THE ARMENIAN VOLUNTARY MOVEMENT IN THE RUSSIAN COLLECTION OF DOCUMENTS
The fact that Ottoman Empire was in a hostile group in the World War I raised hopes among almost all Armenians that the Entente powers would defeat the enemy and Western Armenia would eventually gain autonomy under Russian patronage. The issue of Armenian reforms reopened by the Russian government on the eve of the war inspired such hope. The Russian side promised to make reforms, even give autonomy to Western Armenia, if the Armenians organize volunteer militia units. That was the main reason why the Armenians quickly responded to the call of the Russian official authorities to organize volunteer groups. It is evident that there were people in the Armenian national parties, political, religious and social circles who were categorically against the Armenian volunteer movement.
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