Armenian Holocaust of 1915

Today if you mention the word "holocaust" your thoughts might immediately fly back to Nazis stuffing Jews into boxcars and slaughtering them in gas chambers. But this isn't the only major slaughter in history which could accurately be described as a holocaust. Some have even quoted Hitler as feeling confident enough to start the massacres because of the previous slaughter in 1915.

Many years before World War II even started, Turkey started persecuting Armenian Christians. The main killing was actually divided into two phases. The first phase was led by Abdulhamid II, the sultan of the Ottoman Empire. He freely killed and tortured Armenian men and women and was known as one of the most cruel dictators of the time. The second phase of persecution came in a social revolution which promised a new direction for the depressed country. Almost parallel to the "new direction" promised by the Nazis in Germany, the Young Turk party promised a new era of understanding and civic improvement.

Some Armenians were even excited about this turn of events. They were promised improved living conditions and new freedom. However, they soon realized that living conditions were getting worse not better. Whole villages were ravaged. Men, women, and children were forced to march across the desert on death marches. Atrocities were committed which would be precedent for later crimes against other nationalities in other countries.

While World War I raged among the powerful European nations, Armenians in Turkey were being tortured, starved, beaten, and killed in large numbers. As infidels in a Muslim country, Armenians had no rights and were considered second-class citizens. They endured heavy casualties and the Armenian population dwindled. It is estimated that approximately 1.5 Armenians were killed during the second phase of persecution.