Category Archives: HISTORY

THE ARMENIAN REVOLUTIONARY FEDERATION IN THE POLITICAL SYSTEMS OF THE WESTERN ASIAN AND EASTERN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES AT THE END OF THE 19TH CENTURY AND AT THE BEGINNING OF THE 20TH CENTURY – 2023-4

Part four: The ARF connections and relations with the Russian revolutionary parties during the First Russian Revolution (1905-1907)

Gevorg S. Khoudinyan

Already in 1904 during the last two months, all the main centers of the Russian Empire were in revolutionary upheaval. Apart from the two capitals, they included Poland, Finland and even the oil region of Baku; where the socialist-revolutionaries and social-democrats of Russia encouraged and with their leaflets called to fighting the multi-national workers who had risen up since December 13. “The Central Committee of the Self-Defense” of the ARF did not stay behind them: the leaflet published by them on December 19 with the abundance of its economic and social demands and consisting of 28 points at once was the most lavish one.

The revolution was ripening in the country, for which the opposition and revolutionary parties of Russia were getting prepared that held their conference held in Paris from September 30 to October 9, in 1904. To invite the latter to a new conference was initiated by the famous priest Gapon (Gevorg Gapon), who brought the people to the streets on January 9, 1905, in the capital Saint Petersburg. In March of 1905, the International Socialist Bureau sent the invitation drawn up by Georgy Gapon to the socialist parties of Russia. On the basis of that, on April 2, 1905, the conference of the revolutionary parties of Russia began their work in Geneva, the participants of which almost entirely had socialist orientation.

Although shortly after the Geneva Conference, double agent E. Azef who submitted a report to the Police Department had distorted the names of the ARF representatives who had participated in the Conference by making Rostom to “Rusten”, Honan Davtyan to “Oman”, and he only kept the code name of Martiros Margaryan – “Safo”, a member of the List body preparing the terror of Sultan
Hamid, but we were able not only to restore them, but also the names of the representatives of the other revolutionary parties.

The Geneva conference proposed the political goal of organizing a “general armed uprising” that would put the fate of the country in the hands of the people, in order to reorganize the empire on democratic-republican principles through the
convening of a Constituent Assembly. The first and the most important task was the convening of the Petersburg or the All-Russian Constituent Assembly, but in parallel to that, the convening of the Finnish Constituent Assembly and the “Polish Constituent Sejm” was being planned. As for the demand to convene the
Constituent Assembly of the Caucasus, it was clearly emphasized that it was about an autonomous region with federal ties to Russia.

In Geneva they also began to form appropriate structures coordinating the efforts of the parties participating in the conference. Moreover, one of them was supposed to work abroad and engage in campaigning and fundraising, and the other one was to operate in the country. The latter is known from the documents of the Tsarist Police Department as the United Combat Committee led by Georgy Gapon. ARF representatives actively participated in the formation and activities of the foreign body uniting the efforts of the revolutionary forces. And as for the armed struggle against tsarism within the country, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation carried it out with its own forces

THE SEEDS OF THE “NATION -ARMY ” CONCEPT IN THE WORK “PITFALL OF GLORY” – 2023-4

Samvel A. Poghosyan

One of the important monuments of the Armenian social, political, legal and philosophical thought is the work “Pitfall of Glory”. It was published in Madras, India, at the end of the 18th century and was planned to become the constitution of the future Armenian state. As the first draft of the constitution, “Pitfall of Glory” has received a lot of attention from historians, jurists and philosophers.

Our goal is to cover the “Pitfall of Glory” from a different angle. No
studies and analyzes were carried out regarding the concept of the “Nation-Army” put forward in the work. The article analyzes the concept of the “Nation-Army” presented in the work in detail. “Pitfall of Glory” is devoted to almost all spheres of the state’s activities, including the army, arming the population and military training. Along with the professional army, it was considered necessary to have the ability to use the fighting abilities of the entire male population at any time.

The aim of the research was to identify the components of the “Nation-Army” concept put forward in the monumental work “Pitfall of Glory”, which were not the subject of study before. All articles related to the issue were covered.

The research was carried out on the basis of the historical comparative method and the principle of historicity.

