Editing Armenian genocide (section)

== Background ==
{{further|Causes of the Armenian genocide}}

=== Armenians in the Ottoman Empire ===
{{main|Armenians in the Ottoman Empire}}
[[File:Six Vilayets, Ottoman Empire (1900).png|thumb|The [[Six Vilayets]]: [[Bitlis Vilayet|Bitlis]], [[Diyarbekir Vilayet|Diyarbekir]], [[Erzurum Vilayet|Erzerum]], [[Mamuret-ul-Aziz Vilayet|Harput]], [[Sivas vilayet|Sivas]] and [[Van Vilayet|Van]]. Most villages populated by Armenians were in these provinces.{{sfn|Kévorkian|2011|p=279}}]]
The presence of [[Armenians]] in [[Anatolia]] has been documented since the [[sixth century BCE]], about 1,500 years before [[Turkic migration|the arrival of Turkmens]] under the [[Seljuk dynasty]].{{sfn|Ahmed|2006|p=1576}} The [[Kingdom of Armenia (antiquity)|Kingdom of Armenia]] [[Arsacid dynasty of Armenia#Christianization|adopted Christianity]] as its national religion in the [[fourth century CE]], establishing the [[Armenian Apostolic Church]].{{sfn|Payaslian|2007|pp=34–35}} Following the end of the [[Byzantine Empire]] in 1453, two Islamic empires—the [[Ottoman Empire]] and the Iranian [[Safavid Empire]]—contested [[Western Armenia]], which was permanently separated from [[Eastern Armenia]] (held by the Safavids) by the 1639 [[Treaty of Zuhab]].{{sfn|Payaslian|2007|pp=105–106}} The Ottoman Empire was multiethnic and multireligious,{{sfn|Suny|2015|pp=11, 15}} and its [[millet system]] offered non-Muslims a subordinate but protected place in society.{{sfn|Suny|2015|p=12}} [[Sharia law]] encoded Islamic superiority but guaranteed property rights and freedom of worship to non-Muslims (''[[dhimmis]]'') in exchange for [[Jizya|a special tax]].{{sfn|Suny|2015|pp=5, 7}}

On the eve of [[World War&nbsp;I]] in 1914, around two million Armenians lived in Ottoman territory, mostly in Anatolia, a region with a total population of 15–17.5 million.{{sfn|Suny|2015|p=xviii}} According to the [[Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople|Armenian Patriarchate]]'s estimates for 1913–1914, there were 2,925 Armenian towns and villages in the Ottoman Empire, of which 2,084 were in the [[Armenian highlands]] adjacent to the Russian border.{{sfn|Kévorkian|2011|p=279}} Armenians were a minority in most places where they lived, alongside Turkish and [[Kurds|Kurdish]] Muslim and [[Rum millet|Greek Orthodox Christian]] neighbors.{{sfn|Suny|2015|p=xviii}}{{sfn|Kévorkian|2011|p=279}} According to the Patriarchate's figure, 215,131 Armenians lived in urban areas, especially [[Istanbul|Constantinople]], [[Smyrna]], and [[Eastern Thrace]].{{sfn|Kévorkian|2011|p=279}} Although most Ottoman Armenians were peasant farmers, they were overrepresented in commerce. As [[middleman minorities]], despite the wealth of some Armenians, their overall political power was low, making them especially vulnerable.{{sfn|Bloxham|2005|pp=8–9}}

