Meanwhile, the Russian government was gradually emptying Armenians from offices within the army and the government, posts in which Armenians since the beginning of the 19th century had excelled in. The effects of this policy could already be seen during the First World War (1914-1917), when for the first time since the war against Napoleon there were no Armenian names listed amongst the high-rank commanders in the Russian army. The era of commanders such as Madatian, Behboudian, Loris Melikian, and Lazarian, had come to an end. Men such as Nazarbekian, the conqueror of Dilman, and Bagratouni, the future defender of Baku, reached only the rank of company commanding officer.
Only some renegades, who had "become" Russians and converted to the Orthodox faith, reached higher offices within the St Petersburg elite; together with like-minded individuals from other nationalities, these held the highest offices in the regime. Victor Berard points out that: "Tsarist Russia carefully guided these corrupt individuals away from their nationality and their ethnicity, and awarded both those who betrayed their countrymen and became their oppressor, and also those who converted to the Orthodox faith." 21
With regard to Armenian Question, Victor Berard continues: "The Armenians in Russia, who were gathered around their Catholicos, until 1881 were loyal subjects and were among the most efficient collaborators and advocates of Russian influence abroad. Their soldiers and servicemen in St Petersburg contributed some of the great names in the command of the army and the government. Loris Melikian was an Armenian and commanders such as Lazarian, Arashian and Ter-Ghoukasian were also Armenians. There was a constant flow of Armenians to the Russian Caucasus from Persia and Turkey. But in 1881 the slavery policy or Slavicism was introduced into Russian government." 22 From this date, a period of violence and hostility towards the Armenians began, in line with the malicious foreign policy of Russia. "The saviour, who had forgotten his promises, through changes in the church and the schools, attempted to transform Armenians into Russians. It appeared that the Russian mission, by way of forced assimilation of Armenians with Russians, was to exterminate this people within its borders." 23
Whilst Tsarist rule was pursuing this policy of assimilation towards the Armenians and other Christian non-Russians within the empire, the English political elite, in contrast, was creating a huge empire based on decentralisation and self-governance, which slowly took the shape of a huge syndicate, encompassing different people with common interests.
The Russian oligarchy, however, could not conceive of this effective policy, but insisted stubbornly on the realisation of their impossible aim to create an enormous, homogenous and centralised empire. They did not understand that by respecting the freedom of different parts of the empire and their special characteristics, they could have increased the vitality and might of the empire. On the contrary, they strove to confirm the prediction of Bakonia, who condemned the Russian government, and regarding the Scandinavian-German government, warned: "the creation of a great Slavic government means nothing less than the foundation of a great slavery. The larger such a government is, the heavier its chains will be and its prisons narrower."
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