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History4
THE ARMENIAN NATIONALIST-LIBERAL (REORGANIAZED HUNCHAKIAN) PARTY IN 1917-1921
By: Gegham Hovhannisyan Senior researcher at the Institute of History, NAS RA PhD in Historical Sciences, Associate Professor, gegham.hovhannisian@mail.ru
The international and political situation that came into existence after World War I dictated to the Armenian political forces to reconsider their programs and practices. The Reorganized Hunchakian Party, which was dedicated to the liberation of Western Armenians and advocated liberal ideas, adopted the name “Nationalist-Liberal”. The Liberals believed that the Armenian state that would unite the Republic of Armenia, Western Armenia and Cilicia, should have a presidential system of government and temporarily accept the patronage of a great power. The party played a significant role in Armenian social and political life in 1917-1921. After the establishment of the Soviet regime in Armenia, the ideological differences between the Liberals and the Soviet government did not disappear, however, the party’s priority became to help Armenia, which continued after the unification of the Liberals and the Ramgavars.
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WRITING THE ARMENIAN HISTORY
By: Aram Kosyan Doctor in History, Institute of Oriental Studies, NAS RA, aramkosyan@yahoo.com
In academic studies and textbooks,the history of Armenia is entitled the "History of Armenians"or the "History of Armenian people".Like other modern nationssuch attitude could better fit those ethnic groups who never had statehood during their history. In the case of Armenia
- Keywords:
- History of Armenia
- N.Adontz
- MovsesKhorenatsi
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RECORDS OF VARDAN OF KHANASOR ON ARMENIAN-TATAR CONFRONTATIONS OF 1905-1906
By: Ruben Sahakyan Doctor in History, Senior researcher at the Institute of History, National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia, rubensahakyan58@gmail.com
The article presents the activities of Sargis Mehrabyan (Sergey) who is known as Vardan of Khanasor, one of those who devoted his life to the liberation of Armenia and an active participants of the Armenian-Tatar confrontationswhich took place in 1905-1907 in the Caucasus.
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ARMENIAN-AZERBAIJANI TERRITORIAL CONFLICT AND THE KARABAKH ISSUE IN THE CONTEXT OF THE ACTIVITIES OF THE MILITARY-AND-POLITICAL REPRESENTATION OF GREAT BRITAIN IN THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA AND TRANSCAUCASIA IN 1918-1920
By: Vanik Virabyan Doctor in History, Professor Kh. Abovyan Armenian State Pedagogical University, vanik.virabyan@mail.ru
In 1918-1920s the steps of the military policy of Azerbaijan were directed toward the frustration of the Armenian State system. With this intention, Andranik’s and Dro’s forces were taken out with the help of British generals Thomson and Shuttleworth. This allowed Azerbaijan to make the Armenian council in Karabakh temporarily obey the Azerbaijani Government on August 22, 1912, till the solution of this disputable issue by the French conference of allied nations, which was one of the steps of the Azerbaijani government planned beforehand.
In reality, as a result of further important military changes in the Republic of Armenia and the mutually beneficial agreement between Russia and Kemal Atatürk, as well as taking into consideration the evident connivance of allied powers, during 1920-1923 Azerbaijan managed to capture not only Nakhichevan, but Karabakh and other Armenian lands as well, the struggle for which restarted in 1988-1990.
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Philology1
OSIP MANDELSTAM. THE POET AND THE TIME. HIS LIFE AND ARMENIA
By: Anushavan Zakaryan Doctor in Philology, Editor-in-Chief of the Historical and Philological Journal, patmhandes@rambler.ru
Osip Mandelstam (1891–1938) – a prominent Russian poet, art theorist, translator – takes a special place in the history of Soviet literature.
In the 1920–1930s, Mandelstam, being non-party man and not constantly being member of any literary association, tasted all the misfortunes that befell the intellectual class of his generation and a great many ordinary Soviet citizens; he faced repressions, he was arrested twice, was sent into exile where he died.
Mandelstam’s name is closely related to Armenia and Armenian culture. His visit to Armenia (from May to early October, 1930) was life-changing for him. Under the indelible impressions of the biblical country, he wrote a collection of poems “Armenia” (1931) and an essay “Journey to Armenia” (1933). These pieces of art are among the best works in the Russian literature dedicated to Armenia.
There is rich literature on Mandelstam’s life and art: memoirs of contempo¬raries, a great number of monographs, articles and publications. Nevertheless, there are almost no studies about Mandelstam in the Armenian language: the present article partially fills this gap.
