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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The defence of the costal areas was the responsibility of the barons who resided in the fortresses of Lajazzo, Lamas, Gorigos and Anamour. The defence of the eastern frontiers fell to the barons in Tell-Basher, Ablasta, Bardzer Bert, Vahka and Marash, while the western borders were defended by the barons in Antiochia-MikraA# and Seguik and the barons in the Isauria fortresses. The passage through which one could reach Cilicia was guarded by the barons in Gamar (Demir-Kapou), Portella, Kapan, Gouglak and Bodantes (Bozanti).
Many historians have written about the military perspective of this Armenian state, including Wigram notes the following: "The crusaders came and this warrior people [the Armenians] did not contented themselves with just supplying them with soldiers to increase the forces of Godefroy de Bouillon, but also made sieges such as that of Antiochia possible by supplying the armies with provisions. People sometimes forget that it was the Armenians who made the victory of the first and greatest crusade possible and demonstrated their ability in warfare during the crusade and at other times. The Armenian barons became some of the most loyal and eminent allies. As the crusaders were content to have found such brave allies, the Christian Armenians on their side considered these crusaders as their friends and this alliance continued as long as the crusades lasted, and the Armenians fought side by side with the war heroes of the crusades." 128
The Armenian military engineers also distinguished themselves. For instance, Giua de Tyr mentions the knowledge and competence of siege machinery and catapults of the Armenian engineer, Hanedia, which led to the crusaders' conquest of the city of Tyr, in 1124: "On the 21st of June the Muslims managed to break through and destroy the heaviest siege machine of the crusaders. But an Armenian engineer, who came from Antiochia, with his competence provided the army with different tools and the city soon fell." 130
It is also worth pointing out that Badr el Jamal, the great commander of the Egyptian Fatemian caliphs, who defended the borders of the caliphate against the first assaults of the Seljuk Turks, was of Armenian origin. It was he who began the famous "Armenian era of the Fatemian caliphs", a period which was noted for its affluence. 131 His son, Afdal 132, was one of the most famous warriors on par with his father and it was he who retook Jerusalem from the Seljuk Turks. 133
However, it was the Armenian army itself, which wrote the most important pages in the history of this period, in the countless and indefatigable battles which the forces of New Armenia fought against the armies of Byzantine, the Seljuk Turks of Konya, Aleppo, Homs, Damascus and the other neighbouring Turkish atabegs. Schlumberger has depicted these heroic acts thus: "I see the brave Armenians kings, who with the greatest courage and boldness, ride their beautiful thoroughbred horses and call the brave and the though warriors to an eternal war against the heathens, who are ten times more than themselves. I also see the Catholicos of Sis, with his long wavy beard and his warrior priests who also sit on horses and wave their crosses over this furious mass." 134
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