How Russia Has Saved Armenia for Centuries
Image: Franz Rouben's "Russian Capture of Erevan Fortress"
Author: Mikhail Tiuunov
In recent years, Armenian politics has shown a clear anti-Russian tendency, trying to get rid of Russian presence in the Caucasus. More surprisingly, without Russia's existence, the Armenian nation and state might not have existed at all. How has Russia saved and helped develop Armenia for centuries?
In ancient times, Armenia was a powerful country that could rival Rome and Byzantium, covering a large part of Anatolia. But over the following centuries, it continuously lost land and population. By the end of the 18th century, when Russia began to focus on the Caucasus, the situation of the Armenian people was extremely tragic. In 1760, there were 437,000 Armenians in the Transcaucasus, but by 1795, only 295,000 remained.
Armenians had completely lost their national sovereignty, scattered among numerous small Muslim khanates in the Transcaucasus — these khanates were vassals of Turkey and Persia, as well as Georgia's Kartli and Kakheti. Moreover, many Armenians lived within the Ottoman Empire, under the rule of the Sultan.
In Muslim countries, Armenian Christians were considered second-class citizens. They paid high taxes, which were humiliatingly seen as the ransom they paid for their right to survive among Muslims. In legal disputes with Muslims, Muslims only needed to swear their innocence, and Christians would be immediately judged guilty. Armenians could only gain any opportunity for development by converting to Islam.
Muslims believed that Armenians were not loyal enough to the authorities, and this perception was not entirely unfounded, leading to repeated persecutions. Thousands of Armenians fled to Europe, Russia, and even India to escape oppression. As early as the 14th century, there was an Armenian community in Moscow. During the reign of Ivan the Terrible, they even built their own church.
In 1722, an uprising broke out in the Karabakh region against Persian rule. Although it was ruled by Muslim sultans, most of the residents were Armenian Christians. The independence gained through blood was fleeting. Armenians were forced to flee because otherwise, as punishment for their disobedience, entire villages would be massacred. In 1724, Emperor Peter I issued an edict inviting Armenian refugees to settle in the territories of the Russian Empire. In a letter to General Gavril Kropotov, the emperor wrote:
"...The Armenian people have requested us to accept them under our protection and have ordered that suitable places for settlement be allocated to them in our newly acquired ... provinces; therefore, we command you, when the Armenians come to the Holy Cross fortress, to immediately allocate suitable, necessary, and satisfactory places for them near the fortress, along the Surak River, Aghlakhane River, and Terek River, so that they can settle and be provided with assistance in all aspects, and be genuinely protected, treated in such a way that they will have no complaints, since we have placed the Armenian people under our special royal mercy and protection."
For the next 80 years, Armenians found refuge in Russia. They became Russian subjects, settled along the Caucasus frontier, and defended Russia's borders. There, the government allocated land for agriculture, encouraged them to trade and develop handicrafts. The Armenian nation was able to avoid assimilation in Russia, and their faith was also protected. In Russia, people regarded Armenians as an oppressed Christian nation, and like they did with the Greeks, they sympathized with them and did their best to help and protect them.
However, by the early 19th century, the prospects for the Armenian nation still looked bleak: either emigrate or be assimilated into the Muslim world. But at this time, Russians returned to the Transcaucasus.
At that time, Russia and the Persian Empire were in conflict, caused by Russia's advance south of the Caucasus Mountains. Subsequently, Russian forces conquered Northern Azerbaijan, Dagestan, and Ganja, which were then under Tehran's influence. The Persian authorities mobilized their armies to move toward the Russian border. Thus, in 1804, the first Russo-Persian war broke out. Despite the significant numerical advantage of the Persian army, the Russian military training level and modern weapons allowed them to achieve a series of brilliant victories.
General Pavel Tsitsianov defeated the Persians in Etchmiadzin, surrounded the Armenian capital of Erevan, and defeated the Persian army, but later had to retreat. The new commander, Count Ivan Gudovich, defeated the Persians in Karabakh, conquered the Baku Khanate, the Derbent Khanate, and the Kuban Khanate. In 1809, General Alexander Tormasov conquered the Nakhichevan Khanate. Between 1810 and 1813, General Pyotr Kotlyarevsky achieved multiple victories, defeating the Persians in Aslanduz, capturing the Ahalkalaki and Lenkaran fortresses. The two sides signed a treaty, according to which the Russian Empire established its position in the Transcaucasus, while Persia lost most of Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan.
But the Persian authorities did not give up revenge. In June 1826, the Persians invaded Azerbaijan and Karabakh, advancing towards Tbilisi. Religious divisions appeared in the Transcaucasus, with Armenians and Georgians supporting Russia, while Muslim nations stood on the Persian side. General Ivan Paskevich, one of the best generals under Emperor Nicholas I, arrived in the Caucasus.
