Excellent Review of WWI Genocide to Present Turkish Government Denial
349180
The one-star reviews are by Turks who might as well be Nazis denying the Jewish Holocaust or Shoah during WWII.  Germany was an ally of the Ottoman Empire in WWI, and thousands of German soldiers observed these massacres of disarmed labor battalians of Armenian men, or women, and children and helpless old men walked to their death, or murdered in many horrible ways.  See also "Germany and the Secret Genocide" DVD, which illustrates how the truth has disappeared.  The one-star reviews are highly offensive.  In Germany Jewish Genocide denial is against the law.  In Turkey Armenian Genocide denial is the law, and selling this DVD in Turkey would be against Turkish law, article 301.  A Turkish-Armenian newspaper editor was murdered in Istanbul in January 2007 who had been prosecuted by the Turkish government for expressing this truth about history.  Everyone should see this documentary to help combat evil.  "All it takes for evil to win is for good people to do nothing!"
2653758
I knew nothing about Turkey's determined stance in the face of Nazi oppression.  Defense of Jewish citizens by a Muslim country would be unheard of today.  The characters were interesting enough to carry you through.  If Turkey interests you I'd also recommend "Birds without Wings" by Louis De Bernieres set around WWI.
1361306
Written during the First World War, March 1915, this report on alleged atrocities by Austro-Hungarian armed forces is a pro-Serbian propaganda pamphlet. The author, R.A. Reiss, lacks verifiable proofs but in the introduction signs himself as "obedient servant" to the Prime Minister of Serbia. He mentions documents that the Serbian authorities made available to him but offers no corroboration from the other side. Thus the conditions for an objective and believable appraisal of atrocities are not presented. With these shortcomings the book does not contribute to a better understanding the war in Serbia.
1973393
It is a masterpiece.  The author sails the reader through all the devestations, attrocities, hunger, thirst, rape, humiliating the victims, to the maximum of their ability.

When the Turkish Government gave the orders of the deportations to Aleppo, and Der El Zor, they were giving the death sentence to a whole nation, to a race, they had absolutely no humanity to comprehend what that order really meant.  They were telling the whole world, "We can do any criminal activities and you dare to say anything".  I sure blame the whole world for ignoring such a criminal and horrific activities, furthermore the annihilation of a race.

The Ottoman Empire thought that they were above the law, these kind of genocide, SHOULD HAVE BEEN STOPPED IMMEDIATELY BY THE WORLD.  The sad part is, the Turkish Government has the audacity to come and deny it that ever happened.  Nothing has changed. They are barbaric and have no human mankind or compassions.  If I had anything to say, about the Armenian Genocide.  The Taalat and Enver Pashas, and their cronies, the young Turks, were all responsible for the Armenian Genocide.  They have already gone to HELL.  They had no right to exist in these planet, they were egotisitc, arrogant and barbaric maniacs.  There is always a consequence, for commiting such crimes.  They will pay for what they did.  We must not forget that there is a judgement day after all.  The consequences will arrive, and I am very hopeful that that day is going to come sooner than they think.
3293053
This book is an in depth and entertaining examination of World War I, its causes, the nations and personalities involved. The background of the nations and personalities really gave me an insight that I had not had before nor read in other books on the subject. I also felt that the author made an effort to be as unbiased as possible.

I had no idea that heirs to the Ottoman throne were kept imprisoned and terribly treated until crowned. Or that one of the greatest French socialists and great hope for peace was assassinated right before the hostilities started. Or that the English were more concerned about Ireland and the war came as almost a surprise to its citizens. and so on.

The reader of this audio cd was also superb. An audio book can be ruined by a poor reader, this book benefits from its reading.
4494210
While efforts to revisit the past are truly appreciated by scholars artist poets and other dedicated professionals and humans at large, this book tends to buffer dilute and deflect the elements leading to the revolt in Van in particular, and to the Armenian Genocide in general.

What is long overdue is the examination and explanation of events that started prior to 1870 and continued. The Year 1915 has never been alleged as when atrocities occurred, it is a date recognized by people and states commemorating the first Genocide of the 20th Century.

This book does not provide explanation for the many government documents between Germany & The Ottoman Empire regarding the doing away of the Armenians, not the rebels but the Armenians.

