209-598: The First Republic of Armenia , officially known at the time of its existence as the Republic of Armenia , was an independent Armenian state that existed from May (28th de jure , 30th de facto ) 1918 to 2 December 1920 in the Armenian-populated territories of the former Russian Empire known as Eastern or Russian Armenia . The republic was established in May 1918, with its capital in the city of Yerevan , after
418-479: A brief border war with neighbouring Georgia . During its first winter, hundreds of thousands of refugees in the country who had fled the Armenian genocide died from starvation or exposure. In the spring of 1919, Armenia, with British support, incorporated the formerly occupied regions of Kars and Nakhchivan , thereby tripling in size since independence; however, Armenian control of these regions collapsed during
627-403: A millet being a confessional community under Ottoman protection which was allowed to govern itself using its own religious laws . Ottoman legal theory understood two separate "establishments" to share state power, one responsible for governing a nation's citizens and the other its military. In addition, Islam did not separate religious and secular matters. Armenians were administered by
836-535: A 1961 Soviet encyclopedia that places the death toll at 198 thousand. An estimate by historian Christopher J. Walker places the number of Armenians massacred between 1919 and 1922 at "probably" 250 thousand. According to Soviet historian Zaven Korkotyan, the territory of present-day Armenia had a population of 961,677 in 1919, indicating that Armenia lost 241,677 or 25 percent of its population from 1919 to its sovietisation in late 1920. With Sergo Ordzhonikidze 's approval, Revkom units advanced into Armenia from Qazax on
1045-568: A Western Armenian fedayee, Sebouh Nersesian , with the directive to suppress the uprising. On 13 May, Sebouh's unit reached Alexandropol; by the next day the rebels fled the city whilst government forces entered and established order. The leaders of the revolt, including Sargis Musayelyan and Ghukas Ghukasyan, were initially imprisoned as the Soviet government on 4 June warned the Armenian government that diplomatic relations would be "detrimented" if
1254-894: A bride, accompanying her, with musical instruments and clapping of hands, to their own village. Armenians preserved their culture, history, and language through the course of time, largely thanks to their distinct religious identity among the neighboring Turks and Kurds . Like the Greek Orthodox and Jewish minorities of the Ottoman Empire , they constituted a distinct millet . Under this system, non-Muslims were considered second-class citizens ; they were subjected to elevated taxation, but in return they were granted autonomy within their own religious communities and were exempted from military service. Growing religious and political influence from neighboring communities necessitated implementation of security measures that often required
1463-458: A bridge between themselves". Gevorg Varshamyan [ hy ] was appointed to become the civil governor of the district. Armenia's annexation of Nakhchivan was announced on 3 May 1919, after which Armenian forces commanded by Drastamat Kanayan advanced southward into the district along the railway. On 13 May 1919, Khatisian arrived in Nakhchivan to discuss terms of capitulation with
1672-655: A horse and almost half deprived of a cow or ox. In the Akhalkalaki uezd , which was claimed by Armenia, 60,000 of 110,000 inhabitants had survived, over seventy villages were completely destroyed by the Turkish army in 1918. On 18 October 1918, as the Ottoman Empire was preparing itself to capitulate to the Allies, Armenian forces entered southern Lori and came into contact with German–Georgian forces. In response,
1881-572: A longer waiting period for minorities to seek legal recourse in the courts. Under Ottoman rule, Armenians formed three distinct millet s: Armenian Orthodox Gregorians , Armenian Catholics , and Armenian Protestants (in the 19th century). After many centuries of Turkish rule in Anatolia and Armenia (at first by the Seljuks , then a variety of Anatolian beyliks and finally the Ottomans),
2090-654: A net loss of 195.5—"it was verily a land of death". According to the data of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, 192,000 people died due to the typhus epidemic and famine by the summer of 1919. The Ninth Army of the Ottoman Empire occupied the Kars Oblast at the time of the Armistice of Mudros, being permitted to winter in the district until early 1919; on 7 January 1919, the British ordered their complete withdrawal to
2299-496: A philanthropist and active member of the Armenian General Benevolent Union was from Smyrna ( İzmir ), and Arthur Edmund Carewe , born Trebizond, become an actor in the silent film era . The Eastern Question (normally dated to 1774) refers to the diplomatic and political problems posed by the decline of the Ottoman Empire during the 18th century; including instability in the territories ruled by
SECTION 10
#17328010101032508-512: A power struggle to safeguard their strategic and commercial interests in the Empire, this gave motivation to the powers to help people in need. The rise of nationalism under the Ottoman Empire was a direct result of enlightenment of Christian millets through education. Armenians, for the most part, remained passive during these years, earning them the title of millet-i sadıka or the "loyal millet". The Eastern Question gained even more traction by
2717-705: A province of the Roman Empire under the name of Armenia Minor ; Eastern Armenia remained a kingdom within Persia until 428, when the local nobility overthrew the king, and the Sassanids installed a governor in his place. According to tradition, the Armenian Apostolic Church was established by two of Jesus' twelve apostles — Thaddaeus and Bartholomew —who preached Christianity in Armenia in
2926-514: A quickly diminishing area of Syria. A Hellenistic Armenian state was founded in 190 BC. It was a Hellenistic successor state of Alexander the Great 's short-lived empire, with Artaxias becoming its first king and the founder of the Artaxiad dynasty (190 BC–AD 1). At the same time, a western portion of the kingdom split as a separate state under Zariadris, which became known as Lesser Armenia while
3135-564: A result of the uprising, leaving 25,000 homeless (including nearly 6,000 refugees from Shusha). On 5 April 1920, to relieve pressure in Karabakh, Azerbaijani forces in Qazax initiated border clashes with Armenia. During the following two weeks, they occupied strategic heights and occupied and burned Armenian villages. On 9 April, a short-lived ceasefire was reached, however, it was broken by Azerbaijani forces occupied several other villages – this
3344-487: A result, he had been given a crown by both German and Byzantine emperors. Representatives from across Christendom and a number of Muslim states attended the coronation, thus highlighting the important stature that Cilicia had gained over time. The Armenian authorities was often in touch with the crusaders. No doubt the Armenians aided in some of the other crusades. Cilicia flourished greatly under Armenian rule, as it became
3553-553: A sanction from the religious leader of the person's faith. Armenians became religious leaders and bureaucrats under the Ottoman Empire, allowing them to become more influential than just their own community. Certain elite Armenian families in the Ottoman Empire gained the trust of the Sultans and were able to achieve important positions in the Ottoman government and the Ottoman economy. Even though their numbers were small compared to
3762-703: A short-lived Province of Armenia between 114 and 118 AD. Indeed, Roman supremacy was fully established by the campaigns of Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo , that ended with a formal compromise: a Parthian prince of the Arsacid line would henceforth sit on the Armenian throne, but his nomination had to be approved by the Roman emperor. Because this agreement was not respected by the Parthian Empire, in 114 Trajan from Antiochia in Syria marched on Armenia and conquered
3971-577: A specific foreign power". Despite the US sending $ 11 million (equivalent to $ 167,302,326 in 2023) in aid to Armenia, the vote for an American mandate over Armenia was rejected by the Senate on 1 June 1920. At the Paris Peace Conference, the delegation led by Avetis Aharonian from the Armenian republic united with the delegation from the Armenian diaspora , headed by Boghos Nubar , forming
4180-806: A symbol of factual Armenian autonomy, Zeitoun (Ulnia) was located between the Six Vilayets and Cilicia , which also had a strong Armenian presence since the creation of the Kingdom of Lesser Armenia . However, the destruction of the Kingdom by the Ramadanids and the subsequent rule by Muslim powers such as the Dulkadirids , the Mamluks , and the Ottomans led to ever increasing numbers of Muslims in
4389-606: A time, Armenia was one of the most powerful states east of Rome. It eventually confronted the Roman Republic in wars, which it lost in 66 BC, but nonetheless preserved its sovereignty. Tigranes continued to rule Armenia as an ally of Rome until his death in 55 BC. The Third Mithridatic War and defeat of the King of Pontus by Roman Pompeius resulted in the Kingdom of Armenia becoming an allied client state of Rome. Later on, in 1 AD, Armenia came under full Roman control until
SECTION 20
#17328010101034598-621: A unique alphabet to suit the people's needs. By doing so, he ushered in a new Golden Age and strengthened Armenian national identity. After years of rule, the Arsacid dynasty fell in 428, with Eastern Armenia being subjugated to Persia and Western Armenia, to Rome. In the 5th century, the Sassanid Shah Yazdegerd II tried to tie his Christian Armenian subjects more closely to the Sassanid Empire by reimposing
4807-575: Is sometimes called the Armenian dynasty (see Macedonian dynasty ), reflecting the strong effect the Armenians had on the Byzantine Empire . Evolving as a feudal kingdom in the ninth century, Armenia experienced a brief cultural, political and economic renewal under the Bagratuni dynasty . Bagratid Armenia was eventually recognized as a sovereign kingdom by the two major powers in the region: Baghdad in 885, and Constantinople in 886. Ani ,
5016-533: Is theorized that no Armenian churches existed in Constantinople before the Ottoman conquest, but after 1453, 55 Armenian churches were built. Until the promulgation of the Edict of Gülhane in 1839, the patriarch, within limits, possessed penal authority over the Armenian people. At the capital, the patriarchate had its own jail and maintained a small police force. Its authority over the clergy being absolute,
5225-555: The Ararat plain . Erebuni has been described as "designed as a great administrative and religious centre, a fully royal capital." The Iron Age kingdom of Urartu was replaced by the Orontid dynasty , which ruled Armenia first as satraps under Achaemenid Persian rule and later as independent kings. Following Persian and subsequent Macedonian rule, the Kingdom of Greater Armenia was established in 190 BC by Artaxias I , founder of
5434-465: The Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia and through skillful diplomacy and military alliances (explained below) maintained their political autonomy until 1375. The kingdom's political independence relied on a vast network of castles which controlled the mountain passes and the strategic harbours. Almost all of the civilian settlements were located directly below or near these fortifications. After
