Kursinformation

Ethno-religious Violence in the Late Ottoman Empire and Early Republican Turkey (ca. 1850-1938)

Markus Dreßler and Edip Gölbaşı,

Wednesdays 11:15-12:45, 1^st meeting: Oct. 12

Room: M102, Schillerstr.6

This course aims to provide students with knowledge about, and perspectives on, what is commonly labeled as “ethno-religious violence” (i.e., violence directed against ethnically and/or religiously defined populations) and other forms of political violence in the late Ottoman Empire and early Republican Turkey. It explores the causes, dynamics, nature, and consequences of various episodes of intergroup and state violence that occurred in the Ottoman Balkans, Syria, Lebanon, Anatolia and modern Turkey during the period from the 1850s to the early twentieth century. Throughout the semester, we will explore these topics from a variety of perspectives by examining a number of prominent cases of political violence in these regions, including intercommunal (Muslim-Christian) riots in Ottoman Syria and Lebanon in the 1850-60s, the anti-Armenian pogroms of the 1890s in Istanbul and Anatolia, violent ethnic conflict in the Balkans, genocidal violence inflicted upon the Ottoman Armenian and Syriac populations during the First World War, and the Dersim Massacre of 1938 in eastern Turkey. The central questions raised in this course include:

* “In which sociopolitical context(s) did intercommunal violence occur and spread in these regions?”

* “What were the factors, motivations, and forces behind intergroup and state violence?”

*“How did violence affect perceptions of identity and community?”

The course is directed to advanced bachelor and master students in religious studies, Islamic studies, history, political science, and regional studies.