Discussions of the “Nation-Army” idea have been quite relevant in the recent years. When the state is surrounded by enemies that are several times greater than it is, it is necessary to use its own human and military resources as efficiently as possible.

The purpose of the study is to identify, illuminate and analyze the
conceptual approaches aimed at increasing the defense capability of the future national state in the “Pitfall of Glory” constitutional draft.

We can say with confidence that “Pitfall of Glory” was not only the draft of the first Armenian constitution and the creation of a republic, but also the first Armenian initiative aimed at the formation of the concept of the “Nation-Army”.

RESTORATION OF THE ARMENIAN CHURCH HIERARCHY UNDER ANANIA MOKATSI (942-965) – 2023-3

Vardan A. Aleksanyan

During the long reign of the famous leader of the 10th century, Anania Mokatsi, the Armenian Church faced various internal and external challenges directed against the national-church structures. Anania Mokatsi ascends the throne of the spiritual ruler during the period (during the 40s of the 10th century) of the weakening of the Catholicos power, when national and spiritual unity was threatened. The restoration of the spiritual and religious unity of the country, the establishment of social solidarity were the main guarantees of national security. 

AR FEDERATION (DASHNAKTSUTYUN) IN THE POLITICAL SYSTEMS OF THE WESTERN ASIAN AND EASTERN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES AT THE END OF THE 19TH CENTURY AND AT THE BEGINNING OF THE 20TH CENTURY – 2023-2

Part three: The AR Federations’ connections and relationships with the Russian opposition and revolutionary parties on the eve of the First Russian Revolution (1901-1904)

Gevorg S. Khoudinyan

The article reveals that the tsarist regime in Russia, through its branched agency network, as a result of its persistent and consistent policy of governing oppressed peoples, exploited classes, and parties with radical sentiments, already on the eve of the first Russian Revolution, became a hostage of its own agency network, since its greatest dreg – Azefism – was the embryonic stem of its future revolutionary dictatorship.

PLAY AND THEATRICALITY IN CLASSICAL ATHENS – 2023-2

(plots, masks, and characters)

Albert A. Stepanyan

The main objective of this study is the metaphysics of the urban space of Athens in the classical age. It determined the forms of transition of the social behavior of citizens from ancient religious algorithmic rituals to creative theatricality. Both poles comprised various aspects of human life private and public, political and psychological, legal and religious. However, transitivity was not exhaustive: the poles, although modified, persisted for a long time.

THE EVOLUTION OF THE IDEA OF STATEHOOD IN THE WESTERN ARMENIAN REALITY – 2023-1

On the Occasion of the 160th Anniversary of the Ratification of the National Constitution

Ararat M. Hakobyan

The 30s-50s of the 19th century in the history of Ottoman Empire are known as “Tanzimat”, the period of reforms. In that historical period, a group of enlightened Western Armenian intellectuals, influenced by European progressive revolutions and highly educated there, and inspired by liberating ideas, based on the difficult and disastrous situation of the Western Armenians, as well as taking advantage of the difficult external military-political situation created for Turkey in the middle, started the constitutional movement, as a result of which 1860 was developed over the
years.

ON THE “INDEPENDENCE” OF THE ARMENIAN SSR FROM 1920 TO 1922 – 2022-4

On the occasion of 100th anniversary of the formation of the USSR

Ararat M. Hakobyan

Armenian historians and jurists in different periods gave different
assessments of the state-legal status of the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic
(ASSR) from 1920 to1922. Historians and jurists of the Soviet period, guided by
the Soviet communist worldview, class ideology and methodology, in their works,
for obvious reasons, as a rule, denied the existence of the independent statehood of
the First Republic of Armenia. They tried to present as a period of real
“independence” and “freedom” of Armenia and the Armenian people not only the
existence of 1920-1922 Soviet Armenia, but also the entire period when Soviet
Armenia was a part of the Transcaucasian Federation and the USSR.
Unquestionably, by the modern standards of the historical science, these arguments
do not correspond to reality. The assertion of the Soviet authors that allegedly only
with the “November Revolution” of 1920 and the Sovietization of Armenia did the
Armenian people gain true independence does not correspond to reality.