5643-729: The Armenian Patriarchate was established to govern the Apostolic faithful living in the Ottoman Empire. Hovagim I was brought to Constantinople by Sultan Mehmed II and established the Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople . As the influence of the Constantinople Patriarchate surpassed that of the Catholicos of Etchmiadzin , this shifted the center of Armenian ecclesiastical and national life from Etchmiadzin (and Sis ) to Constantinople. It
5852-564: The Armenian Protestant Church , each church serving as the basis of a millet . They played a crucial role in Ottoman industry and commerce, and Armenian communities existed in almost every major city of the empire. The majority of the Armenian population made up a reaya , or peasant, class, in Eastern Anatolia . The Tanzimat reforms in the nineteenth century sought to manifest the doctrine of equality before
6061-894: The Armenian genocide . in Baku , Ottoman –Azerbaijani forces slew some 15,000 Armenians in the September Days massacre, in retribution for the March Days massacre of thousands of Azerbaijanis. Despite these atrocities, a peace agreement was signed in Tiflis under the auspices of Georgia and the United States in order to end the Azerbaijani campaign against Zangezur. In the areas claimed by Armenia and disputed with Azerbaijan and Georgia, there were 410,000 Armenians, 460,000 Muslims, and 36,000 others, totalling 906,000. Despite
6270-646: The Armenian nobles by development of the political strata in the society. The Armenian Question , a derivative of the Eastern Question, became a common place among diplomatic circles and in the popular press after the Congress of Berlin (1878). In 1863, the Armenian National Constitution was promulgated. It was a form of a "Code of Regulations," composed of 150 articles drafted by the Armenian intelligentsia, which defined
6479-668: The Artaxiad dynasty . The Kingdom of Armenia rose to the peak of its influence in the 1st century BC under Tigranes the Great before falling under Roman suzerainty. In the 1st century AD, a branch of the ruling Arsacid dynasty of the Parthian Empire established itself on the throne of Armenia. In the early 4th century, Arsacid Armenia became the first state to accept Christianity as its state religion . The Armenians later fell under Byzantine , Sassanid Persian , and Islamic hegemony, but reinstated their independence with
First Republic of Armenia - Misplaced Pages Continue
6688-562: The Bagratid kingdom of Armenia in the 9th century. After the fall of the kingdom in 1045, and the subsequent Seljuk conquest of Armenia in 1064, the Armenians established a kingdom in Cilicia , which existed until its destruction in 1375. In the early 16th century, much of Armenia came under Safavid Persian rule; however, over the centuries Western Armenia fell under Ottoman rule, while Eastern Armenia remained under Persian rule. By
6897-659: The Caucasus campaign of World War I , the subsequent occupation and creation of a provisional administrative government gave hope for ending Ottoman Turkish rule in Western Armenia. With the help of several battalions of Armenians recruited from the Russian Empire, the Russian Imperial Army advanced as far as the city of Erzurum in 1916, continuing to make considerable advances even after
7106-716: The Council of Chalcedon . The Armenian Apostolic Church is a part of the Oriental Orthodox communion, not to be confused with the Eastern Orthodox communion. The first Catholicos of the Armenian church was Saint Gregory the Illuminator . Because of his beliefs, he was persecuted by the pagan king of Armenia, and was "punished" by being thrown in Khor Virap , in modern-day Armenia. He acquired
7315-502: The Gens Claudia . After Trajan's death, however, his successor Hadrian decided not to maintain the province of Armenia. In 118 AD, Hadrian gave Armenia up, and installed Parthamaspates as its "vassal" king. Armenia, under its Arshakuni dynasty , which was a branch of the eponymous Arsacid dynasty of Parthia, was often a focus of contention between Rome and Parthia. The Parthians forced Armenia into submission from 37 to 47, when
7524-548: The Georgian army bolstered its presence in the region. These manoeuvres set the scene for an Armeno-Georgian military confrontation. The territorial conflict with Georgia was rooted in the contention over the counties of Akhalkalaki and Borchaly , particularly, the Lori subdistrict of the latter—both sectors possessed an Armenian ethnic majority . Under Georgian control, the Armenians of Lori were discontent due to their treatment by
7733-642: The Muslim uprisings that erupted in the summer of 1919. In late 1919, the isolated Armenian region of Zangezur came under attack by neighbouring Azerbaijan . The fighting subsided until an Armenian rebellion was launched in March of the following year in Nagorno-Karabakh (then under provisional Azerbaijani rule), ending in April after Azerbaijan's sovietisation . In August 1920, Armenian representatives at
7942-719: The Paris Peace Conference signed the Treaty of Sèvres , which awarded Armenia an additional 40,000 square miles (100,000 square kilometres) of territory in Western Armenia , albeit the treaty was never implemented. In late 1920, Armenia was invaded by Kemalist Turkey , ending with its partition and sovietisation by the Russian SFSR , with the latter founding the superseding Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic . Shortly thereafter, an anti-Bolshevik revolt resisted Soviet authority from February to July 1921 . In
8151-457: The Paris Peace Conference 's decision on the inter-Caucasian borders. Before Nagorno-Karabakh's capitulation, Azerbaijani forces carried out a massacre of 600 Armenians in villages nearby Shusha to pressure the region's inhabitants into submission. Andranik, who had been tasked with the defence of Erzurum, denounced the Dashnaks and Armenia for their treachery in seeking peace after gaining
8360-739: The Persian Empire , and after its disintegration (in 330 BC), it became an independent kingdom. During the rule of the Orontid dynasty, most Armenians adopted the Zoroastrian religion. The Hellenistic Seleucid Empire , controlled Syria, Armenia, and vast other eastern regions. However, after their defeat by Rome in 190 BC, the Seleucids relinquished control of any regional claim past the Taurus Mountains, limiting Seleucids to
8569-537: The Pontic Greeks were unhappy with the decision to assign Pontus to Armenia, "Greek and Armenian officials were confident that the issue could be resolved through adequate guarantees for an autonomous administration in the Pontus". On 10 August 1920, Armenian representatives in Paris signed the Treaty of Sèvres, thereby granting it de jure recognition and assigning it 103,599 square kilometres (40,000 square miles), thus expanding Armenia's borders to "60,000 square miles or 155,000 square kilometers, roughly equivalent to
First Republic of Armenia - Misplaced Pages Continue
8778-429: The Seljuks and unfriendly to the Byzantines, the Armenians took kindly to the crusader count. So when Thoros was assassinated, Baldwin was made ruler of the new crusader County of Edessa . It seems that the Armenians were pleased with Baldwin's rule and with the crusaders in general, and some number of them fought alongside the crusaders. When Antioch had been taken (1097), Constantine, the son of Roupen, received from
8987-525: The Tehcir Law (29 May 1915), eventually a large proportion of Armenians living in Western Armenia perished in what has become known as the Armenian genocide . There was local Armenian resistance in the region, developed against the activities of the Ottoman Empire. The events of 1915 to 1917 are regarded by Armenians, Western historians, and some Turkish writers and historians like Taner Akçam and Orhan Pamuk , to have been state-sponsored and planned mass killings, or genocide . The Armenian Genocide laid
9196-437: The civil administration . In the Ottoman Empire, townspeople, villagers, and farmers formed a class called the reaya , including Armenians. Civil and judicial administration was carried out under a separate parallel system of small municipal or rural units called kazas . The civil system was considered a check on the military system, since beys , who represented executive authority on reaya, could not carry out justice without
9405-458: The toppling of Tsar Nicholas II in February 1917. Following news of the Bolshevik coup in Russia , the Ozakom (a committee formed in February by the Russian Provisional Government to oversee the Caucasus ) was superseded by a caretaker government known as the Transcaucasian Commissariat on 28 November 1917, which would later form the nucleus of the Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic (TDFR). As Russian and Ottoman armies, despite
9614-415: The "Delegation of Integral Armenia". With Greek and Russian backing, Armenia claimed territories of the defeated Ottoman Empire covering the Six Vilayets and Cilicia . The White Russian delegation, whilst refusing to tolerate the independence of Azerbaijan and Georgia, was willing to allow Russian Armenia to unite with Turkish Armenia, believing that "such a united Armenia will be our friend and even ally in
9823-439: The "bourgeois" Armenian Populist Party and later, Social Revolutionaries . Since Armenia's gaining of independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, in Armenia and modern historiography, the state is referred to as the First Republic of Armenia ( Հայաստանի Առաջին Հանրապետություն ) or the First Republic for short. Other names of the state include the Araratian Republic ( Արարատյան հանրապետություն , 'Ararat Republic'), as
10032-441: The "persecution of Communists continued" and due to the fact that several notable Dashnaks were imprisoned in Russia and Azerbaijan at the time. Moreover, Armenia's domestic situation deteriorated as the government lost its prestige. In Soviet historiography, the uprising was "extensively glorified and sharply criticized", the latter due to its poor organisation and irresolution—critics agreed that "Bolshevism in Armenia existed only in
10241-441: The 180,000- to 220,000-strong Persian army of Immortals and war elephants . Despite being a military defeat, the Battle of Avarayr and the subsequent guerilla war in Armenia eventually resulted in the Treaty of Nvarsak (484), which guaranteed religious freedom to the Armenians. With the partition of Armenia in 387 by the Byzantines and Sassanids , the western half became part of the Byzantines known as Byzantine Armenia , while
10450-401: The 19th century, Eastern Armenia was conquered by Russia and Greater Armenia was divided between the Ottoman and Russian empires. In the early 20th century, the Ottoman government subjected the Armenians to a genocide in which up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed and many more were dispersed throughout the world via Syria and Lebanon . In 1918, an independent Republic of Armenia
10659-454: The 19th century, having disastrous effects for the native inhabitants of these regions, including the Armenians of Western Armenia. Owing to these events, Armenians constituted, over the whole extent of their ancient homeland, no more than a quarter of the total inhabitants. Despite this they kept and defended factual autonomy in certain isolated areas like Sasun , Shatakh (Çatak), and parts of Dersim (Tunceli). An Armenian stronghold and
SECTION 50