Clarence Ussher, physician, was a missionary, an eye witness. Unlike today's scholars funded by government & affiliated institutions or organizations, he and similar others did not experience special treatment or support. His references must be given due respect.

How political is this book is at issue here. Turkey is prepping (its now) land for tourism and the Western. Akhtamar and other rebuildings and repositionings are with that in mind. What would also help is, taking responsibility for what happened. Young Turks will come to know their history, and Armenians will begin to heal.

Yes, there was an Armenian rebellion in Van, but that was not against the government, rather, against an oppression that had been going on for centuries; they were oppressed in their own land, which the authors call Anatolia.

And No. Armenians were not relocating to Eastern Anatolia. They were made to walk it, walk the Desert of Deir Zohr.

Arpine Konyalian Grenier
1941086
This anthology on the Aghet (Armenian Genocide) has a variety of perspectives, and includes little-known information, including an eye-opening Internet study. I focus mainly on the latter.

THE HOLOCAUST IS MYSTIFIED. SURPRISE: THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE (AGHET) IS NOT. GUESS WHY

Author Michael Papazian says it all, Ninety years after the Armenian Genocide, there has not yet emerged an extensive discussion by philosophers about the significance of this event. This is in stark contrast to the Holocaust, about which there is a very rich and provocative philosophical literature. (p. 19).

Because of Holocaust supremacy, the Armenian Genocide has gotten little traction beyond the descendants of its victims. Papazian remarks, The Genocide is becoming, if it is not already, the central event in Armenian history. (p. 21).

What about the western nations? Not surprisingly, other genocides are not just marginalized, but often silenced. This is also true of the Aghet. Author Nicole E. Vartanian comments, In the case of the Armenian Genocide, it is no surprise that efforts to legislate teaching have consistently met with counter-pressures. (p. 230).

HOLOCAUST SUPREMACISM EXTENDS TO THE INTERNET

Author Hagop Gulludjian performed a fascinating study of the mentions of different genocides on the Internet in 2005. Depending upon the search engine used, Armenian Genocide pulled up 290,000455,000 records, and the more specific Armenian Genocide 84,000195,000 records. In contrast, the Holocaust was mentioned only 5.78.5 MILLION times! (p. 255).

Let us consider simple ratios. For every 100 times that the Armenian Genocide was mentioned, the then-current Rwandan Genocide was mentioned 60-265 times, the Cambodian genocide 8-79 times, the Ukrainian Genocide 3-26 times. The Holocaust was mentioned a mere 2,3004,100 times. (p. 256).

Inspired by Gulludjians study, I have conducted my own, based on leading English-language newspapers, and covering 2007-2017. The neglect of the Armenian Genocide, compared with the Holocaust, is staggering. [For details, see Comments].

This cannot stand.

Genocide-Recognition Equality Now!
232791
Although a number of books exist on the subject (I wish there were more), I was hard-pressed to find an account that was not from an Armenian or Greek author.  This book, first written in 1926, is a compilation of George Horton's (the American Embassador to the Near East at the time) eyewitness testimony and general commentary as well as contributions from some other eyewitnesses depicting a slice of history that is rarely told or recognized yet would become the prototype of the European holocaust of World War II.  The persecution and extermination of the Christian population of Asia Minor including Armenian, Greek, and Assyrian peoples by the Kemalist Turks is a tragic event that culminated in one of the most atrocious war crimes in history - the burning of Smyrna in 1922.  George Horton, the author, was present to witness this event and tells his account of the events leading up to and including the destruction of the city with its Christian inhabitants exposed to fire, rape, and murder at the hands of the Turkish troops.  If this  wasn't distressing enough, he goes on to say, these crimes were committed within a hundred yards of Allied (American, British, Italian) warships that saw the the events take place but refused to intervene so as not to sour relations with the Turks (and, in the case of the United States, to protect American oil interests).  It is an interesting perspective given his high ranking political stature and connections to the upper political channels.  Horton goes on to codemn the genocide and describe the culpability of the Allies present in Smyrna's harbor.  Toward the end of the book he talks about the Mohammedan (Muslim) invasion into traditionally Christian lands, makes comparisons between Christianity and Islam and basically comments on the role of Christianity in the Middle East, its deficiencies, its future, and how it applies to the aforementioned genocide.
I initially was drawn to this book because of the actual historical events surrounding this tragedy told by an eyewitness but I was surprised to find the author's commentary on the social, political, and religious ramifications of this event:  the Allies, especially the United States protecting its oil interests, Christianity versus Islam in the Middle East.  Sound familiar?  Although written nearly 80 years ago, there were parts of this book that seemed to foreshadow today's events.  The only reason I gave this book four stars was because the author does launch into a few diatribes against the Turks and those responsible for the protection of the civilians of Smyrna.  I would have to give him the benefit of the doubt however given the perspective and format in which this book is written, namely a personal testimony of events.  I also found that in a few cases, the writing style (of 1926) was difficult to comprehend without a second glance at the sentence or a dictionary nearby.  This was however a minor problem and did not affect my enjoyment of the book.  All in all, I highly recommend this book.
2229733
This book is a must for anyone who wants to pierce the veil of deceit that has been raised about German actions on the Eastern Front. Quite simply the Germans committed the largest genocide known to man under the pretext of a racial war on Russia.

