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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 anti-Hamidian currents were spurred on by army officers who revived the opposition within the Empire during the first years of the twentieth century. In 1907 these groups, whose strength was concentrated in the headquarters of the Ottoman Macedonian Army, merged with Ahmed Riza's "Young Turks" faction to found Ittihad ve Terakki ("Committee of Union and Progress"). As the party's chief representative, Riza then attended the second congress of Ottoman liberals, convoked primarily on the initiative of Dashnaktsoutiun. The congress, meeting in Paris, pledged to overthrow Abdul Hamid's regime by swiftest means, not barring revolution. 23 Already events within the Empire were leading toward mutiny. When Ittihadist conspirators in the Macedonian Army were in danger of being exposed, they marched on Constantinople and demanded that the constitution be restored. With little alternative, Abdul Hamid yielded on July 24, 1908, and agreed to play the role of a constitutional monarch. A cabinet dominated by Ittihadists assumed the helm of government. 24

The Armenians had not participated in the actual coup, but they rejoiced at the victory of the army and its Ittihadist commanders. Yet, with the Empire immediately beset by foreign threats, these patriotic officers subordinated liberation to nationalism. Austrian annexation of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgarian declaration of complete independence, Cretan proclamation of union with Greece, Italian invasion of Tripolitania (Libya), and, finally the Balkan wars drove the Ittihadist leaders toward extremism. During those trying years Dashnaktsoutiun remained loyal, urging the populace to support the government and exhorting the Armenian units in the Imperial Army to fight bravely in defence of the Empire. 25

The Counterrevolution and the Ascendancy of the Ittihadist Triumvirate, 1909-1913

The setbacks during the first months of Ittihadist rule provided impetus to the forces of reaction. In 1909, conservative Turkish elements, inspired by the supporters of Abdul Hamid, attempted to overthrow the new government. The constitution again was endangered, but Ittihad ve Terakki was saved by the "Army of Deliverance," which moved into Constantinople and crushed the counterrevolution. Abdul Hamid was dethroned and exiled. 26 Meanwhile, the interlude of the Hamidian reaction brought tragedy for the Armenians. Traditionalist Moslem elements, joined by Turks imbued with new nationalism, massacred between fifteen and twenty thousands Armenians in Cilicia. 27 Though partisans of Ittihad ve Terakki were implicated with the carnage, that party moved to soothe the raging passions by condemning the incident, ascribing it to Hamidian henchmen, and conducting a public memorial service for both Turkish and Armenian citizens who had sacrificed their livers "in defence of the revolution". Enver Bey, the future Minister of War, delivered the eulogy. 28

The attempted coup prompted Ittihad ve Terakki to declare a state of siege in Constantinople. The normal guarantees of the constitution were suspended until 1912. During the intervening years, Talaat Bey, later an influential cabinet member, came to the conviction that there could be no equality in the Empire until all citizens were "Ottomanised". To Talaat, Ottomanisation signified Turkification. 29 By 1911, dissension within the Ittihad party resulted in the formation of a splinter group, the Liberal Union, which the following year succeeded in establishing a cabinet of moderates, pledged to the principles of the original revolution. Unfortunately, continued military failures on the Balkan front and the demands by the victors for territorial concessions, especially Adrinople, contributed to the Ittihadist countercoup of 1913, which culminated in the ascendancy of the dictatorial nationalist elements of Ittihad ve Terakki. The actual functions of government were seized by the triumvirate of Enver, Minister of War; Talaat, Minister of Interior and later, in 1916, Grand Vizier; and Jemal, Military Governor of Constantinople and subsequently Minister of the Marine. The party and the government were theirs until the end of 1918. 30