#173280101010310868-409: The 40s–60s AD. Between 1st and 4th centuries AD, the Armenian Church was headed by patriarchs. In 301, Armenia became the first nation to adopt Christianity as a state religion, amidst the long-lasting geo-political rivalry over the region. It established a church that today exists independently of both the Catholic and the Eastern Orthodox churches, having become so in 451 after having rejected
11077-406: The Araratian fields. He left more than 90 inscriptions by using the Mesopotamian cuneiform writing system in the Urartian language . Argishtis I of Urartu conquered Latakia from the Hittites, and reached Byblos , and Phoenicia . He built the Erebuni Fortress , located in modern-day Yerevan , in 782 BC by using 6600 prisoners of war. In 714 BC, the Assyrians under Sargon II defeated
11286-450: The Armenian Bolsheviks headed by Avis Nurijanyan staged a revolt in May. The events preceding the revolt started on 1 May 1920, International Workers' Day , with the Bolsheviks demonstrating against the Dashnak government in various cities. The revolt escalated after the armoured train Vardan Zoravar ( Վարդան Զորավար , ' General Vardan ') and its crew under the command of Captain Sargis Musayelyan [ hy ] joined
11495-425: The Armenian National Assembly. Beginning in 1863, education was available to all subjects, as far as funds permitted it. Such education was under the direction of lay committees. During this period in Russian Armenia , the association of the schools with the Church was close, but the same principle obtains. This became a problem for the Russian administration, which peaked during 1897 when Tsar Nicholas II appointed
11704-424: The Armenian quarter of Kumkapı , the seat of the Armenian Patriarch, who was spared through the prompt action of the commandant, Hassan Aga. On 27 July 1890, Harutiun Jangülian , Mihran Damadian and Hambartsum Boyajian interrupted the Divine Liturgy to read a manifesto and denounce the indifference of the Armenian patriarch and Armenian National Assembly to national liberation. Jangülian then tried to assassinate
11913-414: The Armenian republic organised an "abortive" rebellion in Karabakh that led to the massacre and displacement of Shusha's Armenian population. Even though the Armenian rebels failed to oust Azerbaijani garrisons in Khankend and Shusha, the countryside of Nagorno-Karabakh was under local control. The Azerbaijani army, despite the Red Army being stationed on its frontiers, moved towards Karabakh to put down
12122-408: The Armenians is hay , and the old Armenian name for the country is Hayk' ( Armenian : Հայք , which also means "Armenians" in Classical Armenian ), later Hayastan ( Armenian : Հայաստան ). Armenians traditionally associate this name with the legendary progenitor of the Armenian people, Hayk . The names Armenia and Armenian are exonyms , first attested in the Behistun Inscription of Darius
12331-411: The Armenians. On 24 October, a concerted Turkish attack began on Surmalu, however, Dro's forces repelled the attack 2 days later. By 29 October, Kars was surrounded on three sides, however, was well armed and prepared to withstand an assault. The military council of Kars prohibited the 40 thousand inhabitants of the city from evacuating "not to undermine troop morale or give cause for panic". On 30 October,
12540-447: The Armenophobic Grigory Sergeyevich Golitsin as governor of Transcaucasia, and Armenian schools, cultural associations, newspapers and libraries were closed. The Armenian charitable works, hospitals, and provident institutions were organized along the explained perspective. The Armenians, in addition to paying taxes to the state, voluntarily imposed extra burdens on themselves in order to support these philanthropic agencies. The taxes to
12749-513: The Arshakuni dynasty. The Arsacid dynasty lost control of Armenia for a few years when emperor Trajan created the "Roman Province of Armenia", fully included into the Roman Empire from 114 to 117 AD. His successor, Hadrian , reinstalled the Arsacid dynasty when he nominated Parthamaspates as "vassal" king of Armenia in 118 AD. Another campaign was led by Emperor Lucius Verus in 162–165, after Vologases IV of Parthia had invaded Armenia and installed his chief general on its throne. To counter
SECTION 60
#173280101010312958-415: The Bolshevik rebels who had formed a revolutionary committee and proclaimed Armenia a Soviet state in Alexandropol on 10 May. The Bolshevik rebels also seized control in Kars and Sarıkamış . On 5 May 1920, Khatisian's cabinet resigned and a new one was formed under the leadership of Hamo Ohanjanyan , made up entirely of Dashnaks. The parliament then declared a state of emergency , appointing to commander
13167-420: The Book , in the Ottoman legal system . At first, the Sultan was the highest power in the land and had control over almost everything. However, a state organization began to take a more definite shape in the first half of the sixteenth century under Suleyman I . The Ottomans allowed the establishment of an Armenian Patriarchate to govern the Armenian people. This meant the beginning of the Armenian millet ;
13376-434: The Byzantine emperor Maurice defeated the Persians and recovered much of the remaining territory of Armenia into the empire. The conquest was completed by the emperor Heraclius , himself ethnically Armenian, in 629. In 645, the Muslim Arab armies of the caliphate had attacked and conquered the country . Armenia, which once had its own rulers and was at other times under Persian and Byzantine control, passed largely into
13585-427: The Byzantines, who captured Ani in 1045. The Seljuk dynasty under Alp Arslan in turn took the city in 1064. In 1071, after the defeat of the Byzantine forces by the Seljuk Turks at the Battle of Manzikert , the Turks captured the rest of Greater Armenia and much of Anatolia . So ended Christian leadership of Armenia for the next millennium with the exception of a period of the late 12th-early 13th centuries, when
13794-425: The Dashnak Party also played a significant role in arming the people of the region. The Armenians of Sasun confronted the Ottoman army and Kurdish irregulars , succumbing to superior numbers. This was followed by the Zeitun Rebellion , in which Hunchak activists toured various regions of Cilicia and Zeitun to encourage resistance, and established new branches of the Hunchak Party. The 1896 Ottoman Bank takeover
14003-435: The Dashnak Republic due to the fact that the Dashnaks were the dominant political force in the country . During the Soviet-era , the Soviet Armenian Encyclopedia referred to the state as the Bourgeois Republic of Armenia ( Հայաստանի Բուրժուական Հանրապետություն ). Sources vary on when Armenian statehood was lost. Though the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia ceased to exist in 1375, other sources suggest that Armenian statehood
14212-472: The Dashnaks for "dislocation and ruin" that came as a result of the uprising. As a result of "Turkish–Azerbaijani aggression", Nagorno-Karabakh's population had declined by 20 percent in 1918–1920. Since 1920, Azerbaijani forces carried out massacres against Armenians in Khankend on 22 February 1920 leaving 400 dead, and Shusha from 22 to 26 March 1920 leaving 500 dead. By 11 April 1920, 30 villages in Nagorno-Karabakh had been "devastated" by Azerbaijani forces as
14421-410: The Dashnaks to plan an assassination attempt on the sultan to enact vengeance. Dashnak members, led by ARF founder Christapor Mikaelian , secretly started producing explosives and planning the operation in Sofia , Bulgaria . The assassination attempt was unsuccessful in killing Abdul Hamid II, although it resulted in the death of 26 people and a further 58 wounded. The Second Constitutional Era of
14630-499: The East". Greek prime minister Eleftherios Venizelos was a "staunch champion of the Armenians" and constantly kept their delegation apprised of developments. Armenian relations with Azerbaijan were strained by overlapping territorial claims coupled with ethnic cleansing conducted by both sides. Throughout August 1919, Armenian militias were exacting "retribution from the most vulnerable Muslim settlements", sacking large Muslim villages, and according to Azerbaijani diplomats, massacring
14839-412: The Empire , ruling from 31 August 1876 until he was deposed on 27 April 1909. He was the last Ottoman Sultan to rule with absolute power. The Bashkaleh clash was the bloody encounter between the Armenakan Party and the Ottoman Empire in May 1889. Its name comes from Başkale , a border town of Van Eyalet of the Ottoman Empire. The event was important, as it was reflected in main Armenian newspapers as
15048-501: The Empire began shortly after Sultan Abdul Hamid II restored the constitutional monarchy after the 1908 Young Turk Revolution . The period established many political groups . A series of elections during this period resulted in the gradual ascendance of the Committee of Union and Progress 's (CUP) domination in politics. This period also marked the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire . On 24 July 1908, Armenians' hopes for equality in
15257-607: The Great . The early Armenian historian Movses Khorenatsi derived the name Armenia from Aramaneak, the eldest son of the legendary Hayk. Various theories exist about the origin of the endonym and exonyms of Armenia and Armenians (see Name of Armenia ). In the Bronze Age , several states flourished in the Armenian highlands , including the Hittite Empire (at the height of its power), Mitanni (southwestern historical Armenia), and Hayasa-Azzi (1600–1200 BC). Soon after
15466-516: The Great Powers, and the Ottoman Empire. It aimed to introduce reforms to the Armenian citizens of the empire. This agreement, which was solidified in February 1914 was based on the arrangements nominally made in 1878. According to this arrangement the inspectors general, whose powers and duties constituted the key to the question, were to be named for a period of ten years, and their engagement
15675-511: The Hayasa-Azzi were the Nairi tribal confederation (1400–1000 BC) and the Kingdom of Urartu (1000–600 BC). Each of the aforementioned nations and tribes participated in the ethnogenesis of the Armenian people . Yerevan , the modern capital of Armenia, dates back to the 8th century BC, with the founding of the fortress of Erebuni in 782 BC by King Argishti I at the western extreme of
15884-674: The Kars Oblast. The Ottoman Empire also sponsored the creation of the Republic of Aras in the Muslim-dominated southern districts of the Erivan Governorate corresponding to Nakhchivan. Following the conclusion of the Armeno-Georgian War in late 1918, Armenia repositioned its forces to annex the Republic of Aras. Their advance into the district was halted by the establishment of a British governorship in
16093-705: The Kingdom of Van, flourished between the 9th century BC and 585 BC in the Armenian Highland . The founder of the Urartian Kingdom, Aramé , united all the principalities of the Armenian Highland and gave himself the title "King of Kings", the traditional title of Urartian Kings. The Urartians established their sovereignty over all of Taron and Vaspurakan . The main rival of Urartu was the Neo-Assyrian Empire . During
16302-600: The Muslim population. The Softas took no part in it, and many Armenians found refuge in the Muslim sections of the city. The first notable battle in the Armenian resistance movement took place in Sasun, where nationalist ideals were proliferated by activists of the Social Democrat Hunchakian Party , or Hunchak , activists, such as Damadian and Boyajian. The Armenian Revolutionary Federation , or
