Summary of Events Leading up to the Genocide (this part taken from http://www.armeniapedia.org/)
Somewhat surprisingly to many, Armenians and Turks lived in relative harmony in the Ottoman empire for centuries. Armenians were known as the "loyal millet". During these times, although Armenians were not equal and had to put up with certain special hardships, they were pretty well accepted and there was relatively little violent conflict. Things began to change for a number of reasons. Nationalism, a new force in the world, reared its head and made ethnic groupings self-conscious, and the Ottoman Empire began to crumble. It became known as "the sick man of Europe" and the only thing holding it together was the European powers' lack of agreement on how to split it up.
As other Christian minorities gained their independence one by one, the Armenians became more isolated as the only major Christian minority. Armenians and Turks began to have conflicting dreams of the future. Some Armenians began to call for independence like the Greeks and others had already received, while some Turks began to envision a new Pan-Turkic empire spreading all the way to Turkic speaking parts of Central Asia. Armenians were the only ethnic group in between these two major pockets of Turkish speakers and the nationalist Turks wanted to get rid of them altogether.
As European powers began to ask for assurances that Armenians receive better treatment, the government began to treat the Armenians worse and worse. In the 1890's hundreds of thousands of Armenians died in pogroms ordered by Sultan Abdul Hamid II.
A coup by 'progressive' Young Turks in 1908 replacing the Sultans government was supported by Armenians. Unfortunately, promised reforms never came, and in fact a triumvirate of extreme Turkish nationalists took complete dictatorial control, Enver, Jemal and Talat. It was they who masterminded the plan to completely eradicate the Armenian race in a step towards fulfilling their pan-Turkic dreams.
The Genocide
World War One gave the Young Turk government the cover and the excuse to carry out their plan. The plan was simple and its goal was clear. On April 24, 1915, hundreds of Armenian leaders were murdered in Istanbul after being summoned and gathered. The now leaderless Armenian people were to follow. Across the Ottoman Empire, the same events transpired from village to village, from province to province.
The remarkable thing about the following events is the virtually complete cooperation of the Armenians. For a number of reasons they did not know what was planned for them and went along with "their" government's plan to "relocate them for their own good." They basically tricked the Armenians into giving up all of their weapons to "help with the war." Once the Armenians were defenseless, the Turks used the weapons as proof that the Armenians were going to rebel. Armenian men were told they were being drafted and were then murdered or worked to death. The women, children, and anyone remaining were told they were being relocated, and were then lead into Turkish death marches.
They were lead across the Anatolian Peninsula and on the way were raped beaten, starved, killed, and some even kidnapped. Very few survived and if they did, most were killed after they were found. With the help of some "Good-Turks" some were able to escape completely. Afterwards, the Turks denied (and still deny) the whole thing. Some admit it happened but claim the Armenians had it coming.
Is that the world we live in these days? Peoples lives were ended or ruined and still we deny it. 