Everything about The Democratic Republic Of Armenia totally explained
The
Democratic Republic of Armenia (
DRA;
Armenian: Դեմոկրատական Հայաստանի Հանրապետություն,
Demokratakan Hayastani Hanrapetutyun; also known as the
First Republic of Armenia),
1918–
1920, was the first modern establishment of an
Armenian republic. The collapse of the
Russian Tsarist empire with the
Russian Revolution of 1917 gave chance to the
Armenian Revolutionary Federation to create the new republic which the leadership and the 103 of delegates from former Romanov realm (total 203) belonged to the party.. When it was established borders were with the
Democratic Republic of Georgia in the north, the
Ottoman Empire to the west, the
Persian Empire to the south, and
Azerbaijan Democratic Republic to the east.
In 1918, the new republic faced off against the Ottoman Empire during the
Caucasus Campaign, which concluded with the
Treaty of Batum. This treaty was the first international agreement of the republic and signed at the same day of international declaration. With the defeat of the Ottoman Empire at the end of
World War I, the
United States and
Woodrow Wilson proposed at the
Paris Peace Conference to expand the DRA's borders to include historic Armenian regions, known as
Wilsonian Armenia. This was ratified by the
Treaty of Sèvres. However this treaty was never put into effect and the fate of the territories was determined by the
Treaty of Alexandropol, then the
Treaty of Kars and finally the
Treaty of Lausanne.
In 1920, the DRA administered an area that covered most of present-day
Armenia, and
Kars,
Iğdır,
Çıldır and
Göle districts of
Ardahan, while the regions of
Nakhchivan,
Nagorno-Karabakh,
Zangezur (today the Armenian province of
Syunik), and
Qazakh were disputed and fought over with Azerbaijan. The
Oltu region (shortly administered by Georgia in
1920) was also claimed by the DRA. The majority-Armenian area of
Lori was disputed with and administered by Georgia. The
Armenian Army managed to control the regions except for Karabakh which came under stable but temporary Armenian control, though Azerbaijan continued to assert its claims over the areas.
The new state faced fatal internal and external problems. Following the collapse of the independent Armenian state, the
Russian SFSR Red Armies invaded and incorporated the DRA into the
Transcaucasian SFSR In 1922,
Joseph Stalin, acting commissar of Nationalities for the Soviet Union ceded
Nagorno-Karabakh to Azerbaijan as an
autonomous oblast. The areas of Qazakh and the Artsvashen corridor were finally ceded to Azerbaijan in 1931. In compensation, however, Armenia received Lori from Georgia during that same year. With the dissolution of the TSFSR in 1936, Armenia with its present-day borders was proclaimed a
Soviet republic.
Establishment
1916 Russian offensive and subsequent occupation of the eastern half of Anatolia - or
Western Armenia (see:
Administration for Western Armenia), including most of the provinces of
Van,
Bitlis, and
Erzurum, and of coastal regions of the Black Sea
Trabzon. These Armenian visions of liberation from the
Ottoman Empire's rule, to brought about by the help of Russians, were the main reason Armenians in these provinces were helping the Russian army. As soon as the Imperial army reached its goals, and in order to prevent a regrouping of the Armenians from migrating to the deep Russian territories (Caucasus), the Armenian volunteer regiments that had participated in these offensives were released from their formations. Disbanded, the Armenians returned to their homelands, newly freed from the Ottoman Empire. However, the Armenians remaining in the
Caucasus were faced with Russian censorship and tyranny.
Armenians learned the logic of all these activities over them after the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917. (see: mainly
London Pact, also
Sykes-Picot Agreement) The tsarist regime had had secret wartime agreements with the
Triple Entente on the partition of the Ottoman Empire. While the tsarist regime was giving consent to the splitting of the
Middle East, Western
Anatolia, and
Cilicia, they also wanted to replace the Muslim residents of the Northern
Anatolia (the front line in 1916 as a guide) and
Istanbul with more reliable
Cossack settlers. The
Armenian Plateau was never intended to be Armenian. These documents were made public by the February/March revolution of 1917 to gain the support of the Armenian public. Armenians hailed the end of the
Romanov dynasty.