16511-647: The Muslim power in Greater Armenia was seriously troubled by the resurgent Kingdom of Georgia . Many local nobles ( nakharars ) joined their efforts with the Georgians , leading to liberation of several areas in northern Armenia, which was ruled, under the authority of the Georgian crown, by the Zakarids-Mkhargrzeli , a prominent Armeno-Georgian noble family. To escape death or servitude at
16720-589: The Oltu river. The voices of the militaristic factions in the Armenian government were strengthened by the successes in Zangibasar and Penek, therefore, the army prepared to retake the districts of Vedibasar and Nakhchivan; the advance into the former began on 11 July and by the next day, Armenian forces had recaptured the district and Boyuk Vedi, reaching the boundary of the Erivan and Sharur-Daralayaz districts at
16929-675: The Ottoman Empire's treatment of its Christian minorities and increasingly pressured the Sublime Porte to extend equal rights to all its citizens. Beginning in 1839, the Ottoman government implemented the Tanzimat reforms, among its many goals to improve the situation of non-Muslim minorities, although these would prove largely ineffective. In 1856, the Imperial Reform Edict promised equality for all Ottoman citizens irrespective of their ethnicity and confession, widening
17138-620: The Ottoman Empire. The Ottomans, in refusing to countenance Armenian pretensions to the highland portion of the Elizavetpol Governorate , offered Armenia the entirety of the Nor Bayazet uezd , and parts of the Erivan , Etchmiadzin , and Alexandropol counties, essentially confining it to an area of 4,000 square miles (10,000 square kilometres). When news of the Armenian victories at Abaran, Karakilisa, and Sardarabad reached
17347-462: The Ottoman Empire. The position of educated and privileged Christians within the Ottoman Empire improved in the 17th and 18th centuries, and the Ottomans increasingly recognized the missing skills which the larger Ottoman population lacked, and as the empire became more settled it began to feel its increasing backwardness in relation to the European powers. European powers on the other side, engaged in
17556-467: The Ottoman government; a public declaration of the Western Bureau printed in the official announcement was directed to "Ottoman Citizens". The June issue of Droshak ran an editorial about it. There were overwhelming numbers of Armenians who served the Empire units with distinction during Balkan wars. The Armenian reform package was an arrangement negotiated with Russia, acting on behalf of
17765-513: The Ottoman territory awarded to Armenian totalled 16,216 square miles (42,000 square kilometres). According to reporter Tatul Hakobyan , a total of 87,000 square kilometres (34,000 square miles) were awarded. For the Armenia–Azerbaijan–Georgia territorial disputes, Article 92 of the treaty provided for the arbitration of frontiers by the "Principal Allied Powers" if the states couldn't determine it themselves through "direct agreement" by
17974-602: The Ottomans. From the outset of the Trebizond Peace Conference, the Ottomans demanded that the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk serve as the basis of peace negotiations, which was only accepted by the Trancaucasian delegates weeks later on 5 April. Due to this delay, the Ottomans continued their advance and reached the pre-war 1914 Russo-Turkish frontier by the end of March. On 11 May, a new peace conference
18183-717: The Paris Peace Conference was inconclusive on the status of Nagorno-Karabakh, the governor-general, Khosrov bey Sultanov , dissolved the Armenians' autonomy and issued an ultimatum on 19 February 1920; thereby the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh were being coerced into permanently becoming part of Azerbaijan. The ultimatum was accepted by 45 Armenian representatives in Shusha , but was rejected by representatives who had gathered in Shosh who "categorically rejected any possibility of union with Azerbaijan". Receiving news that Azerbaijan intended to "move against Zangezur" again on 25 March, agents from
18392-569: The Parthian threat, Verus set out for the east. His army won significant victories and retook the capital. Sohaemus , a Roman citizen of Armenian heritage, was installed as the new client king . The Sassanid Persians occupied Armenia in 252 and held it until the Romans returned in 287. In 384 the kingdom was split between the Byzantine Empire and the Persians. Western Armenia quickly became
18601-526: The Patriarch. The goal was to persuade the Armenian clerics to bring their policies into alignment with the national politics. They soon forced the patriarch to join a procession heading to the Yildiz Palace to demand implementation of Article 61 of the Treaty of Berlin . It is significant that this massacre, in which 6000 Armenians are said to have perished, was not the result of a general rising of
18810-423: The Romans retook control of the kingdom. Under Nero , the Romans fought a campaign (55–63) against the Parthian Empire , which had invaded the kingdom of Armenia, allied to the Romans. After gaining (60) and losing (62) Armenia, the Romans under Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo , legate of Syria entered (63) into an agreement of Vologases I of Parthia , which confirmed Tiridates I as king of Armenia, thus founding
19019-493: The Southwest Caucasus Republic dissipated when it defied British directives by backing Muslim insurgents in the counties of Akhalkalaki and Akhaltsikhe to resist Georgia. This prompted the Georgian government to unite with Armenia's in opposing the Southwest Caucasus Republic's existence. Consequently, the Kars Oblast (excluding western Olti and northern Ardahan ) was annexed to Armenia, falling under
19228-662: The State did not have direct return to Armenians in such cases. The national liberation movement of the Balkan peoples (see: national awakenings in Balkans ) and the immediate involvement of the European powers in the Eastern question had a powerful effect on the hitherto suppressed national movement among the Armenians of the Ottoman Empire – on the development of a national liberation ideology. The Armenian national liberation movement
19437-858: The TDFR—on 23 February, with the Dashnaks representing the Armenians, the Musavat the Muslims and Caucasian Tatars, and the Mensheviks the Georgians . On 2 March, a delegation from the Seim was scheduled to depart to participate in the Trebizond Peace Conference with the Ottoman Empire; however, by the time of the conference, Soviet Russia had signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with the Central Powers , ceding Kars and Batum to
19646-627: The Tanzimat reforms had given Armenians more rights, the ARF hoped to gain autonomy to govern Armenian populated areas of the Ottoman Empire as a "state within a state". The "Second Congress of the Ottoman opposition" took place in Paris, France, in 1907. Opposition leaders including Ahmed Riza (CUP), Sabahheddin Bey (Liberal), and Khachatur Maloumian (Dashnak) attended. During the meeting, an alliance between
19855-489: The Treaty of Batum. Though denying Armenia official recognition, Germany promised a conference whereby the treaties would be "revised". Armenian representatives in the Ottoman capital humbled themselves as to "expressing gratitude" to the unsympathetic Enver Pasha for tolerating the Armenian republic's establishment. Enver rejected any notion of the Armenian republic expanding its borders, observing that he had consented to "a small Armenian state that could never in any way affect
20064-521: The Turkish army occupied the city of Kars, "which was supposed to be impregnable", "it was to be the last day the Armenian flag would fly over the citadel of Kars". According to a French source, "fatigue, starvation, lack of clothing and equipment" disorganised the 25 thousand men defending Kars, enabling its capture by 12 thousand Turks. The fall of Kars led to the capture of thousands of officers, 2 thousand of whom were taken to Erzurum for forced labour and internment. There were 1,500 Armenian casualties after
20273-451: The Turkish invasion of May–September 1918, including 25,000 in the Kars Oblast. In the six-months of Turkish occupation of Eastern Armenia, particularly in the region of Pambak , Armenians were used as "bayonet practice" by Turkish soldiers. Hovannisian estimates that at least 8,000 young men were taken to Erzurum for slave labour, and 125,000 livestock, 30,000 agricultural equipment, 6,000 carts and 18,000 tons of foodstuffs were confiscated by
20482-472: The Turkish invasion, Georgia was averse to "tie its fate with that of the beleaguered Armenians". Turkish envoys assured the Georgian government that Turkey would present no threat to them, and wouldn't object to Georgia occupying "certain territories in contention with Armenia". Georgia had already attempted to assert its authority in Armenian-held Ardahan, though with limited success. During
20691-413: The Turkish resistance movement and overestimated their own strength and potential". On 30 September, Armenia mobilised men up to 35-years-old. The Turkish attacks on Merdenek , Sarıkamış, and Kağızman displaced some 50 thousand Armenians. According to American High Commissioner Mark Bristol , "the Armenians had started the trouble by moving into Olti in the summer". Though the Georgian press had denounced
20900-581: The Turks' reinforcements were close. According to the UCLA historian Richard G. Hovannisian , "If peace were not concluded and the tide of victory turned in favor of the Ottomans, the consequences would be disastrous". Armenian negotiators on 30 May informed the Ottoman delegation at Batum that Armenia would accept Turkish conditions for peace, thereby initiating the Batum Conference between Armenia and
21109-697: The Urartian capital of Van towards 585 BC, effectively ending the sovereignty of Urartu. According to the Armenian tradition, the Medes helped the Armenians establish the Orontid dynasty. After the fall of Urartu around 585 BC, the Satrapy of Armenia arose, ruled by the Armenian Orontid dynasty , which governed the state in 585–190 BC. Under the Orontids, Armenia during this era was a satrapy of
21318-646: The Urartian king Rusa I at Lake Urmia and destroyed the holy Urartian temple at Musasir . At the same time, an Indo-European tribe called the Cimmerians attacked Urartu from the north-west region and destroyed the rest of his armies. Under Ashurbanipal (669–627 BC) the boundaries of the Assyrian Empire reached as far as Armenia and the Caucasus Mountains. The Medes under Cyaxares invaded Assyria later on in 612 BC, and then took over
21527-722: The Volunteer Army was defeated in the North Caucasus region by the victorious Bolsheviks; in light of this, the League of Nations and the Supreme Allied Council formally recognised Georgia and Azerbaijan as de facto governments over the region. Armenia's recognition followed on 19 January; the recognition was used as a last-ditch effort to prevent the sovietisation of the South Caucasus. As
21736-514: The Zoroastrian religion. The Armenians greatly resented this, and as a result, a rebellion broke out with Vartan Mamikonian as the leader of the rebels. Yazdegerd thus massed his army and sent it to Armenia, where the Battle of Avarayr took place in 451. The 66,000 Armenian rebels, mostly peasants, lost their morale when Mamikonian died in the battlefield. They were substantially outnumbered by
21945-440: The attack, of whom 500 were killed. Another source writes that 6,000 Armenians were massacred by the Turks following the capture of Kars. In the span of two months, Armenia "lay prostrate in defeat"; Karabekir imposed on Armenia the Treaty of Alexandropol on 3 December 1920, whereby the latter denounced the Treaty of Sèvres and was confined to the province of Yerevan, thereby ceding Kars, Nakhchivan, and Surmalu. The other terms of
