Armenian Genocide

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The Armenian genocide happened during World War l. 1.5 million Armenians were deported and massacred in the Ottoman Empire (modern day turkey). The Ottoman Empire invaded the Armenian homeland in the 11^th century. The Ottoman Empire saw a severe decline in the 1800s as the rest of Europe industrialized. Their once invincible armies became inferior to Europe’s heavily-modernized armies. The victims of this genocide were the Christian Armenians and the Anti-Armenians. A long-seated religious and ethnic divide deepened between the Muslim Turks and the Christian Armenians and in the 1890s, European-educated Armenians, increasingly becoming more affluent and eager for equal status, began to push for social and political reforms. They called for a constitutional government, an end to discriminatory voting practices, and an end to taxes levied only against Christians. The Ottoman Sultan responded by instituting widespread pogroms, or violent riots, against the Armenians and more than 100,000 Armenians were killed between 1894 and 1896. The Ottoman Empire saw a severe decline in the 1800s as the rest of Europe industrialized. Their once invincible armies became inferior to Europe’s heavily-modernized armies. The Ottoman Empire began to crumble when Greece, Serbia, and Romania gained independence in the 1800s, but the Armenians and Arabs of the Middle East remained under Ottoman rule.

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