There were two things which induced the Young Turks to declare war on the Allies in the latter part of October, 1914. They were positive of a victory as the early events of the war and agents of the Teutonic alliance easily could, and did, persuade them. The assurance of conquests and would-be acquisition of territories, which would restore to the Young Turkish government its lost prestige both at home and abroad. But their dreams were not speedily realized, and probably never will be.
The real reasons, however, for the beginning of the massacres at this time were the opportune moment, the European war; the carrying out a former well-laid policy of a unified and Turkified State; the diversion of the attention of the Moslem populace from failures and mistakes of the Young Turks, and the congeniality of the work of plunder and murder which very few followers of Mohammed would refuse to enjoy. They delight to see Christians and Christianity trampled under their feet. Thus the Young Turks, the rulers of Turkey, gave the greatest pleasure to a large number of Mohammedans by assigning to them the work of annihilation of the oldest Christian nation in the empire.
The sufferings of the Armenians began right after the declaration of war—or rather simultaneously with it. All the males between the ages of twenty and forty-five, and soon those of eighteen to fifty, were called to arms. Some paid commutation in place of enrolment, and others who had passed the age of military training before the ratification of the new military service law of 1908, as were entitled to exemption, as long as they paid the annual commutation tax. Yet these also were drafted in violation of their rights. However, they were not left in the army very long, but were deprived of their arms by order of the government, and put into groups of laborers to work on the roads. A “gang of unscrupulous ruffians,” had control of the Turkish government, but whether they had not quite matured their plans, or whether they were in consultation with their foreign advisers, or whether they hesitated to put their plans into action, they waited until the spring.
The massacres began in the spring of 1915, but even before massacres immediately after the declaration of war, the Turkish government also proclaimed “a holy war”—jehad. In the fewest words, a holy war is this: Ever since the reign of Sultan Selim I,[159] the Sultans of Turkey claimed a lawful successorship to the Caliphs of Baghdad and the Sultans of Egypt. The Sultan of Turkey is the head of Islam and the defender thereof. Whenever, therefore, the Mohammedan faith is in danger, the Sultan, the pretended successor of Mohammed, theoretically has the power to call upon the faithful throughout the world to rise in arms against the enemies of their religion.
The Turkish government was induced by her allies not only to enter this terrible conflict, but also to proclaim this holy war. The object of the latter was to rouse the passions of the Mohammedans throughout the world against those powers which were fighting the Turco-Teutonic alliance, with the hope of creating disastrous revolts in British, French, and Russian possessions, where about 150,000,000 Mohammedan subjects were peacefully living. The following exultant announcement was made from Berlin by the German government, on November 20th, 1914:
“From all sections of Egypt come reports of enthusiastic manifestations in favor of a holy war. The Sheikh-ul-Islam has communicated with a majority of the Mohammedan princes of Asia and Africa, who declare they will assist Turkey in a war against England.”[160]
We are glad to say that, as is now well known, this project completely failed in those countries where it would have done the most harm, but it had its dire consequences in Persia. Immediately after their declaration of war on the Allies the Turks took the offensive on a large scale. One army invaded the Russian territory, and another crossed the Persian frontier and entered the province of Azerbaijan. In this province were many Syrians (Nestorians) and Armenians, who were living in villages and towns. These Syrian Christians—like the Armenians—have suffered many vicissitudes, including massacres by the hands of the Turks and Kurds. But the Turkish invasion and short occupation of this province in winter and early spring brought new horrors upon the Christian inhabitants both Armenians and Syrians.
The moment hostilities broke out, the Turco-Kurdish soldiery began to indulge itself in atrocities. The Persian province of Azerbaijan contains a large population of Syriac Christians, and the suffering of these people at the hands of the invading hordes are described with terrible detail in letters from German missionaries[161] resident among them, letters which were published on October 18 (1915), in the Dutch newspaper de Neimve Rotterdamshe Courant. From the contents of these letters we select the following:
“The latest news is that 4000 Syrians and one hundred Armenians have died of disease alone, at the missions, within the last few months. All villages in the surrounding districts, with two or three exceptions, have been plundered and burnt, 20,000 Christians have been slaughtered in Ourmia and its environs. Many churches have been destroyed and burnt, and also many houses in the town....”
And here is a description from another letter: