Armenian independence

On 28 May 1918 the Armenian National Council, sitting in Tiflis, resolved to take upon itself authority over the Armenian provinces of the former Transcaucasia. This date is regarded as the birthday of the First Republic of Armenia, the first Armenian state since the Middle Ages. The British chronology of the war records Armenian independence under 26 May, the day the Transcaucasian Federation broke up, but the decision was taken two days later. The Council’s declaration was announced only on 30 May and signed with that date, and 28 May was later recognised as the day of independence. Today Armenians celebrate it as Republic Day.

Independence out of necessity

The Armenians did not seek independence. They saw Russia as their protector against Turkey, and many of their leaders regarded a state of their own, surrounded by enemies and crowded with refugees, as a tragic illusion. When, however, on 26 May the Transcaucasian Seim acknowledged the break-up of the federation and Georgia declared independence under German protection, the Armenians were left on their own. On 28 May Azerbaijan also declared independence. The Armenian National Council, set up in October 1917 by an Armenian national congress in Tiflis, in which the Dashnaks of the Dashnaktsutyun party formed the strongest group, hesitated, because Armenia was still at war with the Ottoman Empire. It concluded, however, that there was no other way.

The situation at the front was dramatic. The Turks had already taken Kars and Alexandropol, and their columns stood a few dozen kilometres from Erivan. On the same day, 28 May, at Karakilisa (today Vanadzor) the main forces of General Tovmas Nazarbekian were outflanked and had to withdraw along mountain paths. On the Ararat plain the troops of General Movses Silikyan, which since 22 May had been counter-attacking at Sardarabad, had taken the Turkish positions at Araks station the day before and were advancing north, while Dro’s detachment was defending the Bash Abaran gorge. The successes in the Battle of Sardarabad gave the Council an argument in its talks with the Turks.

A declaration without the word “independence”

The text announced on 30 May was deliberately cautious, as the historian Richard Hovannisian writes. In translation it read: “In view of the complete political dissolution of Transcaucasia and the new situation created by the proclamation of the independence of Georgia and Azerbaijan, the Armenian National Council declares itself the supreme and only authority of the Armenian provinces. Owing to certain grave circumstances which do not permit the formation of an Armenian national government, the Armenian National Council temporarily assumes all governmental functions in order to direct the political and administrative life of the Armenian provinces.” The word “independence” did not appear in it.

Also on 30 May the Armenian delegates at Batum informed the Turks that Armenia accepted their peace terms. The treaty was signed on 4 June. Armenia, reduced to a scrap of land around Erivan and Lake Sevan, had to cede to the Turks most of the Alexandropol district and a large part of the Erivan Governorate, but the Ottoman Empire recognised its existence. The first government was formed in June by the Dashnak Hovhannes Katchaznouni, and in July the authorities moved from Tiflis to Erivan. The state, which had come into being almost against the will of its leaders, survived until December 1920, when, after a lost war with Turkey, it passed under Bolshevik rule.