The Causes Of The Armenian Genocide Between 1915 And 1918

A mass genocide for Armenians in Turkey occurred due to a variety of reasons between 1915 and 1918. World War 1 was a key factor leading to the genocide, yet there were others to be taken into consideration. There was a long-term factor of religion, and a short-term factor of the rise of a group by the name of the ‘Young Turks’. Lastly, there was the immediate factor of World War 1, which started in 1914, a year before the genocide. All of these reasons led to many Armenians in Turkey being deported and killed between 1915 and 1918.

One of the biggest causes of the genocide was the long-term factor of religion. The difference of religions between the Armenians and other people in the Ottoman Empire was great. In the past, the Armenians made
This greatly influenced Armenia’s culture, setting it apart from most of its neighbouring nations, as they followed different religions (Freedman). During the 15th century, the Ottoman Empire conquered Armenia and absorbed them into their vast regime. The Armenians were Christians, while the Ottoman rulers were Muslim. The Armenians, who were viewed as ‘infidels’ since they did not follow Islam, were subject to unequal and unjust treatment. For the right to live in the Muslim Ottoman Empire, the Armenian Christians had to pay higher taxes than the Muslim citizens, and had much lesser political rights (Armenian Genocide). They were not allowed to testify in court or bear arms. They had to pay bribes to local Turkish officials to be allowed to live and work safely (Freedman). Hence religion was a source of conflict that eventually led to the genocide. However, what aggravated the genocide was the resentment by the Turkish. The Armenian community thrived under the Ottoman Empire, and they tended to be wealthier and educated in comparison to Turkey. The Turkish, who loathed their success, were suspicious that Christian Armenians would be more loyal and have a better relationship with other Christian nations such as
When World War 1 began, the Ottoman Empire allied themselves with Austria-Hungary and Germany as part of the Central Powers. They attacked the East, hoping to capture the city of Baku, and lost the campaign against Russian forces in the Caucuses (Kifner). The Armenians were blamed for siding with the Russians due to both nations sharing the same religion of Christianity. Ottoman leaders began to argue that the Armenians were traitors; if they thought they could win independence, through the Allies winning the war, then the Armenians would be eager to fight the enemy (Central Powers and Ottoman Empire) (Armenian Genocide). The General Turkish suspicion led to their government to push for the ‘deportation and removal’ of the Armenians from Turkey. The Ottoman authorities created a propaganda campaign in which they claimed that the Armenians were a threat to the national security. Since most of the Turks were illiterate, anti-Armenian propaganda was spread throughout by the town criers who labelled the Armenians as spies, infidels and traitors. This lead to the Armenian genocide beginning on April 24, 1915. The Turkish government arrested and executed several hundred thousand Armenians. The 40,000 Armenians serving in the army had their weapons confiscated and were forced to do labour. They had been transferred into road labourers (Armenian Genocide). Army supplies were loaded