Map Close  
Person info Close  
Information Close  
Source reference Close  
  Svenska
 
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

Previous page Page 213 Next page Smaller font Larger font Print friednly version  
The Eastern Question

"As soon as the Turks appeared in Europe, a new question by the name of the Eastern Question emerged." Albert Sorel

According to Francis de Pressensé, the Armenian Question was one of the several pages in this vast and terrifying Eastern Question. This chapter will treat with this topic, in particular in regard to its impact on the development and expansion of the Armenian Question. 1

The Turanian Deluge

At a certain point it seemed as if the whole of Asia and Europe would fall under the sway of the Turanian tribes; the forces in the West and the East, however, stemmed the flood of the nomadic tribes and drove them back towards their homeland.

In Eastern Asia, Turanian power had begun to decay during the 14th century. It was at this time that the Chinese were posed to liberate themselves from the Mongolian Yuan tribes. Before long, all that remained of the Turanian Empire in the Eastern Middle East was the Mongol rule in India. This rule survived until the 18th century, falling at the arrival of the English.

In Russia the duchy of Moscow liberated itself from Tartar rule at the end of the 15th century and then successfully drove the Tartars back in an offensive during the 16th century, defeating the Khanates in Ghazan and Hashtarkhan. During the 17th and 18th centuries, the Russians continued these campaigns, dissolving the branch of the Turanian family which had become a political stronghold in the region.

We should not overlook the role which the Cossacks played in the battle against the Turanians along the borders of Europe. The Cossacks and oppressed peoples subjected to the religious harassment of the government, and peasants who yearned for freedom and independence, were ready to leave Russia and the Ukraine. In particular the Cossacks in Danube and the Ukrainian Cossacks, who were called the Zaporogues, and later the Cossacks of Kouban, were the foremost weapon of the Tsar in the war against the Turanians, through whom the tsars liberated southern and eastern Russia and then conquered Siberia.

The heroic deeds of the Cossacks were only one indication of the progress of the Russians, a mighty agricultural population, who reclaimed lands from the Turanian tribes. In these arable and pasture lands, which had become steppes or destitute places, the Russians settled down with their families and thus reopened the border of Europe and northern Asia for the network of world trade.

The branch of the Turanians, to which the Turks belonged was stopped in their march towards the heart of Europe, by countries such as Austria-Hungary and the regents of the Habsburg family, countries which during the 16th and the 17th centuries traditionally served as the banks of Europe. Prince Ovjan Saviv and Charles, two valuable soldiers in the service of the Austrian court, were both participants in these wars. It was the battle of Saint Gotthard, in 1663 which, like the sea battle at Lepante a hundred years earlier, halted the advance of the Ottomans. However, the Ottomans did not retreat before the middle of the 18th century, with the rebirth of Russia.