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In: History - European·History - Modern (1750+)
Public-domain ebook sourced from Project Gutenberg #63335.
Frederick D. Greene’s work is a polemical study of the 1894‑96 Armenian massacres, framed as a comprehensive “crisis” in the Ottoman Empire. Drawing on his birth, long residence, and four years as an American missionary in Van, Greene opens with a declaration of personal independence, positioning himself as a witness free from institutional bias. The introductory pages outline a detailed structure, evidence of the massacres, geographic and administrative background, historical treaties, and analyses of Ottoman policy, Kurdish involvement, and the role of European powers, culminating in a call for public opinion to compel diplomatic action. The book’s breadth, from fac‑simile signatures to extensive appendices, signals a documentary ambition to marshal facts for an urgent humanitarian appeal.
The voice is that of a nineteenth‑century reformist activist, mixing earnest reportage with moral exhortation and a dense, sometimes rhetorical style typical of contemporary advocacy literature. Readers interested in the politics of the Eastern Question, the history of missionary work, or the early development of international human‑rights discourse will find Greene’s detailed chronologies and primary‑source excerpts compelling, while those preferring detached academic analysis may be put off by its impassioned tone.
The opening · free to read
The author is thoroughly equipped for his task. Birth, residence, and travel in Turkey have made him personally acquainted with the situation which he discusses, and the independence of his position enables him to write without restraint and without prejudice. After nearly four years of service as a missionary of the American Board in Van, the centre of Armenia, during which no criticism of his course was ever made either by the Board or by the Turkish Government, he was recently ordered by his physician to return to America. Having resigned his connection with the American Board, he writes as the representative of no society, religious or political, and is connected with none. In issuing this book he is simply discharging what to him is a personal and unavoidable obligation; and as he frankly avows its authorship, it will be impossible for the Turkish Government to hold any one else responsible for it.
The author shows that the case of the subject races in the Ottoman Empire is desperate, that there is no hope of reform from within, and that relief must therefore come through the interference of the powers of Europe. Their action depends largely on the support of the public. “_Public opinion_,” therefore, “_must be brought to bear upon this case_,” as Mr. Gladstone said in the House of Commons six years ago. Since then there has been added a new chapter of horrors, and the demand for decisive action in the name of our common humanity has become more urgent. The facts furnished by this book ought to arouse such public opinion as will justify and compel prompt and efficient action on the part of the Powers.
The United States need not depart from its long-established foreign policy, but is bound to protect its own honor and the lives and property of its citizens.
JOSIAH STRONG.
NEW YORK, March 1, 1895.
CONTENTS.
Certified Evidence of the Armenian Massacre, Preceded by an Endorsement of the Evidence, with Signatures in Fac-simile, and an Explanatory Note.
II.— GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT EASTERN TURKEY 43
The Physical Aspects, Inhabitants, and Administration of the Country.
III.— THE CHRONIC CONDITION OF ARMENIA AND KURDISTAN 54
Specific and Detailed Instances of Kurdish Plunder and Oppression.—The Turkish System of Taxation and its Abuses.—Why these Facts are so little Known.—What can be Done to Improve the Situation.
IV.— OTTOMAN PROMISES AND THEIR FULFILMENT 70
The Treaty of Adrianople, 1829.—The Hatti Sherif, 1839.—Pledge of 1844.—Protestant Charter, 1850.—Hatti Humayoun, 1856.—Anglo-Turkish Convention, 1878.—Treaty of Berlin, 1878.
V.— THE OUTCOME OF THE TREATY OF BERLIN 76
British Naval Demonstration, 1879.—The Identical Note of the Powers, 1880, and the Turkish Reply.—The Collective Note of the Powers, and the Aggressive Response of the Sublime Porte.—The Circular of Great Britain, 1881, its Cool Reception by the Powers, and the Indefinite Postponement of Turkish Reforms.—The Effect of the Berlin Treaty in Arousing Armenian Aspirations and Increasing Turkish Oppression.—Armenian Revolution a Nightmare of the Turks.—The Real Armenian Position.—The Only Treatment for the “Sick Man” a Surgical One.
VI.— THE SULTAN AND THE SUBLIME PORTE 87
The Demands of his Office as Sultan-Calif.—Justice to Christian and Moslem both Impossible.—Status of non-Mohammedans.—The Palace and the Porte.—A House Divided against Itself.
VII.— PREVIOUS ACTS OF THE TURKISH TRAGEDY 95
The Massacres of Greeks, 1822; Nestorians, 1850; Syrians, 1860; Cretans, 1867; Bulgarians, 1876; Yezidis, 1892; Armenians, 1894.
VIII.— ISLAM AS A FACTOR OF THE PROBLEM 110
A Politico-Religious System.—Indissoluble and Incapable of Modification.—The Military, Civil, and Legal Rights of non-Mohammedans.—Freeman’s Conclusion.
IX.— GLADSTONE ON THE ARMENIAN MASSACRE AND ON TURKISH MISRULE 121
Their Attitude and Recognized Position.—Statistics of the Direct Results of their Efforts.—Their Indirect Influence on All Classes.—The Present Threatening Attitude of the Turkish Government.
Appendix A.—A BIT OF AMERICAN DIPLOMACY 157
B.—ESTABLISHMENT OF U. S. CONSULATES IN EASTERN TURKEY 163
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