Katchaznouni’s report is extremely valuable not only because it discloses an indisputable truth but also because it teaches invaluable lessons even in the present day world. The present USA strategy bestows special missions on small ethnic and religious groups in dividing certain countries. The bloody outcomes of these missions are apparent in the examples of Yugoslavia, Afghanistan and Iraq. What is more, the world public opinion is aware that new examples will ensue. However, there is always a final scene in these plots and contrivances. Katchaznouni’s report provides an opportunity to see the tragedies that fill those last scenes, with all their sadness. Those who allowed themselves to be pushed against the peoples they had been living together with, for hundreds, even thousands of years, had not only their neighbours but their own people pay the price for it, most gravely. Katchaznouni, like all the other Armenian writers state that the Tsarist Russian regime, the British and the French imperialism used them and when, finally, they were left alone, they had nothing else to do but bemoan that they had been betrayed. Those who can interpret the developments in history can certainly see that the regrets and the cries which will follow the present historical period will not be in a different tone.

Other Documents in the Dashnag Archives Confirm Katchaznouni

Katchaznouni’s observations stated in his report are confirmed by other documents in the Dashnag archives. These Dashnag documents, some of which can be found in the Armenian archives, expose the “Genocide” lie in the same dramatic way seen in Katchaznouni’s report. The Dashnag documents themselves show how they were used by the Tsarist Russia and the Western imperialism against Turkey and what massacres they were responsible for, during the occupation and how rightful was the fight the Turkish army waged against all this.

Fight against Turkey in the Tsarist Armies

The imperialist centres accuse the Ottoman state and Mustafa Kemal’s Revolutionary government with subjecting the Armenians to massacre and genocide during 1915-23. However, the eight years which comprise the period of the Turkish War of Independence, are at the same time years of fight for the Dashnag forces, under the leadership of the Tsarist regime of Russia, the British and the French armies. This historical fact has been reflected in thousands of Armenian documents. I would like to give a few examples. The declaration sent by the Armenian National Bureau to Tsar Nicholas II at the very beginning of World War I shows how deeply attached the Dashnag leaders feel towards imperialism:

“As the glorious Russian Armies are fighting against Turkey who, with German support has dared to raise its hand against mighty Russia, on the lands in its own hegemony, in the snowy Armenian mountains and the vast Alashkert valley, the Armenians, taking the advice of their forefathers (…) have risen to sacrifice their lives and their assets to Great Russia and the magnificence of its throne. “The good news of war with Turkey has aroused enthusiasm among all the Armenian people. The Armenians from all the countries are in haste to take their place in the glorious Russian armies and to serve the achievement of the Russian arms with their blood. We are praying God to be victorious over the enemy. We owe it to our nation to turn into new Russian arms and to fulfill Russia’s historical duty in the East. Our hearts are burning with this desire.

“The Russian flag will freely flutter in the Bosphorous and the Dardanelles.

Your will, my magnificent lord, bestow freedom to the peoples under Turkish yoke”. [6]

 

[6] Mşak, No. 271, 1914: cited by ibid p. 89

In the dinner party following the march of the volunteer unit, commanded by Vardan, on April 15, 1915, in Echmiadzin , the first toast was proposed to glorious Russia and its heroic army. All Armenian (katoliko/Catholicos), after having sung ceremonial prayers, declared the gratitude of the Armenian people to the Russian armies and their readiness to emancipate the Armenian lands from the hegemony of foreigners, together with Russia. [13]

Similarly, Georg V, the all Armenian (katoliko/Catholicos), after the occupation of Van, states in the congratulatory telegrams he sent to Vorontsov, the Caucasian Governor of Russia and to P.I. Oganovsky, the Commander of the 4th Caucasian Army that he is praying for new victories of the Russian armies [14]

Hatisian, one of the important leaders of Dashnagsutiun, in his memoirs published in the 5th issue of Ayrenik in 1933, states that “with the defeat of the Russian army, all our hopes pinned on this army were exhausted” [15] and declares his position in World War I.

Fighting Against Turkey in the service of the British and French Armies

Following the collapse of the Tsarist Russia, Dashnags went under the control of the Western imperialists and fought against Turkey for the regional interests of Britain, France and USA.

