The Origins of a Solution

Abstract

This chapter provides a background to the United States’ public and political engagement with the 1894–1896 Armenian massacres. It explores why the US Congress took the path-breaking step of adopting a joint resolution advocating diplomatic action, rather than just temporary relief, to address the humanitarian crisis, and traces the debate that arose within the US government over how it could legitimately respond to the massacres. It examines the relationship between American engagement in the Armenian question and calls for intervention in Cuba in 1898. And it also explains why the 1894–1896 Hamidian massacres led to the first discussion of a joint Anglo-American intervention in the Near East and the first suggestion of a possible American solution to the Armenian question.