• geneva_convenience@lemmy.ml
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    25
    arrow-down
    2
    ·
    edit-2
    3 days ago

    Youtube videos are a disaster in historical accuracy.

    The Ottoman empire was stable. They had beef with Armenia. But that only turned into the Armenian genocide after the Turks turned secular.

    The empire was not a beacon of wealth but it was nothing like the crackpot the middle east has turned into since British and French colonialism.

    • rottingleaf@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      2
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      2 days ago

      that only turned into the Armenian genocide after the Turks turned secular.

      They never turned secular while still being Ottoman Empire. It was formally a Caliphate. The Ottoman Sultan called himself Caliph among other things. It had “nations” separated on religious basis inside, with their own governing hierarchy etc.

      There was a short era of Tanzimat, which is treated by people ignorant of history as some sort of it turning into a civilized state, but it was still monarchy, and Christians were still slaves. It was, however, enough for Muslims to feel a lot of hate because of even the appearance of some kind of emancipation.

      • geneva_convenience@lemmy.ml
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        edit-2
        2 days ago

        I had to do a double check on my history. What I said is correct but not “technically correct.”

        The CUP which primarily consisted of The Young Turks was the organisation spearheading the Armenian genocide. They were also the organisation responsible for the Turkish revolution.

        The genocide did technically happen under the Ottoman empire, but it was led by the CUP group who overthrew the empire.

        Their primary group The Young Turks then conflated into the party of Ataturk which was responsible for secular Turkey.

        • rottingleaf@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          2 days ago

          was the organisation spearheading the Armenian genocide.

          Turks like that narrative, but the Armenian genocide honestly incorporates Hamidian massacres and many other massacres before.

          • geneva_convenience@lemmy.ml
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            1
            ·
            edit-2
            2 days ago

            It is undeniable the Ottoman empire was complicit and participated in the Armenian genocide. However this was never standard practice before the end of the empire. And it was led by groups which took over the empire.

            This does not absolve the Ottoman empire of blame for it. They still did do dun it. But there is a clear direct correlation between the rise of the CUP from within its ranks and its sudden urge for race driven genocides.

            https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Late_Ottoman_genocides

            The late Ottoman genocides is a historiographical theory which sees the concurrent Armenian, Greek, and Assyrian genocides[1][2][3] that occurred during the 1910s–1920s as parts of a single event rather than separate events, which were initiated by the Young Turks

            • rottingleaf@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              1
              arrow-down
              1
              ·
              2 days ago

              There is a correlation, but massacres of civilian population were nothing unusual for the Ottoman Empire of any time.