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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 Organization of New Armenia

New Armenia had adapted the western feudal system, in contact as it was with the crusaders and the eastern states which were ruled by Latin princes and lords who spoke French, lived in a French way and followed the customs and principals of the French feudal system. This new political arrangement distinguished New Armenia from the old kingdoms.

The kingdom of New Armenia had its great king Levon II, called the Magnificent, to thank for these basic reforms as well as for the majority of the political, administrative and judicial organization of the country. 106 Levon II managed to blend the old Armenian customs with the new and modern western knowledge during the Middle Ages, telling of his competence in political science.

This great regent grasped what the crusaders told him of political system in the western world, and attempted to improve on them. He therefore enacted similar though not exact replicas of the western rules, reviewing and adapting them according to the customs and sentiment of the Armenian people, its characteristics and needs.

He devoted much consideration to preserving the foundation and structure of the Armenian organizations, keeping the constitution, ownership rights and particularly the religion in their original forms. What he did change was the external form of government; the Armenian system of government was reviewed, the court was adapted to the western system, and new administrative units were established.

Nevertheless, most of these changes were consistent with the feudal system. The feudal system, dominant during this period in all other governments, remained as the foundation for Armenian society. Adapted to suit the western model, the feudal system was no longer a source of weakness, which had been the case in old Armenia, but now reinforced power by reinstating the nobility's subjugation to the king, owing him their loyalty and obedience in return for their properties and privileges.

When Levon II was crowned, he decreed the ownership rights of the barons and the grand nobilities over the fortresses, cities, villages, palaces and lands and even granted them new lands; but at the same time he impressed upon them their responsibilities and tasks towards the court and the crown. The properties of the nobilities were no longer private, but belonged to the power and the will of the king. The king could at any time retract properties belonging to a baron who had failed to fulfil or disclaimed his promises or duties towards the crown. As in the western world and in contrast to the customs of old Armenia, the barons and the grand nobilities, regardless of the size of their properties or conquests, were regarded as the subjects of the king and no longer had independent power over these properties.

The Armenian nobility had assumed the right to sentence their subjects to death, although according to the forgotten laws of old Armenia, it was only the king who had the right to sentence someone to death. By reinvigorating the old system, Levon II prevented the barons and the grand nobility from misusing their rights and assumed the real task of a king: to defend the weak against the power and the injustice of the upper class.


106) About the structure of the administrative system and the government of New Armenia see the works by Dulaurier, Étude sur l'organisation politique, religieuse et administrative de Royaume de la Petite Arménie, Paris, 1861 and V. Langlois, Essai historique sur la constitution sociale et politique de l'Arménie sous les rois de la dynastie roubénienne, St Petersburg, 1860