Like many genocides throughout history, this one started because of religious disputes. Armenia became part of the Ottoman Empire in the 15th century. Armenia was primarily a Christian country, which displeased Ottoman leaders and resulted in mistreatment of Christian Armenians, who were often taxed more heavily and given fewer rights. When Armenians began to protest, Turkish military officials began killing hundreds of thousands of Armenian people. The massacres began in 1896, but it was in 1914, after the Turks entered World War I on the side of the Germans, that the mass genocide began. Military leaders felt that Armenians were traitors, and on April 24, 1915, they executed hundreds of Armenian leaders, which only led to more violence against the Armenian people, which continued until 1922. More than 1 million Armenians were killed between 1915 and 1922.

[Armenian News note: To read the other 16 events, please click on the link below]