Armenian Massacres 1894 - 1896, The
British Media Testimony

Britain’s proactive policy on the Armenian Question and the standpoints of the British public and political and civic organizations on the massacres of the Armenian population in the Ottoman Empire in 1894–1896 were widely reflected in the contemporary British press and other media accounts. This volume, which contains more than fifty articles published in major British periodicals in the 1890s, including Contemporary Review, Nineteenth Century, Fortnightly Review, Blackwood’s Magazine, and Spectator, presents a snapshot of British public opinion during the height of the Armenian Crisis of the 1890s, as well as detailed factual evidence of anti-Armenian policies carried out by the Sultan’s government in the Ottoman Empire and the response of the Great Powers—including Britain—to the massacres. The Armenian Massacres, 1894–1896 deliberately omits day-to-day reports from British newspapers covering the events and instead includes analytical reviews and opinions by leading British public figures, travelers, scientists, political, religious, and civic activists, journalists, and members of Parliament that were published in periodicals of differing political and social affiliations. Reprinted more than a century after their original publication, the articles are characteristic of the public attitudes in late nineteenth century Britain, including positions and perceptions of the period that are absolutely different from the principles and values applied to modern international affairs. Therefore, the articles should be considered in their historical context, which explains the negative and even insulting remarks about Muslims or Turks present in some of the articles. At the same time, this edition includes several articles that do not reflect the general positions and trends prevalent in British society, presenting different viewpoints to reflect the historical realities of the late nineteenth century in a comprehensive, objective, and impartial manner for scholars of British and Armenian history. As a result, this book is an extremely valuable resource for scholars of Armenian and European history.