Amy E. Grubb and Elisabeth Hope Murray, "British Responses to Genocide: The British Foreign Office and Humanitarianism in the Ottoman Empire, 1918-1923" (Routledge, 2022)
When I was an undergrad, the chronology of World War One was simple. The war began in August of 1914 and\xa0ended in November of 1918.\xa0Now, of course, we know it's not that simple.\xa0Perhaps (perhaps) it began in 1914. But the violence lingered on well after the armistices of 1918.\xa0So did the complicated questions of how to address that violence and the suffering that accompanied it.\nAmy E. Grubb and Elisabeth Hope Murray are interested precisely in that moment where the official violence had ended but the real life violence continued.\xa0Their book\xa0British Responses to Genocide: The British Foreign Office and Humanitarianism in the Ottoman Empire, 1918-1923\xa0(Routledge, 2022)\xa0asks a simple question:\xa0How did diplomats in London and on the ground in the Ottoman Empire attempt to achieve British goals in the maelstrom of violence following the Armistice of Mudros.\xa0Their answer is not quite so simple.\xa0They argue that the British response consistently prioritized human rights and human suffering.\xa0But in an environment of decreasing resources, interallied tensions and increasingly fierce resistance from Kemalist nationalists, their ability to pursue these priorities steadily shrunk.\xa0Eventually in the memorable words of the authors, British policy makers in London decided to embrace ethnic cleansing as a means of stopping genocide--exactly the opposite vision possessed by most modern leaders.\nGrubb and Murray provide a thorough examination of the ways national leaders can fail to protect human rights despite their own desire to do so.\nKelly McFall is Professor of History and Director of the Honors Program at Newman University.\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices\nSupport our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/genocide-studies