After the set of
Russian Provisional Government, Armenians learned more, specifically, that
Grand Duke Nicholas along with the Special Transcaucasian Committee (Russian: особый Закавказский Комитет (ОЗАКОМ), osobyy Zakavkazskiy Komitet (OZAKOM)) committee,
Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic, with their promise of helping Armenians to move back to their homeland from Caucasus refugee camps was again to be left on cold. The thousands who had moved back to their hometowns with their own resources found out that Russian soldiers left their posts and had return their own hometowns.
This is the first time Armenians recognized that they've to build their own control system. Bolshevik slogan of the time ‘peace without annexations and indemnities’ was turning into ‘land, peace, and bread’. The Armenians under the Russian control devised a national congress at October of 1917. This convention in Tiflis, meeting with delegates from the former Romanov realm (203), concluded in September of 1917, and included 103 members belonging to the
Armenian Revolutionary Federation.
The
Armenian Congress of Eastern Armenians devised policies to control (direct) the war efforts, and the relief and repatriation of refugees. The council passed a law to organize the defense of the Caucasus against the Turks using the vast quantity of supplies and ammunition left over from the departure of the Russian army. The congress specifically devised a local control and administrative structure of the Transcaucasia. Even if the Congress didn't devise specific solutions for the soldiers left in Baku, Tiflis, Kars, and other militias in eastern Anatolia, they didn't resist the ongoing reality of these soldiers serving for the other forces. The Congress also selected a fifteen member permanent executive committee, known as the
Armenian National Council. The leader was
Avetis Aharonyan. This committee’s first task was set the stage and then declare the Democratic Republic of Armenia.
First Government
The DRA had
four Prime Ministers during its existence, all of whom belonged to the
Armenian Revolutionary Federation.
Hovhannes Katchaznouni was the first of these.
Aram Manougian was the first minister of Interior. The Armenian Police was created in 1918. Independent Armenia established the
Ministry of Interior, of which the Police was an integral part. In addition to enforcing law and order, the Interior Ministry was initially also responsible for communications and telegraph, railroad, and the public school system. The Armenian parliament passed a law on the police on April 21, 1920, specifying its structure, jurisdiction, and responsibilities.
World War I
During the first year of the new republic, Armenians were flooding from Anatolia to safe havens. Roads were clogged with refugees. Further southeast, in Van, the Armenians resisted the Turkish army until April, 1918, but eventually were forced to evacuate it and withdraw to Persia. When the Azerbaijanis sided with the Turks and seized the communication lines, thus cutting off the Armenian National Councils in Baku and Erevan from the National Council in Tiflis.
Caucasus Campaign
Meanwhile, The government of
Ottoman Empire, Ittihad (Unionist), moved to win the friendship of the Bolsheviks. The signing of the Ottoman-Russian friendship treaty (January 1, 1918), helped Vehib Pasha to attack the Armenian Republic. General
Tovmas Nazarbekian was the commander on the
Caucasus front and
Andranik Toros Ozanian took the command of Armenia within the
Ottoman Empire. Under heavy pressure from the combined forces of the Ottoman army and the Kurdish irregulars, the Republic was forced to withdraw from
Erzincan to
Erzurum. Van was abandoned as well in 1918 and hundreds of thousands of Armenians followed the retreating troops. Vehib Pasha also occupied
Trabzon, where the Russians had left huge quantities of supplies. The Republicans in the end were evacuated from Erzurum and Sarikamis after resisting at the
Battle of Kara Killisse (1918), the
Battle of Sardarapat, and
Battle of Bash Abaran. These conflicts concluded with the
Treaty of Batum.
