1894 Sasun rebellion: Difference between revisions

| conflict = First Sasun Resistance

| partof =

| image = Location of the 1894 and 1904 Sasun uprisings.png

| image_size = 300px

| caption = Location of the 1894 and 1904 Sasun uprisings

| date = 1894

| place = [[SasonSasun (historical region)|Sasun]], [[Bitlis Vilayet]], [[Ottoman Empire]]

| result = Ottoman victory

*Suppression of the Armenian resistance, followed by wholesale massacres of Armenian civilian population

| combatant1 = {{flagicon|Armenia}} = [[ArmeniansSocial Democrat Hunchakian Party|ArmenianHunchak Party]] rebels

| commander1 = [[Mihran Damadian]] <br> [[Hampartsoum Boyadjian]]<br> [[Hrayr Dzhoghk]]

| commander2 = [[Abdul Hamid II]]

| strength1 = 8,000<ref name="Silence p 133">A Crime of Silence: The Armenian Genocide , p 133</ref>

| strength2 = 10,000<ref name="Silence p 133"/>

| casualties1 = 20,000 rebel and civilians<ref name="Silence p 133"/>

| casualties2 = 550<ref name="Silence p 133"/>

| casualties3 =

| notes =

| campaignbox =

The '''Sasun rebellion of 1894''', also known as the '''First SassounSasun uprisingresistance''' ({{lang-hy|Սասնո առաջին ապստամբութիւն}}), was the conflict between [[Ottoman Empire]]'s [[Hamidiye (cavalry)|Hamidiye]] forces and the [[Armenian militiafedayi]] belonging to the [[Armenian national movement]]'s [[HunchakSocial Democrat Hunchakian Party|Hunchakian party]] party in the Sassoun[[Sasun (historical region)|Sasun]] region.

In [[SasonSasun (historical region)|SassounSasun]] Armenian nationalist ideasArmenians were organized by [[Hunchak]] teroristsactivists, such as [[Mihran Damadian]], [[Hampartsoum Boyadjian]] (Medzn Mourad) and [[Hrayr Dzhoghk]].

SassounSasun was the location for the first notable battle in the Armenian resistance movement. The Armenians of SassounSasun confronted the Ottoman army and Kurdish irregulars at SassounSasun, succumbing to superior numbers.<ref name="Hayots p.42-44">{{cite book | last = Kurdoghlian | first = Mihran | title = Hayots Badmoutioun, Volume III | publisher = Hradaragoutioun Azkayin Ousoumnagan Khorhourti | year = 1996 | location = Athens, Greece | pages = 42–44|language=hy}}</ref>

Foreign news agents protested vehemently against the SassounSasun eventeven.; British Primeprime Ministerminister [[William Ewart Gladstone]] called Hamid "the Great Criminal" or "the Red Sultan" but these were the black propaganda . The rest of the [[Great power|Great Powers]] also protested and demanded the execution of Ottoman Sultan Hamid's promised reforms. An investigation committee composed of French, British, and Russian representatives were sent to the region in order to examine the event.<ref name="Hayots p.42-44"/>

In May 1895, the aforementioned foreign powers prepared a set of reforms. However, they were never carried out, because they were not actively imposed on the Ottoman TurkeyEmpire. The [[Russian Empire]]'s policies vis-aà-vis the Armenian question had changed. In fact, the Russian foreign minister [[Aleksey Lobanov-Rostovsky|Alexei Lobanov-Rostovsky]] supported Ottoman integrity. Moreover, he was so [[Anti-ArmenianismArmenian sentiment|anti-Armenian]] that he wanted an "[[Armenia without Armenians]]". On the other hand, Britain had gained considerable influence and power in former Ottoman [[History of Egypt under the British|Egypt]] and [[British Cyprus|Cyprus]], and for Gladstone, good relations with the Ottomans were less important than before. Meanwhile, Turkeythe Ottomans had found a new European ally, [[German Empire|Germany]]'s [[Otto von Bismarck|Bismarck]]. The Ottoman Empire thus felt free to commit further [[Hamidian massacres|massacres, in 1896]].<ref name="Hayots p.42-44"/>

[[Category:Bitlis Vilayetvilayet]]