During the genocide, the Armenian people were discriminated against nonstop. These discrimination factors did not appear once the genocide had started, for hundreds of years the Armenians had been discriminated against while living in the Ottoman Empire. The Armenians had occupied the region in present day Turkey long before the Ottoman Empire came to be. Then, in the sixteenth century, the Armenians were taken over and integrated into the powerful and far-flung Ottoman Empire. Yet as a Christian minority in a dominantly Muslim empire, the Armenians were regularly discriminated against. The first appearance of discrimination came at the beginning of the Armenians merge into society. The Sultan at the time accommodated the fact that the Armenians
…show more content…
In 1913, three Young Turks took full control of the empire. They had only a few simple goals, expand the empire to the east and transform the empire to speak a single language and practice one religion. The Armenians were directly in the way of both of these goals. The large population of Armenians resided in the eastern part of the empire, and the previous Sultan had allowed the Armenians to hold onto their religion and language. These two factors were opposite the aims of the Young Turks, so the Armenians were once again classified as outsiders and enemies of the state.
Discrimination against the Armenians exploded with the beginning of WWI. The Armenians were accused of siding with Russia in the war, and after a heavy defeat in Russia the Turks were convinced that the Armenians were enemies and could not be kept alive. This is when the deportation and killings of the Armenians began. The Armenian soldiers who were fighting in the Ottoman army were disarmed and executed. A law was then passed to have all Armenians disarmed which said that the Armenians must turn in every weapon they owned, and refusal to do so would result in …show more content…
At the very top is the government. They were the ones who gave the orders to deport the Armenians, and had uncontested control over all political decisions made. Directly under the government was the police and army forces. These people had almost the same control over the population as the government had. The Provisional Deportation Law allowed the police to beat and arrest civilians at their own free will. They needed no authorization to carry out the brutal murder of the Armenian people. The government encouraged the police to go from caravan of people to caravan and murder and steal from whoever they pleased. Instead of facing repercussions for these actions they were celebrated, and many nights the police forces would go to the bars and boast of how many people they had killed that day. Almost even with the police were foreign ambassadors. The U.S ambassador at the time, Henry Morgenthau, describes how he was given the same treatment as government officials. On a regular basis the government officials would have conversations with Morgenthau about their plans to deport the Armenians. The officials never tried to hide their intentions or justify their actions. This shows that the diplomats were regarded highly as they were trusted with government information and plans. Under the police was the average Turkish citizen. These people were allowed to go on
In 1913, three Young Turks took full control of the empire. They had only a few simple goals, expand the empire to the east and transform the empire to speak a single language and practice one religion. The Armenians were directly in the way of both of these goals. The large population of Armenians resided in the eastern part of the empire, and the previous Sultan had allowed the Armenians to hold onto their religion and language. These two factors were opposite the aims of the Young Turks, so the Armenians were once again classified as outsiders and enemies of the state.
Discrimination against the Armenians exploded with the beginning of WWI. The Armenians were accused of siding with Russia in the war, and after a heavy defeat in Russia the Turks were convinced that the Armenians were enemies and could not be kept alive. This is when the deportation and killings of the Armenians began. The Armenian soldiers who were fighting in the Ottoman army were disarmed and executed. A law was then passed to have all Armenians disarmed which said that the Armenians must turn in every weapon they owned, and refusal to do so would result in …show more content…
At the very top is the government. They were the ones who gave the orders to deport the Armenians, and had uncontested control over all political decisions made. Directly under the government was the police and army forces. These people had almost the same control over the population as the government had. The Provisional Deportation Law allowed the police to beat and arrest civilians at their own free will. They needed no authorization to carry out the brutal murder of the Armenian people. The government encouraged the police to go from caravan of people to caravan and murder and steal from whoever they pleased. Instead of facing repercussions for these actions they were celebrated, and many nights the police forces would go to the bars and boast of how many people they had killed that day. Almost even with the police were foreign ambassadors. The U.S ambassador at the time, Henry Morgenthau, describes how he was given the same treatment as government officials. On a regular basis the government officials would have conversations with Morgenthau about their plans to deport the Armenians. The officials never tried to hide their intentions or justify their actions. This shows that the diplomats were regarded highly as they were trusted with government information and plans. Under the police was the average Turkish citizen. These people were allowed to go on