another early culture in the Armenian Highland...

Early History

Haik

Armens

Hayasa-Azzi

Nairi

Kingdom of Urartu

Kingdom of Armenia

Orontid Armenia

Artaxiad Dynasty

Arsacid Dynasty

Medieval History

Marzpanate Period

Byzantine Armenia

Bagratuni Armenia

Kingdom of Vaspurakan

Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia

Foreign Rule

Persian Domination

Ottoman Domination

Russian Domination

Hamidian Massacres

Armenian Genocide

Early Independence

Democratic Republic of Armenia

Soviet Armenia

Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic

Modern Armenia

Republic of Armenia

Topical

Military history of Armenia

Timeline of Armenian history This box: view • talk • edit

The combination of Russian military success, clear weakening of Ottoman power, and hope that one day all of the Armenian territory might be ruled by Russia led to a new restiveness on the part of the Armenians still living inside the Ottoman Empire. Added to this was the fact that the Ottomans never applied justice evenly in disputes between Christians and Muslims (see Dhimmi). Turkish Courts-Martial of 1919-1920 were court martials of the Ottoman Empire after the armistice of Mudros during the aftermath the World War One, which the leadership of the Committee of Union and Progress and selected former officials had court-martial with/including the charges of subversion of the... Operation Nemesis is the Armenian Revolutionary Federation code-name for the covert operation in the 1920s to assassinate the Turkish masterminds of the Armenian Genocide. ... Partitioning of the Ottoman Empire is direct consequence of the World War I with the Ottomans involvement in the Middle Eastern theatre. ... Turkish Denial: To have genocide denied is to die twice — An advertisement for the Armenian Genocide Commemoration Holiday on 24th April, 2006 posted in The Times newspaper. ... Categories: Wikipedia cleanup | Military of Russia | Russia-related stubs ... This article is about dhimmi in the context of Islamic law. ...

Starting around 1890 the Armenians began clamoring to obtain the protections promised them at Berlin. Unrest occurred in 1892 at Marsovan and in 1893 at Tokat. Armenians wanted reforms in the Ottoman Empire and an end to the discrimination imposed upon them, with demands for the right to vote and the establishment of a constitutional government^[2]. 1890 (MDCCCXC) was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar). ... Berlin is the capital city and one of the sixteen states of the Federal Republic of Germany. ... 1892 (MDCCCXCII) was a leap year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... Merzifon is a town in Amasya Province in Turkey. ... Year 1893 (MDCCCXCIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar). ... Tokat is a city in Turkey, at the mid Black Sea region of Anatolia. ...

Sasun Resistance

See also: Sasun Resistance (1894)

A near revolt occurred in the Sassoun Mountains of Bitlis Province. Armenian peasants refused to pay the Kurdish incremental taxes, a double taxation system imposed on the Armenians by Kurdish chieftains. In 1892, the governor of the Mus district in Bitlis Province encouraged Armenian resistance claiming that the Armenians: 'Couldn't serve two masters at the same time.' Combatants Ottoman Empire Hunchaks (members of the Social Democrat Hunchakian Party) The First Sassoun resistance of 1894 (Armenian: Սասունի առաջին ապստամբութիւնը) was the resistance of the Hunchak militia of the Sassoun region. ... Region (Sasun) and family (Sanasuni) in Armenia, centered in Sasun. ... shows the Location of the Province Bitlis Bitlis is a province of Turkey. ... Kurds are one of the Iranian peoples and speak Kurdish, a north-Western Iranian language related to Persian. ... Shows the Location of the Province Muş Muş (alternative transliteration: Mush) is a province in eastern Turkey. ... shows the Location of the Province Bitlis Bitlis is a province of Turkey. ...

In response to the resistance in Sasun Resistance (1894), the governor of Muş responded by inciting the local Muslims against the Armenians^[3]. The historian Lord Kinross claims that this was often achieved by gathering Muslims in a local mosque and claiming that the Armenians had the aim of "striking at Islam."^[4] The Sultan, Abdul Hamid II, sent the Ottoman army into the area and also armed groups of Kurdish insurrectionists. The violence spread and affected most of the Armenian towns in the Ottoman empire. The worst atrocity occurred when the cathedral of Urfa, in which three thousand Armenians had taken refuge, was burned^[5]. The historian Osman Nuri, in the second volume of his three-volume biography of Abdul Hamid, accused Sultans military contingent of 'torching and killing many people.' Combatants Ottoman Empire Hunchaks (members of the Social Democrat Hunchakian Party) The First Sassoun resistance of 1894 (Armenian: Սասունի Õ¡Õ¼Õ¡Õ»Õ«Õ¶ Õ¡ÕºÕ½Õ¿Õ¡Õ´Õ¢Õ¸Ö‚Õ©Õ«Ö‚Õ¶Õ¨) was the resistance of the Hunchak militia of the Sassoun region. ... A Muslim (Arabic: مسلم, Turkish: Müslüman, Persian and Urdu: مسلمان, Bosnian: Musliman) is an adherent of Islam. ... John Balfour (1904-1976), 3rd Baron of Kinross, was a writer noted for his biography of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and other works in Islamic historiography. ... Abdülhamid II (Ottoman Turkish: عبد الحميد ثانی , Turkish: Ä°kinci Abdülhamid) (September 21, 1842 – February 10, 1918) was the 34th sultan of the Ottoman Empire. ... Insurrection could refer to: * in a general sense, it means Rebellion * it is also a title of a Star Trek film, see Star Trek: Insurrection ...