Katchasznouni, as the Prime-Minister of the Dashnag government, on February 1919 , in a meeting with General F. Wocker, the commander of the occupational British forces, stated that he was sure the conditions of Armenians would improve with the victories of the Allies and with their movement into Caucasia. The report on this meeting is in the archives of the Interior Ministry of Armenia. [16]

Similarly, another document in the Armenian State Archives relates that the Armenians in Adana were armed by the French occupational forces under the command of General Diffe, and were organized in ”revenge units” and fought in French uniforms. [17]

Obeying British and French imperialism resulted in a commitment in Greek invasion. The Foreign Minister of the Dashnag Government states, in the telegram he sent to his representative in Tbilisi:

“The situation on the front is very grave. It is essential that you see Luck and Corbeille [18] and have them send telegrams to their governments informing them of how the Turkish troops are advancing and demand that they take all the necessary precautions(…) See the Greek representative too and demand that he too send a telegram to his government to inform them of the situation and to ask them if it is possible for the Greek forces to start an assault and break the strength of the Turkish forces” [19]

[13] Ararat No. 5, 1915, p.288 vd cited in: A.O.Arutiunian, Kavkazski Front 1914-1917 gg., İzdatelstvo “Ayastan”, Yerevan, 1971, p.305
[14] Ararat No. 5, 1915, s. 415 vd cited in: ibid, p.307
[15] Ayrenik, No. 5, 1933, cited in: a.A. Lalaian, “Kontrevolyutsionnaya Rol Partii Dashnagsoutiun”, İstoriçeskie Zapiski, No.2, 1928, p.83
[16] See Armenian SSR Interior Ministery Central October Revolution Archives (TsAOR MVD SSRA)f.114, d. 23, y.48 cited in: D. Yenukidze, Krah İmperialistiçeskoy İnterventsii V Zakavkazye, Gospolizdat Gruzinskoy SSR, Tbilisi, 1954, p. 188
[17] Armenian SSR State History Archives (GİA Arm. SSR) f. 200 d. 132. y. 338 cited in: N.Z.Efendiyeva, Borba Turetskogo Naroda Protiv Frantsuzkih Okkupantov Na Yege Anatolii (1919-1921) gg.)İzdatelsvo AN Azerbaycanskoy SSR, Baku, 1966, p. 116
[18] The representatives of the Allies in Tbilisi
[19] D.S. Zavriev, K. Noveyşey, İstorii Severo-Vostoçnıh Vilayetov Turtsii, Tbilisi, 1947, s. 85

 Dashnag Policy of Plunder

The Dashnag units practiced methods of torture of the Middle Ages and plundered the villages. In this way, they tried to overcome the financial crisis that the Armenian State was in. In the letter written by a Dashnag official to the head of the Dashnag government, A. Oganjanian, dated June 21, 1920, the official complains that the wealth that should be handed over to the Armenian state is being plundered by Armenians:

“Zanki-Basar was occupied by our troops. This country is so rich that it can pay our debts many times over. There has been an unconceivable plunder here. They have collected all the wheat, the barley, the rice, all the samovars, the carpets, all the money and gold. The Ministry of Finance could only send here yesterday, two officials, not accompanied by an organized force. A wealth of gigantic proportions is sliding away from our hands.” [23]

This report by the Dashnag official who wanted the property belonging to Turks should be collected in the hands of the government is in the Armenian State Archives. Another important document in this direction is the report sent by the Armenian Governor of Kars, to the central authority. The Governor, as he is reporting how the Turkish-Kurdish population is exterminated and their assets plundered, complains that they are not always successful in collecting all the wealth in their hands in the occupied villages. The Governor adds that “the region comprising Turks and Kurds is really like a treasure. But unfortunately we cannot fully control this place.” [24]

We come across the evidence of another instance of plunder in the 105th issue of 1920 of daily Jogovurd. The writer named G. Muradian recounts from the Azerbaijani villages of the North bank of Lake Gorchy his impressions of the Dashnag policy of plunder, with admiration:

“As a result of the work carried out by our government, the population of these villages have been expelled outside the borders of Armenia. I have seen abandoned villages with only a few cats and dogs who were meowing or barking strangely with surprise at the death silence. The population of these villages have left behind a considerable amount of potatoes, wheat and barley and seeds. The government can collect from these villages, over two million puds of wheat and half a million pud of potatoes.” [25]

