Armenia under Ottoman and Persian Rule; the Armenian Question and the Genocide
What to master
Understand the partition of Armenia between the Ottoman Empire and Safavid Persia (Treaty of Amasya, 1555; later Zuhab, 1639), and the millet system that gave the Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople communal authority. Know the Russo-Persian and Russo-Ottoman wars that shifted territory; the Treaty of Turkmenchay (1828) brought Eastern Armenia under Russian rule, dividing historic Armenia politically. Understand the rise of the "Armenian Question" in 19th-century diplomacy, the Berlin Congress (1878) and Article 61, and the reform demands. Know the Hamidian massacres (1894–1896), the Adana massacre (1909), and the Armenian Genocide of 1915–1916: mass deportations and killings under the Young Turk (Committee of Union and Progress) government, with figures commonly cited around 1.5 million victims. Note the role of April 24, 1915, as the symbolic commemorative date.
Traps
Do not conflate the Hamidian massacres with the 1915 Genocide-different periods and perpetrators. Do not call the events of 1915 a civil war or a relocation only; questions test the distinction between deportation and extermination. Be careful with treaty names and dates (Berlin 1878, Turkmenchay 1828).
Rule of thumb
Separate three layers: legal status (millet/partition treaties), international diplomacy (the Question), and mass violence (1890s and 1915).
Worked example
If asked which treaty first brought large Armenian populations under Russian rule, answer Turkmenchay (1828), not Berlin.