AR FEDERATION (DASHNAKTSUTYUN) IN THE POLITICAL SYSTEM OF EASTERN EUROPEAN AND NEAR ASIAN COUNTRIES IN THE LATE 19TH – EARLY 20TH CENTURY – 2022-4

Part two: The ARF European Propaganda and the Birth of the “Pro Arménia”

Gevorg S. Khoudinyan

The second general meeting of the ARF, which started on April 5, 1898 and
lasted for about three months, decided to strengthen the propaganda carried out in
favor of the Armenian issue abroad involving in it the best forces of the Armenian
youth studying in European countries.

THE IDEA OF THE INDEPENDENCE OF ARMENIA IN THE PROGRAM DOCUMENTS OF THE HNCHAKYANS (from 1888 to 1915) – 2022-3

Summary

Ashot A. Melkonyan

In the last decades of the 19th century the majority of the Armenian national-political organizations considered the liberation of Western Armenians as their priority within the framework of the Article 61 of the Berlin Congress of 1878. The Hnchakyan party, established in Geneva in 1887, in parallel with the liberation of Western Armenia from the Ottoman yoke, in their program adopted in1888 set a goal of achieving the freedom of the Armenians living under the rule of Russia and Persia, by creating a single liberal-democratic (Ramkapet) republic.

The analyses of the numerous program documents of the Hnchakyans, and especially the articles published in the “Hnchak” newspaper, as well as the study of the practical steps of the party, testify that the leaders of the party had a thorough understanding of the difficulties regarding the liberation of Western Armenia and achieving the distant goal of creating a socialist society. They perceived the idea of Armenia’s autonomy in the context of state independence.

The evasive behavior of the “Young Turks” in issues vital to the peoples of the empire forced many to refuse close cooperation with them. Moreover, while the bloody regime of Sultan Hamid II was in power, according to many Hnchaks, the idea of an independent Armenia should not have been removed from the agenda.

Although the distrust towards the Young Turks was great, the Hnchak party, after 1908 actually bypassed the program provision about creating of a unified Armenian state in the distant future and continued to adhere to the position of preserving the unity of the Ottoman Empire. However, starting from 1912 on the days of the Balkan war, the relations between the Hnchaks and the Young Turks were interrupted.

On June 15, 1915, during the First World War, 20 famous figures from the Hnchakyans party were hanged in Constantinople by the Turkish authorities on charges of intentions to create independent, autonomous Armenia and to alienate part of the imperial lands.

The Hnchak party warmly welcomed the proclamation of the Republic of Armenia at the end of May in 1918. As it is known, the attitude of the Hnchaks towards Soviet Armenia was never hostile. Regardless of the political system, they continued to perceive the Armenian SSR as their homeland, and its status in the Soviet Union as a national-autonomous state entity.

ABOUT ASSESSING THE PERSONALITY AND ACTIVITIES OF TIGRANES THE GREAT – 2022-3

Summary

On the occasion of the 2080th anniversary of the victory of Armenia in the battle of Aratsani in 68 B.C.

Ruben L. Manasseryan

The idea of Tigranes II the Great, widespread in historical works of general nature, as a conqueror, guided by the material interests of the ruling class – “landlords”, according to Y.A. Manandyan, and “slave owners” – private and land owners, according to G. Kh. Sargsyan, is not confirmed by data on the social system of Ancient Armenia and the facts regarding the foreign policy activities of the Armenian king. Large-scale private land ownership was not formed in Armenia; more precisely, it was decisively replaced by state property (ownership). The state, represented by the tsar, acted not only as the supreme owner of the land, but also as the direct exploiter of the communal peasantry in the localities. Armenia of the era of Tigranes the Great typologically belongs to the societies of the East, in which the state (the central apparatus and the provincial administration) is the form of existence of the ruling class (military nobility).

The foreign policy of Tigranes was initially aimed at repelling the threat emanating from the expansion of the great powers: Rome from the West, and Parthia from the East. Already in 92 B.C., during the Roman-Parthian negotiations, an agreement was reached on the future division of the Middle East between the two powers along the Euphrates River. They also considered concluding a military alliance against Armenia.

