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[MosJan]

1921 February

[MosJan]

The February Uprising (classical Armenian: Փետրուարեան ապստամբութիւն, reformed: Փետրվարյան ապստամբություն, P'etrvaryan apstambut'yun) was an anti-Bolshevik rebellion by the nationalist Armenian Revolutionary Federation which started on February 13 and was suppressed on April 2, 1921 by the recapture of Yerevan by Bolshevik forces.

Background
After the Republic of Armenia was Sovietized in December 1920 about 1,000 Armenian officers were arrested by the new Bolshevik authorities, including generals Tovmas Nazarbekian and Movses Silikyan. They were forced to walk from Yerevan to Alaverdi by foot (about 160 kilometers) and some of them were killed on the road. These officers were subsequently sent to jails in Baku and Russia. In February 1921, many heroes of the Battle of Sardarabad were shot, including Daniel Bek-Pirumyan, while his brother Poghos Bek-Pirumyan committed suicide after being tortured. Pro-Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) intellectuals were also harassed. Wheat was taken away from villagers without any compensation.

The Uprising
The repressions by the Bolshevik government of Armenia created widespread discontent and the Armenian Revolutionary Federation began a rebellion on February 13. By February 17 Ashtarak, Ejmiatsin, Garni, and Hrazdan were taken over by ARF forces. On February 18 they entered Yerevan.[3] The Bolsheviks and the Red Army retreated to Artashat. Hovhannes Katchaznouni, Levon Shant, Nikol Aghbalian and 100 other political activists and intellectuals were freed from jails.

After the capture of Yerevan, the Salvation Committee of the Fatherland was founded under the leadership of former Prime Minister Simon Vratsian,[3] which was to govern the country until the formation of a new government. The committee addressed the population on February 18 which invoked people to "protect order and rule, strictly fulfill all the orders of the committee". Throughout the 42-day rebellion, bloody battles took places between ARF forces and the Bolsheviks. On February 27 the Bolsheviks tried to attack Yerevan but on March 1 they were forced to retreat. After a two-week pause, Bolshevik units again attacked and took over Artashat on March 16 but the next day ARF forces started an offensive and recaptured the town.

The Bolshevik forces, greatly outnumbering the ARF, began a large offensive on March 24. They captured Aparan, Kotayk and gradually emerging, entered Yerevan on April 2.[4] The ARF forces retreated without any serious battle to avoid the destruction of the capital.

 

 

https://en.wikipedia...bruary_Uprising

[MosJan]

The "Salvation Committee of the Fatherland", ARF forces and many civilians retreated to Zangezur, where they joined Garegin Nzhdeh, where the Republic of Mountainous Armenia was established. The mountain republic finally got to unite with soviet armenia. The Armenian leaders escaped to Persia to avoid arrest and possible execution by the Bolsheviks.

The reasons of the revolt were later discussed by the Bolshevik government and was decided to treat the population with more tolerance. After suppressing the February Uprising, Aleksandr Myasnikyan was appointed Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of Armenia, the newly installed government of the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic.

International reactions

 

 

Yerevan prison after Bolshevik slaughter. At the night of 17 February 1921, 50 people were brutally slaughtered at Yerevan prison.

On February 18, the Committee sent a message to the Armenian delegation in Paris and to the leaders of world powers (France, United Kingdom, Italy), League of Nations, etc., but it remained unanswered. A message was also sent to the Armenian delegation in Tiflis, Georgia, where after the Sovietization of Armenia, local Armenians were subjected to violence. Georgia responded to the message on February 21, when the Armenian embassy was reopened in Tiflis. Georgia fell to the Soviets on February 25, thereafter the Armenian rebels were left alone against the Bolshevik forces in the Caucasus.

[MosJan]

https://www.charjoum...iks-from-power/

 

 

 

February 18th, 1921: the popular revolt in Armenia removes the Bolsheviks from power.
Following Armenia’s invasion by the Turkish (which by the way were armed by the Bolsheviks) and the usual lack of support from major-power states, Armenia’s first Republic (1918-1920) leaders gives up every power to the Bolsheviks on December 2nd of 1920. The support of Soviet Russia is supposed to bring peace and food to a people already exhausted by genocide, war, sickness, and poverty. But, as the transfer of authority was made peacefully, the « Heghkom » (Bolsheviks revolutionary comity) rose to power by the Red Army, bringing a violent and authoritarian political system. Massive arrests by the « Tcheka » (political police), repression, summary executions are the day-to-day life.
The Armenian people, particularly the farmers, refuse to bend to this terrific political system. Shocked by those events, many Armenians refuse to let themself get disarmed under the pretense of Moscow’s protection, despite Vratsian and Dro’s (two figures of Dachnak power from the 1st Republic) calls to comply with the law.
While many Armenian refugees still arrive, fleeing the Turkish army, from Kars, the Armenians poor resources are sent to Russia then facing a civil war. On February 12th, 1921, the Caucasian Soviet Army, invades Georgia. Immediately, the lack of Soviet military presence generate a revolt of the refugees from Sassoun, a revolt that quickly turns into a rebellion spreading across the country in a population exasperated by so much unfairness.
On February 16th, the Armenian revolutionists come to Erevan and on the 18th, they declare the « Salvation Comity of the Nation », a revolutionary government that put to an end the Bolshevik political system. This revolutionary government lasts for two and a half months and on April 2nd, 1921 the Red Army and the Bolshevik policy are back in Erevan.
A new « Heghkom » is created, headed by Miasnikian, a relative of Lenine from whom he follows the commands, who have a more cautious and well-balanced use of power towards the people.
The revolutionists still go on their struggle reaching the South, in the mountains area of Zanguezour, which they proclaim « independent Syunik » on February 25th; then, on April 26th, proclaimed «The Armenian Republic of the Mountains ».
Their resistance lasted for 3 months and the Red Army reach Meghri on July 13rd, 1921, in the South of Armenia. The Armenian resistance forces Soviet Russia to connect the Zanguezour to the Republic.

[MosJan]

http://thisweekinarm...ry-18-1921.html

 

 

 

The February Revolt - February 18, 1921

A New York Times article headline from March 17, 1921
The government of the Republic of Armenia transferred the power to the incoming Armenian Bolsheviks on December 2, 1921, and the first independence came to an end: Armenia became a Soviet republic, nominally independent. The Military-Revolutionary Committee (Revkom) led by Sarkis Kasian arrived in Yerevan on December 6.
The transference of government and loss of independence had been the choice between the lesser of two evils. On the west, Armenia had been defeated by the Turkish nationalist forces that responded to Mustafa Kemal, which had occupied Alexandropol, and the danger of a new massacre that would complete the genocide loomed over the country. It was expected that the new government, while dealing with the Turks with the sponsorship of Soviet Russia, would also address the myriad of problems that affected the exhausted population.
This did not happen. The newcomers, instead, caught in the fever of revolution and war communism, tried to apply to Armenia the same recipes that were being practiced in Soviet Russia.  Food was requisitioned from the starving population to be sent to Russia as “help from the Armenian workers.”  Repression against the former government and the Armenian Revolutionary Federation started. In late December about 1,200 high-ranking officers of the army of independent Armenia were arrested, including the heroes of the May 1918 battles, like generals Tovmas Nazarbekian, Movses Silikian, Daniel Bek-Pirumian, and Dro. They were forced to walk from Yerevan to Alaverdi (about 100 miles), and then dispatched to prisons in Baku and Russia; Daniel Bek-Pirumian, hero of the battle of Sardarabad, was shot in the Yerevan prison in February 1921.
Economic suffering and political violence led to the brewing of a popular movement to put an end to the situation. In February 1921 many prominent A.R.F. members, who had also been active in the years of the Republic, like Levon Shant, Nikol Aghbalian, and Hovhannes Kajaznuni, were arrested. Some of them were killed in prison by Azeri killers armed with axes. Others were saved by the rebellion, which started on February 13 amid a group of refugees from Sasun who had settled on the foot of Mount Aragatz. In the next four days, the rebel forces, now headed by members of the A.R.F. who had eluded persecution, took Ashtarak, Echmiadzin, Garni, and Hrazdan. Yerevan was liberated on February 18 and the Bolshevik-led Military Revolutionary Committee retreated. The rebellion had been helped by the fact that the troops of the XI Red Army had been taken out of Armenia to participate in the sovietization of Georgia.
On February 18 the independence of Armenia was again proclaimed and the “Committee for the Salvation of the Homeland” took power under the leadership of the last prime minister of the independent Republic, Simon Vratzian. It issued an order that stated: “The Bolshevik regime in Armenia has been eliminated. Until the formation of a government, the whole authority is in the hands of the Committee for the Salvation of the Homeland.” A message to the delegation of the Republic of Armenia and to the leaders of the world powers, sent on the same day, remained unanswered. A response to a message sent to Georgia was received on February 21, when the Armenian embassy was reopened in Tiflis. However, four days later Georgia fell to the Soviet forces, and the rebellion in Armenia was left alone against the Communist forces. There was no help from the outside world, because it was obvious that the rebellion would fail sooner or later; the Soviet forces in Armenia had the support of Soviet Russia.
Bloody battles took place between the opposing sides during the short-lived period of freedom. The Bolsheviks attacked Yerevan on February 27, but were forced to retreat on March 1. After a two-week stop, they attacked again and briefly took Ashtarak, but were repelled on March 17. However, the numerical superiority of the Bolsheviks became crucial. Their great offensive started on March 24 and nine days later, on April 2, Yerevan fell.
The A.R.F. forces retreated without opposing serious resistance to avoid the destruction of the capital. Thousands of people, both civilians and soldiers, retreated to Zangezur, where the Republic of Mountainous Armenia had been formed, and joined the forces of Garegin Nzhdeh. The resistance ended in July, while the refugees and the leaders of the rebellion had already crossed the border to Persia.
The reasons of the revolt were later discussed by the Bolshevik authorities in Russia and the Military-Revolutionary Committee was replaced in April 1921 by the Council of People’s Commissars, led by Alexander Miasnikian until his death in 1925, whose policies ensured a more tolerant treatment of the population, the end of the rebellion, and the partial return of some of the refugees from Persia.

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