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BOOK REVIEWS

Wolfgang Gust, ed., The Armenian Genocide: Evidence from the German
Foreign Offi  ce Archives, 1915-1916 (New York and Oxford: Berghahn Books, 
2014), 816 pages,
Reviewed by Suren Manukyan, Deputy Director, Armenian Genocide 
Museum & Institute, Yerevan, Armenia

The Armenian Genocide scholarship is ongoing struggle against denialism. The Turkish 
state denial policy became more sophisticated and aggressive politically. But academic 
level is also still in the spotlight of revisionist scholars. 

One of the main arguments propounded by the professional denialists of the Armenian 
Genocide is the lack of sources credibility. For example “Blue Book” (The Treatment of Armenians 
in the Ottoman Empire, 1915–1916) by James Bryce and Arnold J. Toynbee is attempted to call 
product of wartime propaganda1 as well as the authenticity and veracity of the ambassador’s 
witness memoirs of Henry Morgenthau (1856–1945), the American ambassador to the Sublime 
Porte2 is undermined by pointing him as “confi rmed ‘Turcophobe’ whose hatred for the Turks 
was matched only by his unabashed support for the Christian minorities under Ottoman rule.”3

But one sort of sources is out of these allegations. They cannot identifi ed as incredible, 
propagandistic of non-objective. 

These sources are German documents. Germany was ally of Ottoman Empire in the 
WWI and had great and in many cases critical and decisive impact on policy making and 
implementation of Constantinople. More than 7-8 thousands German offi cers, 12 thousands 
soldiers served in Ottoman Empire during the WWI. Ottoman army was mostly administrated 
by German military stuff. Moreover, important decisions were made directly by German 
offi cers. Thus one of the Turkish generals Ismet pasha even complained that the German 
military mission was allowed to follow what was going on in the country and Germans were 
entrusted with all state secrets, both political and military. In particular, German offi cer was 
heading the Second Department Ottoman Army General Staff (or investigation department).4 
This shows the huge degree and level of information access the German soldiers and, therefore, 
the diplomats had.

1. On Blue Book case see, Taner Akcam, Anatomy of Genocide Denial: Academics, Politicians, and the 
“Re-Making” of History, www.chgs.umn.edu/histories/occasional/akcam_anatomy_of_denial.pdf
2. A Question of Genocide: Armenians and Turks at the End of the Ottoman Empire ed.by Ronald 
Grigor Suny, Fatma Müge Göçek, and Norman M. Naimark Suny (Oxford University Press, 2011), 15, 
see also, Vahakn N. Dadrian, The key elements in the Turkish denial of the Armenian genocide: a case 
study of distortion and falsifi cation (Zoryan Institute, Toronto, 1999), 40-42.
3. Heath W. Lowry, American Observers in Anatolia CA. 1920: The Bristol Papers
4. V.N. Dadrian, The History of the Armenian Genocide. Ethnic Confl ict from the Balkans to Anatolia to 
the Caucasus, (Providence-Oxford: Berghahn Books, 1995), 252



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German diplomatic network in the Ottoman Empire was very spread։ Even after outburst 
of war they continued their stay in Turkey and their reports, notes and letters designed the 
pervasive canvas of planned and state-implemented policy of total annihilation.

For example, from the report of Ambassador in Constantinople (Wangenheim) to the 
Imperial Chancellor (Bethmann Hollweg) at 7 July 1915 “The expulsion and relocation of 
the Armenian people was limited until 14 days ago to the provinces nearest to the eastern 
theatre of war and to certain areas in the province of Adana; since then the Porte has 
resolved to extend these measures also to the provinces of Trebizond, Mamuret-ul-Aziz 
and Sivas and has begun with these measures even though these parts of the country are not 
threatened by any enemy invasion for the time being. This situation, and the way in which 
the relocation is being carried out shows that the government is indeed pursuing its 
purpose of eradicating the Armenian race from the Turkish Empire…” (p. 230)

The reports of German diplomats embraced the entire territory of the Ottoman Empire, 
where consuls and vice-consuls were informing the ambassadors and foreign ministers 
of their countries about the deportations and massacres of the Armenians by “strictly 
confi dential” or “top-secret” inscriptions. These documents considered the deportation and 
massacres of the Armenian population as equivalent occurrences as a method of Armenians’ 
extermination. From the report of Rossler, Consul in Aleppo to Wolff-Metternich, the 
Ambassador in Constantinople when he shared disruption of Imperial Vice-Consul 
Hoffmann from Alexandretta “It can be regarded as an established fact that in the actual 
Armenian Vilayets – quite apart from the war zone near Van – the deportation has been 
accompanied by the massacre of the adult male Armenians, but also partly of the whole 
population of Armenian towns and villages.” (p. 505) 

The German documents do not evoke any doubt, because the offi cers’ reports of war 
ally of Ottoman Empire of course could not be in favor of the Armenians. Moreover, there 
is also another feature, which makes the German sources trustworthy. The authors of these 
reports did not have any positive opinion about the Armenian population in the Ottoman 
Empire, and sometimes negatively tempered towards them. Thus, in 1915 ambassador 
Wangenheim transmits to Berlin that the situation of the Armenians is quite hopeless, and 
it is for Germany’s supreme interest not to interfere, and at the same time announces to 
Morgenthau that the Armenians were simply traitorous vermin.5 