22154-399: The battles of Abaran , Karakilisa , and Sardarabad , whereby local Armenian forces emerged victorious. In retaliation for their losses, the Turkish divisions defeated by Armenians massacred several thousand villagers. On 26 May, after secret negotiations with Germany , the Georgian delegates of the Seim declared the independence of Georgia ; Azerbaijan followed suit two days later. With
22363-492: The campaigns of Tamerlane . In addition, there were the century-long Ottoman-Persian Wars between the rival empires, the battlegrounds of which ranged over Western Armenia (therefore large parts of the native lands of the Armenians), causing the region and its peoples to be passed between the Ottomans and Persians numerous times. The wars between the arch-rivals started from the early 16th century and lasted till well into
22572-524: The capital Artaxata . Trajan then deposed the Armenian king Parthamasiris (imposed by the Parthians) and ordered the annexation of Armenia to the Roman Empire as a new province. The new province reached the shores of the Caspian Sea and bordered to the north with Caucasian Iberia and Caucasian Albania , two vassal states of Rome. As a Roman province Armenia was administered by Catilius Severus of
22781-473: The centres with a high concentration of Armenians lost their geographic continuity (parts of Van , Bitlis , and Kharput vilayets ). Over the centuries, tribes of Turks and Kurds settled into Anatolia and Armenia, which was left severely depopulated by a slew of devastating events such as the Byzantine-Persian Wars , Byzantine-Arab Wars , Turkish migration , Mongol Invasions and finally
22990-577: The centuries. Armenian involvement on the international stage would have to wait until the Armenian national awakening , which the Armenian Question , as used in European history, became commonplace among diplomatic circles and in the popular press after the Congress of Berlin (1878). While Armenian nationalism developed later than Greek nationalism , the two movements share more similarities than those of other ethnic groups. The Great Powers Great Britain, France and Russia took issue with
23199-462: The city. In discussions of a territorial settlement, the Armenian negotiators ultimately offered to drop their claim on the Akhalkalaki district in return for the entirety of the Lori neutral zone, however, Georgia was only willing to drop its claims on the districts of Olti and southern Lori. During its independence, Armenia established diplomatic relations with 40 countries. By 10 January 1920,
23408-451: The civil governorship of Stepan Ghorghanyan [ hy ] —this allowed for the repatriation of 60,000 Armenians (out of more than 100,000 had fled in April 1918). As a result of the annexation, Armenia increased its territory to "more than 17,000 square miles (44,000 square kilometres)". In an announcement to parliament, Armenian prime minister Alexander Khatisian announced that as of 3 June 1919, 300,000 Armenians had been resettled in
23617-644: The collapse of the TDFR, the Armenian National Council , based in Tiflis (present-day Tbilisi ) and led by Russian Armenian intellectuals representing Armenian interests in the Caucasus, declared Armenia's independence on 28 May 1918. The council dispatched Hovhannes Kajaznuni and Alexander Khatisian , both Dashnaks, to Yerevan to assume power, and issued the following "intentionally vague" statement on 30 May (retroactive to 28 May): In view of
23826-606: The commander of the "united troops of the Soviet Russia and Red Turkey in Nakhichevan" addressed the Armenian army in Şahtaxtı, proclaiming Soviet rule over the rest of Nakhchivan, thereby ending the Armenian campaign. As no country was willing to assume the mandate over Armenia, the peace conference decided to only assign it the vilayets of Erzurum , Van , Bitlis , and Trebizond , with the precise boundary to be arbitrated by American president Woodrow Wilson . Although
24035-523: The conference, the Ottomans agreed to a "minor territorial rectification" whereby an additional 400 square miles (1,000 square kilometres) in the Alexandropol uezd were relinquished "for the sake of the friendly relations that have begun". The Treaty of Batum was thereafter signed on 4 June. In June 1918, German officials informed Armenian representatives in Istanbul that Germany would not recognise
24244-479: The country of Czecho-Slovakia or the state of Illinois ". During the League of Nations's discussions regarding Armenia's application to join the organisation, it was stated that "Wilson's award might expand the territory from the existing 70,551 square kilometers, or 26,305 (actually 27,232) square miles, to as much as 214,000 square kilometers, or 80,000 (actually 82,604) square miles". According to Hewsen and Walker,
24453-591: The crusaders the title of baron. The Third Crusade and other events elsewhere left Cilicia as the sole substantial Christian presence in the Middle East. World powers, such as Byzantium, the Holy Roman Empire, the papacy and even the Abbasid caliph competed and vied for influence over the state and each raced to be the first to recognise Leo II , Prince of Lesser Armenia, as the rightful king. As
24662-486: The currency reserves and the reserves of gold and silver, including customs duty. Sixteen of the eighteen most important bankers in the Ottoman Empire were Armenian". Ottoman Armenians were overrepresented in commerce. As middleman minorities , despite the wealth of some Armenians, their overall political power was low, making them especially vulnerable. After Constantinople fell to the Ottoman Turks in 1453,
24871-407: The current region of Diyarbekir ; however, the precise locations of both Armani and Ibla are unclear. Some modern researchers have placed Armani (Armi) in the general area of modern Samsat , and have suggested it was populated, at least partially, by an early Indo-European-speaking people. Today, the modern Assyrians (who traditionally speak Neo-Aramaic , not Akkadian ) refer to the Armenians by
25080-592: The dead ranging from 80,000 to 300,000. The Hamidian massacres are named for Sultan Abdul Hamid II, whose efforts to reinforce the territorial integrity of the Ottoman Empire resulted in the massacres. Ottoman officials involved in the Sasun uprising , who were previously defeated in the First Zeitoun Rebellion , did not want the formation of another semi-autonomous Armenian region in the Eastern vilayets. In Sasun, Armenian activists were working to arm
25289-565: The dissolution of the political unity of Transcaucasia and the new situation created by the proclamation of the independence of Georgia and Azerbaijan, the Armenian National Council declares itself to be the supreme and only administration for the Armenian provinces. Because of the certain grave circumstances, the national council, deferring until the near future the formation of an Armenian National government, temporarily assumes all governmental functions, in order to take hold
25498-410: The dissolution of the short-lived Transcaucasian Federation . It was the first Armenian state since the Middle Ages . In its first year of independence, Armenia was confined to a small territory around Lake Sevan after its invasion by the Ottoman Empire during the Caucasus campaign . Following the Armistice of Mudros , Armenia expanded its borders in the wake of the Ottoman withdrawal, leading to
25707-425: The district, formed as a means to prevent clashes between Armenian soldiers and local Muslims of up to 10,000 armed men. British sympathy to the Aras Republic was reversed under the authority of Major-General William Montgomerie Thomson who suspected Pan-Turkic influence in Nakhchivan due to the presence of Azerbaijani and Ottoman envoys. Thomson believed that Azerbaijan and the Ottoman Empire were scheming to "forge
25916-510: The earliest certain attestation of the name "Armenia" comes from the Behistun Inscription (c. 500 BC). The earliest form of the word "Hayastan", an endonym for Armenia, might possibly be Hayasa-Azzi , a kingdom in the Armenian Highlands that was recorded in Hittite records dating from 1500 to 1200 BC. Between 1200 and 800 BC, much of Armenia was united under a confederation of tribes, which Assyrian sources called Nairi ("Land of Rivers" in Assyrian"). The Kingdom of Urartu, also known as
26125-418: The eastern (and much larger half) became a vassal state within the Sassanid realm. In 428, the Arsacid dynasty of Armenia was completely abolished by the Sassanid Persians, and the territory was made a full province within Persia, known as Persian Armenia . Persian Armenia remained in Sassanid hands up to the Muslim conquest of Persia , when the invading Muslim forces annexed the Sassanid realm. In 591,
26334-406: The empire brightened when the country returned to constitutional monarchy. Two of the largest revolutionary groups trying to overthrow Sultan Abdul Hamid II had been the Dashnak and the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP) a group part of the Young Turks movement. In a general assembly meeting in 1907, the ARF acknowledged that the Armenian and Turkish revolutionaries had the same goals. Although
26543-437: The entire building itself. However, intervention on part of the European diplomats in the city managed to persuade the government to give safe passage to the survivors to France. Despite the level of violence the incident had wrought, the takeover was reported positively in the European press, praising the men for their courage and the objectives they attempted to accomplish. The years between 1894 and 1896 ended, with estimates of
26752-407: The establishment of the Armenian Arsacid dynasty. The Armenian people then adopted a Western political, philosophical, and religious orientation. According to Strabo, around this time everyone in Armenia spoke "the same language." From Pompeius ' campaign Armenia was, for the next few centuries, contested between Rome and Parthia/Sassanid Persia on the other hand. Roman emperor Trajan even created
26961-451: The folk and to recruit young men by motivating them to the Armenian cause. 50,000 Turkish and Kurdish troops started the offensive in Sasun, where 500 fedayees had to defend 20,000 unarmed people. The Armenians were headed by Andranik Ozanian along with Kevork Chavoush , Sepasdatsi Mourad , Keri, Hrayr Tjokhk , and others. The events of the Hamidian massacres and Sultan Abdul Hamid II's continued anti-Armenian policies gave way for
27170-465: The following year, the number of refugees declined to 310,835. By late 1920, about 360,000 (almost half of Armenia's population of 720,000) or 200,000 refugees remained. By the time relief aid reached Armenia, some 150,000–180,000 refugees (20 percent of the population) had perished due to famine, exposure, or hunger. According to a report from February 1919, 40 percent of the inhabitants of the district of Sardarapat had died. By April 1919, 40 percent of
27379-527: The following year, the number of refugees fell to 263,393. During this period, there was a flow of Western Armenian refugees from Azerbaijan and the North Caucasus . In 1918 to the spring of 1919, the number of refugees from Western Armenia was estimated to be 300,000, with 100,000 residing in "makeshift shelters or abandoned military barracks" in Alexandropol alone. In November 1919, the number of refugees again rose, reaching 333,170 and consisting of 284,870 Western Armenians and 48,300 Eastern Armenians. In April of