Georgian-Armenian war
In December 1918, Armenia and Georgia engaged in a brief military conflict over the disputed marshlands in the largely Armenian-populated
Lori district which, along with some other neighboring regions, was claimed by both nations but had been taken by Georgia after the Ottomans' evacuation of the area. The fighting continued with varying success for two weeks. Despite initial success, Armenian offensive under
Drastamat Kanayan was finally halted and the war ended through the British mediation, establishing a joint Armeno-Georgian civil administration in the "Lori neutral zone" or the "Shulavera Condominium".
Armenian-Azeri wars
This period started with the declaration of Armenia and Azerbaijan as separate states, just after the Russian Revolution of 1917. Here, one can distinguish a series of brutal and hard to classify wars (1918, then again, 1920 to 1922).
Treaty of Sèvres
The Treaty was signed between the Allied and Associated Powers and
Ottoman Empire at
Sèvres,
France on
August 10,
1920. The treaty had a clause on
Armenia. It made all parties signing the treaty to recognize
Armenia as a free and independent State. The borders drawn for the Republic on the treaty reflected the efforts given by Armenians upon the defeat of the
Ottoman Empire on the
Caucasus Campaign. This treaty was signed by the Ottoman Government, but Sultan
Mehmed VI never signed the treaty; hence the treaty had never come into effect.
Turkish Revolutionaries began a
Turkish National Movement which, in turn, confronted with the new Republic.
See
Turkish-Armenian War.
After World War I
The Ottoman Empire advances against the new Republic ended with the
Treaty of Batum. Treaty of Batum didn't give any freedom to the government of
Hovhannes Katchaznouni. The Ottoman Empire signed the
Armistice of Mudros on
30 October 1918. With the
Armistice of Mudros, British forces came ashore at Batum and Baku and occupied the Transcaucasian railway. The new state found a solution to the Ottoman Empire problem with the help of
British forces after the Armstice. The
Ottoman Armies left the Transcaucasia, including
Baku,
Elizavetpol,
Tiflis,
Batum and
Yerevan. Than later in early 1919 they were pulled back from
Kars and
Ardahan. This gave a chance to the Armenian Republic to triple its size.
With the involvement of
British forces the Bolsheviks clashed with
Armenian Revolutionary Federation. On
July 26 1918, Bolsheviks were clearly outvoted in the Baku Soviet and were forced out of power. A new government, known as
Central Caspian Dictatorship (
Diktatura Tsentrokaspiya) was formed with the Armenian representation, and British forces under General Thompson occupied Baku the same day. The
Baku Commissar Stepan Shahumyan was executed by
British troops in September
1918. While the problem at Baku was developing,
South West Caucasian Republic was a new state headed by
Fakhr al-Din Pirioghlu and centered in
Kars. Its territory was to include the regions of Kars and
Batum, parts of the
Erivan district in the province of the same name, and the
Akhaltsikhe and
Akhalkalaki districts of the
Tiflis province. It existed alongside with the
British general governorship created during the
Entente's intervention in
Transcaucasia. It was abolished by British High Commissioner Admiral
Somerset Arthur Gough-Calthorpe and the region was assigned to ADR.
Establishment of Order
During the 1919, the leaders of the Republic had to deal with issues on three fronts: domestic, regional, and international. The
Armenian Congress of Eastern Armenians that took control in 1918 fell apart and in June 1919, the first national elections were held. The establishment of law was a problem: Armenians had the most organized structure in their homeland; however, it was undeniable that several other ethnic groups had been settled for many centuries in these lands (
Kurds and
Azeri’s were the major ones).
During 1920's, which began under the premiership of
Hovannes Kachaznuni, Armenians from the former
Russian Empire and
United States developed the judicial system. January 1919 was an important milestone as the first University was founded.
Refugee problem
There was also an Armenian settlement problem that brought conflict with other ethnic residents. In all, there were 300,000 embittered and impatient refugees escaping from the
Ottoman Empire which were now the government's responsibility; this proved an insurmountable humanitarian issue for it.
