Armenia and the Task of Remembering

Francis X. Maier writes that the modern era of mass murder began in Turkey just over a century ago with the unrepented crimes committed against Armenians.

Maier notes that by the late 19th century, the Ottoman Empire faced political decay and financial ruin. While Islamic law allowed Christians a degree of autonomy, they lived under a culture of permanent discrimination involving arbitrary violence and special taxes. This environment made the position of Christians within the empire increasingly unstable as regional powers struggled for dominance.