Overview

The Armistice of Mudros was signed on 30 October 1918 and on the morning of 13 November 1918, a mighty fleet of battleships from Britain, France, Italy and Greece sailed to Istanbul, and dropped anchor without encountering resistance. This day marked the beginning of the end of the Ottoman Empire, a dissolution that would bring great suffering and chaos, but also new opportunities for all Ottomans, Muslim and non-Muslim alike. Drawing upon a previously untouched collection of Armenian and Ottoman Turkish primary sources, Ari Şekeryan considers these understudied post-war years. Examining the Armenian community as they emerged from the aftermath of war and genocide, Şekeryan outlines their shifting political position and the strategies they used to survive this turbulent period. By focusing on the Ottoman Armistice (1918–1923), Şekeryan illuminates an oft-neglected period in history, and develops a new case study for understanding the political reactions of ethnic groups to the fall of empires and nation-states.

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9781108844017

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Reviews

'This is truly a sophisticated interdisciplinary approach to the fate of the Armenians during a critical phase of history. Ari S ekeryan masterfully reconstructs the history of the Armenians of the Empire. This study contributes not only to understanding the mindset of the composite Armenian community of the Empire, but also to the literature of behavior of minority groups in post-war periods.' Bedross Der Matossian, University of Nebraska 'This intelligent, original book will be of great interest to scholars of Armenian and Turkish history and anyone working in genocide studies. In fine detail, it reveals the terrible dilemmas facing the remnants of a community shattered by genocidal destruction, as they tried to negotiate a future amid great power politicking and the ascent of a Turkish nationalist movement with strong continuities to the regime that had recently perpetrated the genocide.' Donald Bloxham, University of Edinburgh 'This excellent analysis, based on primary sources, argues for taking a processual approach from a nationalist to an accommodationist political stand in relation to Western powers and the Turkish ethnic majority. A must-read for all scholars working on the political analysis of minority survival through uncertain times.' Fatma Muge Goecek, University of Michigan 'In this splendid work, Ari Sekeryan takes a hard look at the fraught fate of the surviving Armenians in the late Ottoman Empire and early Turkish Republic. The author demonstrates the strategic adaptability of a vulnerable population, its reluctant choices, and its resilience as a community in a state that often considered (and still considers) the Armenians to be an existential threat to the Turkish nation.' Ronald Grigor Suny, University of Chicago and University of Michigan 'This excellent study fills a major lacuna in the historiography of this period. Sekeryan demonstrates the tension and conflict within the diverse Armenian communities in a critical period of transition and insecurity. This multi-sited historical analysis is at once panoptic and penetrating, elucidating the dilemmas faced by the Ottoman Armenians in the twilight of empire.' Ugur UEmit UEngoer, University of Amsterdam

Author Information

Ari Şekeryan received his PhD from the University of Oxford in 2018 and has since held positions at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, California State University-Fresno, the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, and the University of Cambridge. He is currently a visiting research scholar affiliated to the Center for Armenian Studies at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor. His articles have been published in the British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, Turkish Studies, the Journal of the Ottoman and Turkish Studies Association, and War in History.

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