Crimes against Humanity: The Russian Empire's Role in Formulating the Allies' May 24, 1915, Note on the Armenian Genocide

This paper will examine the institutional and
intellectual preconditions behind the Russian government's role in
formulating and drafting the Allies' May 24, 1915 note on the Armenian
genocide.  This was the first international document to encode the term
"Crime against humanity."  Moreover, it called for members of the
Ottoman Council of Ministers to be held personally responsible for
measures against the Armenians, a major departure in international
legislation.  Many scholars have puzzled over the Russian role in this
endeavor, most commonly ascribing Russian motivations to insincere
motives.  This paper, by casting the note against the backdrop of
extensive Russian involvement with the international law of war
throughout the nineteenth century, and Russia's extensive engagement
with the Armenian issue, argues for a different explanation.  It is
based on research in Russian, British, and French archives.