=== Land conflict and reforms ===
[[File:Looting of an Armenian village by the Kurds.png|thumb|left|"Looting of an Armenian village by the Kurds", 1898 or 1899|alt=Column of people and domestic animals carrying bundles]]
Armenians in the eastern provinces lived in semi-[[feudalism|feudal]] conditions and commonly encountered [[forced labor]], [[Taxation in the Ottoman Empire|illegal taxation]], and unpunished crimes against them including robberies, murders, and sexual assaults.{{sfn|Astourian|2011|p=60}}{{sfn|Suny|2015|p=19}} Beginning in 1839, the Ottoman government issued [[Tanzimat|a series of reforms]] to centralize power and equalize the status of Ottoman subjects regardless of religion. The reforms to equalize the status of non-Muslims were strongly opposed by Islamic clergy and Muslims in general, and remained mostly theoretical.{{sfn|Kévorkian|2011|p=9}}{{sfn|Kieser|2018|pp=8, 40}}{{sfn|Suny|2015|pp=26–27}} Because of the abolition of the [[Kurdish emirates]] in the mid-nineteenth century, the Ottoman government began to directly tax Armenian peasants who had previously paid taxes only to Kurdish landlords. The latter continued to exact levies illegally.{{sfn|Suny|2015|pp=19, 53}}{{sfn|Astourian|2011|pp=60, 63}}

From the mid-nineteenth century, Armenians faced large-scale [[land usurpation]] as a consequence of the [[sedentarization of Kurdish tribes]] and the arrival of [[muhacir|Muslim refugees]] and immigrants (mainly [[Circassians]]) following the [[Russo-Circassian War]].{{sfn|Astourian|2011|pp=56, 60}}{{sfn|Suny|2015|pp=19, 21}}{{sfn|Göçek|2015|p=123}} In 1876, when Sultan [[Abdul Hamid&nbsp;II]] came to power, the state began to confiscate Armenian-owned land in the eastern provinces and give it to Muslim immigrants as part of a systematic policy to reduce the Armenian population of these areas. This policy lasted until World War I.{{sfn|Astourian|2011|pp=62, 65}}{{sfn|Suny|2015|p=55}} These conditions led to a substantial decline in the population of the Armenian highlands; 300,000 Armenians left the empire, and others moved to towns.{{sfn|Kévorkian|2011|p=271}}{{sfn|Suny|2015|pp=54–56}} Some Armenians joined [[Armenian national liberation movement|revolutionary political parties]], of which the most influential was the [[Armenian Revolutionary Federation]] (ARF), founded in 1890. These parties primarily sought reform within the empire and found only limited support from Ottoman Armenians.{{sfn|Suny|2015|pp=87–88}}

Russia's decisive victory in the [[Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878)|1877–1878 war]] forced the Ottoman Empire to cede parts of eastern Anatolia, the [[Rumelia Eyalet|Balkans]], and [[Ottoman Cyprus|Cyprus]].{{sfn|Suny|2015|pp=94–95, 105}} [[Armenian delegation at the Berlin Congress|Under international pressure]] at the 1878 [[Congress of Berlin]], the [[Ottoman government]] agreed to carry out reforms and guarantee the physical safety of its Armenian subjects, but there was no enforcement mechanism;{{sfn|Suny|2015|pp=95–96}} conditions continued to worsen.{{sfn|Astourian|2011|p=64}}{{sfn|Suny|2015|p=97}} The Congress of Berlin marked the emergence of the [[Armenian question]] in international diplomacy as Armenians were for the first time used by the [[International relations of the Great Powers (1814–1919)|Great Powers]] to interfere in Ottoman politics.{{sfn|Suny|2015|p=96}} Although Armenians had been called the "loyal millet" in contrast to Greeks and others who had previously challenged Ottoman rule, the authorities began to perceive Armenians as a threat after 1878.{{sfn|Suny|2015|pp=48–49}} In 1891, Abdul Hamid created the [[Hamidiye (cavalry)|''Hamidiye'' regiments]] from Kurdish tribes, allowing them to act with impunity against Armenians.{{sfn|Kévorkian|2011|pp=75–76}}{{sfn|Astourian|2011|p=64}} From 1895 to 1896 the empire saw [[Hamidian massacres|widespread massacres]]; at least 100,000 Armenians were killed{{sfn|Kévorkian|2011|pp=11, 65}}{{sfn|Suny|2015|p=129}} primarily by Ottoman soldiers and mobs let loose by the authorities.{{sfn|Suny|2015|pp=129–130}} Many Armenian villages were forcibly converted to Islam.{{sfn|Kévorkian|2011|p=271}} The Ottoman state bore ultimate responsibility for the killings,{{sfn|Suny|2015|p=130}}{{sfn|Kévorkian|2011|p=11}} whose purpose was violently restoring the previous social order in which Christians would unquestioningly accept Muslim supremacy,{{sfn|Suny|2015|p=131}} and forcing Armenians to emigrate, thereby decreasing their numbers.{{sfn|Kévorkian|2011|p=266}}

