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The Disintegration of the Armenian Cause in the United States, 1918–1927

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2009

Mark Malkasian
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Extract

With the conclusion of World War I, the Armenian cause in the United States enjoyed a brief season of hope and vitality. American support was an offshoot of international sympathy for Armenian suffering and an unshakable sense of optimism. In a burst of national goodwill, the United States seemed intent on freeing the Armenians from centuries of persecution. Americans from the halls of Congress to the church pews of Mississippi joined together in the effort. They delivered speeches, wrote letters, exchanged ideas, and donated millions of dollars. Within less than a decade, however, the Armenian cause was irreparably splintered and largely forgotten.

Type
Articles
Information
International Journal of Middle East Studies , Volume 16 , Issue 3 , August 1984 , pp. 349 - 365
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1984

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References

NOTES

1 Joseph, L. Grabill, Protestant Diplomacy and the Near East: Missionary Influence on American Policy, 1810–1927(Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1971), p. 19.Google Scholar

2 Ibid., p. 69.

3 Ibid., p. 42.

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14 Senate Joint Resolution 378, introduced on December 10, 1918, read as follows: “Resolved, That in the opinion of the Senate, Armenia, including the six vilayets of Turkish Armenia and Cilicia, Russian Armenia, and the northern part of the Province of Azerbaijan, Persian Armenia, should be independent and that it is the hope of the Senate that the peace conference will make arrangements for helping Armenia to establish an independent republic.”

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32 Ibid., p. 55. The following members constituted the AAS in April 1921: Walter George Smith (president), Hamilton Holt (secretary), Henry S. Huntington (acting treasurer), George R. Montgomery (director); Vice presidents: Robert Ellis Jones, Charles S. MacFarland, William N. Runyon, Stanley White, R. J. Caldwell (executive member). National Committee: Jane Addams, Mary M. Borglum, Arthur J. Brown, Caldwell, Henry Sloane Coffin, Homer Cummings, James H. Darlington, John H. Finley. James W. Gerard, Holt, Huntington, Jones, Henry C. King, MacFarland, Frank Mason North, William Cardinal O'Connell, Philip N. Rhinelander, Runyon, Smith, Oscar S. Straus, Henry Van Dyke, Benjamin Ide Wheeler, White, James Whitehead, John Sharp Williams, Stephen S. Wise, Leonard Wood, Mary E. Wooley.

33 Ibid.

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43 Ibid.

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51 Ibid., 860J4016/96.

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56 U.S. Archives, RG 59, 867.4016/813.

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58 Ibid., 867.4016/869.

59 Ibid., 867.4016/894.

60 Ibid., 867.4016/877.

61 Harold, Nicolson, Curzon: The Last Phase, 1919–1925 (New York: Howard Fertig, 1974), p. 315.Google Scholar

62 U.S. Archives, RG 59, 867.4016/839.

63 Ibid., 867.4016/844.

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65 Ibid., 867.4016/816.

66 Ibid., 867.4016/928.

67 Ibid., 860J.48/143.

68 Ibid., 860J.48/68; 860J.48/70; 860J.48/74; 860J.48/75.

69 Ibid., 860J.48/147.

70 Ibid., 860J.48/156.

71 On November 6, 1923, Allan W. Dulles of the Near Eastern Division described the National Delegation's representative, M. Vartan Malcolm, as “reasonable, sane and willing to be helpful” in an inner-department memorandum, contrasting his conduct with Cardashian's obstinacy (U.S. Archives, RG 59, 860J.48/158). Dulles had learned of the conflict between Malcolm and Cardashian earlier in the year. On January 4, 1923, he reported to Hughes on his meeting with Malcolm, disclosing the following: “I may add that Malcolm, who has always impressed me as being a rather intelligent Armenian, told me that he had called Cardashian to his office and told him that he had no right to continue to pose as the spokesman for an influential Armenian committee, that he represented only himself, and that he was doing the Armenian cause a great deal of harm.” (U.S. Archives, RG 59, 767.681 19TM-3/15).

72 Ibid., 860J.48/175.

73 Ibid., 860J.48/184.

74 Ibid., 860J.48/189.

75 Ibid., 860J.48/220; 860J.48/221.

76 Ibid., 867.00/944.

77 Ibid., 867.01/6.

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83 U.S. Archives, RG 59, 867.4016/823.

84 Ibid., 867.4016/888.

85 Ibid 867.4016/859; 867.4016/816a.

86 Ibid., 867.4016/817.

87 Ibid., 867.4016/816.

88 Ibid., 867.4016/922. One of the few voices of protest within the State Department came from C. Van H. Engert of the Near Eastern Division. On January 25, 1923, Engert submitted the following assessment to Dulles: “The Turk has succeeded in achieving precisely what he set out to do in 1915—nay, infinitely more than he dared hope—for he not only got rid of the Armenians but also of the Greeks, and that in spite of the crushing allied victories.” (867.4016/914). Regarding the rapprochement of Turkey and the United States, Engert advised Dulles on March 14, 1923: “Now by dealing with the Turks ‘as though nothing had happened,’ by appearing to shake hands with them, by haggling over ephemeral advantages, without taking into consideration American public opinion, we might lay ourselves open to criticism which it would be difficult to answer… We cannot afford to lower our standards of honor and morality to suit the political exigencies of the day.” (711.672/17).

89 Ibid., 767.681 19P/52.

90 Ibid., 711.672/183.

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93 Vahan, Cardashian, “Force and Diplomacy,” Armenian Review, XXII (Spring, 1969), p. 12.Google Scholar

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95 U.S. Archives, RG 59, 867.4016/921.

96 Ibid., 711.672/241.

97 John, A. DeNovo, American Interests and Policies in the Middle East. 1900–1939 (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1963), p. 155.Google Scholar

98 Ibid., pp. 156–157.

99 U.S. Archives, RG 59, 71 l.672/225B.

100 James, W. Gerard, “The Chester Oil Concession and the Lausanne Treaty,” Armenian Review, XXVIII (Spring, 1975), p. 25. In April 1924, the ACIA circulated a pamphlet which scandalized Hughes' involvement with Standard Oil and the so-called Chester Concession. (Turkey had ratified the Chester Concession in 1923 but revoked it shortly after the pamphlet appeared.) The Chester Concession originally granted an American firm rights to build 2,500 miles of rail in the Ottoman Empire and exploit the subsoil resources within forty miles of the track. Conflicting claims by Britain, France, and the Soviet Union later complicated the arrangement and induced the Kemalists to abandon the scheme altogether. The ACIA alleged that Hughes backed the Chester Concession in order to secure drilling rights for Standard Oil.Google Scholar

101 Ibid., p. 29.

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103 U.S. Archives, RG 59, 711.672/261.

104 Ibid., 711.672/187.

105 Ibid., 711.672/261.

106 Ibid., 711.672/213. Barton's support, however, was not without reservations. He asked Dulles if “it would be wise to threaten Turkey that we could conclude no treaty with her until justice were done to the Armenians.”

107 Ibid., 711.6727sol;480.

108 American Committee Opposed to the Lausanne Treaty, The Lausanne Treaty: Turkey and Armenia (New York: American Committee Opposed to the Lausanne Treaty, 1926), pp. 1–204.Google Scholar

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111 U.S. Archives, RG 59, 711.672, Protests/l-51.

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