The authors meticulously chronicle how since the war apologists and what could only be termed as Nazi sympathisers have diligently created a myth that is was a clean war at the front with nothing to do with what went on behind the lines. This myth is destroyed in this book.

Don't bother with the negative reviews an internet search will quickly reveal the motives behind these and the sites that support such craven lies.

If you want a educated discussion that brings you up to date on who is who in the current Eastern Front sphere then buy this book, it will probably deter you from buying some books when the true colours of these authors are exposed.<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Valhalla-s-Warriors-A-History-of-the-Waffen-SS-on-the-Eastern-Front-1941-1945/dp/1598584456/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Valhalla's Warriors: A History of the Waffen-SS on the Eastern Front 1941-1945</a>
202331
Imperial Legacy, composing of various chapters contributed by numerous Ottoman experts, sheds light, especially for non-academicians, on the legacy of a great empire and its imprint on current Middle East, Balkan,  Caucases and North Africa geopolitics, culture, religion and daily life.  Most revealing is how the Ottoman history is not synonomous with Turkish  history. Rather, it is a history of a particular dynasty, and the history  of the peoples, of numerous religious, ethnic and racial background it  ruled over centuries. It is a history of Greeks, Armenians, Arabs, Serbs,  Albanians, and many others. In an effort to distance themselves from the  Ottoman past, which was the anti-thesis of that most powerful 19th century  invention of nation-state, all nations that have emerged from the ashes of  the Ottoman Empire have very diligently and actively ignored or denied the  Ottoman heritage. Most zealous among them was the new Republic of Turkey of  course. In many cases the legacy is very tangible and measurable, like the  current political and ethnic borders of lands that directly or indirectly,  at some time or another, came under Ottoman rule. In other cases, it is  intangible but very omnipresent, like very centralized governments, elite  bureaucrats, lack of noble classes, administrative traditions, obsession  with internal peace at any cost etc.. In other cases, the legacy is there  by its absence, like lack of strong free markets, industrial and  technological underdevelopment. It is a delicate matter though at times to  seperate the pre-Ottoman traditions that Ottomans absorbed and carried over  from Byzantine and Seljuk empires, or very regional characterisitcs that  can not be attributed to Ottomans solely, from the true and unique imprints  of the Ottoman Empire. The various facets of the legacy is investigated at  some depth, albeit very unevenly in each chapter. While Maria Todorova  dives into phlisophy and theory of history in the 4th Chapter on Balkans,  Norman Itzkowitz gives a very superficial treatment in Chapter 3. Present  day perceptions, impact on Arab world and Balkans, administarative and  diplomatic heritage, language, education, economics and cultural legacies  have been specifically treated with adequate references. The militray  subject was very lightly covered given its enourmous significance for the  Ottomans. The imprint on the modern Turkish history and how the young  Turks, CUP and CHP and their struggles with opposing forces play out and  shape politics in Turkey even today, does not get the focus it obviously  deserves. Two other areas left out of the picture were music and  architecture. They do fall a little out of the area of expertise of the  historians contributing to the book but still, Classical Turkish Music is a  very living part of the Ottoman legacy. It exists solely because of the  imperial heritage, and it has been refined over the centuries by very  significant contributions from non-Turks and non-muslims alike. There are  experts who could have been called on to fill these gaps. In short, a very  timely and relevant book. A topic that was very difficult to treat  objectively due to the prejudice and heavy emotions surrounding the  expansion of the Ottoman Empire and its disasterous end, has been bravely  and squarely faced. It promises to be a very rich area of investigation and  research in the future too.
501831
This book provides a great overview of the late Ottoman Empire. I had heard a little about the Young Turks, but knew little about them and how the events of WWII played out in what is now Turkey and the surrounding countries. It is a fascinating story, with a great description of Gallipoli and other battles, the oppression and slaughter of the Armenians, the characters involved on all sides... It makes you see current events in the region from a new perspective. This is a great read.
3194098
What makes this a great book is the subject matter and the way it was approached. Author Meline Toumani is an Armenian raised in the U.S. in an insular Armenian subculture. She grew up in a society with a singular passion to see Turkey own the killing of many Armenians during World War 1 as a genocide. A journalist by profession, she began to examine the practicality and benefit of such a goal and made trips to Turkey to see the other side of things.

