Pogroms In The Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman Empire was a multi-ethnic state with many religions being followed among its people but the majority were Muslin. Armenians had always been second class citizens in the Sultans reign. Although Armenians were allowed to practice their Christian religion, they were subject to higher taxes and little political rights. The Armenians, being Christian, were thought to be conspiring against their Muslim rulers. The Sultan accused the Armenians of working with Russia, a Christian empire, that the Ottomans shared an uneasy border with. Much like the Jews in Germany, the Armenians in the Ottoman Empire had been used as a scapegoat for the empires problems at many points in its history. In 1894 to 1896 the Sultan had sanctioned pogroms