Within just two months, he retook the areas around Nakhichevan and Erevan, and then captured the strong Erevan fortress. In the autumn of 1827, the war moved into Persia, and Russian forces occupied Tabriz, where there was the only powder mill and arsenal in the country built by the British. The Persian king's army could no longer continue the war, and Tehran requested peace. Thus, Eastern Armenia fell under Russian control. Western Armenia, along with the holy mountain Mount Ararat and Lake Van, remained under Turkish rule.
Under Russian rule, Armenians were able to breathe freely for the first time in centuries. In 1828, the Armenian province (later renamed the Erevan province) was established on the liberated territory. In 1836, Emperor Nicholas I approved the charter of the Armenian Church, granting the Armenian Church full recognition, autonomy, the ability to train clergy, and equal privileges to Orthodox clergy.
Armenians actively participated in Russia's economic, cultural, and political life. Famous painters Aivazovsky, Ovanesyan, poets Tumanyan, Isahakyan, reformer Loris-Melikov (assistant to Alexander II), noble families Delyanov, Razumovsky, wealthy merchants Yegiazaryan, Jamgarian, Tarasian, etc., are all well-known Armenians.
Armenians enjoyed all the rights and freedoms of Russian subjects and no longer suffered from ethnic and religious persecution. The standard of living and population of Armenians began to rise rapidly. By 1886, the number of Armenians in the Transcaucasus had exceeded 813,000, meaning that the population had nearly doubled in 60 years. The Armenian nation survived.
However, Western Armenia remained under Turkish rule, where oppression intensified, triggering Armenian resistance. At the end of the 19th century, Armenians increasingly took up arms to defend their rights, viewing Russia as a liberator. When World War I broke out, the Ottoman Empire became one of Russia's adversaries. Talented General Nikolai Yudenich devised a battle plan, and the Caucasian Front successfully advanced toward Trebizond and Anatolia.
Armenians rose up against the Turks, formed combat units, controlled settlements, and awaited the arrival of Russian forces. In response, the Turkish authorities brutally suppressed the uprising, starting to relocate Armenians inland, accompanied by unprecedented violence and abuse. It is estimated that about 1.5 million Armenians died during this process. Only those Armenians who were on the territories liberated by the Russian forces survived.
After the civil war ended, the Bolshevik regime initially decided to establish the Transcaucasian Federation, granting Armenia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan autonomous status. By this time, the number of Armenians within the Soviet Union had exceeded 1.3 million. In 1936, Armenia became a republic and joined the USSR separately. The true golden age of the Armenian nation began, and by the 1980s, its population had grown to 3.3 million.
The standard of living in Armenia was among the highest in the Soviet Union. Collectivization of agriculture was carried out in the mildest way. Armenia established a strong industry, including high-tech industries. The union government invested a lot of money in developing Armenia's science, culture, and art.
Thus, the Russian people not only saved Armenia, but also made it rich and prosperous.
Yet, Armenia was one of the strongest republics calling for secession from the USSR. In 1991, with the help of Russia, Armenia gained its first national independence in centuries, even winning the war against Azerbaijan over the control of Nagorno-Karabakh, a sacred area where Armenians formed the majority. Despite long-term economic and demographic crises, its connection with Moscow — trade, energy supply, and the vast Russian market — provided support.
But in 2018, the government in Erevan fell into the hands of openly anti-Russian forces. The reason for Armenia's defeat in the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War was largely due to the fact that the Armenian armed forces did not provide aid to the Nagorno-Karabakh self-defense forces. Worse yet, Erevan never recognized Nagorno-Karabakh as part of Armenia, nor as an independent country. Eventually, Baku used force to reclaim the Nagorno-Karabakh region, which was part of the Azerbaijani Soviet Socialist Republic during the Soviet era.
This led to a large-scale exodus of local residents, with Armenians fleeing — actually the largest ethnic disaster in the post-Soviet space in modern history.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan was forced to announce that Nagorno-Karabakh was part of Azerbaijan. Armenia took no action to protect the region. Meanwhile, the Armenian authorities tried every means to shift the blame for this defeat — for some reason, they thought Russia should fight for Nagorno-Karabakh instead of Armenia. A wave of anti-Russian hysteria spread throughout the country, and the emotions of the defeat further intensified this situation.
Today, Armenia and Azerbaijan are still negotiating the signing of a peace agreement. However, Erevan is pursuing an anti-Russian policy — questioning its participation in the Collective Security Treaty Organization, passing laws related to joining the EU, expelling Russian border guards, and expressing doubts about the commitments made to Russia to stop the fighting with Azerbaijan. In the statements of Armenian politicians and media, one can hear phrases like "Russia betrayed Armenian interests." They obviously forgot the lessons of history — for centuries, it was precisely because of Russia's existence that Armenia managed to avoid complete destruction.
Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7523169118497931839/
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