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February 21

A Turkish boycott of Armenian businesses is declared by the Ittihadists. Dr. Nazim travels throughout the provinces to implement the boycott.

February 26

The police spy David notifies Reshad Bey, Chief of the Political Section of the Constantinople Police Department that he is providing the names, biographies, pictures, and speeches about reform, as well as other data, of 2,000 leading Armenians.

March 2

Parliamentary elections are held in Turkey with only candidates approved by the CUP winning seats.

March 14

The Ittihadist Mustafa Abdulhalik Renda, the vice-governor of Seghert, is appointed governor-general of Bitlis Province.

July 28

Negotiations are started between the Turkish and German Imperial governments.

August 1

Germany declares war on Russia, triggering the start of World War I.

August 2

A secret treaty of alliance is signed between Turkey and Germany virtually placing the Turkish armed forces under German command.

August 3

The Turkish government sends sealed envelopes containing a general mobilization order to district and village councils, with the strict instructions that they were not to be opened until further notice. A fortnight later, with the approval of the Ittihad Committee, instructions are issued to open the envelopes.

August 8

Censorship of all telegraphic communication is announced by the government.

August 18

Looting is reported in Sivas, Diyarbekir, and other provinces, under the guise of collecting war contributions. Stores owned by Armenian and Greek merchants are vandalized.

August 18

One thousand and eighty shops owned by Armenians are burned in the city of Diyarbekir.

August 22

The male population between the ages of 20 and 45 is conscripted by the Turkish armed forces.

August 28

Turkish troops are garrisoned in Armenian schools and churches in Sivas Province. In the city of Sivas, 56,000 soldiers of the 10th Army Corps are quartered in and around the Christian districts.

September 8

The Turkish government abrogates the Capitulations (the commercial and judicial rights of the Europeans in the Ottoman Empire).

September 11

The Armenian National Assembly, composed of civil and religious representatives, meets in Constantinople and advises Armenians in the provinces to remain calm in the face of provocation.

September 27

The Dardanelles Straits are closed to foreign shipping.

September 27

News reaches Constantinople about the demand made by the government of the Armenian population in Zeitun to turn in its weapons, including all types of knives.

September 30

The government distributes arms to the Muslim residents of the town of Keghi in Erzerum Province on the excuse that the Armenians there were unreliable.

October 1

All foreign postal services in Turkey are closed on government order.

October 1

Nazaret Chavush, the most notable Armenian leader in Zeitun, is murdered on the order of Haidar Pasha, governor of Marash.

October 7

News reaches Constantinople of looting under the guise of war contributions in Shabin-Karahisar.

October 10

News that 'the war contribution' looting of Armenians was continuing in Diyarbekir Province.

October 10

In Zeitun, all the Armenian notables are called to a meeting. About three score attend and are immediately arrested.

October 13

News of requisitions imposed on Armenian businesses as 'war contributions' reaches Constantinople from every province.

October 13

News reaches Constantinople of starvation and the spread of disease in Sivas Province because of the desperate conditions created by the 'war contributions' campaign conducted against the Armenians.

October 17

Bands of chetes begin looting, violating women and children, and large-scale murdering in Erzerum Province.

October 17

Leaders of the Armenian nationalist Dashnak party organization in Erzerum are arrested.

October 22

Enver authorizes the combined German-Turkish navy to carry out a stealth attack on Russia without declaration of war.

October 29

Hostilities are opened between Turkey and Russia with the shelling of the Russian Black Sea coast by Ottoman naval vessels under German command.

November 2

Russia formally declares war against the Ottoman Empire.

November 9

News from the interior of Turkey reaches the Armenian community of Constantinople that persecutions already exceed earlier actions against the Armenians.

November 11

A Proclamation of Jihad, directed against England, France, and Russia, is issued in Constantinople legitimating the formation of the chete organizations.

November 13

Unfounded accusations are launched against the Armenians that they had revolted and were preparing to join the Russian forces.

November 14

The village of Otsni in Erzerum Province is attacked at night by chete forces. The local Armenian priest and many other Armenians are killed. Every house is looted. The first attacks by chete forces on the Armenian villages of Erzerum are reported.

November 18

The Jihad Proclamation is read in all the provinces of the Ottoman Empire.

November 19

Mass executions of Armenian soldiers in the Turkish army takes place in various public squares for the purpose of terrorizing the Armenians, while with voluntary contributions, Armenians were building several hospitals for the use of the Turkish army through the Red Crescent Society.

November 20

Orders are issued from Constantinople instructing the provincial administrators to oust all Armenian functionaries in the service of the Ottoman government.

November 21

In Mush, Ittihadist agents distribute arms to the Turkish population after arousing them with false stories of Armenian outrages.

November 23

Previously undisturbed Armenian schools and churches in Sivas Province, together with many private residences, are requisitioned by the Turkish army for use as barracks. The carts, horses, and other travel equipment of the Armenian villagers in the provinces are confiscated.

November 26

Robbery and looting on a large scale is reported in Van Province.

November 26

The War Ministry distributes explosives, rifles, and other equipment to the irregular forces of the Special Organization (Teshkilati Mahsusa).

November 26

Enver's uncle, Halil Pasha, the military governor of Constantinople, begins organizing Special Organization units in Constantinople by enrolling criminals released from prison.

November 29

Halil Pasha instructs the governor of Izmid (Izmit) to identify leaders for Special Organization units and to release criminals from prisons to join these bands.

November 29

The vice-governor of Izmid (Izmit) arms the Special Organization with weapons supplied by the War Ministry.

November 29

Chete forces consisting of intentionally released convicts are armed by the government in Van Province. In the region of Van requisitions take the form of open robbery and looting.

November 30

Having completed his job organizing the Special Organization in Artvin, Behaeddin Shakir is instructed to move on to Trebizond.

November 30

The central command of the Special Organization sends instruction for supplying the chete bands with money, vehicles, and others equipment.

December 1

Reports reach Constantinople that raids by irregular chete forces on the Armenian villages of Erzerum Province are continuing.

December 2

Turks loot the properties of subjects of Allied nations.

December 3

The Ittihad Inspector of Balikesir sends a message to Dr. Nazim of the central committee of the Special Organization via Midhat Shukri, the Central Secretary of Ittihad, that the Interior Ministry and the Ittihad Committee, in accordance with issued orders, are busy organizing the irregular chete bands.

December 5

Reports continue reaching Constantinople that chete raids on the Armenian villages of Erzerum Province are continuing.

December 6

Armenians are put to use as porters of army supplies in Erzerum, Trebizond, and Sivas Provinces under the worst of cold winter conditions for the purpose of letting them die of overwork and illness.

December 14

The Turkish Cabinet charges Enver with command of the offensive on the Caucasian front and assigns Talaat the position of Acting Minister of War while retaining his position as Minister of the Interior.

December 22

An attack by the Ottoman Third Army corps opens the Battle of Sarikamish on the Caucasian Front.

December 23

Foreign missionaries abandon the interior of Turkey as crosses on missions are broken by the Turks and replaced by crescents.

December 31

Sahag Odabashian, the newly appointed Prelate of Erzinjan, while traveling from Constantinople via Sivas to Erzinjan, where he was to be installed in office, is slain in the village of Kanli-Tash, near Shabin-Karahisar, by six chetes organized by Ahmed Muammer, the governor-general of Sivas Province.

December

The beginning of a series of isolated murders takes place to terrorize the Armenian population.

Next Segment — 1915 (January-March) Segments of the Chronology