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Warrant for Genocide: Key Elements of Turko-Armenian Conflict

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Dadrian is the pre-eminent scholar on the Armenian genocide. His command of all the main languages for source documents (Turkish, Armenian, German and English), 30 years of meticulous research, and his intellect all come through. His fundamental premise is that a valid study of the Armenian genocide is contingent upon a proper study of the Turko-Armenian conflict, which he subsumes under three categories: theocracy, demography, and Turkish domination of the Turko-Armenian power relationship.

This book is for people who have read at least one other book about the Armenian genocide and wish to thoroughly understand the root causes, the protracted phases, the escalation and the violent consummation of the Turko-Armenian conflict. It is a compelling work.

Dadrian's no-nonsense approach, coupled with the evidence he presents, is one of the most reliable examinations of the age-old relationship between Armenian and Turk. He does not shy away from discussing Turkish "schindlers" nor, on the other hand, the European players in the tragedy we have come to call the Armenian Genocide. The punch of this book lies in Dadrian's trademark method of demonstrating, through Non-Armenian sources, the mode of thinking and string of circumstance that made the massacres inevitable. His extensive footnotes also create opportunities for further exploration.

This book may be read simply for what it is or better yet highlight any research library regarding this topic. As a documentary filmmaker, I have found this book a tremendous help.

This is an excellent work, probably even more readable than Dadrian's earlier "History of the Armenian Genocide". Meticulously researched, with sources from everywhere in many languages, this book gives undeniable evidence of the Turkish intention to solve the "Armenian Question" by exterminating the Armenians. It is a very scholarly and unbiased work, not failing to mention the existence of good Turks and bad Armenians, while all the while giving the historical and social background for the slaughter that was to come. This is a must read for those new to the subject or those looking for more information on this little known Genocide.

I read this book in preparation for a recent interview with Vahakn Dadrian (available online). It is indeed (as other reviewers note) excellent. In it, Dadrian considers the history of the Armenian genocide insofar as its "root causes, the protracted phases, the escalation, and the violent consummation" in 1915.

This of course requires careful review of the Abdul Hamid era, and the massacres that occurred in 1894 through 1896, as well as the genocide during the First World War. But in the process of reviewing this history, Dadrian also covers the what he calls in the concluding chapter the "three arch determinants of the Turko-Armenian conflict"--namely theocracy, demography and power.

Theocracy, he points out, itself has two components, one relating to a belief system (in this case Islam), and the second to how that system is applied to social dealings and politics of every kind. Islam, he notes, had features which overshadowed its piety and professed recognition of the two other monotheisms (Judaism and Christianity) "which proved liabilities for the multiethnic political system that the Ottoman Empire was." Firstly is its "inexorable divisiveness," which splits the social universe into two "irreconcilable, basically hostile camps, namely believers and unbelievers." Secondly is Islam's militaristic spirit, "bent on conquest, subjugation and expansionist dominion." The plight of non-Muslims, and in this case Armenians, was "created under these conditions," and indeed they extended from the Ottoman era into the Kemalist era that followed.

According to the Sharia, Dadrian writes, equality was essentially anathema to Islam and its sacred law.

In addition to outlining these principals, Dadrian reviews in much detail the actual planning and perpetration of the genocide, and includes many of the most gory details, all of which are exceedingly well documented, largely by Turkish and German sources. Dadrian holds that relying on enemies of the Ottomans, such as the British, would raise questions in the eyes of the Turks, and therefore he has always based his work on the available Turkish and German and Austrian files, which fortunately are quite numerous.

What is most disheartening about this book, and the interview I had after reading it, is that Dadrian is not at all optimistic about the future of the Armenian people. Their fate is intertwined with the power of the Turkish state, which is growing ever stronger, and is once again becoming increasingly Islamic.

--Alyssa A. Lappen

Begin here. WIthout a doubt this is a great book to read in order to understand how the Armenian genocide became possible. Hitler was ascribed the following quote: "Who after all speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians". Let us speak of them now.

Dadrian expertly details the relationship of the minority Armenian Christian population to that of the majority Muslim groups in the context of the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. After the Crimean War over one million Kurdish, Circassian and other Muslim refugees from Russian wars were officially admitted into Turkey. However the Turkish government gave these refugees little support other than providing them with weaponry by commissioning them as a quasi military force. Christian Armenians were considered dhimmis under a Muslim legal tradition sometimes known as the Pact of Umar and they were not allowed to bear arms or ride horses. As such Dadrian shows that they were unable to protect themselves from the onslaught of their Muslim neighbours.

The exception was the town of Zeitoun (Ch 7) which was a separate enclave that was entirely Armenian. Their small force of about 5,000 fighters were able to hold off forces of the Sultan that were 10 times larger. To some extent their situation reminds me very strongly of the position of the Israelis with respect to the Arab world and we can certainly draw parallels between the repressive measures taken against of Jews in Arab lands in mid 20th century to that of the Armenians in the late 19th leading up to 1914.

There is a reasonable coverage of the period leading up to the late 19th century. The quote of Murad IV (1623-40) "how can we obtain the revenus of our Treasurey if there are no raias? (non-Muslims) sets the tone, and Dadrian describes how onerous the Muslim "jizya" tax was on the Armenian Christians where the only options were to convert, pay, or die. . Encouraged by the Western Powers who were sympathetic to the Armenians as fellow Christians, the Turkish Porte issued the Tanzimat "reforms" of 1839 and 1856 (settling the Crimean War), however these laws once passed were quickly abrogated in the specifics by counter proclamations.

Particularly intriguing was the intrigues revolving around the regime of the last Sultan with real power, Abdul Hamid II. Midhat Pasha is presented as a Grand Vizier (essentially Prime Minister) who was sympathetic to reform, yet he was eventually assassinated in 1884. Dadrian is able to show that the Turks rearranged provincial borders and deliberately misstated census figures to minimize Armenian political clout and thwart Western concerns.

Whereas under Hamid II there were a series of massacres, after which things returned to normal, it wasn't until after the Revolution that a program of genocide became possible. Indeed members of the CUP are shown to have approached the ex Sultan as an adviser, complaining that they were "required" to do the job that Hamid II had not the courage to do.

At 186 pages of text this book is fairly short, yet it contains an incredible wealth of detail and, more importantly, insight. The collapse of the Ottoman empire was a key event in the evolution of the modern Middle East which allowed the demons of pent up prejudice to escape. In the case of Turkey it shifted periodic attacks against Armenians to a policy of extermination and extended.

5* is not nearly enough. This book will deepen your understanding of history. Useful for interpreting the history of the modern middle east or for those who wish to understand the prior causes leading to genocide. It should be included in any serious curriculum covering the modern age.

Highly recommended.