During The Balkan Wars of 1911–1913, the Turks lost sizable chunks of the empire to Christian regions that were breaking away for independence. This period led to the emancipation of several East European countries further eroding the Ottoman Empire.

This was a devastating loss of power, sparking a more virulent form of Turkish nationalism and further ostracizing the Armenian population. What’s more, Muslim refugees from the Christian breakaway countries poured into Constantinople with stories of Christian murder and violence against their families and countrymen, perverting the events of the Adana Massacre to fit their own agenda. These stories became the basis for pro-Nationalist propaganda and would feed the national thirst for blood. One leader from the Young Turk government said, “Our anger is strengthening: revenge, revenge, revenge… there is no other word.”

In 1876, Turkish Sultan Abdul Hamid II became the 34th sultan of Turkey. During his rule, national paranoia regarding the Armenian population increased dramatically. Abdul Hamid II was obsessed with loyalty to the Turkish state, and feared that the Christian Armenians would turn on Turkey and join forces with political enemy, and Christian neighbor, Russia. In the late 1894, the Armenians organized and started to push for equal rights and freedom from their second-class status.

The Armenian demand for change was met with a lethal response from Sultan Hamid, earning him the moniker “Red Sultan”. Rallying his base, Hamid labeled the Armenians a dangerous force within his borders, dubbing them enemies of the state and further dehumanizing a population already considered to be infidels. From 1894-1896, the first seeds of the genocide were planted when Sultan Abdul Hamid II killed hundreds of thousands of Armenians in response to civil rights protests and political unrest.
Young Turks Offer New Hope

The Ottoman Empire began to crumble at the start of the 20th century, during which Armenian and Turkish relations steadily declined.

In 1908 a new political group, the Young Turks, forced the Sultan out of power. The Young Turks gained Armenian allegiance by initially supporting new rights for the oppressed segment of the population, creating excitement that reform was possible. Young Turks had a more modern idea of government, and the Armenians thought the new, progressive leadership would come to their aid. However, the Young Turks were even more extreme in their nationalist views than Abdul Hamid II, and life became far worse for the Armenians under their rule.

Coinciding with a period of decline for the empire, the sudden takeover by extremists created the perfect storm for a new wave of violence. Nationalism became a centerpiece of their platform, and Young Turks felt that Christians were a threat to their new government. The Armenians were targeted in April of 1909, when Turkish nationalists killed over 25,000 Armenians in Adana Vilayet, known as the Adana Massacre. Later, the Young Turks would perpetrate the Genocide.

The Republic of Armenia is a now-sovereign nation, established in 1991 with the collapse of the Soviet Union. It is bordered by Turkey, Iran, Georgia and Azerbaijan, and was the first nation to make Christianity its official religion.

Armenian history dates back thousands of years and is one of few ancient civilizations that remain intact today. The King of Armenia was the first ruler to adopt Christianity as the official religion of the state in 301 A.D, even before the Roman Empire. For centuries, the Armenians built a healthy and prosperous independent country that was rich with culture and tradition.

It was absorbed by the Turkish Ottoman Empire in the early 16th Century, which ruled the region for more than 400 years. The Ottoman Empire was under Muslim rule, and Christian Armenians were subjected to racial discrimination and unequal treatment. The newly subjugated Armenians were regarded as infidels. Despite these obstacles, Armenians thrived. Resentment grew from the Turks, who perceived their Armenian neighbors as wealthier and better educated. Influential Turkish leaders later used these perceptions as justification for eliminating the Armenians altogether.