Armenian+Genocide

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 * 1) The Armenian Genocide, the first genocide of the 20th Century, occurred when two million Armenians living in Turkey were eliminated from their historic homeland through forced deportations and massacres between 1915-1918.
 * 2) -For three thousand years, a thriving Armenian community had existed inside the vast region of the Middle East bordered by the Black, Mediterranean and Caspian Seas.
 * 3) -The area, known today as Anatolia, stands at the crossroads of three continents; Europe, Asia and Africa. Great powers rose and fell over the many centuries and the Armenian homeland, when not independent, was at various times ruled by Persians, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs and Mongols.
 * 4) -Despite the repeated invasions and occupations, Armenian pride and cultural identity never wavered
 * 5) -Following the advent of Christianity, Armenia became the very first nation to accept it as the state religion.
 * 6) -By the 10th century, Armenians had established a new capital at Ani, affectionately called the ‘city of a thousand and one churches.’
 * 7) -In the eleventh century, the first Turkish invasion of the Armenian homeland occurred
 * 8) -By the sixteenth century, Armenia had been absorbed into the vast and mighty Ottoman Empire.
 * 9) -At its peak, this Turkish empire included much of Southeast Europe, North Africa, and almost all of the Middle East.
 * 10) -But by the 1800s the once powerful Ottoman Empire was in serious decline. For centuries, it had spurned technological and economic progress, while the nations of Europe had embraced innovation and became industrial giants. Now, they lost battle after battle to modern European armies.
 * 11) -Only the Armenians and the Arabs of the Middle East remained stuck in the backward and nearly bankrupt empire, now under the autocratic rule of Sultan Abdul Hamid.
 * 12) -By the 1890s, young Armenians, educated in the universities of Europe began to press for political reforms in the Ottoman Empire, calling for a constitutional government, the right to vote and an end to discriminatory practices such as special taxes levied solely against them because they were Christians.
 * 13) -Between 1894 and 1896 over 100,000 inhabitants of Armenian villages were slaughtered during widespread pogroms conducted by the Sultan’s special regiments.
 * 14) -in July 1908, reform-minded Turkish nationalists known as ‘Young Turks’ forced the Sultan to allow a constitutional government and guarantee basic rights. The Young Turks were ambitious junior officers in the Turkish Army who hoped to halt their country’s steady decline.
 * 15) -Fueling hatred toward Armenians within the Empire were the significant cultural differences between Armenians and Turks.
 * 16) -Though a majority of the Armenian population in Turkey lived in poverty and despair, a small minority had excelled as best they could within their second class status, with many serving as professionals, businessmen, lawyers, doctors, artists, architects and skilled craftsmen.