Ottomans and Armenians

Covering the period from 1878-1915, Ottomans and Armenians is a military history of the Ottoman army and the counterinsurgency campaigns it waged in the last days of the Ottoman empire. Although Ottomans were among the most active practitioners of counterinsurgency campaigning in the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries, in the vast literature available on counterinsurgency in the early twenty-first century, there is very little scholarly analysis of how Ottomans reacted to insurgency and then went about counterinsurgency. This book presents the thesis that the Ottoman government developed an evolving, 35-year, empire-wide array of counterinsurgency practices that varied in scope and execution depending on the strategic importance of the affected provinces.

"Ed Erickson's Ottomans and Armenians is courageous and provocative. Whether or not one agrees with the author's military-strategic interpretation of the catastrophe which befell Ottoman Armenians in the First World War, it is impossible to ignore the depth of his research and the cogency of his argument. This book is essential reading for anyone wanting to get to the bottom of what really happened in 1915 and why." - Sean McMeekin, Bard College, USA, author of The Berlin-Baghdad Express and The Russian Origins of the First World War

"Readers offended by dispassionate analysis of late Ottoman history should avoid this book. Readers who value such analysis or have a serious interest in the history of irregular warfare, however, will find it enlightening, informative, and readable." - Douglas Streusand, Marine Corps University, USA, author of Islamic Gunpowder Empires: Ottomans, Safavids, and Mughals

"This carefully researched study provides irrefutable evidence that the sole motive of the Ottoman military command in recommending the 'relocation' of Armenians in 1915 was the threat to the war effort from Armenian insurgent groups mobilized with the support of Russia...This is a truly ground-breaking work, the first treatment of the 'Armenian question' from the perspective of the Ottoman military. Propaganda takes one hit after another from the hard facts fired with deadly precision by the author. Ed Erickson's book changes the discourse permanently, and anyone, historian or general reader, trying to get to the truth of what happened during the First World War should read it." - Jeremy Salt, Bilkent University, Turkey, author of The Unmaking of the Middle East, A History of Western Disorder in Arab Lands

"Ed Erickson's Ottomans and Armenians is courageous and provocative. Whether or not one agrees with the author's military-strategic interpretation of the catastrophe which befell Ottoman Armenians in the First World War, it is impossible to ignore the depth of his research and the cogency of his argument. This book is essential reading for anyone wanting to get to the bottom of what really happened in 1915 and why." - Sean McMeekin, Bard College, USA, author of The Berlin-Baghdad Express and The Russian Origins of the First World War

"Readers offended by dispassionate analysis of late Ottoman history should avoid this book. Readers who value such analysis or have a serious interest in the history of irregular warfare, however, will find it enlightening, informative, and readable." - Douglas Streusand, Marine Corps University, USA, author of Islamic Gunpowder Empires: Ottomans, Safavids, and Mughals

"This carefully researched study provides irrefutable evidence that the sole motive of the Ottoman military command in recommending the 'relocation' of Armenians in 1915 was the threat to the war effort from Armenian insurgent groups mobilized with the support of Russia...This is a truly ground-breaking work, the first treatment of the 'Armenian question' from the perspective of the Ottoman military. Propaganda takes one hit after another from the hard facts fired with deadly precision by the author. Ed Erickson's book changes the discourse permanently, and anyone, historian or general reader, trying to get to the truth of what happened during the First World War should read it." - Jeremy Salt, Bilkent University, Turkey, author of The Unmaking of the Middle East, A History of Western Disorder in Arab Lands

Edward J. Erickson is Professor of Military History at the Command and Staff College, Marine Corps University, USA. He retired from the US army as a lieutenant colonel and served in artillery and general staff assignments in the United States, Europe, and the Middle East. He is widely recognized as one of the foremost experts on the Ottoman Army during the First World War. Some of his publications include Ordered To Die, A History of the Ottoman Army in the First World War; Defeat in Detail, The Ottoman Army in the Balkans, 1912-1913; Ottoman Army Effectiveness in WW1, A Comparative Study; Gallipoli and the Middle East 1914-1918; and Gallipoli, The Ottoman Campaign, and A Military History of the Ottomans, from Osman to Ataturk (co-authored).