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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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Russia in Crisis, July-November, 1917

Smith's evaluation of the crisis in Russia and on the front was accurate. The provisional Government was unable to rule, and the socialist parties that dominated the Petrograd Soviet would not rule. Most orthodox Marxists and SR's continued to postulate that immediate assumption of dull power was incompatible with the "two-stage revolution" formula. To check the mounting popular dissatisfaction with the government and to rally public support, Kerensky advocated a successful military campaign. Reminiscent of Plehve's desire on the eve of the 1904 conflict with Japan for a "victorious little war," Kerensky's exuberance lead to the July 1 offensive along the Austrian front. After initial success, however, the unenthused soldiery balked. Instead of complying with orders to advance, the military soviets engaged in polemics, attempting to define the point at which "defensive war" transformed into "aggressive war." While Russian soldiers attended mass rallies and listened to professional agitators, the German Army struck a potent blow that shattered the enemy and multiplied Russian desertions, disorder, and impatience. 80 Angry mobs swarmed through the streets of Petrograd on July 16-17, demanding that the Executive Committee of the Soviet seize power. Russia was saturated with the ineffectiveness of governmental duality; the only body capable of ruling, the Petrograd Soviet, was now pressured to accept the responsibility. The Bolsheviks joined the spontaneous movement and led the familiar chant, "All Power to the Soviets." Still, the Executive Committee refused to yield to the popular manifestation. Instead, the Provisional Government, releasing a rumour that Lenin was a German agent, called in loyal troops, who dispersed the demonstrators and, on July 18, destroyed the Bolshevik headquarters and the offices of Pravda. 81 The episode of the "July Days" forced Lenin underground and prompted another modification in Bolshevik tactics. In August, the sessions of the party's Sixth Congress no longer rand with the tumultuous cry, "All Power to the Soviets," for it was those same soviets that had just betrayed the Revolution. 82

Prince Lvov's cabinet did not survive the "July Days." Suppression of the Bolshevik-supported demonstrations was followed by formation of a new coalition government in which Kerensky assumed the ill-fated post of Minister-President. 83 Transcaucasia again remained loyal to the Provisional Government and the Petrograd Soviet. On July 20, the executive committees of the several regional soviets at Tiflis jointly announced news of the liquidation of the "July Days" and summoned all Transcaucasians to preserve order. In their resolution reaffirming fidelity to the central government and condemning all activities not authorised by the soviets, Social Revolutionaries, Mensheviks, Armenian Social Democrats, Dashnakists, Moslem leaders, as well as some Bolsheviks were unanimous. 84

Although temporarily discredited, the Bolsheviks were again swept to the foreground as a result of the September affair known as "Kornilovshchina." A feud between Kerensky and the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, General L. G. Kornilov, climaxed in the latter's march on the capital "to save the country from anarchy and maximalism." The General was arrested and the responsibilities of his post were assumed by the Minister-President, but the attempted putsch so alarmed Kerensky and the Petrograd Soviet that imprisoned Bolsheviks were released, armed, and enrolled in the "Red Guard," which was formed to defend the Revolution. Russia now edged leftward politically as numerous soviets passed under the spell of the Bolshevik-Left Social Revolutionary coalition. Enjoying more popular support than ever, the Bolsheviks again gave their approbation to the slogan, "All Power to the Soviets." 85 Adoption of Bolshevik-sponsored resolution in those soviets was no longer a rarity. From Kornilovshchina to the November Revolution, the national crisis intensified; disintegration of the army, anarchic encroachments by peasants, lockouts and strikes in labour, an unbearable inflation – all contributed to the crescendo of radicalism. The Provisional Government was held responsible for the misfortunes, and the coalition cabinet, they, too, were implicated. The Russian people began to wonder if, after all, the Bolsheviks did not offer the correct solution to the dilemma.