[23] Gosarhiv Armenii f. 65, d. 116, y. 96 cited in: A.A. Lalaian, “ Kontrevolyutsionnaya Rol Partii Dashnagzoutiun”, p. 100.
[24] Gosarhiv Armenii f. 67, d. 1769, y. 25, cited in: ibid
[25] Jogovur, No. 105, 1920 cited in op.cit p. 100 vd

Dashnag documents also document how Armenian peasants suffered under the unbelievable torture and cruelty of the Armenian government itself. For example, it was reflected in the documents how the Dashnag Government Commissar, V. Agamian punished people and had them shot without trying them or carrying out an investigation on them, in order to prevent escapes from the army. Agamian gathered the wives, mothers and sisters of the people charged with deserting the army and stripped them naked and forced them to duck-walk in the village square. The Dashnag official then beat the naked women and kept them in water for hours. Agamian, who later ordered the women to be arrested, raped the young girls and women during the night. Agamian stayed in office for a long time without ever been punished. The Dashnag government called him back, only when they learned from a peasant named M. Azaparetov that the peasants were going to attempt at assassinating Agamian. [26]

A one time member of the Dashnag government, Jagetian, in his article published in Iran, makes the following statements concerning the Dashnag rule which he was a part of:

“The government armies, the pseudo-volunteer units (humbas), plundered the villages around the town of Ichevan (old Delican) and raped the women. The volunteer execution team put the peasants in such a state that the ‘humbapeta’ (the head of the team), ‘Arch-Mard’ (the bear-man) surrounded the village with 50 volunteers and pulled it down. Almost one thousand Armenian peasants were pushed to Azerbaijan territory.”

Jagetian says that no official was punished for special treatment of friends and relatives and adds:

“The Armenian Interior Ministry had become the shelter for all the criminals. The Minister Krmonian himself embezzled 50 million rubles from the state treasury one day before he left office.” [27]

Years later, another representative of the Dashnags, the publisher Chalhushian calls the government police “plunder troops” and tells how it became impossible to walk unarmed in the centre of the Armenian capital after sunset. [28]

In fact, the system of Armenian volunteer units called “humbapeta” systemized anarchy and plunder in Armenia and the neighbouring countries. The following song sung all together is actually a musical confession so far as it reflects the psychology of the volunteer units: “Come, pull down, pillage, kill and lay your jacket on your shoulder, walk about freely!” [29]

These circumstances gave rise to a situation where everyone who so wished founded a volunteer unit and turned these units into criminal organizations. The directive given out by the “humbapeta” (head of the unit) named Deli-Qazar expresses this situation very well:

“Announcement to the Armenians of the Yerevan region and the town of Yerevan: I am going to the front today with the boys. If some people, after I have left, introduce themselves as Deli-Qazar’s boys and misuse my name as a blackmailer, they will be punished severely by the nation and the military authority.” [30]

By 1918, The Dashnag Government had recruited all its citizens below 35 to the army and had reestablished “volunteer” units for the war to be fought against Turkey. In their publications, they made announcements threatening those who would go against this decision with death and proclaimed that “those who were wise” would not act against them. The issue dated March 1, 1918 of the Dashnag organ, Arev contains such information. [31] In another document kept in the Armenian State Archives it is stated that special troops have been dispatched to punish the villages of Berd, Verhniy, Karmir, Ahbyur and the Shamshadinsk region. [32]

The Dashnag organ, Martik, published in Gumru states that two cannons, one machine gun and a team of soldiers will be dispatched to the villages of those who have not participated in the military mobilization and that those who resist will be bombarded. [33] The Dashnag authority had even formed troops named “Terror Organ” in order to fight the deserters and posted such announcements on the village walls:

“To all the deserters and the Armenian people: On the night of March 1, somebody stealing a horse and two others deserting the regiment betrayed our country and the Armenian people and the three Armenian soldiers were executed by shooting. All the deserters should report to their troops and do their military service before it is too late. Otherwise they will be punished in the same way. Death to the traitors who will give Turks the opportunity of raiding Shiraq (Şirak). Terror Organ. Gumru, March 2, 1918” [34]

