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THE FORERUNNER OF THE ARMENIAN STATEHOOD'S REVIVAL
http://artsakhtert.com/eng/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1080:-the-forerunner-of-the-armenian-statehoods-revival&catid=3:all&Itemid=4
Tuesday, 25 June 2013 11:15
On May 28, our people marked the establishment of the First Armenian
Republic. This day, exactly 95 years ago, the Armenian National
Council proclaimed the independence of Armenia, which marked the
revival of the Armenian statehood. After many centuries, which were
full of tragic events, a new Armenian state appeared on the political
map of the world, which saved our people from imminent death.
The restoration of the independent Armenian statehood in the early
twentieth century was made possible through the truly historic victory
of our people in the Sardarapat battle, which took place on May 21-28,
1918 near the railway station of Sardarapat. It should be noted that
the Karakilis and Bash-Aparan battles took place the same period.
The Armenian Regular Army, together with the people's militia, won
a convincing and brilliant victory over the Turkish aggressors who
invaded Eastern Armenia, thus writing a glorious page in the history of
the liberation struggle of the Armenian people. We can state without
any exaggeration that the success in the fields of the three crucial
battles saved Eastern Armenia from the Turkish massacres.
For better understanding and awareness of the significance of these
victories let's recall the history. The World War I was underway that
period, and the events in the Transcaucasia were developing tragically
for our people. In January 1918, the actions of the Bolsheviks finally
collapsed the Caucasian front, and the Turkish troops decided to take
advantage of this favorable situation for them.
Meeting no resistance, they moved into the Transcaucasia. There
are documentary evidences confirming the Turkish government's
plans to repeat the genocide of the Armenian people, but in Eastern
Armenia. In the secret instructions of February 27, 1918, Turkey's
Minister of War Enver Pasha ordered the commanders of the Turkish
military units, which had started the intervention: "Today, thanks to
a happy coincidence, His Majesty commanded to exterminate the entire
Armenian nation". It is worth noting that the Caucasian Tatars, or
as they are now called - Azerbaijanis, who planned to unite with the
kindred Turks,also decided to take advantage of the situation,. To
achieve this goal, they needed to remove the main obstacle for them -
Armenia, which separated Azerbaijan and Turkey. To resolve the Armenian
issue in accordance with the genocidal doctrine of pan-Turkism, the
Turkish troops crossed the Arax River in early May and invaded the
Transcaucasia for supporting Azerbaijan. On May 15, the Turkish Army
invaded Alexandropol (Gyumri), killing the civilians. The Turks were
moving in three directions, including to Yerevan. Armenia, which had
not yet recovered from the monstrous genocide of 1915, was under the
threat of further breakdown and loss of the remnants of its territory,
as well as the final loss of its statehood. That is why it is difficult
to overestimate the historical significance of the Sardarapat battle.
Surely, the victory in Sardarapat and the restoration of the
Armenian statehood had the greatest military and political
significance. Besides, their moral-psychological significance was
similarly great. For its long and in many ways tragic history, the
Armenian people has experienced incredible hardships and suffered
heavy losses - both human and territorial, and lost its statehood. As
a result, our people acquired a complex of victim that pursued it for
a long time and, to some extent, deprived it of the opportunity to
defend its own interests and the very right to a free and worthy life.
Sardarapat, Bash-Aparan and Karakilis broke the series of heavy
defeats and revived our people's confidence in its own strength.They
demonstrated to the world the unparalleled feat of the people and
became a testament to its unwavering will and spiritual greatness.
They became a symbol of the revival of the Armenian people and its
national sovereignty. It is noteworthy that even the commander of
the Turkish Army, General Vahib Pasha admitted: "It was the greatest
battle in the war. Armenians have demonstrated that they can be the
best soldiers in the world! ".
The First Republic of Armenia existed only two years. In the process
of Sovietization of Transcaucasia it ceased to exist, giving birth
to the Second Armenian Republic - the Soviet one.
However, the short history of the First Republic does not belittle its
significance for the future of our people, as it became the forerunner
of the Armenian statehood's revival. The significance of the lessons
of the First Republic is also enduring. There is probably a lot of
them, but the main one is the awareness of the indisputable truth
that only the unity and consolidation of our entire people can pose
and solve the most important problems of national significance. The
First Republic was the child of this unity born in the heaviest
geopolitical situation in the early 20th century, when Armenia and
our people faced the sharpest challenge of to be or not to be. Today,
the Third and independent Republic of Armenia is the embodiment of
the age-old dream of the Armenian people for independent statehood
and is a full member of the international community. It is the core
of the Armenia-Artsakh-Diaspora trinity, and that's why it is the
duty of the present and future generations of the Armenian people to
protect and strengthen the Armenian statehood, which has revived at
the cost of the lives of thousands of our compatriots.