=== Young Turk Revolution ===
{{Main|Young Turk Revolution}}
Abdul Hamid's despotism prompted the formation of an opposition movement, the [[Young Turks]], which sought to overthrow him and restore the 1876 [[Constitution of the Ottoman Empire]], which he had suspended in 1877.{{sfn|Suny|2015|pp=92–93, 99, 139–140}} One faction of the Young Turks was the secret and revolutionary [[Committee of Union and Progress]] (CUP), based in [[Salonica]], from which the charismatic conspirator [[Mehmed Talaat]] (later Talaat Pasha{{efn|name=Talaatbey|Talaat previously had the title "[[Bey]]," and so was known as "Talaat Bey" until he gained the title "[[Pasha]]" in 1917.{{Sfn|Kieser|2018|p=2}}}}) emerged as a leading member.{{sfn|Kieser|2018|pp=46–47}} Although skeptical of a growing, exclusionary [[Turkish nationalism]] in the Young Turk movement, the ARF decided to ally with the CUP in December 1907.{{sfn|Suny|2015|pp=152–153}}{{sfn|Kieser|2018|p=50}} In 1908, the CUP came to power in the [[Young Turk Revolution]], which began with a string of CUP assassinations of leading officials in [[Macedonia (region)|Macedonia]].{{sfn|Kieser|2018|pp=53–54}}{{sfn|Göçek|2015|p=192}} Abdul Hamid was forced to reinstate the 1876 constitution and restore the [[General Assembly of the Ottoman Empire|Ottoman parliament]], which was celebrated by Ottomans of all ethnicities and religions.{{sfn|Kieser|2018|pp=54–55}}{{sfn|Suny|2015|pp=154–156}} Security improved in parts of the eastern provinces after 1908 and the CUP took steps to reform the local [[Ottoman Gendarmerie|gendarmerie]],{{sfn|Kaligian|2017|pp=89–91}} although tensions remained high.{{sfn|Kaligian|2017|pp=82–84}} Despite an agreement to reverse the land usurpation of the previous decades in the 1910 Salonica Accord between the ARF and the CUP, the latter made no efforts to carry this out.{{sfn|Kaligian|2017|pp=86–92}}{{sfn|Astourian|2011|p=66}}

[[File:AdanaChristianQuarter.jpg|thumb|The Armenian quarter of [[Adana]] after the [[Adana massacre|1909 massacres]]|alt=Destroyed cityscape with ruined buildings and rubble in the street]]
In early 1909 [[31 March Incident|an unsuccessful countercoup]] was launched by conservatives and some liberals who opposed the CUP's increasingly repressive governance.{{sfn|Suny|2015|pp=165–166}} When news of the countercoup reached [[Adana]], armed Muslims attacked the Armenian quarter and Armenians returned fire. Ottoman soldiers did not protect Armenians and instead armed the rioters.{{sfn|Suny|2015|pp=168–169}} Between 20,000 and 25,000 people, mostly Armenians, were [[Adana massacre|killed in Adana]] and nearby towns.{{sfn|Suny|2015|p=171}} Unlike the 1890s massacres, the events were not organized by the central government but instigated by local officials, intellectuals, and Islamic clerics, including CUP supporters in Adana.{{sfn|Suny|2015|p=172}} Although the massacres went unpunished, the ARF continued to hope that reforms to improve security and restore lands were forthcoming, until late 1912, when they broke with the CUP and appealed to the European powers.{{sfn|Kieser|2018|pp=152–153}}{{sfn|Astourian|2011|pp=66–67}}{{sfn|Kaligian|2017|p=92}} On 8&nbsp;February 1914, the CUP reluctantly agreed to [[1914 Armenian reforms|reforms]] brokered by [[German Empire|Germany]] that provided for the appointment of two European inspectors for the entire Ottoman east and putting the Hamidiye regiments in reserve. CUP leaders feared that these reforms, which were never implemented, could lead to partition and cited them as a reason for the elimination of the Armenian population in 1915.{{sfn|Kieser|2018|pp=163–164}}{{sfn|Akçam|2019|pp=461–462}}{{sfn|Suny|2015|pp=203, 359}}

