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 286 Next page Smaller font Larger font Print friednly version  
Calming Measures and Vorontsov-Dashkov

Only a few months after the massacres in Baku, 1905 revolution took place in Russia, which with forcing the Russian government through extensive strikes and armed revolts to put an end to the war in Manchuria, make important concessions to the Russian revolutionary movement, and moderate its policy of oppression.

Government pressure on non-Russian people gradually lessened and a national counsel, known as the Duma, was established by the initiative of Prime Minister Veif.

It soon became clear, however, that these measures were taken only to win more time. Before long, Veif had resigned from office and the aggressive, oppressive policy towards non-Russian people resumed. Nevertheless, government harassment and oppression had been considerably harnessed in by the revolutionary movement.

Indeed, it was this aggressive policy and harassment of the St Petersburg government in regard to the Armenian Church, the massacres in Baku, the oppression of the Finnish people, and the killing of Jews, that awakened rebellious sentiments among the general public, liberal organisations and the intellectual class. 57

In France, Delcasse, who was a genuinely good-hearted man as well as influential, was appointed foreign minister. During his term in office, St Petersburg was trying to unduly direct the French-Russian alliance. On several occasions, the French foreign minister clearly explained that France was concerned with the Armenian Question. Moreover, events in Transcaucasia had undoubtedly roused reactions within the Russian government itself, with the effect that certain members of the government drifted further away from Oriental methods and warmed to ideas of the western world. According to Dillon, the Danish Queen Mother Dagmar, who abhorred the treatment of the Finns and the Armenians, affected the replacement by the tsarist Russian government of the ill-famed Golitsyn with -Vorontsov-Dashkov as crown prince and governor of Transcaucasia. 60

Vorontsov-Dashkov, an elderly gentleman, came from one of the most prestigious noble families in Russia. The old nobility, with their royal privileges, proved to be more just and courageous than those who had newly received their privileges, and were willing to commit questionable deeds to achieve more power and riches.

-Vorontsov-Dashkov, who was a good-hearted and optimistic man, soon came to realise that the anti-Armenian policy, as dictated by his superiors in St Petersburg, was not only intolerable but also dangerous, creating an enemy from those who during the past had rendered valuable service for the empire. Their loyalty was diminishing only because of the treatment that they received from the tsarist Russian police state. Vorontsov-Dashkov admonished the administration in St Petersburg: "I do not understand why you have fallen out with the Armenians. A people with such a great affection for its religion, its family and its property cannot be anything else than an element for order and security."