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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

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At the end of the 19th century, Rohrbach stated that the Armenian media, with their high level in creativity and in the quality of their articles, were proof of an European way of thinking amongst a people who lived in the Orient. 164

Later, from 1908-1912, after the revolution of the Young Turks, a greater flourishing of the Armenian media in the cities occurred. In addition to the publications in Constantinople and Izmir, new Armenian papers sprung up in the cities of Erzurum, Van, Trabizond, Erzinjan, Gharehesar, Sivas, Kharpout, Diyarbakir, Mersivan, Ismid, Berdizak, Ghrasoun and Ourdou (Housaper, in Cairo, in August 8, 1952).

The National Sentiment of the Armenian People

This combined progress soon built up a network of centres for Armenian intellectuals. In Armenia itself, these centres consisted of Etchmiadzin, the seat of the Armenian Catholicos and the centre for academy, Van which was the working centre of Khrimian Hayrik, Erzurum due to the existence of the Nersessian College, and -Shushi in Karabakh.

Outside of Armenia, the most important intellectual centres could be found in Constantinople, Izmir, Tbilisi and Moscow. In Western Europe, they were based in Venice and Vienna, because of the presence of the Mkhitarists, in Paris and Geneva, which were important centres for Armenian university students, and eventually Boston, which became the centre of the Armenian intellectuals who had emigrated to the USA.

These places were the melting pots for new and old Armenian opinions, where the foundations for the Armenian renaissance were moulded.

The renaissance, or cultural resurrection, of the 19th century encouraged the Armenians to return to their past and learn about their glorious history. It was through watching the plays, reading the books and seeing the beautiful creations of their forefathers that the Armenians gradually came to know their national identity. As Joseph de Maistre explains: "The soul of a nation is its customs and traditions."

This intellectual awakening of the Armenians was displayed through, for instance, a keener sense of support and compassion between Armenians which went beyond country borders. Armenians in Western Armenia, Eastern Armenia and Persia who had been living completely remote from each other began in the second half of the 19th century to co-operate and help each other. The Eastern Armenians by their contributions and gifts, for instance, aided enormously in the building of the school network in Western Armenia.

In 1872, Artzrouni wrote the following in his paper, Mshak: "Yesterday we were nothing more than a religious congregation, but tomorrow we will be a nation."

The Armenian nation gradually became aware of its unity and solidarity, despite its main division between three different countries and its dispersion throughout the entire world. The Armenians began to feel the mutual bond of their history, and the sharing of the same fate. This blossoming national spirit united the Armenian nation over and above borders.