Representatives of the German diplomatic staff working many years in the Ottoman 
Empire were in close contact with the Armenian people, they ere well aware of the situation, 
and the involvement of the Armenians in the economic life of the Empire, therefore they 
easily denied the Turkish hypotheses about the Armenians’ rebellion (“There only seems 
to be agreement on one point: that the Armenians have given up their ideas of a revolution 
since the introduction of the Constitution and there is no organization for such a revolt” by 
the Ambassador in Constantinople (Wangenheim) to the Imperial Chancellor (Bethmann 
Hollweg) (p. 169), they also reveal the real purpose of deportation (“…At this stage I will 
disregard thе fact that these measures by the government were carried out in such a way 
that they meant the absolute extermination of the Armenians. Also, I do not believe that it 
is possible in any other way to destroy a culture that is older and much higher than of the 

5. H.Morgenthau, Ambassador Morgenthau’s Story (NY: Doubleday, Page & Company, 1918), 370



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Turks” in Memorandum concerning the Armenian question from Administrator in Erzerum 
to the Imperial Chancellor Bethman Hollweg) (p. 295) and the economic disaster which will 
cause the Empire in case of the Armenians destruction.

Although the German diplomats and consuls were sending countless messages to 
Berlin with details about the massacres, however they received clear command from the 
authorities: “not to interfere and keep the confi dentiality”. (From the note of Imperial 
Chancellor Bethmann Hollweg to the Telegram of Ambassador in Constantinople Wolff-
Meternich “The proposed public reprimand of an ally in the course of a war would be an act 
which is unprecedented in history. Our only aim is keep Turkey on our site until the end of 
the war, no matter whether as a result Armenians do perish or not…”( p. 492)

This corpus of 240 documents uncovers so large visions and horizons, that questions 
raised by their compiler and editor Wolfgang Gust sounds very natural: Was Imperial 
Germany a driving force in the Genocide of the Armenians, or possibly even the source of 
the ideаs, as some non-German historians have suspected? Did Imperial Germany view the 
Armenian Genocide with indifference or with sympathy? Did some Germans or part of the 
leading class resist the deportations and mass killings? And fi nally, did Germany have the 
power to stop the Armenian Genocide, and if they were able to so, why did they not make 
use of this power? (pp. IX-X)

All of these questions are discussed in this volume, and furthermore discussed directly 
by the language of documents. German offi cials narrated this reports without any compassion 
and preconditions about nameless brutalities perpetrated in the ally state and by their allies 
and whose even that time called Extermination of whole nation. Wartime conditions were 
increasing the degree of already high leveled diplomatic secrecy. Therefore the German 
diplomats being sure of their reports’ secrecy did not constrain in any way while composing 
the contents of their letters.

This condition makes the book so attractive, exciting and important. Very important 
as Dadrian mentioned “The network of German diplomatic and military offi cials deployed 
throughout Turkey afforded them to rare opportunity to observe fi rst-hand the atrocities in 
progress.” (p. XV)

The book includes an interesting foreword by the one the coryphaeus of Armenian 
genocide scholarship Vahakn Dadrian. Professor Dadrian being well informed in the topic 
as an author of noted German Responsibility in the Armenian Genocide: A Review of 
Historical Evidence of German Complicity, was published in 1996 gives analysis of critical 
import of offi cial German documentation, historical legacy of German attitude to Armenian 
question and fi nally complicity, of German government in the Armenian Genocide. (pp. 
XIV-XXVIII)

The volume has also 130-pages overview strong written and covered the topic of 
Armenian Genocide in general as well as analyze meticulously different aspects refl ected in 
the documents by group them into chapters (e.g. Deportation and Annihilation Campaigns 
with subchapters Labour Battalions, The Murder of Adult Males, Acts of Extermination in 
Home Towns, The Annihilation of Entire Deportation Convoys etc.). In one of the Chapters 
Gust dives into the details of the Role of Germans and their Joint Responsibility for the 
Genocide (pp 82-126) by discribing the reactions of German Politicians and the Attitude of 
the German Ambassadors and the Consuls as well as Central Headquaters in Berlin.



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To conclude, we should to stress that the book “Armenian genocide, Evidence from the 
German Foreign Offi ce Archives, 1915-1916” provides a unique, disturbing and close-up 
view of how German diplomats faced, reacted and accounted the violent annihilation of 
entire nation.

This fascinating, and highly informative book is one of the cornerstones of Genocide 
studies and its English translation was must for a scholar who researches any aspect of 
Armenian genocide. For that reason, alone, this book is highly recommended to those who 
are serious about attempting to begin to understand the history of Armenian Genocide.

At the foreword V. Dadrian evaluates German Documentation by the four attributes: 
reliability, explicitness, incontestability and verifi ability (p. XV) and work of the author. 
“The corpus is the product of hard labour, diligence, discipline and, above all, tenacious 
persistence. Historical scholarship owes to Wolfgang Gust and his spouse Sigrid a great 
dept of gratitude”. 

I surely should join to an appreciation.