Map Close  
Person info Close  
Information Close  
Source reference Close  
  Svenska
 
Index

Armenia

The Urartu Civilisation

Victory for Independence

Artashisian Dynasty on the Armenian Throne

Armenia caught between Rome and the Arsacids

The Acceptance of Christianity

Defending Christianity

Armenia Under the Bagratouni Dynasty

Cilicia - the New Armenia

Armenia Under Turanian Rule

The Renaissance or the Resurrection of Armenia

The Eastern Question

Russia in the Caucasus

The Armenian Question

Battle on Two Fronts

Tsarist Russia Against the Armenians

The Revolution of the Young Turks and the Armenian People on the Eve of World War I

The First World War

The Resurrection of Armenia

Armenia on the Road to Independence, 1918

- Armenia on the Road to Independence, 1918

Eastern Armenia

Western Armenia

"The Fateful Years" (1914-1917)

"Hopes and Emotions" (March-October, 1917)

The Bolshevik Revolution and Armenia

Transcaucasia Adrift (November, 1917

Dilemmas (March-April, 1918)

War and Independence (April-May, 1918)

The Republics of Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Armenia

The Suppliants (June-October, 1918)

In conclusion

Soviet Armenia

The Second Independent Republic of Armenia

Epilogue

Previous page Page 273 Next page Smaller font Larger font Print friednly version  
Finally, certain great Armenian notables, led by the authors and political writers Arpiar -Arpiarian and Levon Pashalian, left the Hntchak party and, in 1896, created a new branch of the party with the name of Hntchak Verakazmial (Recreated Hntchak). 33

These parties drafted members and established centres for their propaganda and meetings. Their common goal was the defence of the Armenian people against assaults and massacres; the liberation of Armenia from oppression and enslavement.

With the endeavours of these parties, especially the Dashnak party, who took a more active role during this period 34, the people's sense of affiliation and solidarity grew. Inspired by the propaganda of these parties, the Armenian people re-discovered themselves and their national roots and identity.

These factors combined to give momentum to the Armenian movement, which would open the road towards decency, honour and freedom for the Armenian people.

Battle on Two Fronts

Faced with the massacres in Western Armenia, the Armenian people finally understood that lack of resistance against tyranny and assault bred new assaults, and that armed resistance was unavoidable.

The first drastic measure of an Armenian revolutionary party was the Dashnak party's occupation of Bank Ottoman in August 1896, as mentioned above, in order to force the European major powers to intervene in the massacres.

As the prestigious minister, Delcasse, commented some years later after the revolt in Sasoun, "in a region where the government treats the demands of the people with rifles and executions, it is natural that the opposing side will make itself heard with dynamite."

Over the following years, the Armenians, encouraged by the Dashnak party, formed several volunteer units, ever growing in number in Transcaucasia and Persia, which were sent to Armenia to fight the Turks and the Kurds. In various mountainous areas in Western Armenia, decisive men took to the mountains where they formed guerrilla units and waged guerrilla warfare. The Armenian "Fedayi" (guerrilla warrior) became a mythical figure, heroes for the Armenian people as the Greek "Klephte" or the Serb and the Bulgarian "Haydouk" had been for their respective people. 37 These resistance and defensive acts were in direct retaliation to the Ottoman policy. On January 20, 1902, Delcasse, behind the podium of the French National Senate, stated: "According to my opinion, this is an unavoidable measure as the groups who are continuously plundered, without the plunderers being punished, or subject to assaults and murder attempts, finally realise that any situation is better than living with such a constant and horrifying nightmare."