[26] See A. Karinian, “K. Harakteristike Armyianskih Nationalisticheskih Techeniy”, bolshevik Zakavkatzia, No. 9-10, 1928, p. 70
[27] See A Karinian, “K Harakteristike Armianskih Nationalisticheskih Techeniy”, Bolshevik Zakavkazia, No. 9-10, 1928. p. 70
[28] See İbid p. 70 vd.
[29] T. Hachikoglian, 10 Let Armyanskoy Strelkovoy Divizii, İzdatelstvo Polit. Uprav. KKA, Tiflis, 1930, p. 5
[30] İbid, p.5 vd.
[31] Arev, No. 46, March 1, 1918 cited in: A. Lalaian, “Kontrrevolyutsiyonnıy ‘Dashnagsutyutiun’ İ İmperialistcheskaia Voina 1914-1918 gg.”, p. 96.
[32] Armenian SSR Central State Archive (TsGA Arm. SSR) f. 67/199, d. 139, y. 230 cited in: A.M.Elchibekian, Ustanovlenie Sovyetskoy Vlasti V. Armenii, İzdatelstvo AN Armyanskoy SSR, Yerevan, 1954, p. 76
[33] Martik, No. 2, 1918 cited in: T.P. Agaian, Veliki Oktyahr i Borba Trudyashihsia Armenii Za Pobedu Sovyekskoy Vlasti, İzdatelstvo AN Aramianskoy SSR, Yerevan, 1962, p. 134
[34] T. Hachikoglian, op.cit., p. 7

The first man who led the Republic of Armenia. His name is sometimes spelled "Kachazouni."

Comrades:

These matters have had my deliberate and serious consideration. I do not know whether you, too, have arrived at the same conclusions. Allow me to say more: I am afraid that my final conclusion — those very difficult words which I shall here state with all singleness of heart — will cause general embarrassment, perhaps resentment, in the Convention.

I am prepared for that.

I only ask that you believe: a) that it is more difficult for me to write and sign those words than for you to listen to them from my own lips; b) that those words are not the result of thoughtless or petty, transient dispositions or hasty resolve. They are the result of deep-rooted convictions and a clear awareness, for I am capable of thinking and understanding, considering and determining a stand point.

I beg of you, therefore, that you be patient and approach the matters with an open mind, unhampered — something which is not easy for men who have lived a Party life and have thought from a Party angle.

Let me now proceed with my subject.

In order to present my conclusions in proper sequence I feel it is necessary for me to refresh your memory with the various phases of the Armenian Cause — from the Great War to the Lausanne Conference [42] — and the role played by the Dashnagtzoutiun during that period. So that I may not abuse your attention, I shall curtail my speech and present to you a concise yet accurate commentary.

Following 1914, what stages did the Armenian question pass through, what development did the events show, how did they come about, what sequence did they follow and and where did they lead to and in the meantime, what did our party do and what will it have to do in the future?

When I recall the recent past, with these considerations in mind, and when I distinguish the important points from the secondary and the arbitrary ones, and arrange them in chronological order, this is the picture that arises:

At the beginning of the Fall of 1914 when Turkey had not yet entered the war but had already been making preparations, Armenian revolutionary bands began to be formed in Transcaucasia with great enthusiasm and, especially, with much uproar. Contrary to the decision taken during their general meeting at Erzurum only a few weeks before, the A.R.F. had active participation in the formation of the bands and their future military action against Turkey.

In an undertaking of such gravity, fraught with most serious consequences, individual agents of the Transcaucasian A.R.F. acted against the will of our superior authority, against the will of the General Meeting of the Party.

Why?

Because they were also suffering from the syndrome of following the masses, and were flowing in the direction that the current was taking them.

This example urges us to recall that the A.R.F. in Transcaucasia in the past had been a follower rather than an originator of movements that had their inception beyond their control. Thus it was in 1903 (rebellions and demonstrations on the occasion of the seizure of Church properties); thus it was in the year 1905-1906 (bloody encounters between Tatars and Armenians); and thus it was also during the first big movements of the laboring classes (1903-1906) when the A.R.F. was being led at Baku, Tiflis (Tblisi) and Batoum by the policies of foreign socialistic parties.

The same characteristic line of action appears, as we see a little later, in the conduct we pursued afterwards generally.

It would be useless to argue today whether our bands of volunteers should have entered the field or not. Historical events have their irrefutable logic. In the Fall of 1914 Armenian volunteer bands organized themselves and fought against the Turks because they could not refrain themselves from organizing and refrain themselves from fighting. This was an inevitable result of a psychology on which the Armenian people had nourished itself during an entire generation: that mentality should have found its expression, and did so.

And it was not the A.R.F. that would stop the movement even if it wished to do so. It was able to utilize the existing conditions, give effect and issue to the accumulated desires, hopes and frenzy, organize the ready forces — it had that much ability and authority. But to go against the current and push forward its own plan — it was unfit, especially unfit for one particular reason: the A.R.F. is a people’s mass, strong in instinct but weak in comprehension.

^42. In the Treaty of Lausanne, signed July 24, 1923 between the Allies and Turkey, reference was no longer made to Armenia or Armenians. Both had ceased to exist in the eyes of both Turkey and the Allies. Thus the “Armenian Question” and the question of Armenians was buried in the grave of diplomatic silence.

It is also useless, today, to question who is responsible for the wrongs (if the issue of responsibily does ever come up). If it had not been Bishop Mesrop, A. Hatisov, Dr. Zhavriev, S. Arutniov, Dro and Andranic, there would have been others to do the same things in their place. If the formation of bands was wrong, the root of that error must be sought much further and more deeply. At the present time it is important to register only the evidence that we did participate in that volunteer movement to the largest extent and we did that contrary to the decision and the will of the General Meeting of the Party.

The Winter of 1914 and the Spring of 1915 were the periods of greatest enthusiasm and hope for all the Armenians in the Caucasus, including, of course, the Dashnagtzoutiun. We had no doubt that the war would end with the complete victory of the Allies; Turkey would be defeated and dismembered, and its Armenian population would at last be liberated.

We had embraced Russia whole-heartedly without any compunction. Without any positive basis of fact we believed that the Tzarist government would grant us a more-or-less broad self-government in the Caucasus and in the Armenian vilayets liberated from Turkey as a reward for our loyalty, our efforts and assistance.

We had created a dense atmosphere of illusion in our minds. We had implanted our own desires into the minds of others; we had lost our sense of reality and were carried away with our dreams. From mouth to mouth, from ear to ear passed mysterious words purported to have been spoken in the palace of the Viceroy; attention was called to some kind of a letter by Vorontzov-Dashkov to the Catholicos as an important document in our hands to use in the presentation of our rights and claims —a cleverly composed letter with very indefinite sentences and generalities which might be interpreted in any manner, according to one’s desire.

We overestimated the ability of the Armenian people, its political and military power, and overestimated the extent and importance of the services our people rendered to the Russians. And by overestimating our very modest worth and merit we were naturally exaggerating our hopes and expectations.

The deportations and mass exiles and massacres which took place during the Summer and Autumn of 1915 were mortal blows to the Armenian Cause. Half of historical Armenia —“ the same half where the foundations of our independence would be laid according to the traditions inherited by European diplomacy —“ that half was denuded of Armenians: the Armenian provinces of Turkey were without Armenians. The Turks knew what they were doing and have no reason to regret today. It was the most decisive method of extirpating the Armenian Question from Turkey.

Again, it would be useless to ask today to what extent the participation of volunteers in the war was a contributory cause of the Armenian calamity. No one can claim that the savage persecutions would not have taken place if our behavior on this side of the frontier was different, as not one can claim the contrary, that the persecutions would have been the same even if we had not shown hostility to the Turks.

This is a matter about which it is possible to have many different opinions.

The proof is, however — and this is essential —“ that the struggle began decades ago against which the Turkish government brought about the deportation or extermination of the Armenian people in Turkey and the desolation of Turkish Armenia.

This was the terrible fact!

Civilized humanity might very well be shaken with rage in the face of this unspeakable crime. Statesmen might utter menacing words against criminal Turkey. “Blue”, “yellow”, “orange” books and papers might be published condemning them. Divine punishment against the criminals might be invoked in churches by clergymen of all denominations. The press of all countries might be filled with horrible descriptions and details and the testimony of eye-witnesses. . . Let them say this or that, but the work was already done and words would not revive the corpses fallen in the Arabian deserts, rebuild the ruined hearths, repopulate the country now become desolate. The Turks knew what they ought to do and did it.

