The Affect Of The Genocide On The Armenian Culture

During the Armenian genocide there was a loss of 1,500,000 lives. By 1923, the entire landmass of Asia minor and historic Armenia had been erased or removed completely of its population of Armenians. The amount of lives loss left a devastating mark on the Armenian culture, and almost completely demolished the Armenian culture, forever. Although the Turkish government kept the genocide of the Armenians secret from the rest of the world, the genocide was still a result of an unethical society because of the bias views of the government and it left a devastating effect on the Armenian population, changing their culture forever.

The Armenian genocide happened during the start of World War 1 (WWI), 1914, in the Ottoman Empire. Although there had been growing tensions between the Armenians and the Turks. In society the Armenians were intellectuals; they were doctors, teachers, professionals in society, etc. The Turks however were illiterate peasants and farmers. During the start of WWI many countries experienced a strong sense of nationalism, some however
were radicals and were willing to take extreme measures to protect their country. Among these radical groups one in particular was very influential in the Ottoman Empire, The Young Turks. With majority of Europe at war, it was easy for the Young Turks to convince the Turkish people that the Armenians were loyal to Christian Russia. Since the Young Turks otherwise, known as the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), were the political party in power it was simple to carry out a genocide. Also, since all of Europe was at war it was easy to accomplish the genocide of the Armenian. Although it wasn’t kept a secret from the rest of the world, the Turkish government went to extreme lengths to keep the genocide from the other countries in Europe, and the succeeded with few rare outcries from the Allied countries. So, this unethical society appeared out of fear; the fear that the Armenians would surpass the Turkish people. The Armenian genocide officially started on April 24, 1915. The answer to what was called the “Armenian Question” was to kill off all of the Armenians, genocide. Under the pressure of war all throughout the world, it was easy to execute a genocide since all of the countries were more worried about the war, rather than what was going on around them. The genocide was kept out of the papers and was strictly monitored by the Turkish government; therefore it was hard to get any proof of the genocide. With no proof of the genocide or anything to put in the papers about it to get information about the genocide to other parts of the country. Although there were still some countries whose newspapers still wrote about and reported the genocide, and the reporting resulted in some public outcry in the Allied countries.

In November of 1914 Turkish military leaders accused the Armenians of planning to join Russian forces. Right before the start of the genocide the Turkish government seized all rifles from the Armenian people, because the government said that they were loyal to christian Russia. This was a logical reason, since the Ottoman Empire was part of the Central powers, and Russia was part of the Allied powers. The Armenian people did not think much of the Turkish government confiscating their weapons.This can be argued because Armenian deportations actually started on March 31, 1915 resulting in numerous deaths on the trip through the Konia and Syrian Desert. Next, the official start of the genocide, on April 24, 1915 armed roundups began. The Turkish government rounded up 300 Armenian leaders and tortured them. After torturing the leaders, the government either shot or hung them. Next the Young Turks rounded up the men and took them to the outskirts of town and either shot or stabbed them to death. After killing off all the men the women, children, and elderly took on a death march. About 75% of the people died. The death march became known as the Trail of Tears, an estimated 4,000 men, women, and children died during relocation.

The genocide of the Armenians left a devastating impact on the Armenian culture.
Majority of the Armenian population was killed, during the genocide. To this day, Armenia and Turkey are still not on good terms. The genocide was an end to 300 years of Armenian culture in the Ottoman Empire. The Genocide had a long-lasting impact on the Armenian people who survived as well. The Armenians who survived the slaughter of their people had to cope with the significant loss, which in some cases were impossible to cope with. Some people lost their whole family, their entire lives ruined.

The emergence of an unethical society is caused by many factors but among those the most prominent is fear. Although the Ottoman Empire kept the Armenian Genocide secret and highly monitored the information about it, the genocide still came out of an unethical society and has left a long lasting impact on the Armenian people and
culture.