Leonid MARTIROSSIAN
Editor-in-Chief of Azat Artsakh newspaper
http://artsakhtert.com/eng/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1080:-the-forerunner-of-the-armenian-statehoods-revival&catid=3:all&Itemid=4
Tuesday, 25 June 2013 11:15
On May 28, our people marked the establishment of the First Armenian
Republic. This day, exactly 95 years ago, the Armenian National
Council proclaimed the independence of Armenia, which marked the
revival of the Armenian statehood. After many centuries, which were
full of tragic events, a new Armenian state appeared on the political
map of the world, which saved our people from imminent death.
The restoration of the independent Armenian statehood in the early
twentieth century was made possible through the truly historic victory
of our people in the Sardarapat battle, which took place on May 21-28,
1918 near the railway station of Sardarapat. It should be noted that
the Karakilis and Bash-Aparan battles took place the same period.
The Armenian Regular Army, together with the people's militia, won
a convincing and brilliant victory over the Turkish aggressors who
invaded Eastern Armenia, thus writing a glorious page in the history of
the liberation struggle of the Armenian people. We can state without
any exaggeration that the success in the fields of the three crucial
battles saved Eastern Armenia from the Turkish massacres.
For better understanding and awareness of the significance of these
victories let's recall the history. The World War I was underway that
period, and the events in the Transcaucasia were developing tragically
for our people. In January 1918, the actions of the Bolsheviks finally
collapsed the Caucasian front, and the Turkish troops decided to take
advantage of this favorable situation for them.
Meeting no resistance, they moved into the Transcaucasia. There
are documentary evidences confirming the Turkish government's
plans to repeat the genocide of the Armenian people, but in Eastern
Armenia. In the secret instructions of February 27, 1918, Turkey's
Minister of War Enver Pasha ordered the commanders of the Turkish
military units, which had started the intervention: "Today, thanks to
a happy coincidence, His Majesty commanded to exterminate the entire
Armenian nation". It is worth noting that the Caucasian Tatars, or
as they are now called - Azerbaijanis, who planned to unite with the
kindred Turks,also decided to take advantage of the situation,. To
achieve this goal, they needed to remove the main obstacle for them -
Armenia, which separated Azerbaijan and Turkey. To resolve the Armenian
issue in accordance with the genocidal doctrine of pan-Turkism, the
Turkish troops crossed the Arax River in early May and invaded the
Transcaucasia for supporting Azerbaijan. On May 15, the Turkish Army
invaded Alexandropol (Gyumri), killing the civilians. The Turks were
moving in three directions, including to Yerevan. Armenia, which had
not yet recovered from the monstrous genocide of 1915, was under the
threat of further breakdown and loss of the remnants of its territory,
as well as the final loss of its statehood. That is why it is difficult
to overestimate the historical significance of the Sardarapat battle.
Surely, the victory in Sardarapat and the restoration of the
Armenian statehood had the greatest military and political
significance. Besides, their moral-psychological significance was
similarly great. For its long and in many ways tragic history, the
Armenian people has experienced incredible hardships and suffered
heavy losses - both human and territorial, and lost its statehood. As
a result, our people acquired a complex of victim that pursued it for
a long time and, to some extent, deprived it of the opportunity to
defend its own interests and the very right to a free and worthy life.
Sardarapat, Bash-Aparan and Karakilis broke the series of heavy
defeats and revived our people's confidence in its own strength.They
demonstrated to the world the unparalleled feat of the people and
became a testament to its unwavering will and spiritual greatness.
They became a symbol of the revival of the Armenian people and its
national sovereignty. It is noteworthy that even the commander of
the Turkish Army, General Vahib Pasha admitted: "It was the greatest
battle in the war. Armenians have demonstrated that they can be the
best soldiers in the world! ".
The First Republic of Armenia existed only two years. In the process
of Sovietization of Transcaucasia it ceased to exist, giving birth
to the Second Armenian Republic - the Soviet one.
However, the short history of the First Republic does not belittle its
significance for the future of our people, as it became the forerunner
of the Armenian statehood's revival. The significance of the lessons
of the First Republic is also enduring. There is probably a lot of
them, but the main one is the awareness of the indisputable truth
that only the unity and consolidation of our entire people can pose
and solve the most important problems of national significance. The
First Republic was the child of this unity born in the heaviest
geopolitical situation in the early 20th century, when Armenia and
our people faced the sharpest challenge of to be or not to be. Today,
the Third and independent Republic of Armenia is the embodiment of
the age-old dream of the Armenian people for independent statehood
and is a full member of the international community. It is the core
of the Armenia-Artsakh-Diaspora trinity, and that's why it is the
duty of the present and future generations of the Armenian people to
protect and strengthen the Armenian statehood, which has revived at
the cost of the lives of thousands of our compatriots.
Leonid MARTIROSSIAN
Editor-in-Chief of Azat Artsakh newspaper