The British Empire and the Armenian Genocide: Humanitarianism and Imperial Politics from Gladstone to Churchill

321 Pages·2017·11.7 MB·English

by  Michelle Tusan

MichelleTusanisProfessorofHistoryattheUniversityofNevada,Las
Vegas.ShereceivedherPhDfromUniversityofCalifornia,Berkeleyand
haspreviouslytaughtatStanfordUniversity.SheistheauthorofSmyrna’s
Ashes:Humanitarianism,GenocideandtheBirthoftheMiddleEastandWomen
Making News:Gender andJournalisminModern Britain.
“Thisintelligent,thoughtfulandempiricallyrichstudyinvestigatesthe
role that British imperialists played in shaping humanitarian discourse
aroundtheArmenianGenocide,itsgenealogyanditsaftermath.Anyone
who wants to understand the origins and implicationsof human rights
justice in the pre-World War I era should begin here.”
Antoinette Burton, Professor of History and Bastian Professor of
Global and Transnational Studies, University of Illinois
“MichelleTusanprovidesagroundbreakingaccountoftheBritishpolicy
towardstheArmenianGenocide.Byrelyingonthevoicesofwell-known
and lesser known Britons, Tusan demonstrates in a fascinating manner
thewaysinwhichtheBritishstateandsocietyrespondedtothedifferent
phasesofviolenceinflictedupontheArmeniansoftheOttomanEmpire.
In this unprecedented study Tusan highlights the role that the British
playedinshapingtheglobalhumanitarianresponsetomassviolencein
the twentieth century. From Gladstonian idealism to Imperial
realpolitik,thebooktellsthestoryofthefailureofaglobalhegemonic
powertoupholditsmoraldutytoprosecutethearchitectsofoneofthe
classical cases of genocides in the modern period. This book provides
important background as to how the international community in the
twentieth and the twenty-first century failed/fails to stop genocides
through humanitarian and legal intervention.”
Bedross Der Matossian, Associate Professor of History,
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
THE BRITISH
EMPIRE AND
THE ARMENIAN
GENOCIDE
Humanitarianism and Imperial Politics from
Gladstone to Churchill
M T
ICHELLE USAN
Publishedin2017by
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This publication was made possible
by a generous grant from
the Dolores Zohrab Liebmann Fund

CONTENTS
List of Figures viii
Acknowledgements x
Introduction The Crime of Genocide 1
1. W.E. Gladstone and Humanitarian Intervention 11
2. The New Diplomacy 38
3. Hamidian Massacres and the Media 57
4. Revolution, Massacre and War in the Balkans 90
5. Genocide and the Great War 124
6. Saving “The Remnant” 151
7. “Crimes Against Humanity” 184
8. Winston Churchill’s Realpolitik 211
Conclusion Forgetting Genocide 240
Notes 245
Bibliography 280
Index 294
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1.1 Gladstone and Britannia defending civilians from
massacre. Punch, September 26, 1896 19
Figure 1.2 Parody of Gladstone’s advocacy work on behalf
of Bulgaria. Punch, February 24, 1877 28
Figure 2.1 Portrait of Lady Strangford 46
Figure 3.1 Historical map of eastern Anatolia 59
Figure 3.2 Caricature of Sultan Abdul Hamid II as the
“Assassin.” Punch, September 26, 1896 62
Figure 3.3 1895 map of the Armenian massacres 70
Figure 3.4 “The Man for the Job”. Punch, September 12, 1896 82
Figure 3.5 “Deeds not Words”. Punch, June 15, 1895 82
Figure 3.6 “A Day Over the Armenian Covers”.
Punch, October 10, 1896 85
Figure 4.1 Adana’s ruined Armenian Quarter 102
Figure 4.2 The streets of Adana after the massacres 103
Figure 4.3 King Leopold II and the Sultan Abdul Hamid II.
Punch, May 31, 1905 120
LISTOF FIGURES ix
Figure 5.1 Portrait of James Bryce 131
Figure 5.2 Village-by-village map of the massacres from
the Armenian Blue Book 139
Figure 6.1 Refugees as depicted by Near East Relief 160
Figure 6.2 Carved names and dates of orphans arrivals
in the stone 178
Figure 6.3 Caring for refugees 180
Figure 8.1 Col. Rawlinson’s Ezeroom Prison 233
Figure 8.2 Col. Rawlinson and his men 234
CHART
Chart 3.1 1890s Media coverage of the Armenian massacres 64