This book is as much memoir as it is examination of this sensitive topic--sensitive because both sides are so passionate about it. Her book has vivid pictures of the passion on both sides and documents the tragic murder of Hrant Dink, an Armenian newspaper editor in Turkey.

There Was and There Was Not is must read journalism for those who are looking for a glimpse into the current perspective of Turks and Armenians. It doesn't offer a conclusion or a solution to the disputes between the sides, but does offer a worthwhile presentation that the idea of demanding a historical recognition and ownership of past wrongs may be a futile goal that hurts both Turks and Armenians.

I lived for 12 years in Turkey and am well-acquainted with the Turkish perspective of this topic. An Armenian friend in the States gave me a glimpse of the hurt and betrayal that Armenians feel and continue to cultivate. This book is a highly recommended contribution to the literary examination of these two perspectives.
4299247
Edward Herman and David Peterson have written a superb study of the uses of the term `genocide'. Herman is Professor Emeritus of Finance at the University of Pennsylvania and Peterson is a journalist and researcher.

In 1973 Noam Chomsky and Herman wrote that the USA has "been the most important single instigator, administrator and moral and material sustainer of serious bloodbaths in the years that followed the Second World War." They cited the cases of the Philippines (1898-73), Thailand (1946-73), Palestine (1948-), Vietnam (1954-73), Central America (1954-), Indonesia (1965-69), Cambodia (1965-73), East Pakistan (1971) and Burundi (1972), More recently, Iraq (1990-), Rwanda (1994), the Democratic Republic of Congo [DRC] (1998-2007) and Afghanistan (2001-) have joined the grim list.

Herman and Peterson examine killings in Sudan, Yugoslavia, Rwanda and the DRC. They also study war crimes committed by US allies Israel, Croatia, the Northern Alliance in Afghanistan, Turkey, Indonesia, El Salvador and Guatemala.

They note that the International Criminal Court, the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda all exclude the crime of aggression from their jurisdiction. (Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch likewise exclude aggression from their remit.)

When, in 1999, the Yugoslav government asked the International Criminal Court to issue an injunction against the NATO powers bombing it, the US government replied that it had `not consented to the Court's jurisdiction in this case, and absent such consent, the Court has no jurisdiction to proceed'. The Court agreed that it `cannot decide a dispute between States without the consent of those States to its jurisdiction'. The US state puts itself above the law it enforces on others.

Herman and Peterson recount how in April 1994, the Tutsi-led Rwandan Patriotic Front, falsely alleging that the Hutus were conspiring to commit genocide. (Later, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda did not find any Hutu guilty of conspiracy to commit genocide.) The RPF killed Rwanda's Hutu President Habyarimana and began the mass killing: as the genocide started, the US and British governments successfully pressed for UN troops to leave. The Tutsi minority bloodily overthrew the democratic coalition government, killed two million people, mostly Hutu, and forced millions to flee Rwanda.

US allies Rwanda and Uganda repeatedly invaded the DRC in the 1990s and since: in 1998-2007, 5.4 million were killed, 20 times the toll in Darfur. In 2003-9, the US media used the word `genocide' 90 times as often of Darfur as of Iraq, where three times as many were killed. (The US-British sanctions of mass destruction (1990-2003) had killed 800,000 people; the war and occupation killed more than a million.) The International Commission of Inquiry on Darfur rejected in 2005 the charge of genocide against the Sudanese government.

