James Bryce’ın Ermeni Sorunu’ndaki Rolü
Fahriye Begüm YıldızeliBüyük Britanya tarihinin en ihtişamlı çağı olarak nitelendirilen Kraliçe Viktorya döneminde kültürel emperyalist politikaların uygulanmaya başlanması ile birlikte İngiliz aristokratlarının temel hedeflerinden biri Osmanlı İmparatorluğu’nda yaşayan gayrimüslimler olmuştur. İrlandalı akademisyen, diplomat ve politikacı James Bryce, Ermeni Sorunu ve Türk düşmanlığı üzerine ciddi bir kamuoyu oluşturulmasını sağlayan önemli propagandistlerdendir. 1870’li yıllardan itibaren İngiltere’nin Ermeni Sorunu’nda etkin olması için yaptığı çalışmaların yanı sıra 1893 yılında İngiliz-Ermeni Derneği’ni kurmuştur. 1915 yılında İngiliz Hükümeti’nin isteği üzerine Ermeni katliam iddialarını güçlendirmeyi amaçlayan Bryce, tarihçi Arnold J. Toynbee ile Blue Book (Mavi Kitap) isimli eseri yayımlayarak propaganda faaliyetlerinin sistematik bir biçimde ilerlemesine katkıda bulunan önemli bir aktördür. 84 yıllık yaşamı boyunca tarih, hukuk ve diplomasi ile ilgilenen James Bryce’ın çok yönlü politik kimliği onu Liberal Parti’nin önde gelen otoritelerinden biri haline getirmiştir. Siyasi kariyerinin yanı sıra Bryce, İngilizlerin Ermeni Sorunu politikasının psikolojik dinamiklerini gündemde tutmaya çalışmıştır. Bu çalışma, Bryce’in Ermeni Sorununun uluslararası düzeye taşınmasında düşüncelerini analiz ederek siyasal iletişim faaliyetlerinin İngiliz ve Amerikan kamuoyundaki etkilerini değerlendirecektir.
James Bryce’s Role in the Armenian Question
Fahriye Begüm YıldızeliWith the implementation of cultural imperialist policies during the reign of Queen Victoria, which is described as the most glorious era in the history of Great Britain, one of the main targets of the British aristocrats was the Christian minorities in the Ottoman Empire. Irish academician, diplomat, and politician James Bryce is one of the important propagandists who helped to create public opinion on the Armenian Question and Turkish hostility. In addition to his efforts to ensure that England was active in the Armenian Question since the 1870s, he founded the Anglo-Armenian Association in 1893. Bryce, who aimed to strengthen the so-called Armenian massacre allegations at the request of the British Government in 1915, is an important actor who contributed to the systematic advancement of propaganda activities by publishing the work called Blue Book with the historian Arnold J. Toynbee. James Bryce’s versatile political identity, who has been interested in history, law, and diplomacy throughout his 84 years of life, has made him one of the leading authorities of the Liberal Party. In addition to his political career, Bryce tried to keep the psychological dynamics of the British policy on the Armenian Question on the agenda. This study will analyse Bryce’s thoughts on bringing the Armenian Question to the international level and evaluate the effects of his political communication activities on the British and American public.
An Irish academic, diplomat, and politician Viscount James Bryce, was one of the prominent propagandists, who helped to create a serious public opinion on the Armenian Question and hostility towards Turks. Lord Bryce not only labeled the Armenian Question a life goal but also followed the process from the emergence of the Armenian Question with the Berlin Treaty of 1878 to the events of 1915. He gradually contributed to the formation of Armenian propaganda. Specializing in the field of law, Bryce worked as a lawyer in London for a while during his youth and then continued his academic career at Oxford University as a professor of Civil Law for many years. His first work, “The Holy Roman Empire”, published in 1864, is important for Bryce’s recognition in the field of history and for presenting his views on the conflicts between the Christian and Muslim worlds. Like many aristocrats living during the reign of Queen Victoria, 28-year-old Bryce appears to evaluate Eastern culture from an Orientalist perspective in this work.
