By definition genocide is the organized killing of a people for the express purpose of putting an end to their collective existence (Webster's dictionary). As a rule, the organizing agent is the nation, the victim population is a domestic minority, and the end result is the near total death of a society. The Armenian genocide generally conforms to this simple definition.

The Armenian genocide is a hidden, almost lost part of world history, pretty much eclipsed by the more publicized genocide of the twentieth century, the Holocaust. The question is why. I could take a poll of this room and I am willing to bet that 95% of the students have ever even heard of the Armenian Genocide and those who have couldn't tell me more than a couple sentences about it. This is pretty scary, considering the statistics of the Armenian Genocide.

The Ottoman Empire was ruled by the Turks who had conquered the land from across West Asia, North Africa to Southeast Europe. The Ottoman government was based in Istanbul and was headed by a sultan who was given absolute power. The Turks were Islamic and were a harsh disciplinary civilization. The Armeni

Leaderless, the Armenians knew that they were in trouble but had no one to turn to. With no other choice, the towns and villages were forced to listen to the Turks. The Turks followed a textbook strategy of annihilation; destroy the leaders, disarm the populace, and use the big lie. For a number of reasons they did not know what was planned for them and went along with "their" government's plan to relocate them for their own good. First the Armenians were asked to turn in their hunting weapons for the war effort. Communities were often given quotas and would have to buy additional weapons from the Turks to meet their quota. Later, the government would claim these weapons were proof of the Armenian plans to rebel. The able- bodied men were "drafted" to help in the wartime effort. These men were either immediately killed or worked to death. Now the villages and towns, with only women, children and elderly left, were systematically emptied. The remaining residents would be told to gather only what they could carry for a temporary relocation. The Armenians, again, obediently followed instructions and were "escorted" by Turkish gendarmes in death marches.

During the reign of the sultan Abdul Hamid, a series of massacres throughout the empire meant to dampen Armenian expectations by frightening them, cost up to three hundred thousand lives by some estimates and resulted in enormous material losses on a majority of Armenians.

Now, more than ever, awareness and respect for all those that died and for those that helped the survivors escape can be expressed on April 24 remembering the initial day that the political and intellectual Armenian leaders were murdered.

Some common words found in the essay are:
Syrian Desert, Turks Turks, Ottoman Empire, France Ottoman, Armenians Christian, Forgotten GENOCIDE, April Turks, Armenians Turkey, Europe Africa, Abdul Hamid, armenian genocide, ottoman empire, armenian population, women children, death marches, participation government, turkish gendarmes, syrian desert,
Approximate Word count = 1550
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)