End of the Ottomans: The Genocide of 1915 and the Politics of Turkish Nationalism

Description

In the early part of the twentieth century, as Europe began its descent into the First World War, the Ottoman world – once the largest Empire in the Middle East – began to experience a revolution which would culminate in the new, secular Turkish state. Alongside this, in 1915, as part of an increasing nationalism, it enacted a genocide against its Armenian citizens. In this new study, Hans-Lukas Kieser marshals a dazzling array of scholars to re-evaluate the approach and legacy of the Young Turks – whose eradication of the Armenians from Asia Minor would have far-reaching consequences. Kieser argues that genocide led to today’s crisis-ridden Middle East and set in place a rigid state system whose effects are still felt in Turkey today.Featuring new and groundbreaking work on the role of bureaucracy, the actors outside of Istanbul and re-centreing Armenian agency in the genocide, The End of the Ottomans is a vital new study of the Ottoman world, the Armenian Genocide and of the Middle East. Cover page Halftitle page Title page Copyright page Contents List of Maps and Figures Acknowledgements List of Contributors Map Introduction: Unhealed Wounds, Perpetuated Patterns Part One The Matrix and Politics of Genocide 1 Mehmed Talaat: Demolitionist Founder of Post-Ottoman Turkey Revolutionary, but imperial Embrace of war 24 April 1915 Communion in crime Talaat, Ziya Gökalp and Germany Revolutionist statesmanship’, imperially biased: a prototype A post-Ottoman century under Talaat’s shadow 2 The War at The Caucasus Front: A Matrix for Genocide Activities of the Teşkilat-ı Mahsusa in the south Caucasus Operations of the SO in Artvin, Ardanuç , Şavşat, Oltu and Ardahan Reprisals by Armenian volunteers and Russian troops Conclusion 3 Requiem for a Thug: Aintabli Abdulkadir and the Special Organization The making of a fedai Spymaster in Van Playing the Kurdish card: special ops on the Persian frontier The Sarai sector: retribution against Armenians Massacres at Gumushkhane Abdulkadir’s mission in Harput Deraa Der Zor, Bolu and the post-war period Conclusion 4 Tahsin Uzer: The CUP’s Man in the East Conclusion Part Two Performing Genocide on the Spot 5 The State, Local Actors and Mass Violence in Bitlis Province* Eastern Provinces Sheikhs, aghas and beys in Bitlis Local power relations and local government on the eve of the First World War Extermination of Armenians in Bitlis Conclusion Selected bibliography 6 Scenes from Angora, 1915: The Commander, the Bureaucrats and Muslim Notables during the Armenian Genocide The commander says no Expanding the Programme Diplomacy and deniability When perpetrators fall out: governor vs. police chief Catholic Armenians: an anomaly? Yosgad says no Conclusion Part Three The Empire’s Darkest Hour 7 Zohrab and Vartkes: Ottoman Deputies and Armenian Reformers 8 Honour and Shame: The Diaries of a Unionist and the ‘Armenian Question’1 Masters of the house National pride and local security ‘An irremovable stain’ Memory of the genocide 9 A Rescuer, an Enigma and a Génocidaire: Cemal Pasha* Cemal Pasha’s ‘Armenian policy’ A rescuer: Cemal Pasha seen through the eyes of Armenians An enigma: the Cemal Pasha who required Armenians to convert The ‘génocidaire’ Cemal Pasha Conclusion 10 ‘The Very Limit of Our Endurance’: Unarmed Resistance in Ottoman Syria during the First World War The allure of the sword Defining resistance Humanitarian relief Humanitarian resistance Individual actors and Armenian self-help Conclusion Part Four Unmaking the Empire, Shaping the Turkish Nation 11 Proactive Local Perpetrators:Mehmet Yasin (Sani Kutluğ) and Ahmed Faik (Erner) Motivations The Aintab CUP club and the main perpetrators Portraits of perpetrators Conclusion 12 From Aintab to Gaziantep: The Reconstitution of an Elite on the Ottoman Periphery Aintab as outlier Provocateurs and protectors Watching their future The deportation of Orthodox Armenians Deportation of Catholic and Protestant Armenians An evaluation Post-genocide Aintab and the return of survivors From the British to the French: occupation in Aintab Property restitution and Aintab’s return to war Confiscated property and the consolidation of a Turkish-Muslim elite Conclusion Afterword: Talaat’s Empire: A Backward Country, but a State Well Ahead of Its Time Local history as national history Comparative perspectives: the 1910s and 2010s From Unionism to the Republic: inheriting the cataclysm The Unionist biographies Resistances Chronology Index