James Bryce started the 1870s with the abroad trips he dreamed of, and in 1876, he crossed Mount Ararat from Russia and visited, in his own words, “Armenia”. Bryce furthered his impressions during this trip and published his work “Transcaucasia and Ararat: Being Notes of a Vacation Tour in the Autumn of 1876”, which is the main reference source that will form the basis of his approach to issues related to the Ottoman Empire. Bryce, who believed in a racial hierarchy within the Ottoman Empire, stated that the Turks ruled all subjects with military oppression “by the force of the sword”, rejecting the principle of equality. He claimed that in such a system, “Muslim administrators who are far from civilization are met with hatred in the regions of Christians.” These discourses, strengthened by liberal political practices, formed the background of Bryce’s thoughts on the Armenian Question. Bryce, who began to put these views into action in the 1890s, published works in support of the Armenians with a much harsher rhetoric in 1915.
Lord Bryce continued to communicate intensively with Armenians until the mid-1890s. He tried to create a perception in the British public that Armenians were oppressed under Ottoman rule. For example, in his article for the Christian Union, he found the uprisings of the Armenians both legitimate and believed that “No nation that is in the sympathy of the British and Americans, as Christians and lovers of freedom, can claim more rights than your nation (Armenia), which has endured misfortunes for centuries with such uninterrupted determination.” In 1893, Professor Bryce founded the Anglo-Armenian Association to “ensure the implementation of Article 61 of the Treaty of Berlin with the friends of Armenia”. In 1894, James Bryce took office as President of the Board of Trade in the new cabinet of liberal Lord Rosebery. During this government period, which would last for approximately 2 years, the Armenian riots at Sason became one of the most important agenda items of British foreign policy. While the armament of Armenians continued intensively, the idea that European powers, especially Britain, would intervene and support the Armenians was also effective in this organization. Claiming that “Sultan Abdülhamid II further provoked the chaos by refusing to publish and implement the reform laws”, Bryce launched the rebellions as the “Armenian Revolutionary Movement” at the British Parliament.
As a result of his fame in diplomacy and the Armenian Question, Bryce served as the British Ambassador to America from 1907 to 1913. Bryce seemed to believe that America would play a critical role through its missionaries in the region. Bryce stated that Armenians educated in America “will give the expected struggle for the entire Armenian nation, together with their friends in Britain, without resorting to physical force”, and evaluated America’s support as “an encouragement to the justified moral reasons of the rebellion.” James Bryce returned to Britain upon his retirement and continued his politics in the House of Lords, receiving the title of Viscount. During this period, which coincided with the eve of the First World War, Germany published pamphlets and posters, aiming to legitimize its entry into the war and trying to influence important actors such as America. In response to these psychological warfare strategies, Bryce was invited to work for the Wellington House, also known as the Propaganda War Office. Britain, which started to search for a new policy after the Gallipoli defeat in the late spring of 1915, started to create new propaganda activities on the Armenians. Bryce has undoubtedly been the most important name in this regard since 1876. Bryce, who was reluctant to prepare the report on Germany, had no hesitation in working on the Armenians. Bryce, who started working as if he had been waiting for this moment for 40 years, collaborated with Arnold J. Toynbee, one of the young historians of the period, to present to the British Parliament and Sir Edward Grey, “The Treatment of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire 1915-1916”, popularly known as the Blue Book. This work was a breaking point in the Armenian Question. While the publication in question became the holy book of the theses about the Armenians’ denigration of the Turks, it also managed to provide the expected support from the British and American public opinion. Lord Bryce continued his propaganda activities in cooperation with Wellington House and the Armenian Bureau on Regent Street in London. Bryce was also disturbed by the national struggle of the Turks, and in many of his speeches in the parliament, he targeted the leader Mustafa Kemal, described the Turkish military units as a “gang” and claimed that they would “carry out a massacre” on the Armenians. The role and effectiveness of Lord James Bryce should not be ignored in the transformation of Armenian claims, which started with the Treaty of Berlin in 1878 and reached the level of propaganda after the deportation, into elements of political and psychological pressure even today.