27588-404: The former, falling back to Selim where they believed the Turks would strike. Accompanying the civilian population, Armenian forces retreated eastwards to more defensible positions. After Karabekir announced his successes to Kemal, the latter ordered a temporary halt to the invasion, fearful of Allied or Russian intervention. The Turkish victory had indicated that "the Armenians had underestimated
27797-411: The hands of those who had assassinated his relative Gagik II , King of Ani , an Armenian named Roupen with some of his countrymen went into the gorges of the Taurus Mountains and then into Tarsus of Cilicia. Here the Byzantine governor gave them shelter in the late 11th century. Two great dynastic families, the Rubenids and the Hethumids , ruled what became in 1199, with the coronation of Levon I ,
28006-404: The heads of intellectuals". On 18 June 1920, Armenia issued an ultimatum to the Muslim insurgents in the outskirts, some 15 kilometres (9.3 miles) of Yerevan, to submit to Armenian rule. Having no expectation that the ultimatum would be answered, the Armenian army launched an offensive to recapture the rebelling villages on the following day; the Armenians were victorious on 21 June and had secured
28215-678: The inhabitants of eight villages near Etchmiadzin and 25 percent of the sixteen villages in Ashtarak perished. During the winter, the population of the district of Talin declined by 50 percent, and nearly 60 percent of Armenians in Surmalu died of starvation. American historian Richard Pipes writes that Soviet estimates place the number of Armenians who perished due to famine and disease at 300,000. In 1919, 19,000 inhabitants of Yerevan contracted typhus and 10,000 died from exposure, famine, and pestilence. By mid-1919, 200,000 inhabitants of Armenia had perished; according to Hovannisian, there were 8.7 births and 204.2 deaths per 1,000 persons, yielding
28424-496: The initial difficulties in Armenia–Georgia relations , the two governments signed a transit treaty on 3 November 1919 which was "substantive and immediate in its economic implications". The half-million Armenians in Georgia were "resented" by the Georgians due to the former's "decades-long ... dominance in Tiflis". In the Georgian capital, the Armenians had suddenly become a "disadvantaged minority", most who were civil servants were dismissed, and refugees and families were evicted from
28633-564: The interests of the new Turkish empire". On 30 October 1918, the Armistice of Mudros was signed, thus ending hostilities between the Ottoman Empire and the Allies . The armistice only stipulated the Ottomans' withdrawal to the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk boundaries, thereby allowing their armies to winter in Kars and Batum. Throughout November, Ottoman forces evacuated the Erivan Governorate, thereby Armenia gained 6,000 square miles (16,000 square kilometres) of formerly-occupied territory. An estimated 50,000–100,000 Armenians had been massacred during
28842-473: The khanates of Erivan and Nakhichevan in 1828. Due to Russian colonial policies, large numbers of Armenians from Persia and the Ottoman Empire repatriated to Russian Armenia. Armenians had already formed a majority in some regions, such as Nagorno-Karabakh, and this migration bolstered their numbers in the area. In particular, the Erivan Governorate regained an Armenian majority for the first time in several hundred years, and these regions would later "form
29051-416: The kingdom's inhabitants between pro-Catholic and pro-Apostolic camps. Armenian sovereignty lasted until 1375, when the Mamelukes of Egypt profited from the unstable situation in Lesser Armenia and destroyed it. Armenians in the Ottoman Empire Armenians were a significant minority in the Ottoman Empire . They belonged to either the Armenian Apostolic Church , the Armenian Catholic Church , or
29260-454: The last remnant of medieval Armenian statehood. Cilicia acquired an Armenian identity, as the kings of Cilicia were called kings of the Armenians, not of the Cilicians. In Lesser Armenia, Armenian culture was intertwined with both the European culture of the Crusaders and with the Hellenic culture of Cilicia. As the Catholic families extended their influence over Cilicia, the Pope wanted the Armenians to follow Catholicism. This situation divided
29469-400: The late 1820s, due to the Greek Enlightenment and Greek War of Independence setting an example of non-Muslims gaining independence against the Ottoman Empire. Russia stood to benefit from the decline of the Ottoman Empire; on the other hand, Austria and the United Kingdom deemed the preservation of Empire to be in their best interests. The position of France changed several times over
29678-399: The latter policy prevailed in the case of Penek. Armenian and Turkish reports confirmed the presence of Turkish soldiers operating in the district; in spite of this, the Armenian offensive to capture the western half of the Olti district began on 19 June 1920. By 22 June, the Armenian army had converged on Penek and ousted its Turko-Kurdish defenders, setting the new Armenian–Turkish frontier at
29887-568: The law . Despite their importance, Armenians were persecuted by the Ottoman authorities, especially from the latter half of the 19th century, culminating in the Armenian Genocide . In the Byzantine Empire , the Armenian Church was not allowed to operate in Constantinople ( Istanbul ), because the Greek Orthodox Church regarded the Armenian Church as heretical . The Ottoman Turks early on encountered Armenians , and their conquest of Constantinople gave them legitimacy in ruling over them. Armenians were thus governed as dhimmis , or People of
30096-667: The learned professions taught at the schools that had opened throughout the Ottoman Empire , the chief occupations of Armenian Ottomans were trade and commerce, industry, and agriculture. In the empire, Armenians were raised to higher occupations, like Calouste Sarkis Gulbenkian was a businessman and philanthropist. He played a major role in making the petroleum reserves of the Middle East available to Western development. The Armenian Press and literature during this period established institutions that were critical; this attitude has been invaluable in reforming abuses and introducing improvements in Armenian communities. Thus their critical instinct
30305-446: The main advisors of the National Bank of Turkey and the Turkish Petroleum Corporation, which later became the Iraqi Oil Corporation. Historian A. Tchamkerten writes "Armenian achievements in the Empire was not only in trade, however. They were involved in almost all economic sectors and held the highest levels of responsibility. In the 19th century, various Armenian families became the Sultan's goldsmiths, Sultan's architects and took over
30514-461: The main kingdom acquired the name of Greater Armenia . The new kings began a program of expansion which was to reach its zenith a century later. Their acquisitions are summarized by Strabo. Zariadris acquired Acilisene and the "country around the Antitaurus", possibly the district of Muzur or west of the Euphrates . Artaxias took lands from the Medes, Iberians, and Syrians. He then had confrontations with Pontus , Seleucid Syria and Cappadocia, and
30723-451: The members of the first Crusade appeared in Asia Minor, the Armenians developed close ties to European Crusader States . They flourished in south-eastern Asia Minor until it was conquered by Muslim states. Count Baldwin , who with the rest of the Crusaders was passing through Asia Minor bound for Jerusalem, left the Crusader army and was adopted by Thoros of Edessa , an Armenian ruler of Greek Orthodox faith. As they were hostile towards
30932-405: The men of six villages and destroying "300 Muslim villages ... since the beginning of 1918". Conversely, 25,000–40,000 Armenians in western Azerbaijan were massacred by the Azerbaijani–Ottoman advance in 1918, forcing the survivors to gather in the three remaining Armenian villages (of 51 originally); further, thousands of Armenian women and girls were abducted during the advance, in an extension of
31141-469: The minister of war of the Aras Republic, Kalb Ali Khan Nakhichevanskii [ ru ] , thereby effecting the annexation. Beginning in July 1919, a series of insurgencies against Armenian rule erupted in the Kars and Nakhchivan regions, fostered by Azerbaijani and Turkish envoys who instructed local Muslims to resist. The insurgencies were motivated by the British military withdrawal from Armenia which took place in mid-June. The town of Böyük Vedi and
31350-462: The mountain pass known as the "Wolf's Gates"—this again caused the local Muslims to flee, now southward to Sharur . On 14 July, the Armenian advance continued through the Wolf's Gates into the Sharur district, capturing it two days later whilst the locals fled across the Aras river into Iran. Before the Armenians could advance into the Nakhichevan uezd proper, the national council ( Azerbaijani : milli şura ) of Nakhchivan appealed for peace, however,
31559-418: The name Armani. It is possible that the name Armenia originates in Armini , Urartian for "inhabitant of Arme" or "Armean country." The Arme tribe of Urartian texts may have been the Urumu, who in the 12th century BC attempted to invade Assyria from the north with their allies the Mushki and the Kaskians . The Urumu apparently settled in the vicinity of Sason , lending their name to the regions of Arme and
31768-400: The nearby land of Urme. Thutmose III of Egypt , in the 33rd year of his reign (1446 BC), mentioned as the people of "Ermenen", claiming that in their land "heaven rests upon its four pillars". Armenia is possibly connected to Mannaea , which may be identical to the region of Minni mentioned in the Bible. However, what all these attestations refer to cannot be determined with certainty, and
31977-430: The negotiations only served in delaying Armenia's advance, after which the town of Şahtaxtı some 40 kilometres (25 miles) northwest of Nakhchivan was captured. By this time, the 11th Army of Soviet Russia (which had previously sovietised Azerbaijan ) reached southern Nakhchivan to form a link with Kemalist Turkey — through this link, Russia hoped to bolster its supply of weapons and ammunition to Turkey. Colonel Tarkhov,
32186-427: The new Armenian capital, was constructed at the kingdom's apogee in 964. The Iranian Sallarid dynasty conquered parts of Eastern Armenia in the second half of the 10th century. Although the native Bagratuni dynasty was founded under favourable circumstances, the feudal system gradually weakened the country by eroding loyalty to the central government. Thus internally enfeebled, Armenia proved an easy victim for
32395-408: The newly established Armenian and Azerbaijani republics engaged in a two-year war over their territorial ambitions. The disputed regions were principally Nakhchivan, Zangezur, and Nagorno-Karabakh. In the 18,000 km (6,900 sq mi) of mountainous highlands of the Elizavetpol Governorate which were mostly controlled by Azerbaijan yet claimed by Armenia, Armenians formed "nearly 70 percent of
32604-419: The night of 28–29 November 1920. On 29 November, the Revkom issued its declaration, proclaiming Soviet rule in Armenia—the declaration began as follows: By the will and desire of the insurgent labouring people of Armenia, the Armenian Communist Party declares Armenia from this day a Socialist Soviet Republic . Henceforth, Soviet Armenia's Red Flag will protect the working people from the centuries-long yoke of
