The Armenian Genocide

Most people agree that mistreating someone simply because of one’s religion is unethical. Why then, has there been so much hate and religious discrimination throughout history? This religious intolerance and discrimination has led to many wars, murders, and genocides. One of the most horrific genocides in history is the Armenian Genocide. For many years the Armenian population prospered, but by the sixteenth century, Armenia was brought under the rule of the Ottoman Empire. The majority of the people in the Ottoman Empire were Muslim, which made the Christian Armenians a small minority with little power. Growing conflict between the Muslims and Christians in the Ottoman Empire eventually led to the mass murder and deportation of Armenians from the Ottoman Empire in 1915. They were arrested, taken from their homes, and killed, simply because they were Christian (Armenian Genocide). This paper will discuss the history of Armenians, the events of the Armenian genocide, and the experiences of the children during the genocide.

An ‘Armenian’ is someone who is a native of the country Armenia which is located in the Middle East. Throughout history, the land that is now Armenia was constantly invaded and overrun by the surrounding nations. However, despite these invasions, Armenia was able to grow stronger and prospered as an independent nation in the 11thcentury. They made their official state religion which helped unite the small nation. But, this time of independence did not last forever. During the 1200s Armenia was invaded by the Turks and eventually became part of the Ottoman Empire which stretched over the majority of the Middle East. This would prove to be a root cause of the Armenian Genocide and marks the beginning of a time of...

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...annot be unlived, but if faced with courage, need not be lived again…” (Bobelian 225). The Armenian Genocide is one of the most terrible events in history. Over a million people died, many more children left orphans, and more tortured and left to suffer their whole lives. By learning about the history, the causes, and how the people and children suffered during the Armenian Genocide, we should be able to use this knowledge prevent genocides in the future. We should be able to see what religious hate can cause, and work to reduce discrimination and injustice. To see what the innocent Armenian children had to endure, should make us realize that we would never want such terrible things for our own children, or anyone else’s children, which is why humans have the responsibility to help those is need, and prevent further massacres as terrible as the Armenian Genocide.