The Geography of Genocide: Mapping the Refugee during World War I in the Middle East
Document Type
Conference Proceeding
Publication Date
4-20-2022
Publication Title
Center for Armenian Studies Events
Publisher
Spring Program
Publisher Location
University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Abstract
This talk maps the Armenian Genocide refugee crisis to render visible the human geography of total war. For those stuck in the no man’s land between war and peace in the Ottoman Empire, World War I did not end with the signing of the 1918 armistices or the 1919 Treaty of Versailles. It continued beyond the signing of the 1923 Lausanne Treaty and produced the world’s largest refugee crisis to date while leaving a legacy of political instability that continues to plague the region. Deep maps – rendered using ARC- GIS technology and data from official documents, institutional records, and diaries of aid workers, refugees, and other non-combatants – reveal how refugee routes and war relief infrastructure reconfigured the landscape. The refugee experience of those fleeing genocide took form in the desert, the camp, and on the road during a protracted and seemingly unending war that had important consequences for minorities in the postwar Middle East.
Controlled Subject
Geography; Genocide; World War (1914-1918)
Disciplines
Military, War, and Peace
Repository Citation
Tusan, M.
(2022).
The Geography of Genocide: Mapping the Refugee during World War I in the Middle East.
Center for Armenian Studies Events
University of Massachusetts, Amherst: Spring Program.