32813-434: The nucleus" of an independent Armenia. Armenian nationalism was rooted in the "long textual tradition" of clerics and scholars. According to historians Edmund Herzig and Marina Kurkchiyan, "in the late eighteenth and through the nineteenth centuries a coherent sense of Armenians as a nation with a distinct and distinguished history was spread by patriots, teachers, writers, and revolutionaries". The Russian offensive during
33022-406: The oppressed peoples of Armenia and Macedonia. Andranik participated in the First Balkan War alongside Nzhdeh as a Chief Commander of 12th Battalion of Lozengrad Third Brigade of the Macedonian-Adrianopolitan militia under the command of Colonel Aleksandar Protogerov . His detachment consisted of 273 Armenian volunteers. On 5 May 1912, the Dashnak Party officially severed the relations with
33231-432: The oppressors History of Armenia The history of Armenia covers the topics related to the history of the Republic of Armenia , as well as the Armenian people , the Armenian language , and the regions of Eurasia historically and geographically considered Armenian . Armenia is located between Eastern Anatolia and the Armenian highlands , surrounding the Biblical mountains of Ararat . The endonym of
33440-422: The patriarch could imprison or exile Armenians at will; and while they were compelled to secure the consent of the Sultan to imprison or exile laymen of their community, the necessary firman was easily obtained. The patriarchal system of government, in placing civil powers in the hands of high ecclesiastics, was an outcome of the fact that the Sultan made no distinction between church and community, and often lent
33649-436: The period between c. 4000 and 2200 BC. The earliest evidence for this culture is found on the Ararat plain ; thence it spread to Georgia by 3000 BC (but never reaching Colchis ), proceeding westward and to the south-east into an area below the Urmia basin and Lake Van . From 2200 BC to 1600 BC, the Trialeti-Vanadzor culture flourished in Armenia, southern Georgia, and northeastern Turkey. It has been speculated that this
33858-454: The peripheries of Yerevan, leading the Azerbaijani population to flee to Aralık in the nearby Surmalu uezd to avoid retribution. Occurring simultaneously with the Armenian counteroffensive against insurgents near Yerevan, an attempt was made to seize the coal reserves in Penek . Armenian policy towards integration of Muslim areas was split between peaceful civilian incorporation with local autonomy and military invasion and threats, ultimately,
34067-418: The political and administrative helm of the Armenian provinces. With the success in the May battles in Abaran, Karakilisa, and Sardarabad, Armenian commander Movses Silikian was urged by the Armenian military command to chase out the Turks whilst they were on the run, however, Silikian refused and ordered his forces to halt. This is due to the fact that the Armenian forces' ammunition were nearly exhausted, and
34276-413: The population"; the claimed boundaries were designed to incorporate a maximum number of Armenians, 300,000, also incorporating "a minimum number of Muslims", 90,000. If Armenia successfully incorporated the highlands of Elizavetpol, its population, "according to pre-war statistics", would rise to 1.797 million, including 1.169 million Armenians. According to Hovannisian, a population exchange whilst practical
34485-413: The power of the caliphs, and established the province of Arminiya . Nonetheless, there were still parts of Armenia held within the empire, containing many Armenians. This population held tremendous power within the empire. Emperor Heraclius (610–641) was of Armenian descent, as was Emperor Philippikos Bardanes (711–713). The emperor Basil I , who took the Byzantine throne in 867, was the first of what
34694-411: The powers of the Patriarch, the newly formed Armenian National Assembly , and the rights and privileges of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire. Patriarch Mikrtich issued a decree permitting women to have equal votes with men and asking them to take part in all elections. The Armenian National Assembly had wide-ranging functions. Muslim officials were not employed to collect taxes in Armenian villages, but
34903-584: The pre-war Russo-Ottoman border. Intended to hinder the westward expansion of the fledgling Armenian and Georgian republics into the Kars Oblast, the Ottomans backed the establishment of the Southwest Caucasus Republic with moral support, also furnishing it with weapons, ammunition, and instructors. The Southwest Caucasus Republic administered the entire Kars and Batum oblasts as well as neighbouring occupied districts for some three months before provoking British intervention, leading to its capitulation by Armenian and British forces on 10 April 1919. British tolerance of
35112-402: The presence of early humans at this time. In the 1960s, excavations in the Yerevan 1 Cave uncovered evidence of ancient human habitation, including the remains of a 48,000-year-old heart, and a human cranial fragment and tooth of a similar age. The Armenian Highland shows traces of settlement from the Neolithic era. Archaeological surveys in 2010 and 2011 have resulted in the discovery of
35321-547: The provisional Ottoman government failed to win support for ratification of the Treaty of Sèvres, remnants of the Ottoman Army's XV Corps under the command of Kâzım Karabekir , who had orders from the Ankara Government to "eliminate Armenia physically and politically", invaded Armenia on 28 September 1920. After unsuccessful Turkish manoeuvres in Sarıkamış, Armenian military command, not believing its 2.5 thousand and 1.5 thousand man garrisons in Sarıkamış and Olti-Merdenek, respectively, were enough to hold those positions, evacuated
35530-402: The rebellion. As the Armenian army was dispatched by Armenia to assist the rebels, the Red Army put an end to the Azerbaijani republic through an unabated invasion. An ultimatum by the Red Army—which supplanted the Azerbaijani army following the latter's sovietisation—prompted an the army's withdrawal from Nagorno-Karabakh. The region's Armenian inhabitants blamed the Armenian republic's agents and
35739-470: The recovered documents on the Armenakans showed an extensive plot for a national movement. Ottoman officials believed that the men were members of a large revolutionary apparatus and the discussion was reflected on newspapers, ( Eastern Express , Oriental Advertiser , Saadet , and Tarik ) and the responses were on the Armenian papers. In some Armenian circles, this event was considered as a martyrdom and brought other armed conflicts. The Bashkaleh Resistance
35948-403: The region and absorb Muslim-controlled Nakhchivan, however, were forced to retreat some days later due to their defeat in battle, despite initially meeting success on all fronts. According to Hewsen, Armenia's foreign policy objectives consisted of "obtaining foreign aid to prevent its people from perishing, ... securing international recognition ... and ... placing Armenia under the protection of
36157-538: The region. After the Ottoman conquests many Armenians also moved west and settled in Anatolia, in large and prosperous Ottoman cities like Constantinople and Smyrna ( İzmir ). The remaining Ottoman Armenia, composed of the Six vilayets ( Erzurum , Van , Bitlis , Diyarbekir , Kharput , and Sivas ) up to World War I, under Ottoman rule, was also referred to as Western Armenia . There were also significant communities in parts of Trebizond and Ankara vilayets bordering Six Vilayets (such as in Kayseri ). Aside from
36366-421: The reign of Sarduri I (834–828 BC), Urartu had become a strong and organized state, and imposed taxes on neighbouring tribes. Sarduri made Tushpa (modern Van ) the capital of Urartu. His son, Ishpuinis , extended the borders of the state by conquering what would later be known as the Tigranocerta area and by reaching Urmia . Menuas (810–785 BC) extended the Urartian territory up north, by spreading towards
36575-434: The reports of large-scale massacres of the local Armenians in the Nakhchivan region, amounting to 10,000 dead and 45 villages destroyed. During the insurgencies, only the Volunteer Army of Anton Denikin sent ammunition to replenish the Armenian army. By late 1919, Armenia lost control of the peripheries of the Kars and Surmalu regions, as well as the entirety of Nakhchivan. In 1918, after attaining independence from Russia,
36784-417: The republic was largely based around Mount Ararat ; Further names include the Republic of Erivan, and the Erivan Republic, as Yerevan was the principal city of the republic. These terms were often used by Ottoman Armenians and the Armenian diaspora who regarded the country as "only a dusty province without Ottoman Armenia whose salvation Armenians had been seeking for 40 years". It has also been known as
36993-403: The retreating Ottoman army. The richest areas were left barren, stripped of crops, animals, tools, and any movable possessions. Little trace remained of the former Armenian villages, with all clothing, furniture, utensils, pottery, and even doors and windows taken. Along the railway, no functioning locomotives or freight cars were left, and each station lay in ruins. In Alexandropol , rubble filled
37202-414: The revolution, were still engaged in combat, the Transcaucasian Commissariat signed the Armistice of Erzincan with the Ottoman Empire on 18 December. On 30 January 1918, the Ottoman Empire in violation of the armistice, launched an offensive to recapture Western Armenia. Delegates of the major South Caucasian political parties established the Transcaucasian Seim —the representative and legislative body of
37411-439: The right to establish their own prisons for the incarceration of offending Armenians, and in no case should an Armenian be imprisoned in an Ottoman prison. The Armenian National Assembly also had the power to elect the Armenian Governor by a local Armenian legislative council. The councils later will be part of elections during Second Constitutional Era . Local Armenian legislative councils were composed of six Armenians elected by
37620-407: The scope of the 1839 Edict of Gülhane . The reformist period peaked with a Constitution written by members of the Young Ottomans , which was promulgated on 23 November 1876. It established freedom of belief and equality of all citizens before the law. "Firman of the Reforms" gave immense privileges to the Armenians, which formed a "governance in governance" to eliminate the aristocratic dominance of
37829-405: The soldiers—using this pretext, Armenia fomented insurrection, thereby elevating tensions. Skirmishes began on 7 December, and escalated in Armenia's favour, with them coming within 30 miles (48 kilometres) of Tiflis, after which Allied representatives demanded a ceasefire. Armenia was unsuccessful in its objective of occupying lands up to the Khrami river and was pushed back by Georgian forces to
38038-517: The streets after the Turks set off explosives and ammunition before withdrawing. Hovannisian further adds: "As the Armenian soldiers advanced, the full significance of the saying, 'the Turk has passed here,' was bruisingly demonstrated". As a result of the Turkish invasion, 200 villages were plundered, half the vineyards in the Aras River valley were ruined, 200,000 large-horned animals were chased away in addition to thousands of carts of agricultural implements, and 80 percent of households were deprived of
