Armenia Under Ottoman Rule: The Millet System and the Seeds of Tragedy

In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore Armenia's experience under Ottoman rule, focusing on the millet system that allowed Armenians to maintain their religious and cultural identity as a confessional community. They discuss how Armenian merchants, bankers, and clerics thrived within the empire, building churches and schools in Constantinople, while peasants in the eastern provinces faced increasing exploitation and insecurity. The conversation examines the gradual erosion of the millet's protections in the 19th century as Ottoman reforms and rising nationalism clashed. Lucas explains the 1894 Sasun rebellion and the brutal Hamidian massacres that followed, killing hundreds of thousands of Armenians. They also touch on the 1908 Young Turk Revolution and the false hope it brought, setting the stage for the 1915 genocide. Key figures include: Sultan Abdul Hamid II, the Hamidiye regiments, and the Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople. The episode provides essential context for understanding how a once-stable system of coexistence unraveled into catastrophe. #Armenia #OttomanEmpire #MilletSystem #HamidianMassacres #SasunRebellion #AbdulHamidII #ArmenianGenocide #YoungTurks #Constantinople #ArmenianPatriarch #HamidiyeRegiments #Caucasus #History #FexingoHistory #OttomanReforms #Nationalism #EasternProvinces #ArmenianMerchants #ArmenianHistory #MountArarat Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo