Kharabakh was neither included in the territory of the Republic nor subjected to Musavat Azerbaijan, it was governed by the Congresses of the National Council of local Armenians. In April, during a regular Congress the people of Nagorno-Karabakh made a decision on unification with the Republic of Armenia.
On August 10, the victorious states of the World War I, including Armenia, signed a peace agreement with defeated Turkey in the city of Sevres France. It was Avetis Aharonyan, the head of the Armenian delegation to the Paris Peace Conference, who signed the agreement on behalf of the Republic of Armenia. By this treaty Sultan Turkish Government recognized Armenia as a free and independent state.
Armenia and Turkey agreed to provide America with an opportunity to decide the demarcation line between the two states in Erzrum, Van and Bitlis provinces as well as to accept the offers concerning the access of Armenia to the Black Sea and the disarmament of all Ottoman territories, adjacent to above-mentioned boundary.
The nationalist government of Turkey, headed by Mustafa Kemal, who assumed the authority, did not accept the Treaty of Sevres. In the Soviet Government, seeking to direct the Kemalist movement in Turkey against the Entente, provided Turkey with palpable military and financial aid which was used against Greece in the West and against Armenia in the East. At the end of September, Turkish army started attacking. Conquering more and more lands, the Government of Ankara was aimed at depriving Armenians of an opportunity to recreate its own state.
Turkish troops occupied the Region of Kars, Surmalu and Alexandrapol. The Soviet government pursued a deliberate policy of Sovietization of the Transcaucasian republics, with an aim to restore the borders of the Russian Empire. Further in August an agreement was signed between the representatives of Armenia and Russia. Via this agreement Soviet Russia forced Armenia to recognize those territories as disputed, provided that their further fate would be determined as a result of an expression of population will, i.
According to November 20 decision of the Revolutionary Committee of Azerbaijan headed by Narimanov, Nagorno-Karabakh, Nakhichevan and Zangezur were no longer considered to be disputed territories but integral parts of the Soviet Armenia.
On December 2 Armenian government agreed upon the Sovietization of Armenia and relinquished its power in favor of the Bolshevik Revolutionary Committee. On the same day in Alexandrapol, quite inexplicably, the representatives of the relinquished Armenian government signed a peace agreement with Turkey and considered the war ended, thus conceding almost half of their territory.
Later the Soviet authorities never recognized the conditions of Alexandrapol treaty. According to its first article, the Soviet Russian government agreed not to recognize any international treaty related to Turkey, which was not ratified by the Great National Assembly. This provision was directed primarily against the Peace Treaty of Sevres, which Turkey at any cost tried to declare null and void. Finally, the new border was recognized according to the Treaty of Kars October 3, that was signed between Turkey and the Transcaucasian states and is in force up to date.
As for the international conference of Lausanne held in , it ended up with the signing of several documents, the most important of which is probably the Lausanne Peace Treaty, according to which the current Turkish borders were established, replacing the Treaty of Sevres. According to the same Moscow Treaty, Nakhichevan became an autonomous territory under the patronage of Azerbaijan, and under the decision of the Caucasian Bureau of the RCWP from July 5, Nagorno-Karabakh was declared an autonomous region within the territory of Azerbaijan.
Soviet Armenia was not a sovereign state, but it played a very important role in the preservation of the Armenian statehood and development of the national identity. Despite the wide-spread repressions, particularly those of and , Armenia made great progress in its economic, industrial, scientific and cultural life.
Soviet Armenia became a leading industrial-agrarian country; it was a land of universal literacy, highly developed education and science, culture, literature and art. The system of higher education was successfully developing in Yerevan State University, founded as early as in , and in other specialized universities.
In the Academy of Sciences was established. The Armenian people took an active participation in the Second World War. About , Armenian soldiers and officers fought in the ranks of Soviet Army. The Armenian National 89th Division took part in the battle for Berlin. During the s and 80's the national issues such as the Armenian Genocide, Diaspora, unification of Nagorno Karabakh with Armenia, Nakhichevan, etc.
The first multi-thousand demonstrations in the Soviet reality were taking place in Yerevan. In March of , changes occurred within the Soviet political leadership. Following years of stagnation, younger and more progressive figures came to power. As a result of the depression experienced by the Soviet society, the ideological bankruptcy of the Communist Party, the variety of unsolved issues and especially national problems forced different national groups within the Soviet Union to react.
Subsequently, the implementation of the Soviet Perestroika policy resulted in the establishment of the various national liberation movements of the time. Armenians of Artsakh Nagorno-Karabakh were the first to react; they never accepted the annexation of their historical territories by Azerbaijan, and resented the anti-Armenian policy pursued by Azerbaijan during the Soviet era. Consequently, a new wave of mass demonstrations broke out in both Armenia and the Diaspora, as a sign of solidarity with the Armenians of Artsakh.
Thousand of people participated in the various rallies organized in Yerevan, other parts of Armenia, as well as in Nagorno Karabkh. However, from the outset, the political leadership of the USSR adopted a negative stance toward the Karabakh Movement. They consider it to be provocative, extremist, a demand of a group of nationalists. Nonetheless, at the same time, prominent political activists and intellectuals of the various Soviet republics provided moral support to Armenia and Artsakh.
As a result of Azeri brutality a few dozens of Armenians perished and over were severely injured. Subsequently, these developments forced the 18 thousand Armenian population of Sumgait to migrate from the city.
According to various credible sources, it was the local Azeri authorities, who perpetrated the massacres of Sumgait. In the meantime, the central Soviet authority delayed the intervention and deployed troops in the city only after three days. Moreover, when the intervention process began, the soviet troops faced many difficulties in restraining the Azeri killers and in rescuing the Armenian population out from the city. Even after the Sumgait massacres, the Central authority of the USSR continued to label the Nagorno-Karabakh problem as a social-economic issue rather than a political one.
Anyway, the Movement was expanding. Along with the rallies and demonstrations, mass strikes commenced in both Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh. The Armenians demanded from the USSR government to justly solve the Karabakh issue, while providing a firm and conclusive political and legal response to the Sumgait atrocities.
From the outset of the Karabakh Movement, massacres and pillages were perpetrated in Azerbaijani regions resided by Armenians: Azerbaijani authorities were consistently committing ethnic cleansings. Thus, from the outset of the Karabakh Movement, the Azerbaijani authorities approved the massacre, annihilation and ethnic cleansing of the Armenians who were root residents of the various regions of Azerbaijan.
For example, by subjecting Armenians to pillage and brutality, the Azeris forcibly drove them out of Kirovabad, Shamkhor, Khanlar cities, Dashkesan, Mingechaur and other regions.
As a result the persecution and violence against Armenians became more severe in the Azerbaijani SSR. An economic blockade was imposed against both the Republic of Armenia and NKAO; the supply of natural gas, economic, industrial and other necessary goods were banned from being sent to Armenia.
On December 7th, , the severe situation in Armenia worsened as a result of the catastrophic earthquake, which struck the Northern and North-Eastern regions of the country. In the span of a few minutes entire villages and parts of cities were wiped out. More than 25 thousand of people perished and nearly thousand remained without shelter. At this point the period of third republic of the Armenian history started.
Moreover, the Declaration affirmed the fact that the laws of the republic took precedent over the laws of the USSR. Subsequently, the tricolored flag red, blue and orange of the first Armenian Republic was restored as the official flag of the Armenian state, while the blazon of the first republic was reinstated as the official blazon of the Republic of Armenia.
The Declaration also prescribed respect of human rights, freedom of conscience, religion, political parties, assemblies and speech. Finally, the rights of the Armenian Apostolic church were restored. Availing themselves of the support of Moscow, Azerbaijani government continued the massacres and deportations in Armenian-populated regions. On the other hand, while receiving support and backing from Moscow, the Azerbaijani soviet government continued the deportation of Armenians.
During this operation, the Azerbaijanis destroyed various Armenian villages, which prompted the beginning of the Karabakh-Azerbaijan war of It is in this period of time when the Armenian population formed a united national front, consisted from underground Committees for Self-Defense and numerous headquarters for the self-defense forces across the various regions of the NKAO. Proceeding from the provisions of August 23 Armenian Declaration of Independence, the National Assembly decided to hold a referendum on September 21, , to leave the USSR and declaring independence.
Based on the results of the referendum, the Supreme Council declared Armenia an independent state. The centuries-long dream of the Armenian nation to reinstate independence came true. On October 16, nationwide presidential elections were held in Armenia, as a result of which, Levon Ter-Petrosyan was elected as the first president of the republic.
Simultaneously the sides declared the creation of a new entity of international cooperation, the Commonwealth of Independent States CIS.
The Republic of Armenia was he first among the former Soviet republics to respond to the Minsk agreement welcoming the creation of CIS and expressed its willingness to join the organization. On December 21 of the same year 11 independent states former soviet republics signed an agreement in Alma-Ata about the creation of CIS.
Shortly after declaring independence the Republic of Armenia received universal international recognition. Armenians of the Diaspora have the right of citizenship of Armenia. The citizens of the Republic of Armenia are protected and aided by the Republic. The Republic of Armenia guarantees the free and equal development of its citizens regardless of national origin, race, or creed. With the purpose of guaranteeing the security of the Republic of Armenia and the inviolability of its borders, the Republic of Armenia creates its own armed forces, internal troops, organs of state and public security under the jurisdiction of the Supreme Council.
The Republic of Armenia determines the regulation of military service for its citizens independently. The armed forces of the Republic of Armenia can be deployed only by a decision of its Supreme Council. As the subject of international law, the Republic of Armenia conducts an independent foreign policy; it establishes direct relations with other states, national-state units of the USSR, and participates in the activity of international organizations.
The regulation of their governance, usage, and possession is determined by the laws of the Republic of Armenia. French Senate passes genocide law. Armenia's villages of women. The Republic of Armenia Capital: Yerevan. Image source, Getty Images. President Sargsyan is a largely ceremonial figure.
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