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Political Sciences and Informational Security2
LEVON SHANT’S ARGUMENTS ON INDEPENDENCE AS NATIONAL-SPIRITUAL AND CIVILIZATION FACTOR
By: Lilit Sarvazyan PhD, Associate Professor at the Yerevan State Pedagogical University, Senior Researcher at the Institute of Philosophy, Sociology and Law of NAS RA, lilit.sarvazyan@gmail.com
The article analyzes the political-philosophical concept of Levon Shant, a prominent Armenian thinker of the XIX-XX centuries. Shant substantiates the idea of polycentrism denying monocentrism in intercivilization relations. He believes all civilizations are displayed by individual uniqueness conditioned by people’s national and cultural originality. He stresses the national factor which reveals more profound qualities. According to the Armenian scholar’s theory, the nation is “an organism producing civilization’’ and the nationality is the fundamental principle to identify people. He refuses the aspects according to which the national and nations disappear during the process of civilization. On the contrary, the development of civilization is the key condition for nations’ prosperity, independence, equality of rights, manifestation of national and political identity, as well as for the solution to national problems.
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DID AZERBAIJANIS COMMIT THE KHOJALY (AGHDAM) MASSACRE AGAINST THEIR OWN PEOPLE?
By: Len Wicks Auckland (New Zealand)
The article deals with the evident falsification by the Azerbaijani official propaganda in regard to the massacre of the Azeri population of Khojaly in 1988. According to the Czech reporter Dana Mazalová, the massacre of about 200 Azeri population took place in the area controlled by Azeri soldiers. Mazalova’s viewpoint is proved also by the famous Azeri journalist Chingiz Mustafayev.
pdf (1.81 MB)
Demography and Governance1
ON THE CONSTITUTIONALITY AND PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION IN ANCIENT AND MEDIEVAL ARMENIA
By: Yuri Suvaryan Member of Academy, NAS RA
Academician-Secretary of the Department
of Armenology and Social Sciences
suvaryan@sci.am
Summing up, it should be noted that the state and regional government in ancient and medieval Armenia was realized via legal regulatory principles, consistent with the time and through sufficient constitutionality. Within the frames of Armenian intellectual culture, certain methodological bases were worked out, whereas the accumulated past experience, cultural heritage and the lessons of history in particular, deserve special attention in terms of the appropriate orientation of the civil society, the development of political thought and growth of efficiency in public administration.
pdf (1.11 MB)
Foreign Sources and Authors About Armenia and Armenians1
NARRATIVE OF THE EMBASSY OF RUY GONZALEZ DE CLAVIJO TO THE COURT OF TIMOUR
Narrative of the Embassy of Ruy Gonzalez de Clavijo to the court of Timour, at Samarcand, A.D.1403-1406. Translated, for the first time, with notes, a preface, and an introductory life of Timour beg, by Clements R.Markham, F.R.G.S., London: Printed for the Hakluyt Society, M.DCCC.LIX.
pdf (0.83 MB)
Documents: Armenian Genocide1
THEODOR HERZL AND THE ARMENIAN QUESTION ACCORDING TO MARWAN BUHEIRY’S WORK
By: Nikolay Hovhannisyan Doctor of Sciences in Hisory, Professor, Corresponding member of the NAS RA
In the article is discussed the monograph “Theodor Herzl and The Armenian Question” written by the Lebanese scholar Marwan Buheiry, specializing in modern and contemporary history of the Middle East, Arab peoples and international policy of Zionism. The study is devoted to the Armenian-Jewish relations in the early stages of political Zionism.
pdf (0.80 MB)
Armenological Heritage1
MANUK ABEGHYAN PRIMARY BELIEFS
M. Abeghyan was one of the classics of Armenian philology. His fundamental studies are devoted to Armenian literature, language, lexicography and oral tradition.
The small passage from his study first published in German in 1899 (Der armenische Volksglaube, Leipzig; see Manuk Abeghyan, Studies. Vol.I, Yerevan, 1966, pp.29-32 [in Armenian]) deals with the religious beliefs of ancient Armenia.
pdf (0.69 MB)
Classics of Armenology2
BORIS BORIS PIOTROWSKI (1908-1990)
B.B. Piotrovski was a prominent Soviet archaeologist whose studies were devoted to the ancient Near Eastern and other archaeological cultures on the territory of the USSR. Among his scholarly interests was also the archaeology and history of the Armenian Highland (Urartu).
B.Piotrovski was born in Saint-Petersburg in February 14, 1908 to the family of teachers. In 1925 he entered the department of linguistics and material culture of the Leningrad state university where he studied ancient Near Eastern and Egyptian archaeology. Among his teachers were well known Soviet archaeologists - V.Struve, N.Flitner, A.Miller, etc.
pdf (0.71 MB)
GEVORG ARTASHES TIRATSYAN (1926-1993)
G.Tiratsyan was a prominent Armenian archaeologist and historian, one of the leaders of Armenian archaeological schools.
