THE ARMENIANS
By
C. F. DIXON-JOHNSON
“Whosoever does wrong to a Christian
or Jew shall find me his accuser on
the day of judgment” (EL KORAN).
Printed and Published by
GEO. TOULMIN & SONS, LTD.,
Northgate, Blackburn.
1916.
Preface
The following pages were first read as a paper before the “Société d’Etudes Ethnographiques.” They have since been amplified and are now being published at the request of a number of friends, who believe that the public should have an opportunity of judging whether or not “the Armenian Question” has another side than that which has been recently so assiduously promulgated throughout the Western World.
Though the championship of Greek, Bulgarian and other similar “Christian, civilized methods of fighting,” as contrasted with “Moslem atrocities” in the Balkans and Asia Minor, has been so strenuously undertaken by Lord Bryce and others, the more recent developments in the Near East may perhaps already have opened the eyes of a great many thinking people to the realization that, in sacrificing the traditional friendship of the Turk to all this more or less sectarian clamour, British diplomacy has really done nothing better than to exchange the solid and advantageous reality for a most elusive and unreliable, if not positively dangerous, set of shadows.
It seems illogical that the same party which recalled the officials (and among them our present War Minister) appointed by Lord Beaconsfield to assist the Turkish Government in reforming their administration and collecting the revenue in Asia Minor, and which on the advent of the Young Turks refused to lend British Administrators to whom ample and plenary powers were assured, should now, in its eagerness to vilify the Turk, lose sight of their own mistakes which have led in the main to the conditions of which it complains, and should so utterly condemn its own former policy. Whatever hardships the Armenians may within recent years have suffered, the responsibility for them must surely to a great extent rest with the well-meaning idealists who, instead of trying to improve existing conditions, inspired their helpless dupes with impracticable aspirations which were bound to lead to disaster.
The writer desires to thank those authors and travellers whose works he has so freely quoted, and upon whose information he has relied for the historical and geographical notes, as well as Professor Henry Léon, Mr. Robert Fraser, and other friends, who have afforded him their most valuable assistance.
The reasons for dealing with the subject at this particular juncture are given in the text and will, he hopes, prove satisfactory to the reader.
C. F. DIXON-JOHNSON.
Croft-on-Tees, Yorkshire.
February, 1916.
CONTENTS
| Page. | |
| I. | |
| Historical: Earliest History—Ethnological Characteristics—Supposed Relation to lost Tribes of Israel—Tiridates and St. Gregory—Introduction of Christianity among the Plain-dwellers—Animal Sacrifices—Monophysite Doctrine—Mass—Ignorance and Bigotry of Clergy—Mountaineers remaining Pagans—Decline of the Kingdom—Seljuk Invasion—Mountaineers converted to Islam—Lesser Armenia—Incorporation in Ottoman Empire | [9] |
| II. | |
| Geographical: Physical Features—Divisions of Population—Sedentary Plain-dwellers: chiefly Armenians—Semi-Nomads: Kurds—Nomads: Kurds and Half-Arab—Four Agricultural Mountain Strongholds | [15] |
| III. | |
| Armenian Question: Kurds and Armenians: Equal Historical Rights to Consideration—Mohamed II. grants Religious Freedom—Millets—Root-Evil of all Subsequent Troubles—Sir Charles Wilson’s Explanation—‘Odysseus’ on Excellent Relations between Turks and Armenians—Mr. Geary’s Corroboration of Turkish Tolerance—Armenian Population scattered—Disturbing Factors: Foreign Missionaries, Treaty of Berlin, Revolutionary Societies—Blackmail and Murder—Growing Popular Distrust of Armenians | [19] |
| IV. | |
| Armenian Character: Lord Bryce’s Idyllical Representation—Competent Opinions by Others:—Sir Charles Wilson—Lord Salisbury—Mr. Grattan Geary—‘Odysseus’—Captain Burnaby—Sir Mark Sykes | [25] |
| V. | |
| Past Risings: Family-Likeness between so-called Armenian Atrocities and Past Bulgarian ditto—Gross Exaggerations—Sir Henry Layard’s Despatch—The Zeitun Rising in 1895—A Graphic Account—The Malatia Massacres Exception to General Rule—Constantinople Riots in 1896—Mr. Henry Whitman’s Observations—Partisan Correspondents—The Predicament of Mr. Melton Prior | [31] |
| VI. | |
| Recent Troubles: Unfair Exploitation of One-sided Reports—Standards of Proof declining in Times of Trouble—Captain Fortescue on the Looting of Pera Palace—Sir William Osler on Emotional Instability—“A Well-known Hand”—Sources of Lord Crewe’s Information—Improbability of Unprovoked Turkish Action:—Military and Political Situation—Habitual Calm and Tolerance of the Turk—Conditions Favourable to Armenian Rising—What Actually Happened—Armenians Capture Van Butcher the Inhabitants—Further Risings—Necessity of Repressive Measures—Moslems alarmed for own Safety—Panic and Retaliation | [41] |
| VII. | |
| Figures and Fancies: Exaggerated Estimates—Over One Million Victims out of 900,000 Inhabitants!—The Mystery of Mersina—The Drownings at Trebizond vouched for by Italian Consul—Different Story by the same Authority—The Curious Case of Canon McColl—Unfounded Armenian Claims to Independence—The Armenians Minority of Population | [49] |
| VIII. | |
| British Policies and Russian Aims: Object of Agitation to Influence British Policy—Kurdistan the Key of Mesopotamia—Sir Henry Layard’s and Mr. Grattan Geary’s Opinion—The Danger to Egypt—Cyprus Convention—Russian Opposition to Reforms—Anglo-Russian Entente followed by Reversion of British Policy—Turkish Request for British Administrators Refused—Russian Proposals—Turkey Appeals to Germany—An Impossible Compromise—Band-Warfare and Propaganda | [54] |
| IX. | |
| Conclusions | [59] |
Principal Authors consulted and quoted in the following pages:
Burnaby, Captain Fred: On Horseback through Asia Minor (Sampson, Low, Marston, Searle & Rivington, London 1877).
Geary, Grattan: Through Asiatic Turkey (Sampson, M. S. & R., London, 1878).
‘Odysseus’: Turkey in Europe (Edw. Arnold, London 1900).
Pears, Sir Edwin: Forty Years in Constantinople (Herbert Jenkins, 1915).
Sykes, Sir Mark: Dar-ul-Islam (Bickers & Son, London 1904).
” ”: The Caliph’s Last Heritage (Macmillan & Co., London 1915).
Whitman, Sidney: Turkish Memories (Wm. Heinemann, London 1914).
Wilson, Sir Charles: Article on “Armenia” in the Encyclopædia Britannica.