The second winter after the declaration of the state, winter of the government of
Hovhannes Kachaznuni had come face to face with a most sobering reality. The newly formed government was responsible for over half a million Armenian refugees in the Caucasus. The 393,700 refugees were under their jurisdiction as follows:
| District |
Erivan |
Ashtarak |
Akhta-Elenovka |
Bash-Grani |
Novo-Bayazit |
Daralagiaz |
Bash-Abaran |
Etchmiadzin |
Karakilisa |
Dilijan |
| Number of refugees |
75,000 |
30,000 |
22,000 |
15,000 |
38,000 |
36,000 |
35,000 |
70,000 |
16,000 |
13,000 |
It was a long and harsh winter. The homeless masses, lacking food, clothing, and medicine had to endure the elements. Many who survived the exposure and famine, succumbed to the ravaging diseases (note:
Spanish Flu Pandemic of 1918). Typhus was also a major sickness, because of its effect on children.
Conditions in the outlying regions, not necessarily consisting of refugees, weren't any better. The Ottoman governing structure and Russian army had already withdrawn from the region. Armenian government had neither time, nor resources, to rebuild the infrastructure. A report in early 1919 noted that the lives had been claimed of: 65% of the population of Sardarabad, 40% of the population of eight villages near Etchmiadzin, 25% of the population of Ashtarak, and this continues...
By the spring of 1919, the typhus epidemic had run its course, the weather improved and the first American shipment of wheat reached Batum, with the British army transporting the aid to Yerevan. Yet by that time some 150,000 of the refugees had perished. (Vratsian, Hanrapetium put this figure at around 180,000) That was nearly 20% of the entire nascent Republic.
Turkish-Armenian War
At this point,
Turkish Revolutionaries claimed that the Turks inside DRA were being mistreated and oppressed by the Armenians. On
September 20,
1920, Turkish General
Kazım Karabekir moved his forces into
Wilsonian Armenia and near the pre-Sèvres Armenian-Turkish frontier. In response, the DRA declared war on Turkey in
September 24 and the
Turkish-Armenian War began. In the regions of
Oltu,
Sarikamis,
Kars,
Alexandropol (Gyumri) Armenian forces clashed with those of Turkish General
Kazım Karabekir.
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk then sent several delegations to Moscow in search of an alliance. This proved disastrous for the Armenians.
End of the Republic, 1920
Armenia gave way to
communist power in late
1920. In September 1920, the
Turkish revolutionaries moved in on the capital. First an armistice was concluded, on November 18, and then a full peace treaty -
Treaty of Alexandropol on 2nd and/or 3rd of December 1920.
During that time, the Soviet
11th Red Army invasion started on the 29th of November 1920. The actual transfer of power took place on December 2 in Yerevan. Armenian leadership approved an ultimatum, presented to it by the Soviet plenipotentiary
Boris Legran - who was at work as one of major Russian diplomats on Caucasus at that time. Armenia decided to join the Soviet sphere, while the Soviet Russia agreed to protect its remaining territory from the advancing Turkish army. Soviets also pledged to take steps to rebuild the army, protect the Armenians, not to pursue non-communist Armenians, etc.
When on December 4, 1920, the Red Army entered Yerevan, the government of Armenian Republic effectively stopped working. On December 5, the Armenian Revolutionary Committee (Revkom; made up of mostly Armenians from Azerbaijan) also entered the city. Finally, on the following day, December 6,
Felix Dzerzhinsky's dreaded secret police, the
Cheka, entered Yerevan, thus effectively ending the existence of the Democratic Republic of Armenia.
Now, what was left of Armenia was under the control of a communist government. The part occupied by Turkey remained for the most part theirs - by the subsequent
Treaty of Kars. Soon, the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic was proclaimed, under the leadership of Aleksandr Miasnikyan. It was to be included into the newly created
Transcaucasian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic.
Government structure
Prime Ministers
Footnotes
Further Information
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