Armenian Genocide

The Armenian Genocide, to many, is known as the first modern genocide and also referred to as the Armenian Holocaust, the Armenian Massacres, and the Great Crime. This genocide started on April 14, 1915 and was led by a group of the Ottoman Empire government called the "Young Turks". On this day, Ottoman officials arrested nearly 250 Armenian community leaders. The Ottoman military was forcing Armenian people from their homes and making them walk hundreds of miles without food and water. By the end of this horrific event, nearly 1.5 million Armenians were killed out of the 2.5 million that lived in the Ottoman Empire. The Armenian people could not defend themselves due to the fact that they were a Christian minority and were not allowed to bear arms.

The majority religion practiced throughout the Ottoman Empire was Muslim so the "Young Turks" began killing the Armenian people, along with Pontiac Greeks and Assyrians, as a form of ethnic cleansing. They wanted to exterminate the christian minorities in the region.

I feel that if World War I wasn't going on at the time, other countries may have intervened and the Armenian Genocide may not have lasted quite as long as it did. While researching this topic, I found myself really interested in what happened. I really wish that we studied the Armenian Genocide, along with other genocides, more in dept. I feel that learning about the terrors of our worlds past helps prevent them from repeating.