Hamidian Massacres - Background

Background

The origins of the hostility toward Armenians lay in their status as a wealthy religious minority, in the days of the waning power of the Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman loss of dominion over various Christian regions was ushered in by an era of European nationalism, and the insistence of self-determination by many territories that had long been held under Ottoman authority. When nationalism spread into Anatolia, with Armenians demanding equal rights and pushing for autonomy, the Ottoman leadership believed that the Empire's Islamic character and even its very existence were threatened.

The combination of Russian military success in Russo-Turkish War, 1877–1878, clear weakening of the Ottoman Empire in various spheres including financial (from 1873, the Ottoman Empire suffered greatly from the Panic of 1873, territorial (mentioned above), and the Armenian hope that one day all of the Armenian territory might be ruled by Russia, led to a new restiveness among Armenians living inside the Ottoman Empire. Starting around 1890, the Armenians began protesting to gain the protections promised them at Berlin. Unrest occurred in 1892 at Marsovan and in 1893 at Tokat. Armenians wanted civil reforms to be implemented in the Ottoman Empire and an end to discrimination; they demanded the right to vote and the right to establish a constitutional government. The Sultan, however, was not prepared to relinquish any power. Turkish historian Osman Nuri observed, "The mere mention of the word 'reform' irritated him, inciting his criminal instincts."

Another reason for the massacres was the incitement of Kurdish bandits to attack Armenians. The eastern provinces of the Ottoman Empire were historically insecure; the Kurdish rebels sacked neighboring towns and villages with impunity. When the empire was too weak and disorganized to halt them, Sultan Abdul Hamid gave semi-official status to the Kurdish bandits. They were known as the Hamidiye Alaylari ("belonging to Hamid"). 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, 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 their possession of arms.