===Balkan Wars===
{{Main|Balkan Wars}}
[[File:Phocaea massacre Sartiaux.jpg|thumb|left|[[Çetes|Muslim bandits]] parading with loot in Phocaea (modern-day [[Foça]], Turkey) on [[Massacre of Phocaea|13 June 1914]]. In the background are Greek refugees and burning buildings.|alt=see caption]]
The 1912 [[First Balkan War]] resulted in the [[Territorial evolution of the Ottoman Empire#1913|loss of almost all of the empire's European territory]]{{sfn|Suny|2015|pp=184–185}} and the mass expulsion of Muslims from the Balkans.{{sfn|Kieser|2018|p=167}} Ottoman Muslim society was incensed by the atrocities committed against Balkan Muslims, intensifying anti-Christian sentiment and leading to a desire for revenge.{{sfn|Suny|2015|pp=185, 363}}{{sfn|Üngör|2012|p=50}} Blame for the loss was assigned to all Christians, including the Ottoman Armenians, many of whom had fought on the Ottoman side.{{sfn|Bozarslan ''et al.''|2015|pp=169, 171}} The Balkan Wars put an end to the [[Ottomanism|Ottomanist]] movement for pluralism and coexistence;{{sfn|Bloxham|Göçek|2008|p=363}} instead, the CUP turned to an increasingly radical Turkish nationalism to preserve the empire.{{sfn|Kieser|2018|p=156}} CUP leaders such as Talaat and [[Enver Pasha]] came to blame non-Muslim population concentrations in strategic areas for many of the empire's problems, concluding by mid-1914 that they were internal tumors to be excised.{{sfn|Kaligian|2017|pp=97–98}} Of these, Ottoman Armenians were considered the most dangerous, because CUP leaders feared that their homeland in Anatolia—claimed as the last refuge of the Turkish nation—would break away from the empire as the Balkans had.{{sfn|Suny|2015|p=193}}{{sfn|Göçek|2015|p=191}}{{sfn|Kieser|2018|p=156}}

In January 1913, the CUP [[1913 Ottoman coup d'état|launched another coup]], installed a [[one-party state]], and strictly repressed all real or perceived internal enemies.{{sfn|Suny|2015|pp=189–190}}{{sfn|Kieser|2018|pp=133–134, 136, 138, 172}} After the coup, the CUP shifted the demography of border areas by resettling Balkan Muslim refugees while coercing Christians to emigrate; immigrants were promised property that had belonged to Christians.{{sfn|Kaligian|2017|pp=95, 97}}  When parts of Eastern Thrace were reoccupied by the Ottoman Empire during the [[Second Balkan War]] in mid-1913, there was a campaign of looting and intimidation against Greeks and Armenians, forcing many to emigrate.{{sfn|Kaligian|2017|pp=96–97}} Around 150,000 Greek Orthodox from the [[Aegean coast]] were [[1914 Greek deportations|forcibly deported]] in May and June 1914 by [[Çetes|Muslim bandits]], who were secretly backed by the CUP and sometimes joined by the [[Ottoman Army (1861–1922)|regular army]].{{sfn|Suny|2015|pp=193, 211–212}}{{sfn|Kieser|2018|pp=169, 176–177}}{{sfn|Kaligian|2017|p=98}} Historian [[Matthias Bjørnlund]] states that the perceived success of the Greek deportations allowed CUP leaders to envision even more radical policies "as yet another extension of a policy of [[demographic engineering|social engineering]] through [[Turkification]]".{{sfn|Bjørnlund|2008|p=51}}
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