The second half of 1915 and the entire year of 1916 were periods of hopelessness, desperation and mourning for us. The refugees, all those who had survived the holocaust, were filling Russian provinces by tens and hundreds of thousands. They were famished, naked, sick, horrified and desperate floods of humanity, flooding our villages and cities. They had come to a country which was itself ruined and famished. They piled upon each other, before our own eyes, on our threshold dying of famine and sickness. . .

And we were unable to save those precious lives. Angered and terrified, we sought the culprits and quickly found them: the deceitful politics of the Russian government. With the politically immature mind peculiar to inconsequential men, we fell from one extreme to another. Just as unfounded was our faith in the Russian government yesterday, our condemnation of them today was equally blind and groundless.

It was claimed that the Russians were intentionally slow to act, showed uncertainty and provided the grounds and the means for the Turks to slaughter the local Armenians. It was professed that the reason behind this attitude on the part of the Russians was to vacate Armenia and later settle the Kossacs there and that Count Lobanov-Rostovsky’s widely known project “Armenia without Armenians” was in progress.

It was not only people, but our party and many of our citizens with common sense who also shared this idea.

We were reluctant to understand that there did not have to be such a project as “Armenia without Armenians” to explain the Russian stand and that the Russian plans did not necessarily have to involve such an item as unconditionally taking on the defence of the Turkish Armenians. Such a plan definitely did not exist. We were only projecting our own wishes on the Russian government and accusing them of disloyalty.

Our volunteer units were naturally trying to capture Van and Muş without any waste of time. They headed for these places to save the Armenians. However, Russians did not only consist of Armenians and they had other intentions. Their sluggishness and uncertainty to act which we evaluated as disloyalty is explainable by the customary ineffectiveness of the Russian command ( which was witnessed many times on other fronts as well) or other general military conditions unknown to us now.

This incident being very much original and interesting, demands to be taken up individually. By an extraordinary mental aberration, we, a political party, were forgetting that our Cause was an incidental and trivial phase for the Russians, so trivial that if necessary, they would trample on our corpses without a moment’s hesitation.

I am not saying that we did not know the circumstances. Of course we knew and understood and so we started when it was necessary to explain the situation. Deep down in our hearts, however, we did not grasp the full meaning of that word-formula; we forgot what we already knew and we drew such conclusions as though our Cause was the center of gravity of the Great War, its cause and its purpose. When the Russians were advancing, we used to say from the depths of our subconscious minds that they were coming to save us; and when they were withdrawing, we said they are retreating so that they allow us to be massacred. . .

In both cases we misinterpreted the consequence with the purpose and intention. We sought proofs of Russian treachery and of course we found them — exactly as we sought and found proofs of the same Russians— undeniable benevolence six months before. To complain bitterly about our bad luck and to seek external causes for our misfortune— that is one of the main aspects of our national psychology from which, of course, the Dashnagtzoutiun is not free.

The Georgians used the Armenian-Turkish and Armenian-Tatar conflicts cleverly (in other, stronger words, opportunistically), in order to consolidate their privileged situation. Relying on Turks and Tatars and threatening us with moving the borders in this or that way, they complicated matters for us and forced us to accept their conditions. Whenever they needed to ally with us, they started threatening the Azerbaijanis. This kind of behaviour was politically an absolute blackmail and it provided a superiority for the Georgians over their neighbours and established their hegemony over others.

I have digressed a little but in order to make the political situation clear in that period in Southern Caucasia, it was necessary.

Our party must understand and keep in mind that the party was under the hegemony of the Georgian Social Democratic Party in the most difficult days, and it acted abominably.

In September 1917, the Armenian Convention met in Tiflis (Tbilisi). A national board was established as its executive organ and was named the Central National Council. This National Council later acted on behalf of the Armenian people of Southern Caucasia and became the fully authorized representative of the nation.

Dashnagtzoutiun played the leading role both at the Convention and on the board and the council.