The authors provide a mass of challenging evidence that the USA and its allies use the term genocide as a propaganda weapon against their enemies, while themselves committing worse crimes with impunity.
826824
This book offers a completely fresh take on the origins and causes of the First World War. It is forensic in its analysis of the psychological, mental and social "weltanschaungs" [world views] of the chief protagonists. It elevates the culpability of  the Serbian "Mafia", Sazanov (Russian foreign minister) and Poincare (French president) and diminishes the culpability of Count Berchtold (Austrian Foreign Minister) and Kaiser Wilhelm II. This constitutes a RADICAL departure from the received wisdom, not to speak of the propaganda, accumulated over one hundred years. At every stage, Clark dissects the confused, muddled and contradictory statements and poses of the dramatis personae. It all carries conviction. It must be emphasised that this deep book is not in any way a recycling of Albertini's magisterial three-volume exegesis of the events preceding 1914, so much as a completely different view of the same set of events. I could not put this book down. It is a thoroughly MODERN book in the directness of its address towards the reader and its clarity of opinion. It also is not shy of viewing the events of a century ago through the prism of modern comparative events such as the break-up of Yugoslavia and the collapse of the Soviet Union. It is, in that sense, a truly revisionist book, but constructed from within a conservative methodology. All that I can say, having studied this subject for a lifetime of sixty years, is "Bravo, bravo, bravissimo"!
4321363
This is an absolutely riveting book.  It should be read by every American.  Engdahl presents a comprehensive review of world events that have transpired over the past 100 years, revealing copious details that are left out of public school and college history texts.  Now history makes sense to me.  I never felt convinced that WWI was caused by an Archduke being assasinated by a nationalistic fanatic -- that was just a "black-op" engineered by world power brokers.  The evil I see in todays world has just been evolving for a century, while the general public has been played like pawns in their blissful ignorance.
601556
The War to End All Wars: World War I by Russell Freedman is a most for those who want to get a grasp of the history of the first world war.  The text is easy to follow and filled with interesting insight.  I really enjoyed the photos and maps.  They help illustrate the complexity and horrors of war.  WWI is a sadly neglected piece of history because it's always overshadowed by the over saturation of it's sequel (part two which can be seen ad nasuem on the "History" channel and on the TV.  Many factors resulting from the aftermath of WWI led to WWII.
2526538
Most students of modern Europe will have learned something of the Balkan Wars, those two localized conflicts involving Turkey which occurred on the eve of, and were among the causes of, World War I.  But few studies of 20th century Europe, or even of the Great War and its causes, provide more than mere mention of these obscure wars.  Richard Hall goes far towards remedying the problem in this concise (143 pp., 165 pp. with endnotes and bibliography) study.
Hall covers much of the basic ground:  why the wars occurred; who was allied with whom and why; the size, training, armaments and disposition of the competing forces; the strategy and tactics of the campaigns; and, a succinct explanation of the results.  Hall also appears well-equipped to analyze these wars.  In addition to relying on contemporaneous accounts by French, German, British and American observers, Hall also cites numerous works in Serbo-Croation and Bulgarian. Perhaps one reason why there has never appeared a good summary of the Balkan Wars is that a command of several languages is needed in order to write a reliable one.  Except for Greek and Turkish sources, Hall seems to have examined the available primary sources.
Only two criticisms can be fairly lodged against this study.  First, while readers will recognize that this work was intended to be rather short ( it forms a part of the Warfare and History series under the general editorship of Jeremy Black), Hall might have spent a little more time integrating the Balkan Wars into the larger picture of instability which characterized early 20th century Europe.  How did the Balkan Wars affect the attitudes, if not the alignments, of the Great Powers?  Did the Balkan Wars really bring the Great Powers closer to European War?  Could a remedy to the competing interests of the countries involved have been fashioned in such a way as to defuse the Balkan powder keg?  Hall's study might have dealt with these larger questions more thoroughly.
Of less importance, the text is marred by numerous editing errors and by inadequate maps.  I always read history with historical atlases by my side; but none that I own provide good maps of these wars.  The publishers missed a real opportunity to remedy this problem with Hall's book; more detailed and well-developed maps would have greatly enhanced the text.
Still, this book goes far towards filling in a significant gap in modern European history and is recommended for students of modern Europe and particularly for those interested in the Balkans or in the origins of the First World War.