Armenia, Australia & the Great War

by Vicken Babkenian, Peter Stanley

Australian civilians worked for decades supporting the survivors and orphans of the Armenian Genocide massacres.

24 April 1915 marks the beginning of two great epics of the First World War. It was the day the allied invasion forces set out for Gallipoli; and it marked the beginning of what became the Genocide of the Ottoman Empire’s Armenians. For the first time, this book tells the powerful, and until now neglected, story of how Australian humanitarians helped people they had barely heard of and never met, amid one of the twentieth century’s most terrible human calamities. With 50 000 Armenian-Australians sharing direct family links with the Genocide, this has become truly an Australian story.

"Australians' responses to the wider world have a complex history but the humanitarian strand is deeply entrenched. Babkenian and Stanley have done a great service in casting light on this little-known but fascinating story." TIM COSTELLO

353 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 1, 2016

Reviews

[Calzean · Rating 2 out of 5]

The start of the book gives a very short outline of the history of Armenians, mainly under the Ottoman Empire. Then WWI and the Armenian (and other) genocides occur and an international relief effort occurs. Through this the various links of Australians and Armenians is covered - a handful of early immigrants to Australia, Australians who meet Armenians at Gallipoli, Mesopotamia and in POW camps, some of who have first hand accounts of Armenian exile, rapes, murders, and then those involved in the relief operations, helping orphans and resettling emigrants.
I was a little disappointed in that there was silence over the lack of help from the foreign ships at Smyrna in 1922, or the failure of the Allies to support the creation of Armenia during the Versailles Treaty negotiations.

[Ania · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the best books I've read on the subject of the Armenian Genocide and the international humanitarian response. I particularly found the chapter on the ANZAC prisoners of war witnessing the Armenian Genocide enlightening. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in Australia's role during the first World War and its aftermath. It sheds light on a forgotten part of Australian history.

[b Lara · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is a very all encompassing narrative on the Armenian genocide and the Australia’s response within the context of the worlds humanitarian relief response. It is very easy to read and understand and makes an invaluable contribution to scholarship on the subject.