Armenians,
A Christian people occupying the high plains and valleys of a country east of
Asia Minor and northeast of
Syria, estimated as numbering from 3,000,000 to 5,000,000 people.
In the spring of 1894 the Turks claimed that the Armenians were preparing to revolt against the Kurds, and, in fact, several conflicts did take place between these people.
Turkish troops were sent to aid the Kurds and suppress the Armenians, and then began a long list of massacres which aroused the whole world.
On Feb. 20, 1896,
Clara Barton (q. v.), of the Red Cross Society, sailed from New York for
Armenia, and took charge of the relief work of this country.
While the governments seemed powerless to aid the Armenians, the citizens of this country made generous subscriptions for the sufferers.
Three ship-loads of goods were sent from this country and over $600,000 in money.
The inaction of the
European powers during these outrages must always be regarded with amazement.
As to the total number of Armenians butchered, only a conjecture can be formed.
Not until the beginning of 1897 did the massacre cease.
The total number of victims is generally conceded to have been over 50,000.
Out of 3,300 Armenian villages, it is estimated that 2.500 were destroyed.
Besides the people killed in massacres, it is estimated that the ravages committed by the Turks caused 75,000 Armenians to die of starvation.
Jan. 27, 1896, Congress passed concurrent resolutions calling upon the
European powers to stop the massacres, and to secure the Christians the rights to which they were entitled.
The Sultan of
Turkey, under great pressure, promised reforms.
A vast amount of mission property was destroyed, and claims for indemnity were presented by all the powers, few of which have been paid.
That of the
United States, after uncompromising pressure on the part of its ambassadors, was settled in December, 1900, by the placing of the order for a war-ship in this country, and including the amount of the indemnity in the contract price.
