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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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Western Armenia

Armenian life in Transcaucasia did not develop in isolation. Political, social, and cultural currents among the Eastern Armenians were influenced by and in turn affected those which were emerging across the border. The Western Armenians, too, arose from the political torpor to beseech and to demand. As in the experience of the Armenians of Russia, intellectual revival natured opposition to arbitrary government. Moved by the egalitarian principles of the French Revolution, this Christian minority of the Ottoman Empire came to feel itself deprived of the inherent rights of individuals and nationalities. Disillusioned with the several reform acts promulgated but not enforced during the nineteenth century, the Armenians increasingly turned to the nations of Europe, which, they believed, had the power to determine the fate of the entire Empire. 1 But on the eve of World War I, frustrated by European diplomacy, they looked to Russia as the champion of their cause. These events were to constitute an important stride toward Armenian independence.

The Armenians of the Ottoman Empire

By 1520, most of the Armenian Plateau had been included in the Ottoman realm. In the following decades, thousands of Armenians left the Plateau to settle in Constantinople and the western Anatolian Peninsula, particularly along the seacoasts. There, as interpreters, merchants, artisans, and traders, their importance exceeded their numerical strength. Some reached the higher level of administration and enjoyed the company of the reigning sultan. Most Ottoman Armenians, however, lived in the Empire's eastern pashaliks, where, from generation to generation, they tilled their fields. Although usually at peace with their Moslem neighbours and subservient to the Ottoman officials, the Armenians, as Christians, could not expect equality. Islamic law included special provisions concerning them, the dhimmi – the protected non-believers. In the return for the privilege of professing their religion openly, they were required to pay special taxes and to submit to personal and collective limitations. Though some Christians surmounted this inferior status by converting to Islam, most Armenians held tenaciously to their native dialects and religion.

The ability of the Armenians to maintain their national identity throughout centuries of Turkish domination can be attributed in part to the administrative structure of the Empire. When Mehmet II made Constantinople the Ottoman capital in 1453, the Turkic-Moslem element formed a minority in many areas of his dominions. The sultan reduced his administrative problems by according internal autonomy to the non-Moslem communities. In return, the religious superior of each group was responsible for maintaining order among his people and for collecting the required community levies. The Armenian bishop of Brusa was invited to Constantinople in 1461 and elevated to the rank of Patriarch of all non-Orthodox Christians. His community, the Ermeni Millet, and the Greek Orthodox and Jewish millets, became the three official non-Moslem establishments within the framework of the Empire. 2 The millet system proved workable and beneficial for the Armenians. Even though the Church lacked its former lustre and was weak in intellectual pursuits, it safeguarded the identity of the Armenians by preserving their loyalty to the national faith.