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Communal Violence: The Armenians and the Copts as Case Studies
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 18 July 2011
Abstract
Historically, communal conflict seems to have occurred in four environments—during the evolution of the major European states, in post-independence colonies, during the disintegration of polyglot empires, and in post-industrialized societies. Within these environments, six conditions serve to heighten the possibility of the use of violence. These conditions include: (i) the presence of communal cleavages based on religion, race, or language, combinations of these cleavages being more volatile than their occurrence singly; (2) the absence of a common value or identity; (3) the concurrent development of antagonistic nationalisms; (4) the possession of an economic or cultural elite status by a subordinate communal group; (5) differential rates of modernization; and (6) the displacement of anticolonial feelings upon a communal group perceived as associated with a colonial power. The examples of the Copts in Egypt and the Armenians in the Ottoman Empire are presented as illustrations of the interaction of these conditions in two different environments and the use or absence of violence in communal conflict.
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References
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13 Immutable in the sense that an individual cannot do anything to alter his condition. Whereas an individual can convert to another religion or learn another language, it takes generations to substantially change racial characteristics.
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27 Ibid., 42; Dekmejian (fn. 17), no.
28 Lutfi al-Sayyid was the chief ideologue of such an Egyptian nationalism which “sought its cultural personality in a revival of the pharaonic past and the Greco-Roman and Coptic-Christian heritage …,” ibid.
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38 Indeed, the perceived grievances of the Coptic community against British authorities played an important part in rekindling communal cooperation and consciousness among the Copts, but prompted, in turn, a Muslim reaction unfavorable to them. For an account of the Coptic Congress and its aftermath in 1910–11, see Mikhail (fn. 36).
39 Hourani (fn. 25), 47.
40 As a part of its strategy to maximize support on the home front after the defeat of 1967, the government attempted to strengthen the Copts' identification with the regime. This amicable policy may have also been prompted by Nasir's desire to gain world Christian support against the Israeli presence in Jerusalem; in this campaign, the Coptic Church hierarchy served as propagandizers of the Egyptian-Arab cause in various transnational Christian bodies. Indications of the government's policy were Nasir's prominent role at the consecration of St. Mark's Cathedral in mid-1968 and the favorable media coverage of the apparition of the Virgin Mary (1968). Also Dr. Ramzi Stinu, a Coptic Minister, became one of the eight members of the ASU Supreme Executive. After Nasir's death in 1970, the frustrations arising from Sadat's inability to force an Israeli withdrawal led to outbreaks of Islamic fanaticism and Muslim-Coptic clashes and church burnings. Lacking Nasir's prestige, Sadat had to compromise; not until 1973 was he decisive in checking the Muslims' pressures against the Copts.
41 Hourani (fn. 25), 20.
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44 However, in both communities language and religion are perhaps more emotionally intertwined than is often the case. For Muslims, Arabic is the sacred and revealed language of the Koran. Indeed, for most Muslims die only instruction they receive in both language and religion is acquired from the Koran. In the same way, Armenian is the language of their religion for the Armenians; their faith is professed and manifested through that language alone.
45 Pan-Turkism was strongly influenced by German nationalism and in a sense foreshadowed the racial overtones of Aryanism. For a discussion of die evolution of Pan-Turkism, see Dekmejian (fn. 17), 102–5. The rise of Pan-Turkism antagonized not only the Armenians but also the Muslim Arabs, since Turkification meant to replace Arabic with Turkish.
46 Hourani (fn. 25), 119–20.
47 Atamian, Sarkis, The Armenian Community (New York: Philosophical Library 1955), 70–72Google Scholar. It should be noted, however, that the situation in Russia was sometimes little better than that in Turkey. In 1903, the Russian Government confiscated most of the landed property of the Armenian national church and closed down church schools and libraries. During the Russian revolution of 1905, there were a number of massacres of Armenians by Tatars who were often aided and abetted by the local Russian governors. In 1912, a mass trial of Armenian nationalist leaders was held in St. Petersburg; fifty-two individuals were given sentences of imprisonment or exile. See Lang, David Marshall, Armenia: Cradle of Civilization (London: Unwin and Allen 1970), 287Google Scholar.
48 Atamian (fn. 47), 70–72.
49 Another avenue of European intellectual influence was the large Armenian community in Constantinople which had ties with Europe.
50 While Ottoman-Armenian sympathies were with the Russians, there is little evidence that they gave them anything other than moral support. See Atamian (fn. 47), 64–65.
51 For a discussion of the rise and role of die Hunchaks and the Dashnaks see ibid., 94–114.
52 Houtani (in. 25), 27.
53 Issavn (in. 25), 10.
54 Houtani (in. 25), 121.
55 Atamian (fn. 47), 59.
56 Ibid., 60.
57 Issawi (fn. 25), 124.
58 A German scholar has stated chat in the years preceding World War I, a number of large landowners who were Armenian, Greek, or Syrian Christians were employing more modern methods in agricultural production aimed at increasing their output. See W. F. Bruck as quoted in Issawi (fn. 25), 68.
59 Sarkissian, A. O., “Genocide in Turkey,” History of the First World War, No. 48 (1970), 1Google Scholar.
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61 Turks, including the Young Turks, professed to be of the opinion that the antagonism started at this time and at the instigation of the Russians. Whether this is what they really believed is doubtful; however, it is the rationalization that many Turkish leaders used. See, for example, Pasha, Djemal, Memories of a Turkish Statesman (New York: George H. Doran 1922), 241–49Google Scholar.
62 That the Ottomans perceived the need to resolve the Armenian question is clear from the following views of Kamil Pasha who served as grand vizier to Abdul Hamid in the 1870's:
… the sensible thing to do is to destroy and eliminate any and all elements which may some day give rise to the same danger, afford the opportunity for foreign intervention and serve as its tool.
… therefore, for the sake of that sacred cause—and our right as a sovereign state demands it too—it is imperative that we exterminate any and all suspicious elements in order to insure our future security. Thus, we must eliminate, leave behind no traces of that Armenian nation. …And if that Armenian “nation” is destroyed and if Christian Europe should look for a co-religionist and does not find it in Asiatic Turkey, it will leave us alone. …
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66 Lang (fn. 47), 287.
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