The Armenian Genocide In The Early 20th Century

In the early 20th century, the Ottoman Empire began to take a serious decline. The empire’s inability to move into the modern society and the vast amount of land that was lost in Africa and Europe hindered its growth and prosperity compared to other countries. In 1908, the Young Turks, a new political group, revolted and took command of the country. They viewed the Armenians as nothing more than obstructions to their goal of a singular society. For the Armenians, this was nothing new.
Even before the Young Turks took power, the Armenians had been discriminated against. Because the Armenians were the Christian minority, they lived as second class citizens with multiple legal rights withheld from them. They were forced to pay supplementary taxes and were denied access in aspects of government because of their religious preferences. These policies had already created tension between the Armenian population and the government; but with the Young Turks now in control and their new, harsher ideology being implemented, the strain between the two began to grow even more.
Armenians consider April 24, 1915 being the beginning of the attacks. On this day, several hundred Armenian scholars were brought together, arrested and then executed. Many of the Armenians consider the genocide to have lasted to 1917. At first, the CUP passed even more laws that were malicious towards the Armenian population; including a law that gave the military to deport anyone that they “sensed” to be a security threat. (Kifner, 16) Soon after, their actions became more physical and direct. Towns were destroyed one by one. Their main method of extermination was through deportation. The Turks did not simply force the Armenian citizens to leave; they gathered up men, women, and children and proceeded to force many of them to walk hundreds of miles to the Syrian Desert in enormous death