G.Tiratsyan was born in September 18, 1926, in Akkerman, Romania in the family of the teacher and lexicographer Artashes Tiratsyan. In 1945 he entered the Department of History of the University of Bucharest. After repatriation in 1948 he became student of the Department of History, Yerevan state university. After graduating the university in 1952 G.Tiratsyan became postgraduate student of the Academy of sciences.
pdf (0.73 MB)
Book Reviews2
Khachatur Stepanyan, MEMOIRS OF A SOLDIER ABOUT THE DAYS OF TRAGEDY, Fresno/California, 2021: Tadem press, 544 p., 8 maps, 32 photos, by Bedros Haroian
Fresno/California, 2021: Tadem press, 544 p., 8 maps, 32 photos
The newly established "Tadem press" publishing house, USA, took a good and valuable initiative. Under the supervision of Gillisann Harootunian, PhD, Executive Director of University Initiatives, California State University (Fresno) it should try to fill the gap in primary sources published in English regarding the Armenian genocide. The publishing house introduces the English translation of the Memoirs of the military man Bedros Haroian (“Memoirs of a soldier about the Days of Tragedy”), born in the village of Datem, Kharberd (Western Armenia). It is worth to mention that the Armenian variant of the Memoirs has been published in Boston by "Hayreniq" publishing house in 1963.
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Amatuni Virabyan,“THE PROBLEM OF ESTABLISHING SOVIET POWER IN ARMENIA ACCORDING TO THE ASSESSMENT OF THE SOCIAL AND POLITICAL THOUGHT OF THE ARMENIAN DIASPORA (1920-1930S)”, Antelias, 2021, 420 pages, by Khachatur Rostom Stepanyan
Antelias, 2021, 420 pages
One of the most controversial issues in the Armenian history of the 20th century is the Sovietization of Armenia. It is self-evident how this historical event was evaluated and glorified in the Soviet country during its 70 years of existence. The issue of Sovietization was also addressed by the Diasporan historiographer and memorialist authors, the press, the wider public and political circles, whose comments and assessments were multi-layered and ambiguous depending on their party, ideological, fragmentary approaches and preferences.
pdf (0.85 MB)
New Books10
THE NUMBER OF CILICIAN ARMENIANS ON THE EVE OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
By: Robert Tatoyan
AGMI Publishing House, Yerevan, 2021, 240 p. + map
The book is dedicated to the study of the number of Armenians living in Cilicia before the Armenian Genocide.
In this work, calculations are provided about the number of Cilician Armenians on the eve of the Armenian Genocide, based on a comparative analysis of the main Ottoman (Turkish), Armenian and western primary, as well as auxiliary statistical sources.
THE ALEPPO RESCUE HOME: 1464 ACCOUNTS OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE SURVIVORS
By: Edita Gzoyan
AGMI Publishing House, Yerevan, 2022, 832 p.
This book studies the issue of forcible child transfer and forced marriages during the Armenian Genocide, considering it as a structural element of the Ottoman genocidal policy. This book presents the original surveys of 1464 Armenian Genocide survivors who were rescued and sheltered in the Aleppo Rescue Home by the League of Nations Commissioner, Danish missionary Karen Jeppe. Those surveys were brought from the League of Nations Archives (Geneva, Switzerland) and are presented in the English originals with Armenian translations, with the verified geographical locations and the photographs of the survivors. The book presentation is being organized in the frames of the International Day for Protection of Children.
THE MONUMENTAL CULTURE OF ARTSAKH
By: Hamlet Petrosyan
Nzhdeh Yeranyan
2022, 232 p., 60 pen paintings, 3 maps, 300 photos, Yerevan
The book presents the monumental culture of Artsakh, including old, antique, early Christian monuments, khachkars and tombstones, by historical source study, architectural, pictorial and semantic examination. The problems of ethno-religious affiliation of these monuments are explained and reasoned in detail. The Azerbaijani falsifications on the monumental culture of Artsakh are presented and denied by the examination of documentary evidence. The research has been published with the support of the Armenian General Benevolent Union.
THE HORRORS OF ADANA: REVOLUTION AND VIOLENCE IN THE EARLY TWENTIETH CENTURY
Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2022, 360 p.
The book examines the 1909 twin massacres that shook the province of Adana, located in the southern Anatolian region of modern-day Turkey, killing more than 20,000 Armenians and 2,000 Muslims. The Horrors of Adana offers one of the first close examinations of these events, analyzing sociopolitical and economic transformations that culminated in a cataclysm of violence. Drawing on primary sources in a dozen languages, this book is an interdisciplinary approach to understanding the rumors and emotions, public spheres and humanitarian interventions that together informed this complex event. Ultimately, through consideration of the Adana Massacres in micro-historical detail, “The Horrors of Adana” presents an important macrocosmic understanding of ethnic violence, illuminating how and why ordinary people can become perpetrators.
OPERATION «ZOD»
By: Avetis Grigoryan
Arsen Bobokhyan
Yerevan: Newmag, 2022, 404 p.
