History is messy. It’s rarely about one bad guy waking up and deciding to be a monster. When people ask why did the Armenian Genocide take place, they’re usually looking for a single spark, but it was more like a slow-motion train wreck involving a dying empire, paranoid leaders, and a world at war. We're talking about the systematic destruction of the Armenian population in the Ottoman Empire starting around 1915. It wasn't just a "war thing." It was a calculated political move.
The Ottoman Empire was basically the "Sick Man of Europe" by the early 20th century. They were losing land left and right. The Balkans were gone. North Africa was slipping away. This created a massive identity crisis for the ruling Turks. If you've ever seen a powerful organization start to crumble, you know that’s when people start looking for scapegoats.
The Death of Multi-Ethnic Dreams
For centuries, the Ottomans had this "millet" system. It wasn't perfect—Armenians were technically second-class citizens—but it worked. They could practice their religion and run their own communities. But as the empire shrank, a group called the Young Turks took over. They started out wanting a modern, constitutional government. Sounds good, right?
Well, it soured fast.
They shifted from wanting a diverse empire to wanting a "Turkey for the Turks." This is where the trouble really started. They looked at the Armenians—who were Christian, often well-educated, and lived right in the heart of the Anatolian peninsula—and saw a threat. They didn't see neighbors; they saw a "fifth column" that might side with Russia.
Why Did the Armenian Genocide Take Place During WWI?
War is the ultimate cover. When World War I broke out in 1914, the Ottoman Empire joined the Central Powers (Germany and Austria-Hungary). Suddenly, the Armenian population was stuck in the middle of a massive conflict between the Ottomans and the Russian Empire.
The Battle of Sarikamish in early 1915 was a total disaster for the Turks. They got crushed by the Russians. Instead of blaming bad planning or the freezing winter, Enver Pasha—one of the top leaders—blamed Armenian "treachery." He claimed Armenians were helping the Russians. Was there some friction? Sure. Were there Armenian volunteer units in the Russian army? Yes. But the Ottoman leadership used this as an excuse to target the entire civilian population.
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It was a pivot.
On April 24, 1915, they rounded up hundreds of Armenian intellectuals and leaders in Constantinople. Most were killed. This was the "decapitation" phase. If you take out the leaders, the rest of the people are easier to manage. Or destroy.
The Logistics of Displacement
The government passed the Tehcir Law. This was the legal "justification" for the deportations. They told the world they were just moving Armenians for their own safety and for military security.
It was a lie.
People were forced out of their homes with nothing. They were marched into the Syrian desert toward Deir ez-Zor. No food. No water. These weren't "relocations"; they were death marches. If the heat didn't kill you, the "Special Organization" (Teskilat-i Mahsusa) often did. This was a paramilitary group made up of released convicts and tribesmen who were basically given a green light to pillage and kill.
It’s heavy stuff. Honestly, the sheer scale is hard to wrap your head around. Somewhere between 600,000 and 1.5 million people died. Many were murdered outright, but countless others died of exhaustion or typhus in the camps.
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The "Turkification" Strategy
To understand why did the Armenian Genocide take place, you have to look at the economics. Armenians were the backbone of much of the empire's middle class. They were bankers, architects, and traders. When they were deported, their property was seized.
This wasn't an accident.
The Committee of Union and Progress (CUP) wanted to create a new Turkish bourgeoisie. They basically redistributed Armenian wealth to loyal Turks to fund their new vision of a national state. It was a massive, violent transfer of assets. If you remove the people and take their money, you've effectively "Turkified" the land.
International Silence and the "Who Remembers?" Problem
People knew. Western diplomats, like the US Ambassador Henry Morgenthau, sent frantic telegrams back home. He called it "race extermination." German officers stationed in the Ottoman Empire saw it happening and wrote reports.
But it was WWI. Everyone was busy killing each other on a scale never seen before. The world didn't step in. This lack of consequence is actually what inspired later dictators. There’s a famous, though sometimes debated, quote attributed to Hitler where he asked, "Who, after all, speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?"
The failure to hold anyone accountable in 1915 set a terrifying precedent for the rest of the 20th century.
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Common Misconceptions About the Causes
One big mistake people make is thinking this was purely a religious war. It wasn't. While the Ottomans used "Jihad" to stir up local mobs, the leaders of the Young Turks were actually pretty secular. For them, it was about nationalism and survival of the state. Religion was just a tool to get the masses on board.
Another myth is that it was a "civil war." A civil war implies two sides fighting. This was a state using its military and administrative power against its own unarmed civilians. The power imbalance was total.
Key Evidence Used by Historians:
- The Andonian Telegrams: While debated by some, these documents pointed toward a centralized plan for extermination.
- Morgenthau’s Memoirs: Detailed accounts of meetings with Ottoman leaders like Talaat Pasha, who were chillingly honest about their goals.
- Military Archives: Records showing the systematic disarmament of Armenian soldiers within the Ottoman army before the massacres began.
How to Lean into the History
If you really want to understand the "why," you have to look past the dates. You have to look at how a government can convince its people that their neighbors are an existential threat. It's a pattern we've seen repeat in Rwanda, Cambodia, and the Holocaust.
The Armenian Genocide happened because of a perfect storm: a collapsing empire, a radicalized leadership, a convenient scapegoat, and a world too distracted by its own war to intervene.
Actionable Steps for Further Research
If this is a topic you're diving into, don't just stick to a single textbook. History is lived through primary sources.
- Read "The Burning Tigris" by Peter Balakian. It gives a massive amount of context on the American response to the atrocities.
- Visit the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute website. They have digitized many original documents and photos that the Ottoman government tried to suppress.
- Look at the "Blue Book." This was a 1916 report by James Bryce and Arnold Toynbee that compiled eyewitness accounts while the events were still happening.
- Compare the rhetoric. Take a look at the speeches of the Young Turks from 1908 versus 1914. You can literally see the shift from "equality" to "exclusion."
Understanding this history isn't just about memorizing facts. It’s about recognizing the warning signs of state-sponsored violence. When a government starts talking about "cleansing" or "security" as a reason to target a specific ethnic group, history tells us exactly where that road leads.