Later, when the hostility of the Ottoman government towards the Armenian nation was at its peak , the Turkish dragoons were accommodated by force in the houses of Armenian families. 127
The lives and the properties of the Armenians in these provinces were constantly subject to plundering by the Kurdish nomads. 128 Any resistance of the Armenians against the assault and oppression of these tribes was regarded as revolt by the Ottoman government and resulted in the intervention of military power to the advantage of the Kurdish tribes and to the loss of the Armenians.
The situation of Western Armenia was described succinctly by Philips Price: "The fundamental weakness of the Ottoman government could not be seen any clearer than in the Armenian provinces. There existed three basic political factors. First, a large Christian Armenian population, who were peasants and craftsmen. Then, the feudal organization of Kurdish nomads, and finally an unworthy and disorganized Turkish administration which was entirely corrupt and incompetent. The industrial revolution of the 19th century and the expansion of its economic influence had resulted in the divide between the tent-living shepherds and the residing farmers in the Armenian highland becoming broader and deeper. The Armenians, as peasants, had more than ever become dependant on the land and the Armenian craftsmen had entered the European economic system. At the same time, the Turkish ruling class had become incompetent due to its social and political status and privileges. And finally the Kurds, with their semi-independent clan leaders, still lived in the feudal system. The ruling Turkish class slowly, but surely, showed that it lacked the competence and worthiness to gain the respect and the trust of the other two groups, and this fact alone is a clear basis for the chaotic situation which has prevailed in these areas for the last 30 years." 129
In reality, the Armenians were defenceless against the armed Muslim population, since the possession of weapons for them, as for all other Christian inhabitants in the Ottoman Empire, was forbidden. Against the weakness and the helplessness of the government, the armingof the Armenians would have allowed them at least to defend their lives and properties and bring them peace in these provinces. Thus, as Baxton writes, "the only constructive action which could be done was arming the Armenians. Since the Armenians were a superior force, compared to their neighbours, their armament would bring peace and tranquillity to these areas." 130
According to another English author, Burt, the Ottoman government refused to defend the Armenians against the attacks to which they were subjected and at the same time prevented them from defending themselves. 131 The Armenian villages were subjected to the plundering and assault of the Kurdish tribes. Even in the cities the Turkish oppression and the despotic regime had made Armenian life unbearable. 132 It is clear that, through their persistent policy of murdering and exiling the Armenian leaders and the constant massacres and harassment, the Ottoman government planned to decrease the number of this people. The most significant murder was that of Khatchatour Pasdermadjian, who was one of the great Armenian figures, and was murdered in broad daylight in Erzurum by order of Vali Sami Pasha. 133
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