ARMENIAN - Erevangala500

The Armenian tragedy begins. Ultra-nationalistic ideologies
together with an unfortunate rivalry between the various
Armenian churches and sects heat up the internal
political climate in the Ottoman Empire. The superpowers
of the time - England, Russia and France - wanted to
weaken the Ottoman Empire, and they used the Armenians
callously toward this end.
Until this time, Armenians and Turks had lived together
in nearly perfect harmony from the time of the Seljuk
conquest of the Byzantine lands in eastern Anatolia (eleventh
and twelfth centuries) until well into the nineteenth
century.
The causes o f the "Armenian Tragedy" are not to be
found inside, but rather outside the realm of the multinational
empire of the Seljuks and Ottomans.
In the nineteenth century, it was primarily Russia which
was responsible for bringing unrest to the Ottoman Empire.
They did, however, have the help o f some Americans,
such as the Protestant missionaries from Boston.
Russia's objective was to gain access to the "warm seas".
The American Protestant missionaries proved themselves
to be "useful idiots" for the Russians.
The R ivalry A m ong the C hurches and Sects
to W in the Favor o f the Ottom an
A rm enians
While on a missionary trip to the Choctaw Indians, the
North American missionary William Goodell came up
with the idea o f "reconquering" the Holy Land for
Christianity. At that time, the Holy Land was entirely
under Ottoman rule.
This new Crusade - for that is exactly how the undertaking
was seen - began with a series of reconnaissance
tours, planned in an almost military fashion. The
American missionaries spared no personal sacrifice in the
course of these tours. Their total dedication to a cause in
which they truly believed deserves our respect. In 1821, a
small advance troop set up camp on the Holy Sepulchre.
Their main objective was to have a missionary
(Protestant) influence on the many pilgrims there. This
first missionary effort in Jerusalem was a complete fiasco.
Neither the Jews nor the Moslems nor anyone else
was interested in being converted to American-style
Protestantism. Finally the Americans abandoned this
unfortunate attempt at proselytizing in Jerusalem, and
they moved their operations to Beirut. In spite o f strong
resistance from all the Christian groups in Lebanon, the
Americans did succeed in winning two Armenians over to
their camp, Gre-gor Vardapet and Garabed Dionysius. At
that time, the Armenians were exclusively Gregorian.
They were subject to the rule of their patriarch in Istanbul
The Causes of the Armenian Tragedy
in all matters of civil law. It soon became clear that it was
the Armenians who were most interested in what the
Americans were offering. What they found most attractive
was the generous offer of education. The Protestant
missionaries started down several false paths in the
Ottoman Empire. Their missionary activities took them to
Malta, Greece, and finally on to Smyma-Izmir. At the
same time, they must be credited with some admirable
achievements. In the end, it became quite clear that their
experiences throughout the empire would follow the pattern
established in Beirut. In other words, their
The Armenian tragedy also began here, at 14 Beacon Street,
Boston, Massachusetts. Headquarters o f the American
Protestant missionaries.
mission only met with success among the Armenian Gre-
gorians. Two major facts about the Armenian Orthodox
hierarchy contributed to this success. First of all, the hier­
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