The End of the First World War and the Continuing Armenian Catastrophe

The Ottoman Defeat in 1918

The Ottoman Empire's defeat in the First World War brought the Armistice of Mudros on October 30, 1918.

The wartime Committee of Union and Progress leadership lost power.

Several leading officials fled the empire.

Survivors emerged from hiding, refugee settlements, and areas of displacement.

Some attempted to return to their former homes.

Many discovered that their property had been confiscated, their communities destroyed, and their relatives killed.

Postwar Trials

After the war, Ottoman military tribunals investigated crimes committed during the conflict, including the deportation and massacre of Armenians.

The proceedings examined the involvement of officials and Committee of Union and Progress leaders.

Some defendants were convicted, and several leading figures, including Talat, Enver, and Cemal, were sentenced to death in absentia.

Other officials were tried and punished.

However, the postwar accountability process was limited.

Political instability, the emergence of the Turkish nationalist movement, and changing international circumstances prevented comprehensive prosecution.

Many perpetrators escaped punishment.

Continued Violence and Displacement

The Armenian catastrophe did not end immediately with the armistice.

Armenian populations remained vulnerable during the conflicts that followed the collapse of the Ottoman Empire.

Violence and displacement continued in parts of Anatolia, the Caucasus, and Cilicia.

The Turkish-Armenian War of 1920, the broader Turkish War of Independence, and regional conflicts further destabilized surviving Armenian communities.

The burning of Smyrna in 1922 and the subsequent population upheavals marked another stage in the destruction and displacement of Christian populations in Anatolia, although the events involved distinct groups and historical circumstances.

By the establishment of the Republic of Turkey in 1923, most of the Armenian communities that had existed across the Ottoman Empire before the war had been destroyed, displaced, or radically reduced.