The years of war have changed the face of the old world. Dynasties and empires have fallen; old freedoms have been reborn; revolutionary systems of government have arisen. But it is probable that, in proportion to its size, no community has undergone trials and upheavals to equal those of the little nation-church which bears the name of the Assyrians.

-- (League of Nations, The Settlement of the Assyrians, A Work of Humanity and Appeasement, Geneva: 1935, foreword)