The Armenian Genocide (Armenian: Հայոց Ցեղասպանություն, Armenian pronunciation: [hɑjotsʰ tsʰɛʁɑspɑnutʰjun]), also known as the Armenian Holocaust, the Armenian Massacres and, by Armenians, as Meds Yeghern (Մեծ Եղեռն, Armenian pronunciation: [mɛts jɛˈʁɛrn], the Great Calamity or Great Crime ) was the systematic killing of the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire during and just after World War I. It was implemented through wholesale massacres and deportations, with the deportations consisting of forced marches under conditions designed to lead to the death of the deportees. The total number of resulting Armenian deaths is generally held to have been between 1 million and 1.5 million. Other ethnic groups were similarly attacked by the Ottoman Empire during this period, including Assyrians and Greeks, and some scholars consider those events to be part of the same policy of extermination.

It is widely acknowledged to have been one of the first modern genocides, as scholars point to the organized manner in which the killings were carried out to eliminate the Armenians, and it is the second most-studied case of genocide after the Holocaust. The word genocide was coined in order to describe these events.