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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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The Negotiations

Meanwhile, Ottoman Armenian leaders, enthused by revived Russian interest, composed petitions and memorandums. A commission of the Armenian National Assembly, the governing body of the Apostolic Christians of the Empire, examined the Patriarchate's archives, tax ledgers, and parish reports to prepare statistics on the Armenian population and its geographic distribution. Another committee selected by the National Assembly drafted what it considered a suitable and applicable reform measure. The resulting project was then submitted to André Mandelstam, chief dragoman of the Russian Embassy at Constantinople. 43 The main provisions of the plan were later incorporated into a Russian scheme, which was relayed in mid 1913 to the embassies of Great Britain, France, Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy. Russia's action drew sharp German protests, and soon the six major powers of Europe were again entangled. Though German Ambassador Hans von Wangenheim, bolstered by his colleagues of the Triple Alliance, vehemently objected to Russian intervention, he was compelled to accept the proposal that the six ambassadors at Constantinople discuss the question. The summer residence of the Austrian ambassador became the usual site for the meetings. 44 There, in June and July, the ambassadors and their appointed commission haggled over the Russian suggestions, which provided for the


  1. unification of the six Armenian vilayets, with the exclusion of certain peripheral districts, into a single province;
  2. selection of an Ottoman Christian or European governor for the province;
  3. establishment of an administrative council and a provincial assembly consisting of both Moslem and Christian elements;
  4. formation of a mixed Moslem-Christian gendarmerie commanded by European officers in Turkish service;
  5. dissolution of the former Hamidiye Kurdish cavalry units;
  6. publication of official decrees in Turkish, Kurdish, and Armenian, with permission to use those languages in legal proceedings;
  7. extension of the franchise only to sedentary elements;
  8. right of each nationality to establish and administer private schools for which special taxes might be levied on members of that community;
  9. selection of a special commission to investigate the extent of Armenian losses caused by usurpation and to supervise restitution in the form of currency or land;
  10. exclusion from the province of Moslem refugee-immigrants;
  11. institution of similar improvements outside the province for areas inhabited by Armenians, particularly Cilicia;
  12. obligation of the European Powers to ensure the enactment of the program. 45


The Ottoman government, excluded from the preliminary negotiations, attempted to counter the Russian project by declaring general reform measures for the entire Empire. The Turkish manoeuvre was rejected by the representatives of the Franco-Russo-British Entente, who were, however, unable to convince the ambassadors of the Triple Alliance to accede to the Russian proposals. 46 Because of the stalemate, Giers for the Entente and von Wangenheim for the Triple Alliance agreed to continue talks, which lasted throughout the remainder of 1913. At last, after numerous impasses and the exchange of voluminous correspondence between the Constantinople ambassadors and their respective foreign ministries, a Russo-German compromise was attained, which, with several modifications, was accepted under duress by the Ittihadist government as the Reform Act of February 8, 1914. 47