1896 Bank Takeover

See also: 1896 Ottoman Bank Takeover

On August 26, 1896, a group of Armenian revolutionaries raided the headquarters of the Ottoman Bank in Istanbul. Guards were shot and more than 140 staff members were taken hostage - all in an attempt to gain international attention for the plight of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire.
The 1986 Ottoman Bank Takeover was the seizing of the Ottoman Bank in Constantinople, Ottoman Empire on August 26, 1896 by members of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnak Party). ... August 26 is the 238th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (239th in leap years). ... Year 1896 (MDCCCXCVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display calendar). ... The storming of the Bastille, 14 July 1789 during the French Revolution. ... The Ottoman Bank was founded in 1856 in the Galata business section in Constantinople as a partnership between British interests, the Banque de Paris et des Pays-Bas of France, and the Ottoman government. ... Istanbul (Turkish: Ä°stanbul, Greek: , historically known in English as Constantinople; see other names) is Turkeys most populous city, and its cultural and financial center. ...

Massacres

In response, tens of thousands of Armenians were massacred, both in Istanbul and elsewhere in the Ottoman Empire. Abdul Hamid's Private First Secretary wrote in his memoirs about Abdul Hamid that he 'decided to pursue a policy of severity and terror against the Armenians, and in order to succeed in this respect he elected the method of dealing them an economic blow ... he ordered they absolutely avoid negotiating or discussing anything with the Armenians and to inflict upon them a decisive strike to settle scores.' Terror is a pronounced state of fear, an overwhelming sense of imminent danger. ...

The killings occurred from 1895 until 1897. In that last year, Sultan Hamid declared that the Armenian question was closed. All the Armenian revolutionaries had either been killed, or had escaped to Russia. The Ottoman government closed Armenian societies and restricted Armenian political movements. 1895 (MDCCCXCV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ... 1897 (MDCCCXCVII) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ...

Death toll

Most estimates of number of victims run from 80,000 to 300,000.

• The British ethnographer William Ramsay, who visited the Ottoman empire for his own studies, estimated that from 1894 to 1897, 200,000 Armenians were killed.
• Armenophile Johannes Lepsius estimated more than 89,000 dead.^{[citation needed]}
• The German government estimated that up to December 20, 1895, 80,000 Armenians were killed.^{[citation needed]}
• The British Ambassador White, based on the data submitted to him by British consuls, estimated that up to early December 1895, 100,000 Armenians were killed.^{[citation needed]}
• The German author, E. Jackh (a German Foreign ministry operative and Turkophile estimated that 200,000 Armenians were killed, 50,000 expelled and one million pillaged.^{[citation needed]}
• R. J. Rummel, a professor who coined the term democide, estimated that 15,000 Armenians were killed by Sultan Hamid^[6].
• The most complete figures covering the entire era from 1894 to 1897 were probably provided by the French historian, Pierre Renouvin, the President of the Commission in charge of assembling and classifying French diplomatic documents. In a volume based on authenticated documents, he stated that 250,000 Armenians were killed.^{[citation needed]}
• Armenian and other estimates run from 250,000 dead to as high as 350,000 dead. ^[7]
• Turkish estimates run from 20,000 to 30,000 killed.^{[citation needed]}

These events are recalled by the Armenians as the "Great Massacres". The Armenians believed the Hamidian measures proved the capacity of the Turkish state to carry out a systematic policy of murder and plunder against a minority population. The formation of Armenian revolutionary groups began roughly around the end of the Russo-Turkish War of 1878 and intensified with the first introduction of Article 166 of the Ottoman Penal code 166, and the raid of Erzerum Cathedral. Article 166 was meant to control the possession of arms, but it was used to target Armenians by restricting them to possess arms. Local Kurdish tribes were armed to attack the defenseless Armenian population. Some diplomats believed that the aim of these groups was to commit massacres so as to incite counter-measures, and to invite "foreign powers to intervene," as Istanbul's British Ambassador Sir Philip Currie observed in March 1894. Even some Turkish authors admit the existence of those revolutionaries was just a pretext for the massacres. Ethnography (from the Greek ethnos = nation and graphe = writing) refers to the qualitative description of human social phenomena, based on months or years of fieldwork. ... Sir William Mitchell Ramsay (March 15, 1851 - April 20, 1939) was a British archaeologist. ... 1894 (MDCCCXCIV) was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... December 20 is the 354th day of the year (355th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1895 (MDCCCXCV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Democide is a term created by political scientist R.J. Rummel in order to create a broader concept than the legal definition of genocide. ...

These mass killings clearly were a first step towards the Armenian Genocide of 1915-1917. Armenian Genocide photo. ...

See also

• Yıldız Attempt
• Adana massacre
• Armenian Genocide
• Anti-Armenianism

Picture dramatizing the Yildiz attempt. ... The Adana massacre occurred in the city of Adana, in the Ottoman Empire, in April 1909. ... Armenian Genocide photo. ... Bodies of Armenians killed during the 1915 Armenian Genocide. ...

References