38247-438: The summer of 1918 was packed with "at least six hundred thousand refugees", one of the factors that led him to write that "of the three Transcaucasian republics Armenia suffered the greatest hardship in the fateful years 1918–1920". By December 1918, there remained 350,000 refugees distributed throughout the Armenian republic, in addition to 30,000 who had accompanied Armenian partisan commander Andranik to Zangezur. In February of
38456-426: The taxes in all the Armenian villages were to be collected by Armenian tax-collectors appointed by the Armenian National Assembly. Armenians were allowed to establish their own courts of justice for the purpose of administering justice and conducting litigation between Armenians, and for deciding all questions relating to marriage, divorce, estate, inheritance, etc., appertaining to themselves. Also Armenians were allowed
38665-413: The three parties was officially declared. The Dashnaks decided to cooperate with the CUP, hoping that if the Young Turks came to power, autonomy would be granted to the Armenians. Andranik Ozanian participated in the Balkan Wars of 1912–1913 alongside general Garegin Nzhdeh as a commander of Armenian auxiliary troops. Andranik met revolutionist Boris Sarafov and the two pledged to work jointly for
38874-577: The time of the delineation of Armenia's western frontier. On 10 August 1920, the same day that Armenia signed the Treaty of Sèvres which set their western frontier, a treaty with Soviet Russia was signed which set their "preliminary" eastern frontier; the agreement provided for an end to Soviet–Armenian clashes in Zangezur and Qazax, for Armenia to "occupy" the Şahtaxtı– Xok – Aznabyurt – Bardzruni – Kükü – Gorayk line and in Qazax, "the line they held on 30 July" of 1920. The treaty also recognised Karabakh, Nakhchivan, and Zangezur as disputed districts that Russia
39083-416: The title of Illuminator, because he illuminated the spirits of Armenians by introducing Christianity to them. Before this, the dominant religion amongst the Armenians was Zoroastrianism . Scholars have suggested that Armenia adopted Christianity "partly . . . in defiance" of the Sassanids. In 405–06, Armenia's political future seemed uncertain. With the help of the king of Armenia, Mesrop Mashtots created
39292-453: The treaty effectively made Armenia a Turkish puppet state. However, the treaty was later declared null by the new authorities in Yerevan who had sovietised the country the previous day. "In consequence of Turkish, and, presumably, Communist, massacres", 200 thousand Armenians were massacred. Another estimate places the number of Armenians massacred by the Turkish army during the war at 100 thousand. Turkish–German historian Taner Akçam mentions
39501-405: The two and a half years of its existence, Armenia formed diplomatic relations with 40 countries, gained de jure recognition, underwent parliamentary elections , and founded its first university . The nation's parliament and government were dominated by the broad Armenian Revolutionary Federation party (commonly referred to as the Dashnaks), however, the cabinet posts were initially shared with
39710-412: The upper hand in battle, seeing them as becoming "nothing more than an Ottoman vassal state". With his three-thousand-strong force, Andranik "pushed over Nakhichevan into Zangezur", where he remained for the duration of the war, destroying Tatar villages and expelling their inhabitants. Thereby the Armenians "retained control in Zangezur". In early November 1919, Azerbaijan launched a campaign to incorporate
39919-429: The village cluster around it served as a symbol of defiance for Muslims in Armenia. As the insurgencies raged, the Azerbaijani diplomatic envoy to Armenia, Mahammad khan Takinski [ az ] , transferred funds to the insurgents and apprised the Azerbaijani government of developments—earlier, he had worked to forestall the Armenian annexation of Nakhchivan. Investigations by American relief workers confirmed
40128-421: The village of Sadakhlo by the time of the ceasefire which came into effect at midnight on 31 December. In spite of being pushed back in the last days of the war, Armenia was successful in loosening Georgian control over northern Lori, which the latter had held before the war, insomuch as the region was designated a neutral zone under British supervision. Yale historian Firuz Kazemzadeh wrote that Armenia in
40337-407: The war, the Armenian army fielded 40 thousand men, including 33 generals, more than 2 thousand officers, and 66 colonels. However, the army's structure was "top-heavy with a large, conservative officer corps accustomed to classical battle strategies". On 14 October, the Turkish army resumed its offensive, reaching the Merdenek-Selim-Kağızman line. On 27 October, Karabekir attacked towards Kars, flanking
40546-416: The weight of its authority to maintain the integrity of the church. The Bey or elder was something of a leader for the village, and their house was typically the most luxurious dwelling in a village. It was not uncommon to have three priests for thirty-five families. Most Armenians traveled on horseback to neighbouring villages, sometimes for religious ceremonies (like the Van festival), sometimes to fetch
40755-447: The whole Ottoman Armenian population, this caused some resentment among Ottoman nationalists. Those elite Armenians that did achieve great success were individuals such as Abraham Pasha , and Gabriel Noradunkyan who became Minister of Foreign Affairs . The Dadian family were granted a monopoly over gunpowder production, putting them in a key position in the munitions industry of the Ottoman Empire. Calouste Gulbenkian became one of
40964-401: The world's earliest known leather shoe (3,500 BC), straw skirt (3,900 BC), and wine-making facility (4,000 BC) at the Areni-1 cave complex . The Shulaveri-Shomu culture of the central Transcaucasus region is one of the earliest known prehistoric cultures in the area, carbon-dated to roughly 6000–4000 BC. An early Bronze-Age culture in the area is the Kura-Araxes culture , assigned to
41173-466: Was an Indo-European culture. Other, possibly related, cultures were spread throughout the Armenia Highlands during this time, namely in the Aragats and Lake Sevan regions. Early 20th-century scholars suggested that the name "Armenia" may have possibly been recorded for the first time on an inscription which mentions Armanî (or Armânum) together with Ibla , from territories conquered by Naram-Sin (2300 BC) identified with an Akkadian colony in
41382-435: Was convened in Batum ; the Ottoman delegation stated that as the Ottoman Empire and TDFR were in a state of war, they would no longer recognise Brest-Litovsk and instead presented an alternative treaty by which the TDFR would be also obligated to cede western sectors of the Erivan and Tiflis governorates . Without awaiting the TDFR's consent to the new terms, the Ottomans resumed their offensive in Armenia on 21 May, leading to
41591-450: Was deemed "preposterous" for the Karabakh Armenians because the region's cession "to the Pan-Turanian fanatics will open the door to endless invasions, endanger the peace of the Orient, and shake the political equilibrium off its foundations". Nagorno-Karabakh, despite initially being self-governed , capitulated to British–Azerbaijani pressure and became an autonomous part of Azerbaijan through an agreement signed on 22 August 1919, pending
41800-412: Was established in Eastern Armenia in the wake of the collapse of the Russian Empire . This republic fell under Soviet rule in 1920, and Armenia became a republic within the Soviet Union after its founding. In 1991, with the dissolution of the Soviet Union , the modern-day independent Republic of Armenia was established. Stone tools from 325,000 years ago have been found in Armenia which indicate
42009-421: Was included in the treaty which followed the victory of a group of Anatolian kings over Pharnaces of Pontus in 181 BC. Pharnaces thus abandoned all of his gains in the west. At its zenith, from 95 to 66 BC, Greater Armenia extended its rule over parts of the Caucasus and the area that is now eastern and central Turkey , north-western Iran , Israel , Syria and Lebanon , forming the second Armenian empire. For
42218-411: Was justified through a note from the Azerbaijani government to Armenia, accusing it of attacking nine Azerbaijani settlements. On 18 April, officials from Dilijan and Qazax agreed on a ceasefire agreement that included the repatriation of all displaced residents and the restoration of the former boundary, thereby ending the clashes. Encouraged by the Red Army invasion of Azerbaijan in late April 1920,
42427-401: Was lost in 1045 with the fall of Bagratid Armenia as Cilician Armenia was outside of the traditional Armenian homeland, while Bagratid Armenia was the last major independent Armenian state in the Armenian Highlands . In the centuries after losing its independence, Armenia remained mostly under Muslim Turkic or Persian rule until the Russian annexation of the Karabakh Khanate in 1801 and
42636-421: Was not to be revocable during that period. During World War I, the Ottoman Empire and Russian Empire engaged each other in Caucasus and Persian Campaigns , and the CUP began to look on the Armenians with distrust and suspicion. This was due to the fact that the Russian army contained a contingent of Armenian volunteers . On 24 April 1915, Armenian intellectuals were arrested by Ottoman authorities and, with
42845-415: Was on the Persian border, which the Armenakans were in communication with Armenians in the Persian Empire . The Gugunian Expedition , which followed within the couple months, was an attempt by a small group of Armenian nationalists from the Russian Armenia to launch an armed expedition across the border into the Ottoman Empire in 1890 in support of local Armenians. The Kum Kapu demonstration occurred at
43054-424: Was perpetrated by Dashnaks armed with pistols, grenades, dynamite and hand-held bombs against the Ottoman Bank in Constantinople. The seizure of the bank lasted 14 hours, resulting in the deaths of 10 of the Armenian men and Ottoman soldiers. The Porte's reaction to the takeover saw further massacres and pogroms of the several thousand Armenians living in Constantinople and Sultan Abdul Hamid II threatening to level
43263-608: Was positive, rather than negative. Armenians organized themselves into civil society organizations, including clubs and political parties. Hovsep Pushman was a painter who became very famous in the Empire. During this period Armenians would establish churches, schools, libraries, and newspapers. Sargis Mubayeajian was a prolific and multifarious writer educated in Constantinople. Many of his works are still scattered in Armenian periodicals. Many Armenians, who after having emigrated to foreign countries and becoming prosperous there, returned to their native land. Alex Manoogian , who became
43472-408: Was the Armenian national effort to free the historic Armenian homeland of eastern Asia Minor and Transcaucasus from Russian and Ottoman rule and re-establish the independent Armenian state . Those Armenians who did not support national liberation aspirations or who were neutral were called chezoks . Abdul Hamid II was the 34th Sultan and oversaw a period of decline in the power and extent of
43681-449: Was to occupy without prejudicing the permanent border settlement. Armenia, in reaction to the "furor" among Allied circles caused by the treaty, stated that "In view of the extraordinary pressure exerted from all sides and the fact that the Armenian army was alone and heavily outnumbered, the government had accepted the temporary arrangement in order to win some time. Armenia would nonetheless maintain its firm anti-Bolshevik policies". After
#102897