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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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Military Aspects

The period of inactivity in Armenian military history, postponed by Turanian rule, came to an end with the arrival of the 19th century. The intervention of Russia in Asia Minor led the Armenians to resume their old military customs and traditions.

Although the Russian government did not begin conscription in Transcaucasia until 1886, the Armenians in Eastern Armenia and Transcaucasia were active in the Caucasus wars throughout the 19th century, with Armenian officers and commanders members of the tsarist army, and volunteer soldiers enlisting during war time..

Several Armenian noblemen in Georgia and Eastern Armenia devoted themselves to military offices in the Russian government, whilst Armenian volunteers were numbered amongst the Caucasus forces under the Russian tsarist banner, and participated in battles whenever the flames of the war were ignited.

The most significant Armenian participation in these wars was during the Russian-Persian war from 1826 to1827. We have already mentioned General Madatian, who was one of the heroes of this war. 59 Madatian originated from Karabakh and had joined the Russian army. Having participated in the previous war of the empire, he joined the Russian commander Yermolov in the Caucasus and delivered several services already mentioned in connection with the wars in Transcaucasia and Daghestan. As the historian Baldag observes, the glory of Yermolof was founded to a large extent on the brilliant victories of Madatian. 60 His extensive knowledge of the nature of the region and its population made him an extremely valuable ally for the Russians. It was he who conscripted and organised a cavalry unit of the local population (Armenians, Turks, Tatars), a force which according to Baldag served well for the Russians.

We have mentioned above the outstanding victory which General Madatian accomplished on September 28, 1826, in Schamkhor; and his victorious rescue of Tbilisi at the beginning of the 1826-1827 war against the Persian army. 61

In the same war, the Armenians of Karabakh formed the famous six-week long defence of the city of -Shushi which changed the outcome of the war completely. The Armenians of Karabakh and Georgia, and subsequently the Armenians in the province of Yerevan, formed volunteer units which fought side by side with the Russian soldiers. 62 The Armenian bishop in Tbilisi and the future Catholicos Nerses, who according to Varandian was a Garibaldi in clerical garb, precipitously helped the Russian commander. "He was always seen together with General Paskevitch long in to the hours of the night and he slept in the tent of the general so that, in the morning, with the cross in his hand, he could take his place at the front of the Russian army." 63 For his role in the victories of the Russian forces, Catholicos Nerses received the Diamond Medal of St Alexander Nevoski from Tsar Nicholas I.

During the war in Armenia against the Ottoman Empire, which General Paskevitch led from 1828 to 1829, the role of the Armenians was even more noteworthy, particularly their involvement in two glorious campaigns. A brave Armenian, by the name of General Behboudian, who originated from Armenian nobility in Georgia, led the heroic defence of the fortress in Akhaltsikh which the Turks had besieged during the winter of 1828-1829. General Behboudian, trapped in the fortress with some army units, not only withstood the Turkish attacks, but broke out of the fortress in the beginning of March to start a counter-offensive, defeating the enemy and forcing them to end the siege. 64