Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago

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When Armenian political organisations began emerging in eastern Anatolia in the 1880/90s, Abdulhamid made a decision that was, from a cold imperial logic, comprehensible — and from a human standpoint, indefensible. Between 1894 and 1896, Ottoman forces and the Hamidiye cavalry — Kurdish tribal militias that Abdulhamid had armed and organised as a tool of internal control — carried out a systematic campaign of violence against Armenian & Assyrian communities across eastern Anatolia. The death toll rises to up to 300,000 people. The Hamidiye units were not a spontaneous mob. They were Abdulhamid's instrument, deliberately set against a population he had identified as an existential threat to imperial integrity.

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0:00 Intro
1:20 Context
3:04 Hero Argument
7:46 Villain Argument
11:19 Conclusion & Outro