Genocide and human behavior: The Holocaust and other genocides

1. All the people like us are we, and everyone else is THEY. • Rudyard Kipling Genocide and human behavior: The Holocaust and other genocides

2. In 1939, just before the invasion of Poland, Adolf Hitler told his generals: • “The aim of war is not to reach definite lines but to annihilate the enemy physically. It is by this means that we shall obtain the vital living space that we need. Who today still speaks of the massacre of the Armenians?”

3. Ottoman Empire

4. Present Day Armenia • Armenia was the smallest country of the Soviet Republic • 3 million population • 1922-1991 part of the Soviet Union • 1991-Independence from the Soviet Union.

5. Ottoman Empire • Ruled by a sultan as a monarch • The sultan was also caliph-the official leader of the Islamic faithful

6. Rise of nationalism • Nationalism-the belief in a collective identity and destiny determined by membership in an ethnic, linguistic, or religious group. • Greeks & others– wanted a clean break from the empire. Wanted independence. • Armenians- were spread throughout the empire &it was not easy to become a state. Hoped for reforms rather than become independent.

7. The sick man of Europe • “What we have on our hands is a sick man- a very sick man.” (Czar Nicholas I of Russia) • He is describing the state of The Ottoman Empire in decline and in needing the help of European powers.

8. Abdul Hamid II 1876-1909 • Called the Bloody Sultan Name came from Wm. Gladstone • The press called on the “civilized” world to do something

9. 1909-Adan Massacre 30,000 dead • Tension between Turks and Armenians • Armenians celebrated their new found freedoms while Muslims were threatened by this and feared that they would lose their status of superiority.

10. The BLOODY Sultan THIS CAUSED THE RISE OF THE CUP • Sultan ruled by force, all those who opposed his regime were assassinated or forced into exile. • The Turkish people were tired of losing land and the economic instability facing the country. • Still some dispute on how to achieve change, Armenians wanted European protection others (Turks) didn’t want any outside intervention.

11. Armenians wanted reform • The sultan felt threatened by this new push for freedom and reacted by force. • Armenians created a movement for civil rights and the sultan reacted with repression and massacre. • Armenians hope the outside world would come to help, but the world stayed neutral.

12. 1912 • By 1912 the Turkish nationalists were gaining power. • Ottoman Empire still in decline losing land and economic instability. • They began to blame the Armenians for their loss of land and their economic problems.

13. Actions Taken by the Turkish NationalistS in O.E. • Boycotts Armenian and Greek shops • Uprooted Christians schools by turning them in to Turkish institutions. • Must employ only Turkish labor • Houses must only have Turkish books • Official language: Turkish

14. Ultra-Nationalist -Took control in 1913 -Slogan “Turkey for the Turks”

15. August 2nd 1914 • Talaat, Enver and Jemal made a secret alliance with Germany • Believed Germany would win the war • Wanted to unite the Muslim people in Russia under the one united Turkey

16. Talaat • Ordered the arrest of Armenian leaders in Constantinople on April 24, 1915 • Issued an order to close all Armenian political organizations operating within the Ottoman Empire and arrested Armenians connected to them on April 24 1915.

17. Jemal: Ministry of the Navy Oversaw control of the concentration camps and extermination sites Fell within his jurisdiction as commander of Syria.

18. Planning Mass Murder • Ten Commandments: (written by they Young Turks)

19. THE OFFICIAL DATE OF COMMEMORATION • April 24th & 25th, 1915- 650 artists, writers, poets, lawyers, doctors, priests and politicians were imprisoned and the deported and murdered. • Other cities followed with “deportations” which meant extermination.

20. Armenian Genocide 1915-1923 • Estimated one and half million killed • There were about two million living in the Ottoman empire on the eve of WW I. • Hundreds of thousands were butchered, many died from starvation, exhaustion, epidemics which were rampant in the concentration camps.

22. Henry Morgenthau-Upstander • A German born Jew, came to US when he was ten years old. • Appointed ambassador to the Ottoman Empire by President Wilson(1913) • Often met with Turkish leaders and questioned the state of the Armenians. Talat responded by: “Are they Americans?”…”The Armenians are not to be trusted,…besides what we do with them does not concern the United States.”

23. From the U.S.

24. What should we Do? The Choices: • Military action to stop the massacre • Give aid to the Armenians, write letters, etc.. • Stay neutral, do nothing, not in our interest

25. After World War I • The top leaders of the CUP fled Turkey-and were given asylum in Germany • Woodrow Wilson supported the concept of national self-determination. • At the Paris Peace Conference the Armenians hoped that the victorious Allies would give them back their historic lands seized by Turkey. • The European Allies responded to their request by asking the United States to assume guardianship of the new Republic. • However, President Woodrow Wilson’s attempt to make Armenia an official U.S. protectorate was rejected by the U.S. Congress in May 1920.

26. Cont. • But Wilson did not give up on Armenia. • As a result of his efforts, the Treaty of Sevres was signed on August 10, 1920 by the Allied Powers, the Republic of Armenia, and the new moderate leaders of Turkey. • The treaty recognized an independent Armenian state in an area comprising much of the former historic homeland.

27. However, Turkish nationalism once again reared its head. • The moderate Turkish leaders who signed the treaty were ousted in favor of a new nationalist leader, Mustafa Kemal, who simply refused to accept the treaty and even re-occupied the very lands in question then expelled any surviving Armenians, including thousands of orphans. • No Allied power came to the aid of the Armenian Republic and it collapsed. • Only a tiny portion of the easternmost area of historic Armenia survived by becoming part of the Soviet Union.

28. Cont. • The international powers did little to help the Armenian Republic and were forced to turn to Communist Russia, thus forgoing national independence. • It only became reality in 1991 as a result of the break up of the Soviet Union.

29. Talaat Pasha • In 1921 fled Turkey for Germany • He was living with his wife under an assumed name. He led a very active social life. • On March 16th, 1921, Soghomon Tehlirian, 24 year old Armenian shot and killed Talaat and wounded his wife.

30. Cont. • He was not remorseful and said “It is not I who am the murderer, is he(Talaat).” • In the trial he was acquitted. • Defense: Reason of insanity(saw his mother killed), showed the atrocities done by Talaat. • Should you take the law into your own hands? BREAK INTO GROUPS SHOULD BOSTON BOMBER BE READ HIS MIRANDA RIGHTS? COME UP W SOMETHING ELSE

31. The 8 stages of genocide

32. Twenty voices- survivors’ Stories