Ambassador Morgenthau's Story Quotes

“do not claim that Germany is responsible for these massacres in the sense that she instigated them. But she is responsible in the sense that she had the power to stop them and did not use it. And it is not only America and your present enemies that will hold you responsible. The German people will someday call your government to account.”
― Henry Morgenthau Sr., Ambassador Morgenthau's story [Illustrated Edition]

“any mercy shown this people would be a concession to the American Government. And at that moment he was not disposed to do anything that would please the American people.”
― Henry Morgenthau Sr., Ambassador Morgenthau's story [Illustrated Edition]

“the most feasible way of stopping the outrages would be for the diplomatic representatives of all countries to make a joint appeal to the Ottoman Government. I approached Wangenheim on this subject in the latter part of March. His antipathy to the Armenians became immediately apparent. He began denouncing them”
― Henry Morgenthau Sr., Ambassador Morgenthau's story [Illustrated Edition]

“No Armenian,” replied Talaat, “can be our friend after what we have done to them.”
― Henry Morgenthau Sr., Ambassador Morgenthau's story [Illustrated Edition]

“The cause of the military collapse of Russia in 1915 is now well known; the soldiers simply had no ammunition with which to fight.”
― Henry Morgenthau Sr., Ambassador Morgenthau's story [Illustrated Edition]

“from her allies, that, in less than a year, led to her defeat and collapse, which, in turn, was the reason why the Russian revolution became possible.”
― Henry Morgenthau Sr., Ambassador Morgenthau's story [Illustrated Edition]

“The Greeks in Turkey had one great advantage over the Armenians, for there was such a thing as a Greek government, which naturally has a protecting interest in them. The Turks knew that these deportations would precipitate a war with Greece; in fact, they welcomed such a war and were preparing for it.”
― Henry Morgenthau Sr., Ambassador Morgenthau's story [Illustrated Edition]

“For this work of subjugating Turkey, and transforming its army and its territory into instruments of Germany, the Emperor had sent to Constantinople an ambassador who was ideally fitted for the task. The mere fact that the Kaiser had personally chosen Baron Von Wangenheim for this post shows that he had accurately gauged the human qualities needed in this great diplomatic enterprise.”
― Henry Morgenthau, Ambassador Morgenthau's Story [Illustrated Edition]

“Zimmermann, discussing the German-American situation, began with a statement which I presume he thought would be gratifying to me. He told me how splendidly the Jews had behaved in Germany during the war and how deeply under obligations the Germans felt to them. “After the war,” he said, “they are going to be much better treated in Germany than they have been.”
― Henry Morgenthau Sr., Ambassador Morgenthau's story [Illustrated Edition]

“many women and children, looking ragged and half starved, but significantly we saw very few men, for all had either been killed or they were in the ranks of Serbia’s still existing and valiant little army. All this time trains full of German soldiers were passing us or standing on the switches at the stations where we slowed up, a sufficient explanation for all the misery and devastation we saw on our way.”
― Henry Morgenthau Sr., Ambassador Morgenthau's story [Illustrated Edition]

“He simply said that the Armenians were in the way, that they were an obstacle to German success, and that it had therefore been necessary to remove them, just like so much useless lumber. He spoke about them as detachedly as one would”
― Henry Morgenthau Sr., Ambassador Morgenthau's story [Illustrated Edition]

“Bismarck, even if it is merciless in its sentiments. . . . National policy: that is the profound moral reason why we must, as statesmen, show ourselves indifferent to the sufferings of the Christian peoples of Turkey, however painful that may be to our human feelings. . . . That is our duty, which we must recognize and confess before God and before man. If for this reason we now maintain the existence of the Turkish state, we do it in our own self-interest, because what we have in mind is our great future. . . . On one side lie our duties as a nation, on the other our duties as men. There are times, when, in a conflict of duties, we can choose a middle ground. That is all right from a human standpoint, but rarely right in a moral sense. In this instance, as in all analogous situations, we must clearly know on which side lies the greatest and most important moral duty. Once we have made such a choice we must not hesitate. William II has chosen. He has become the friend of the Sultan,”
― Henry Morgenthau Sr., Ambassador Morgenthau's story [Illustrated Edition]

“throughout their history the Turks had made a great mistake in being too merciful toward the non-Turkish population. The only way to insure the prosperity of the empire, according to this speaker, was to act without any sentimentality toward all the subject nationalities and races”
― Henry Morgenthau Sr., Ambassador Morgenthau's story [Illustrated Edition]

“According to the Paris Temps, Paul Rohrbach “in a conference held at Berlin, some time ago, recommended that Armenia should be evacuated of the Armenians. They should be dispersed in the direction of Mesopotamia and their places should be taken by Turks,”
― Henry Morgenthau Sr., Ambassador Morgenthau's story [Illustrated Edition]

“point is that this idea of deporting peoples en masse is, in modern times, exclusively Germanic. Anyone who reads the literature of Pan-Germany constantly meets it. These enthusiasts for a German world have deliberately planned, as part of their programme, the ousting of the French from certain parts of France, of Belgians from Belgium, of Poles from Poland, of Slavs from Russia, and other indigenous peoples from the territories which they have inhabited for thousands of years,”
― Henry Morgenthau Sr., Ambassador Morgenthau's story [Illustrated Edition]

“Greeks from their age-long homes along the Asiatic littoral to certain islands in the Aegean. I have also said that Admiral Usedom, one of the big German naval experts in Turkey, told me that the Germans had suggested this deportation to the Turks.”
― Henry Morgenthau Sr., Ambassador Morgenthau's story [Illustrated Edition]

“But the Armenian proceedings of 1915 and 1916 evidenced an entirely new mentality. This new conception was that of deportation.”
― Henry Morgenthau Sr., Ambassador Morgenthau's story [Illustrated Edition]

“you will give such money as you have received to the Turks, we shall see that it is used for the benefit of the Armenians.” Enver made this proposal with a straight face,”
― Henry Morgenthau Sr., Ambassador Morgenthau's story [Illustrated Edition]

“It is our own experience with revolutions which makes us fear the Armenians. If two hundred Turks could overturn the Government, then a few hundred bright, educated Armenians could do the same thing.”
― Henry Morgenthau Sr., Ambassador Morgenthau's story [Illustrated Edition]

“they are separatists. They are determined to have a kingdom of their own, and they have allowed themselves to be fooled by the Russians. Because they have relied upon the friendship of the Russians, they have helped them in this war. We are determined that they shall behave just as Turks do. You must remember that when we started this revolution in Turkey there were only two hundred of us. With these few followers we were able to deceive the Sultan and the public,”
― Henry Morgenthau Sr., Ambassador Morgenthau's story [Illustrated Edition]

“have”
― Henry Morgenthau Sr., Ambassador Morgenthau's story [Illustrated Edition]

“Americans realize, even to-day, what an overwhelming influence this act wielded upon future military operations. Yet the fact that the war has lasted for so many years is explained by this closing of the Dardanelles. For this”
― Henry Morgenthau Sr., Ambassador Morgenthau's story [Illustrated Edition]