Azerbaijan doesn’t hide its territorial ambitions towards the border regions of Armenia. This work shows that Baku’s aspirations are not new, they have at least 100 years of history. In 1919, the Tatar population of the Sotk region, at the instigation of Azerbaijan, rebelled against the Armenian government and announced its that it is joining Azerbaijan. And only due to «Zod» operation this important region remains part of Armenia. Operation Zod is almost unknown to the general public, while it is one of the brightest pages in the history of the last century of Armenia. For the first time and on the basis of new factual data, the authors of the book present the causes, chronology and consequences of the Armenian-Tatar clashes in the Lake Sevan region.
ARMENIAN COMMUNITIES OF PERSIA / IRAN: HISTORY, TRADE, CULTURE
Santa Ana: Mazda Publishers, 2021, 672 p.
Armenian-Iranian interactions date back to the depths of antiquity. At times, Armenia and Iran were friends and allies, even sharing common dynasties, and at other times fierce and unrelenting adversaries. Whatever their political relations may have been, their commonalities in pre-Christian and pre-Islamic social structures and cultural attributes, including linguistic affiliation, are striking. The boundaries between the Iranian and Armenian worlds were porous in many ways. The Armenian presence in Iran is attested from the Achaemenid period to the present. Although the Armenian community of Iran has decreased significantly since the nineteenth century, it still constitutes the most significant Christian element in Iran, finding means to preserve in large measure its religion, language, and traditions and to navigate between Armenian and Iranian identities. This volume of twenty-three chapters written by specialists in the field spans the centuries from antiquity to the present. It is based on two conferences held at UCLA in the series titled “Historic Armenian Cities and Provinces”
ARMENIAN COLONIES OF SMYRNA AND THE COAST OF THE AEGEAN SEA (16th - first half of the 19th century)
By: Kharatyan Albert Corresponding Member of NAS RA
Yerevan: Gitutyun, 2022, 534 p.
The Armenian communities in Smyrna and western Asia Minor emerged in the VI-VII centuries are among the oldest ones of the Armenian communities. Their history which dates back to Byzantine period lasted in the following centuries.
The communities of Smyrna, Aydin, Manisa, Eodemish, Kesab, Akhisar, Gnk, Bergama, Krkaghach, Denizli, Nazili, etc., survived until September 1922 and as the last act of the Armenian Genocide in Ottoman Turkey were destroyed by the Kemalists who invaded the region.
The community of Smyrna in particular has made a tremendous contribution to the development of Armenian culture (preservation of national church traditions, typography, pedagogy, periodical press, translation of literature, development of modern philosophical thought, etc.).
THE TYPES OF ARMENIAN SACRED SONG IN THE FOLK TRADITION OF JAVAKHQ
By: Zaven Tagakchyan
Yerevan: Gitutyun,2022, 338 p.
The study presents for the first time the musicological examination of the folk songs kept in the library of the Institute of Art, National Academy of Sciences, Republic of Armenia after Aram Kocharyan and the scientific expedition recordings of the popular versions of the songs played in different church ceremonies (1927-1999).
MANUSCRIPT HERITAGE OF ARTSAKH AND UTIK
By: Hravard Hakobyan
Tamara Minasyan
Vahe Torosyan
Yerevan: Matenadatan, 2022, 334 p.
The new publication is dedicated to the history and manuscript heritage of the two historical provinces of Armenia. The first chapter of the book provides brief review of the history of Artsakh and Utik from ancient times to the 19th century. The second chapter gives detailed information on the scriptoria of Artsakh and Utik which functioned adjacent to almost all large monasteries. Manuscripts produced from the 13th to the 18th centuries have come down to us. The large part of the survived manuscripts is kept at the MesropMashtots Institute of Manuscripts (Matenadaran), and the others are stored in different libraries and depositories around the world, as well as in private collections. The third chapter of the book is dedicated to the miniature painting of these manuscripts, giving a general idea on the miniature school and artistic traditions of Artsakh and its neighboring provinces. More than hundred images of the illuminated manuscripts are included in the book-album, aimed at propagating the rich and, at the same time, little known written culture of Artsakh and Utik.
ANI AND ITS CITIZENS
By: Karen Matevosyan
Yerevan: Matenadaran, 2021, 464 p.
In the history of medieval Armenia Ani played an extremely important role not only as the political and spiritual center of the country but also a first-class place for the development of urban life, economy, crafts and trade, culture and art. The book consists of two parts: the first is devoted to the history of the city, culture, inclusion of the city, monasteries and fortresses adjacent to Ani. The second part is dedicated to Ani - from members of the royal family and aristocratic tribes to a Big City. In 2016 Ani was included in the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage List, which increased interest in it. Therefore, a new study and presentation of the historical, cultural, and civilizational role of Ani is very important.