Tigranes assumed of uniting the political forces in the Middle East, interested in preventing the establishment of the dominance of Rome and Parthia. As a result, he united the Middle East into a great Hellenistic power. Rome, represented by a contemporary of Tigranes, greate political thinker M. T. Cicero, highly appreciated the personality and activities of the Armenian king. Cicero emphasizes the originality of Tigranes’ personality, “hic ipse per se vehemens fuit” – “and he was powerful in himself.”

“Vehemens” is a definition meaning a combination of mighty energy and physical strength. In addition to these properties of Tigranes, Cicero notes the steadfastness, unbrokenness of his fighting spirit (animus), his determination to achieve victory after the defeat during the first stage of the war – the loss of the capital, Tigranakert, the collapse of the state and the transition of the countries of the Eastern Mediterranean under the rule of Rome.

On the banks of the Aratsani River, Tigranes inflicted a heavy defeat on the Roman army of Lucullus. Comparing the tactical actions of the parties, the level of their losses, the subsequent course of action, it should be recognized that the Battle of Aratsani was a defeat of the Romans – a very difficult and bloody one, and a victory for the Armenians. Tigranes thwarted Lucullus’ plans to capture the capital of Armenia and conquer the country, turning it into a Roman province. This is the historical significance of the battle on the banks of the Aratsani in mid-September of 68 B.C.

Tigranes, as a political figure, is characterised by his ability of combining military and diplomatic means to achieve the goal. During 32 years in active politics, the struggle on two fronts against Rome and Parthia, he made neither a single serious miscalculation, nor a single mistake. His foreign policy is an example of expanding opportunities, expanding the socio-political base – the basis of his dominance, which was the self-governing Hellenistic policy in the Middle East. Accession in Syria in 83 was his biggest diplomatic success, which resulted in the formation of the largest Hellenistic power in the Middle East, and Rome for 15 years lost hope of conquering the Eastern Mediterranean. The most important diplomatic achievement of Tigranes was the prevention of a war on two fronts in 66, against the superior forces of Rome and Parthia, which concluded a military alliance against Armenia. The agreement with Pompey in 66 meant, first of all, the abolition of the Roman-Parthian alliance. Rome recognized the existence of the Armenian state within the borders from the Euphrates to the Kura and the Caspian Sea. The peace treaty was not a military capitulation of Tigranes – the Armenian troops were not subject to any reduction, disbandment, or captivity. These actions revealed such traits of Tigranes’ personality as the ability to calmly and quickly navigate difficult situations and make clear, unexpected decisions․ It was thanks to these qualities of Tigranes as a politician that determined the final result of his struggle – the salvation of Armenia from the threat of Roman and Parthian conquest. And the result, as you know, is the main criterion in evaluating a statesman.

The activity of Tigranes represents an exceptional milestone in the history of the Hellenistic world. The existence of the state was based on the political interaction of the Armenian and Greek-Syrian societies. The principle of unity and coexistence of peoples representing the Eastern and Greek civilizations was the basis for the existence of Tigranakert, which was possible because the alienation between the peoples, between the Hellenes and the “barbarians”, as well as the alienation between the eastern communities of the city, was overcome. Two monuments were erected close to each other – both symbols of the two civilizations of the West and the East. A Greek theater was erected in the city, and a large Paradise was founded outside the city. Their coexistence reveals the world[1]historical role of Tigranakert as a center of unity and interaction between the cultures of the Hellas and the East, the Western and the Eastern civilizations. The Greek theater and the Eastern Paradise embody opposite ideas about the place of man in the world and about his destiny. In the combination of these two symbolic structures, two fundamental ideas of the West and the East were compared: the freedom of the individual (citizen) and the world harmonious whole, including a person as its constituent element.

Objectively, thanks to the efforts of Tigranes a socio-psychological inter[1]ethnic situation was formed, which was supposed to contribute to the formation of the consciousness of belonging to a new supra-ethnic spiritual community among various peoples, their unity based on the priority of universal ethical ideas. However, the coexistence of the ethnic communities in Tigranakert went not along the path of unity and harmony, but along the path of mutual alienation and deepening hostility between them – between the Hellenes and the “barbarians”.