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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In Transcaucasia, the new Russian outlook was reflected in amazing curtailment of censorship and in greater freedom of Armenian expressions. Newspapers printed morbid descriptions of conditions across the border. Conservative clergy, bourgeois Constitutional Democrats, compatriotic-philanthropic-educational societies, and socialist Dashnakists and Hntchakists united to demand immediate intercession. Even the Marxist Social Democrats, who had consistently demanded "national-cultural autonomy" had charged that the problem of Western Armenia was being exploited by the enemies of the proletariat, now sought means to defend the Armenians of the Ottoman Empire. 36
In October, 1912, Catholicos Gevork V petitioned for Russian intervention in Western Armenia and applied to Viceroy Vorontsov-Dashkov for permission to travel to St. Petersburg to plead in person. The Viceroy discouraged such a journey but assured the prelate that is supplications would be conveyed immediately from Tiflis to the Imperial Palace. Vorontsov-Dashkov fulfilled his promise. In a lengthy letter to the tsar, the Viceroy reviewed the course of Russian policy in relation to the Armenians. He pointed out that this people had long associated its most ardent hopes with the benevolence of the Russian Crown. Vorontsov-Dashkov regretted the Armenophobia of Lobanov-Rostovsky and the ill-advised deeds of Golitsyn. He urged Nicholas to revive the question of reforms for Western Armenia, since such action would add to the prestige of the Tsar in the region and would strengthen the Russian orientation of the Armenians. 37
Encouraged and assisted by Vorontsov-Dashkov, Armenian leaders arranged for a conference of representatives from many communities throughout the Romanov Empire. Convening in Tiflis in November, 1912, the meeting concerned itself with Western Armenian problems and elected a permanent bureau
- to assist the Catholicos in his efforts to mitigate the distress of Western Armenians;
- to establish contact and coordinate activities with Armenian communities abroad;
- to propagandise among Russian public and official circles to ensure a favourable settlement. 38
Catholicos Gevork then appealed to Nicholas to include the subject of reforms on the agenda of the London Conference, which had been summoned to establish peace in the Balkans. 39 At the same time, the primate ceremoniously enjoined Poghos Nubar, son of former Armenian premier of Egypt, 40 to advance the national cause by utilising his influential European contacts. 41 Gevork was notified through Vorontsov-Dashkov that placing the Armenian problem before the entire Concert of Europe was unwise, especially as unanimity was not expected at the London Conference and the consequences would be unfavourable to the Armenians. 42 For the time being, Russia apparently wished to maintain her monopoly in the question.
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