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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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Armenia, its Position and Political Posture

Now we have come to the end of this part of the history of Armenia,caught between two powerful empires – the Roman and the Persian – managed to maintain its independence or at least its self-government and this during such a time that the entire "known world" was a part of the Roman Empire.

Chapot noted: "Unlike nearby countries, Armenia was inhabited by a warrior people. Therefore it was not because of weakness that the country had come under foreign influence, but due to its geographical position." 97

This natural fortress, Armenia, held a key position in the Middle East. An Armenia under Roman rule meant a constant threat against Mesopotamia, the most fertile part of the Persian Empire. Even more important than Armenia's role as the gateway to the Middle East was its use as a storage place and a base camp. If the Roman Empire wished to attack the Arsacids at the heart of their power base in Persia, the shortest path went from Armenia over the Medes Atropatene (present-day Tabriz in Iran).

An Armenia under Persian rule meant total undisputed control over the areas in Transcaucasia and, moreover, access to the Black Sea, i.e. control of one of the largest and most important trade routes which linked Europe to Asia. 98 This also gave the Persians leverage against Asia Minor, Cilicia and Syria, which constituted some of the richest provinces in the Roman Empire. Ferrero pointed out that the fulcrum of the Roman Empire was the Middle East, with its enormous riches and large population, even though Gaul, conquered later by Rome came in time to be, with its quick economic growth and development, a natural counterbalance. Hence neither of these two opponents could allow Armenia to be annexed to the other empire.

So, how was the problem to be solved ? Should a great Armenia be allowed to flourish as an independent and powerful country in order to keep the two rivals apart? This solution, as Rostovtzeff noted, was neither acceptable to the Romans nor to the Persians, since neither of them could forget the powerful threat which Tigran II had posed.

A division between Rome and Persia was, according to Chapot, a solution which was suitable for Mesopotamia with its open plains and differing tribes who were extremely easy to manipulate, having no striving for independence at all. But this was not a suitable solution for Armenia which "was a mountainous plain and a connected chain of landscapes and home to a specific people with a warlike character, naturally rebellious against any attempts to force them under foreign rule and so concentrated and consolidated that it was as if it was folded over itself."

This was the solution, however, which both sides, Roman and Persian, accepted and it was only the terms of the implementation of that solution that they could not agree upon. Thus Armenia became involved in the eternal wars between these two super powers.

The Persians wanted an Armenia which was independent within its natural borders. Their only stipulation was,, if possible, to appoint a prince of their own dynasty, the Arsacids, to the Armenian throne.