ABSTRACT

The Adana massacres created the first major test for Armenian for federation (ARF)-CUP relations. The ARF had to decide, in the face of Armenian public opinion, whether to continue its cooperation with the CUP. In May, the Western Bureau expressed its feeling that the latest proposal by the CUP was insulting. The ARF had to weigh the substantial potential benefits to the Armenian community and all Ottoman citizens if the CUP instituted a true constitutional regime. While the Armenians focused on the Adana massacres and tried to determine their response, the CUP had to react to the fragility of their power exposed by the counterrevolution. As peasants comprised the overwhelming majority of the Armenian population, the ARF and the Armenian community's most critical demand from the CUP was land reform and restitution. The ARF also pressed the CUP to make changes in some of the government's administrative personnel in the provinces.