The Sasun rebellion of 1894, also known as the First Sasun resistance (), was the conflict between Ottoman Empire's Hamidiye forces and the Armenian fedayi belonging to the Armenian national movement's Hunchakian party in the Sasun region. Background The Social Democrat Hunchakian Party was an Armenian national movement active in the region. In 1894, Sultan Abdul Hamid II began to target the Armenian people in a precursor of the Hamidian massacres. This persecution strengthened devolution sentiment among Armenians. In Sasun Armenians were organized by Hunchak activists, such as Mihran Damadian, Hampartsoum Boyadjian (Medzn Mourad) and Hrayr Dzhoghk. Conflict Sasun was the location for the first notable battle in the Armenian resistance movement. The Armenians of Sasun confronted the Ottoman army and Kurdish irregulars at Sasun, succumbing to superior numbers. Foreign news agents protested vehemently against the Sasun even.; British prime minister William Ewart Gladstone called Hamid "the Great Criminal" or "the Red Sultan". The rest of the Great Powers also protested and demanded the execution of Ottoman Sultan Hamid's promised reforms. An investigation committee composed of French, British, and Russian representatives were sent to the region in order to examine the event. Aftermath In May 1895, the aforementioned foreign powers prepared a set of reforms. However, they were never carried out, because they were not actively imposed on the Ottoman Empire. The Russian Empire's policies vis-à-vis the Armenian question had changed. In fact, the Russian foreign minister Alexei Lobanov-Rostovsky supported Ottoman integrity. Moreover, he was so anti-Armenian that he wanted an "Armenia without Armenians". On the other hand, Britain had gained considerable influence and power in former Ottoman Egypt and Cyprus, and for Gladstone, good relations with the Ottomans were less important than before. Meanwhile, the Ottomans had found a new European ally, Germany's Bismarck. The Ottoman Empire thus felt free to commit further massacres, in 1896. See also Social Democrat Hunchakian Party 1904 Sasun uprising Footnotes Sasun rebellion Armenian national liberation movement 19th century in Armenia History of Batman Province Bitlis vilayet Armenian rebellions in the Ottoman Empire Rebellions against the Ottoman Empire 19th-century rebellions