Armenians in the Ottoman Empire and the Reform Question

Armenians in the Ottoman Empire

Armenian communities lived across the Ottoman Empire, including in eastern Anatolia and major cities such as Constantinople. They maintained churches, schools, businesses, and cultural institutions while facing unequal legal and political conditions.

Reform and Insecurity

In the nineteenth century, demands for security and reform grew amid imperial decline and tensions involving European powers. Promised reforms were unevenly implemented, and many Armenian communities remained vulnerable.

The Hamidian Massacres

Between 1894 and 1896, large-scale massacres of Armenians occurred under Sultan Abdul Hamid II. The violence killed many thousands and devastated communities. Further mass killings took place in Adana in 1909.

The Road to World War I

The Committee of Union and Progress consolidated power amid wars and imperial territorial losses. The outbreak of World War I in 1914 intensified wartime suspicion and coercion, forming the context in which the genocide began in 1915.