WI:No Armenian Genocide

[Anarcho-Occultist]

The Armenian genocide was not the first genocide ever committed but was the first industrial-scale genocide of the 20th century. It is estimated 1.5 million Armenians were exterminated by the Ottoman Empire and denial of this tragedy is still the official stance of the Turkish government.

But the genocide was far from inevitable. Armenians had peacefully coexisted with the Turks for centuries prior to this point and even as late as 1906, they were still treated relatively fairly. How would things have turned out if the Armenian genocide had been avoided? What would Armenia be like? How would Armenian-Turkish relations have changed?

 

[Carl Schwamberger]

There would be a lot more non Turks in Turkey? Alternately a Armenian state might have emerged. The Turkish government of the early 1920s not wanting such a large population inside their national boundaries, & therefore adjusting their claim & leaving most of the Amenians outside to lookout for themselves.

 

[Scott Washburn]

As I understand it, the trigger for the genocide was World War I. Following Turkish military defeats at the hands of the Russians, and encroaching Russian troops, there was great fear on the part of the Turks (not without some justification, sadly) that the Armenians would help the Russian invaders. As a result, they started shipping the Armenians out of the endangered territories and most of the deaths occurred during those forced relocations. So the easiest way to stop it, would be to avoid the war, of give the Turks a big victory that drove the Russians away.

 

[GeographyDude]

As I understand it, the trigger for the genocide was World War I. . .

Definitely under cover of war. And government officials more allowed police and army to do certain things, rather than ordered them.

And I understand that to this day, the government really focuses on the fact that they didn’t order killing.

 

[Khanzeer]

As I understand it, the trigger for the genocide was World War I. Following Turkish military defeats at the hands of the Russians, and encroaching Russian troops, there was great fear on the part of the Turks (not without some justification, sadly) that the Armenians would help the Russian invaders. As a result, they started shipping the Armenians out of the endangered territories and most of the deaths occurred during those forced relocations. So the easiest way to stop it, would be to avoid the war, of give the Turks a big victory that drove the Russians away.

Why should the Armenians not help russians ? In anycase That is no explanation or justification ( perhaps that was not your intention) for ethnic cleansing entire population.

 

[X_X]

Armenians had peacefully coexisted with the Turks for centuries prior to this point and even as late as 1906, they were still treated relatively fairly.

Not really, mate.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamidian_massacres

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adana_massacre_of_1909

 

[BigBlueBox]

Why should the Armenians not help russians ? In anycase That is no explanation or justification ( perhaps that was not your intention) for ethnic cleansing entire population.

If a general believed that a segment of the population would rise up, cut of their supply lines, and collaborate with the enemy in a time of total war, he would want to intern that population. If that general had a great hatred of that population and lacked the means to detain them - I think you can see where this is going. It isn’t a justification at all, but it’s certainly a reason.

 

[Dingus Khan]

OP asked about averting the Armenian Genocide, but no mention of the Assyrian or Greek Genocides. In which case by the present day, Armenians won't have much of a beef with the Turks, but the Assyrians and Greeks definitely still will.

 

[A Piece of History]

The road to the Armenian Genocide ended with World War I, but it began as a Ottoman territorial losses in Europe, which had been happening for centuries, but was now starting to affect Ottoman prestige, especially after the losses of the Russo-Turkish War and the First Balkan War, the latter of which resulted in the Ottomans losing 85% of their European territory. As a result, many nationalists believed Anatolia was the last safe refuge of the Turkic race. At the same time, a tidal wave of Muslims (called muhacirs) were forced to flee the Balkans and 850,000 of these refugees settled in Armenian-majority areas, which caused animosity between the muhacirs and the Armenians, who were mostly well-off while the muhacirs lived in poverty. I should point out that there were also muhacirs, as a result of the Russo-Turkish War. What made it worse was the 1912 coup de'tat which brought the Committee of Union and Progress to power.

So, if you want to stop the Armenian Genocide, then the Ottomans have to win the First Balkan War or the Russo-Turkish War. Ottoman involvement in World War I was inevitable after the pro-German Envar Pasha came to power during the 1912 coup, which meant the Armenian Genocide was also inevitable.