ADOPTION OF THE PROGRAM-DECLARATION OF TRANSCAUCASIAN SEIM AND ITS LEGISLATIVE ACTIVITIES (FEBRUARY–MARCH)

By: Vahan Melikyan, Doctor of History, Professor Leading researcher of the Institute of History of NAS RA, Doctor in History,  v_melikyan@mail.ru

The article deals with the first legislative activities conducted by the Transcaucasian Seim in February – March, 1918. Main topics of the sessions were the law of elections, composition of the Seim, the attitude towards Bolshevik Russia, peace treaty with Turkey, territorial-national division of Transcaucasia etc. Georgian Mensheviks and the Muslim party of Musavat had joined their efforts in seceding from Russia, while the Armenian Revolutionary Dashaktsutyun (ARF) actually was left isolated and saw itself in the political camp of mostly Russian socialist and state-oriented SR-s and Cadets, in this aspect giving up party principles in favor of national interests. If the tactics of Georgian Mensheviks and Musavatists was mostly aggressive, ARF held cautious, wait-and-see attitude which basically is connected with the Turkish invasion and defenseless Western Armenia.

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