THE FIRST REPUBLIC (FROM
1918 TO SOVIETIZTION IN 1920-1921)
Collapse of Transcaucasian Federation
The
triumph of Bolsheviks in 1917 put an end to the Russian Empire.
In winter 1918, the Armenian, Georgian and Moslem leaders of
Transcaucasia united to convene the Transcaucasian Federation,
which proclaimed the secession of Transcaucasia from Russia.
The Turks, rapturous over the Russian Revolution, took it almost
as a miracle produced by Allah. With the decline of the Russian
military power, the Caucasus front collapsed, and the decaying
Turkish power survived. To prevent the further destruction of
the new Bolshevik State, Vladimir Lenin was forced to conclude
the humiliating Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. The treaty had drastic
consequences for the Armenians. The Turkish forces reoccupied
the lands of the Western Armenia, earlier liberated by Russians.
In late May 1918, under the threat of a new Turkish offensive on
the Caucasus, the Transcaucasian Federation collapsed after only
3 months of existence. In fact, the Federation was a still-born
creature from the very beginning. Insuperable divergences
existed between the Armenian, Georgian and Moslem deputations.
The Georgians were oriented to Germany, and the Moslems to
Turkey, whereas the Armenians, though loyal to the Entente, were
supported by nobody.
On May 26 the independence of Georgia was declared. At the same
time, the Moslems proclaimed a "Musavat Republic of Azerbaijan".
This new Turkish state, created in the historical lands of the
eastern Armenia, immediately and shamelessly laid claims on the
Armenian territories in Karabakh, Zangezur and Nakhichevan.
The independence of
Armenia proclaimed
Left alone, Armenians faced the total annihilation as the 100
thousandth Turkish army crossed the pre-war Russian frontier,
annexed the city of Kars and approached the Armenian capital of
Yerevan. After having depopulated the Western Armenia, the
Turkish military were now about to destroy the rest of Armenia
and achieve their goal of eliminating the Armenian nation.
The Armenians raised an army of 40,000 men, including soldiers,
officers, volunteers and mass levies. At first the Dashnak
leaders wanted to evacuate the population and to surrender
Yerevan, but the Military Council headed by the Colonel Pirumian
finally decided to do battle.
The two armies met on May 28, 1918 near Sardarapat. The battle
was crowned with an outstanding Armenian victory. Some 30
thousand of Turkish soldiers were killed; the Turks were flung
out. Vahib-Pasha, the defeated Turkish commander, termed the
Armenian soldiers as "the best fighters in the world". The
Armenians also held defenses at Karaklis and at Abaran.
On the same day of May 28, 1918 Armenia was proclaimed an
independent republic. However, the embryo state was devastated,
with a dislocated economy, dozens of thousands of refugees and
the population starving. The danger of a new Turkish aggression
was still imminent. Also, the country was soon involved in a
territorial conflict with Georgia. Moreover, the situation in
Karabakh was especially dangerous as the new Azerbaijani state
made a series of ultimatums to the Armenian population.
In September, 1918 the Turkish troops invaded Baku and joined
the Turkish-Azeri mobs in massacring some 30, 000 Armenians.
Dozens of surrounding Armenian villages were destroyed.
The Wilsonian borders
Meanwhile, the European powers found themselves unable to
solve the Armenian Question. The unification of the Caucasian
Armenia with the Turkish Armenia proclaimed by the Armenian
government in 1919 turned out Utopian. After Armenia was
officially recognized by the governments of Allies and by the
United States, the US President Woodrow Wilson was invited to
determine the borders of the Armenian State. According to
Wilson's map, a new Armenia would include most of its
historically belonging lands. The project would never come true.
Armenia falls to
Bolsheviks
Furthermore, Armenia would face the new territorial losses.
Mustafa Kemal, the new Turkish opposition leader, was able to
reach an agreement with the Bolshevik leaders of Russia.
Enthusiastic with the idea of "exporting the revolution
eastward", Lenin and Stalin were prompt in starting an
unprecedented financial and military aid to Kemal. At that time
Armenia exploded into anarchy as the Armenian Bolsheviks rose in
the cities of Nakhichevan, Alexandrople and Kars. The Soviet
government hypocritically negotiated with both Dashnak and
Bolshevik leaders of Armenia. In
August 1920, the Treaty of Sevres, signed by England, France and
Turkey, bound Turkey to recognize the independence of Armenia
and the Wilsonian boundaries. The new Armenian state was
recognized by most of the countries, including the United
States. However, after the triumph of Mustafa Kemal, the Turks,
supported by the Bolshevik Russia, attacked the infant Armenian
Republic again. The Armenian and Russian Bolsheviks played a
fatal role in demoralizing the population and the Armenian army.
The Bolshevik propaganda now called the Turks "socialists" and
"friends of Russians". On the other hand, the victorious Russian
XI Red Army, after successfully Sovietizing Baku, Azerbaijan,
and
Karabakh,
approached Yerevan to "overthrow the Dashnaks". The disoriented
Armenian army retreated, surrendering Kars and the uyezd of
Surmali. The whole Armenian population there was then pitilessly
butchered by the Turks.
On November 29, 1920, Armenia was declared a Soviet state.
New losses
On December 1, 1920 as the news about the Sovietization of Armenia
reached Azerbaijan, Narimanov, the chief of the Revolutionary Committee
of Azerbaijan, surprisingly declared about the cessation of the
Azerbaijan's claims to the Armenian territories and proclaimed Karabakh,
Nakhichevan and Zanguezour, integral parts of Armenia. However, just a
day later, the Narimanov's decree appeared in a slightly different
wording: Nakhichevan and Zanguezour were recognized parts of Armenia,
whereas Karabakh was given the right of self-determination.
Nonetheless, the strange alliance between the Turks and the Russian
Bolsheviks played a fatal role in the final determination of borders.
The Treaty of Alexandropol, signed in December of 1920 asserted the
defeat of Armenia. Then in March of 1921, Turkey and Russia signed a
mysterious Treaty of Moscow to tear Nakhichevan away from Armenia and to
attach it to the Soviet Azerbaijan. In
summer of 1921, the Caucasian Office of the Communist Party of
Bolsheviks held a number of sessions to solve the Karabakh problem. On
July 4, the plenary session issued a decree confirming the belonging of
Karabakh to Armenia. However, on the next day, Stalin convened an
extraordinary session to transfer Karabakh to Azerbaijan. The Treaty of
Kars signed in October of 1921 completed the carve-up of Armenia.
As a result of the Soviet and Turkish manipulations, the territory of
the Soviet Republic of Armenia was reduced to 30,000 square km. Armenia
was even deprived of Mount Ararat, its main symbol.
