Empires in Conflict : Armenia and the Great Powers, 1912-20

Based on a wide range of original sources, this is an account of how, despite the fact of widespread sympathy for their plight, the Armenian people came to be left isolated and truncated between their two great neighbours.

This work traces the emergence of the "Armenian Question" through an account of the Great Power interests in the region, including Russian Imperial expansion, the geopolitical and strategic concerns of Britain, France and Germany, and the major stakes of the Great Powers in the Ottoman economy. Somakian gives a vivid account of the rise of Armenian nationalism and radical politics, and of Armenian support for the overthrow of Abdul Hammid II in 1908 and the victory of the Young Turks. He uses this historical context to explore the growing hostility towards Armenians in the First World War, and shows how they came to be regarded as a dangerous fifth column and subjected to forced population movements and one of the most brutal genocides of the 20th century.