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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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Russia and Armenian Reforms, 1912-1914

The plight of the Ottoman Armenians was not mitigated after 1908, for governmental directives did not affect the armed, mobile Kurdish bands in the eastern provinces, where Ottoman officials reportedly assisted the marauders. The situation was aggravated when Armenian military contingents left their native districts to participate in the first Balkan War. The dispatches of English, French, and Russian consuls described the unbearable anarchy which had become the rule rather than the exception. 31 As in the reign of Abdul Hamid, the Patriarch's pleas to the government received sympathetic responses and pledges, but effective measures did not ensue. The clamour of protest again extended beyond the borders of the Empire. 32 Armenian communities and Armenophile societies throughout the world called for European intervention. In 1912 Balkan Armenians responded by forming a volunteer unit to assist the Bulgarians against Turkey, while Armenians of Transcaucasia again agitated for Russian involvement in Ottoman affairs. Their cries no longer fell on deaf ears. The Tsar of Russia and his Viceroy for the Caucasus now expressed concern over the injustices to which Ottoman Armenians were subjected. Obviously, by 1912 the foundations of Russian foreign policy had changed radically from the days of Lobanov-Rostovsky.

Paradoxically, the years of reaction following the Russian Revolution of 1905-1907 were characterised not only by the suppression of subversive societies but also by certain measures to pacify the subject nationalities. In Armenian life the latter trend became obvious at the beginning of 1912, when the most of the political leaders tried by the Senate in St. Petersburg were acquitted and freed. There were important reasons in 1912 for satisfying Armenians. By reviving the Armenian question in Turkey, the Tsar not only would regain the loyalty of his Armenian subjects but also would strike a blow against possible anarchy in Transcaucasia. 33 Russian Foreign Minister S. D. Sazonov wrote subsequently:

"A revolt of the Armenians in the vilayets of Asia Minor, bordering upon Transcaucasia, was always possible in view of the intolerable conditions of life there. Such a rising threatened to set fire to our own border provinces…

These observations will make it clear that, apart from a purely humanitarian interest in the fate of an unfortunate Christian people, the desire to maintain order in the most restless of our border provinces obliged the Imperial Government to take initiative in negotiating for the introduction of radical reforms in the Armenian vilayets." 34

More tangible elements in shaping the new Russian policy were Middle East considerations. In 1907, Britain had come to terms with its old Russian rival by concluding an Eastern settlement. One provision divided Persia into zones of influence, with most of the northern provinces awarded to Russia. To protect her interests in this sphere and to plan for possible future expansion, Russia needed a loyal Transcaucasia and a peaceful Western Armenia. 35 Moreover, St. Petersburg feared German economic penetration onto the Armenian Plateau. The Tsar's advisers reasoned that, should the Ottoman government be compelled to introduce Russian-supervised reforms into Western Armenia, the Germans would be excluded from the provinces adjacent to Transcaucasia. Nicholas, his Foreign Minister, Sazonov, and his ambassador at Constantinople, M. N. Giers, were therefore prepared, after fifteen years of silence, to resurrect the Armenian question.