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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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Whether Armenia had continued its existence as an independent nation or as a part of another civilized power, it would have continued its contribution to the civilization and the enrichment of world culture, but history deprived it of this chance. At the moment when its civilization was at its cultural height and was forging new path forward, its destiny was shattered by the invading Turanians.

Lynch writes: "The ruins of Ani cast a strong light on the character of the Armenian people and reveal the distinct features of their talent and thoughts. These buildings prove that the Armenian people belong to the few nations which have shown them-selves capable of having their own high culture. And they also proof that the Armenians acted as a link between Byzantine, with its Roman culture, and the Asiatic countries. Finally fell the sad blow of the destiny, which prevented the rebirth of the Armenian nation, precisely when this people, with their regained political freedom, were building up and developing their skills and talents within different areas." 153

Armenia and Byzantine Empire

"The Armenian people have a glorious place in the history of the world. As far as concerns the resistance against the Arabs and the Turks over several centuries, the leadership of the Byzantine army and the influence on the result of the crusades, there is no doubt as to its role. It has found a way, even until now, to sustain and protect its characteristics features, and finally, it is an indispensable tool to preserving the balance and the future in West Asia." J. Laurent

In the French school of historyat the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th century, academics such as Charles Diehl, Alfred Rambaud and Gustave Schlumberger, decided to review the history of the Byzantine Empire, to reveal its true character and prove that there was more to its destiny than just its bloody end. They wanted to show that in addition to the empty and trivial religious disputes, coup d'états, the mass-murdering and the blind acts of vengeance, there was also an heroic history and struggle spanning eleven centuries; a country, which at that time, was the forerunner of civilization at the boundary of Europe, a country without which the present Europe may not even have existed.

This, academic study, including Bury and Bussel from England, Geltzer from Germany and Jorga from Rumania, clarified the important role of Armenia and some of its historical periods 5, and the participation in this great epoch of its soldiers, leaders and high governmental officials, politicians and counsellors, and even the Armenian emperor of Byzantine. 6

Byzantine, Its Role and Significance

In order to understand the role which Armenia has played during the period of Byzantine rule, it is necessary to look at Byzantine, the eastern branch of the ancient Roman Empire.

The entire eleven century of Byzantine history (330-1435 A.D.) which Charles Diehl labelled "Blood, Voluptuousness and Death", after the title of Maurice Barrés' book, cannot (of obvious reasons) be included in this history of Armenia.