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Der Matossian Unveils the Horrors of Adana in New Book

by friends of Bedross Der Matossian (author).

Posted: Sunday, April 24, 2022 at 04:07 PM UT

On April 14-16 and April 25-27, 1909, brutal massacres shook the province of Adana (located in the southern Anatolia region of modern-day Turkey) killing more than 20,000 Armenians and 2,000 Muslims.

Despite the significance of these draconian events and the extent of violence and destruction, these atrocities -- known as the Adana massacres -- are largely missing from Turkish historical narratives. 

In The Horrors of Adana: Revolution and Violence in the Early 20th Century, historian Bedross Der Matossian presents one of the first close examinations of these events, analyzing social, political and economic transformations that culminated in a cataclysm of violence in Adana and beyond.

Der Matossian, Hymen Rosenberg Associate Professor in Judaic Studies; and Vice Chair of the Department of History at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln,  provides voice and agency to all involved in the massacres — perpetrators, victims, and bystanders. He uses an unprecedented level of primary sources in understanding these two waves of massacres, many sources previously unseen.  Drawing from documents in more than a dozen languages (including Armenian, Arabic, Hebrew, Turkish, Ottoman, Ladino, Italian, French, German, Greek, Russian, Polish and English), Dr. Der Matossian develops an interdisciplinary approach to understand the rumors and emotions, public spheres and humanitarian interventions that together informed this complex event.

One of many significant details brought to light by Der Matossian’s research include confirmation that the indigenous Armenian subjects of the Ottoman Empire were not plotting to carve out an independent state (a narrative often employed to justify the exterminations). On the contrary, victims were resisting the massacres in self-defense. Drawing striking comparisons to the 1894 Dreyfus Affair, Der Matossian reveals how courts-martial authorities following the massacres sought to indict the victims and were often themselves organizers of the atrocities. Ultimately, the most significant culprits of the Adana massacres did not receive their deserved punishments.

The archival evidence studied by Der Matossian also reveal many ways in which public sentiment was manipulated and masses were influenced to discriminate against non-dominant groups in the Adana region. At the hands of an apathetic constitutional government, many disgruntled former monarchists and anti-constitutionalists made use of yellow journalism, rumor-mongering in the public square, abetting a corrupt military, gerrymandering, and provoking resentful migrant workers, refugees and ethno-religious zealots.

In Chapter 1: A Frayed Tapestry, Der Matossian traces the physical, economic, political and social transformations of Adana in the 19^th century. In Chapter 2: Agitation and Paranoia, he presents Adana’s socio-economic and ethno-religious circumstances during the Hamidian regime of 1876-1909. In Chapter 3: Bad Blood, Thwarted Hopes, he discusses the contestation of a constitutional government in the public sphere in post-revolutionary Adana.  In Chapter 4: An Imagined Uprising and Chapter 5: False Protection, he characterizes the first and second waves of massacres. In Chapter 6: After the Fact, he explains the circumstances surrounding humanitarian aid and various reactions to the massacres.

In Chapter 7, Justice on Trial, he describes the conditions surrounding the Courts-Martial and Investigation Commission at the time. In Chapter 8: The Form of Justice, he recounts the Courts–Martial process and Imperial Ottoman Penal Code. Der Matossian concludes his book by exhibiting how everyday people can be capable of committing mass murder. He also compares the Adana massacres to the 1905 Pogroms of Odessa (Ukraine) and the Sikh massacres of 1984 (India).

Der Matossian’s ability to assimilate rare documentation extracted from 15 different archives -- combined with his talent for employing an interdisciplinary perspective and an objective, conversational tone -- assures that this ground-breaking work reaches far beyond academic circles. The Horrors of Adana -- a sequel to Der Matossian’s prior, award-winning book, Shattered Dreams of Revolution: From Liberty to Violence in the Late Ottoman Empire (Stanford University Press) -- is certain to become a major resource that general readers, beginning at the high school level, will return to again and again.

The historical contexts presented in The Horrors of Adana offer a window into how and why post-revolutionary societies become prone to bloodshed and how ordinary men can become perpetrators of violence. The absence of penalties for the main perpetrators would shockingly reverberate six years later to the very month: the commencement of the Armenian Genocide, which claimed 1.5 million lives and again went unpunished.

The Horrors of Adana is available through chain and independent booksellers as well as Amazon.com.

https://www.amazon.com/Horrors-Adana-Revolution-Violence-Twentieth/dp/1503631028