Revolution and Genocide: On the Origins of the Armenian Genocide and the Holocaust [Paperback]

Robert Melson (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0226519910 | ISBN-13: 978-0226519913 | Publication Date: June 1, 1996

In a study that compares the major attempts at genocide in world history, Robert Melson creates a sophisticated framework that links genocide to revolution and war. He focuses on the plights of Jews after the fall of Imperial Germany and of Armenians after the fall of the Ottoman as well as attempted genocides in the Soviet Union and Cambodia. He argues that genocide often is the end result of a complex process that starts when revolutionaries smash an old regime and, in its wake, try to construct a society that is pure according to ideological standards.

Product Details

• Paperback: 386 pages
• Publisher: University Of Chicago Press (June 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0226519910
• ISBN-13: 978-0226519913
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #399,930 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #31 in Books > History > Asia > Armenia
  • #47 in Books > History > Asia > Cambodia

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An excellent work from a leading genocide scholar, October 16, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (Hamilton, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Revolution and Genocide: On the Origins of the Armenian Genocide and the Holocaust (Paperback)

In this intelligent work, Melson studies the role of revolution in the promulagtion of genocide. His theories cover political, historical, cultural, and psychological rationales, and lead to a concrete answer to a fluid question. The Armenian Genocide and the Jewish Holocaust are systematically disected, studied, and put back together, and a rational theory about revolution's role in genocide emerges. A definite requirement for anyone studying modern genocide.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Prerequisites for Mass Murder., July 15, 2010

By 

L. King "Eclectic Reader" (Toronto Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Revolution and Genocide: On the Origins of the Armenian Genocide and the Holocaust (Paperback)

Interesting book. Melson draws a number of parallels between Turkish and German societies in the years leading up to the respective genocides. Both societies contained a risng entrepreneurial middle class that was selectively demonized and treated as an external threat - the Armenians because half the population lived across the border of Turkey in Russia, and the Jews who also had a significant Russian population and were labeled as Bolshevik conspirators. Yet this perception ran counter to reality as German Jews considered themselves as German loyalists and non-German Jews saw liberal German values as symbolic of the Enlightenment; Armenian Turks were more favourable towards Turkey than Russia as were Armenians on the Russian side of the border.

The other major factor was that the NSDAP (National Socialist) and CUP (Turkish Committe of Union and Progress) were both revolutionary parties. Melson contends that the revolutionary aspect of both regimes enabled their societies to throw off the previous moral constraints of their pas - the Nazis it was Christianity's use of the Jews as a "Witness People", for the Turks it was the Pact that gave dhimmi minorities protected status. He characterizes previous attempts to realize political parties during Bismark's rule as fragmented and ultimately failing in the public imagination because these parties were in opposition to the State whereas Hitler purported to defend it. He juxtaposes this with attacks on Armenians during the reign of the last Sultan Hamid II during the years 1894-96, which, though terrible, did not lead to to mass murder. I don't agree with the author on this point. However he is convincing that until the collapse of the Ottoman Empire the Armenians were just another millet, but with a reduced size in empire the Armenians were numerous enough inside Turkey to be seen as a threat to the survival of the State.

Professor Melson's writing style is straightforward. He tells you what he's about to say, he says it and then he summarizes it again - possibly effective in the classroom but not quite as satisfying in a book. Melson's command of the Nazi ascent are quite impressive but more time could have been said about the details of the Armenian history.

As a note to where I am coming from and going to on this subject, about 3 years ago I went to a book launch of Barbara Coloroso's Extraordinary Evil: A Short Walk to Genocide, which I also recommend. Attending the launch was a representative group from the Armenian community. I knew very little about the subject but I talked to them and promised that I would find out more. I was side tracked in my reading but I saw Melson's book and saw it as a way to fulfill my promise, almost 3 years later.

I'm now reading Dadrian's Warrant for Genocide: Key Elements of Turko-Armenian Conflict which I should be able to review in couple of weeks. Thus far I am favorably impressed. I'm also interested in following up what happened to a particular group of Armenians afterwards. Melson made the intriguing comment that whereas Hitler would have pursued the Jews to the ends of the Earth, the Armenians who made it as far as Syria and Lebanon (admittedly few survived the forced marches through the desert) were not marked for extinction by the Turks. He also remarked that another difference is that whereas a Jew was always a Jew, a Turk was a Muslim who spoke Turkish so that Armenian Christians could convert and escape their fate. I'd like to examine that statement in more detail as well as find out about the fate and actions of others who were neither Muslim nor Armenian during that period.

7 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Study of Armenian Genocide by a non-Armenian, September 25, 2003

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Revolution and Genocide: On the Origins of the Armenian Genocide and the Holocaust (Paperback)

The comparison of The Genocide and the Holocaust can be considered an important step towards the recoginition of this almost a century old crime against the Armenians. I felt this book analyzed the conditions of both of these events and came to conclusion that they were same. I commend Dr. Melson for this effort.