Towards the end of the same year, elections were held in Southern Caucasia for the members of All Russia Provisional Assembly.

Out of the parties which participated in the election campaigns, the Menshevik Social Democrats won 12, the Musavat won 10 and the Dashnagtzoutiun won 9 seats. The number of seats won by the other parties was negligible.

These three parties represented three great peoples who could be listed, according to their political weight, as the Georgians, the Tatars and the Armenians. These elections showed that the strongest, or rather the only organized party was Dashnagtzoutiun.

The All Russia Provisional Assembly. could not meet. The Bolshevik Revolution broke out in October and was triumphant in Moscow and Petrograd. The Soviet order was proclaimed and the meeting of the All Russia Provisional Assembly was not permitted, as this assembly was considered to have bourgeois tendencies.

Southern Caucasia, loyal to the February Revolution did not recognize the Soviet sovereignty and system

Why?

Because in this corner region the dominant parties preferred a democratic platform based on a broad mass membership and for this reason would not accept especially a party dictatorship. On the other hand, they thought that the country was not mature enough for a fully socialist, let alone a communist regime (besides, the Musavat Party possessed nothing in the name of socialism). The socialism of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation Dashnagtzoutiun was only on the surface and had no deep roots among the masses of people within the party. Among the Georgian Mensheviks, on the other hand, the nationalistic anti-Russian trend was strong.

Secondly, the Georgian Mensheviks which determined the atmosphere in the political life of Southern Caucasia, had broken away from the Bolsheviks and were openly opposing them.

The Mensheviks who were loyal to their party regulations and the general political line of their party, were pursuing here, exactly the same policy their Russian comrades were pursuing in Russia. The Musavat which had enthusiastic desires about capturing Baku and had Panturkist ideals, wanted an immediate separation from Russia.

The Armenian Revolutionary Federation Dashnagtzoutiun had formed close relations with the local Bolsheviks and was assisting them, in case the Tatars would capture Baku. In Tiflis (Tbilisi), on the other hand, they could not close their eyes to the reality of the Georgians and Tatars and so could not put in practice Bolshevik policies. They would not have been able to do so even if they had wanted. Anyway, they had no desire to do so, because the Bolshevik ideology and tactics did not appeal to them.

Our Party stood in the anti-Bolshevik camp partly due to certain convictions within the Party and partly because of being under the pressure of outside factors.

I have to remind you here of the neutral and reluctant stand our comrades took in Baku.

Baku, the industrial city which bore a proletariat of tens of thousands and strong workers’ organizations offered very favorable conditions for the development of Bolshevism. That city had been the only region where the Bolsheviks could find a reliable sanctuary and a sound support in the whole Southern Caucasia since the first days of the Revolution. Baku did not refuse, in form, the sovereignty of the Southern Caucasian Commissariat even after the October Revolution. In reality, however, the power was in the hands of two local organs: the Social Organizations Soviet and the Workers’ Representatives Soviet.

In the first one, anti-Bolshevik groups, and in the second one the Bolsheviks dominated. Our Party was represented on both the organs. Inside these organs which were independent of each other and were of different nature, an open struggle for domination was going on.

In the first period, the Social Organizations Soviet was stronger (here, the mild socialists and the liberal bourgeoisie had formed a silent alliance against the Bolsheviks). The Workers’ Representatives Soviet was gradually gaining strength and by January 1918 it had gained control over the entire situation.

This Soviet was led by the Bolsheviks. Bolsheviks were not an important force then; their accomplishments were essentially due to the insecurity prevailing in the other camp.

Only two parties, Dashnagtzoutiun and Musavat could demonstrate any strength against the Bolsheviks. However, though these two parties needed to act in alliance if they wanted to accomplish anything in the struggle against Bolshevism, this was unimaginable, for there was no mutual trust. Dashnagtzoutiun was aware that its support for Musavat was required only because of the Bolshevik threat. Musavat had to erase Dashnagtzoutiun from the political scene, after having eliminated the Bolsheviks. No doubt, the Bolsheviks would do the same to Dashnagtzoutiun after having destroyed the Musavat with the help of armed Dashnag troops. For the Armenian community, the Bolshevik dictatorship was more acceptable in comparison to the Musavat dictatorship.

The fact that our people got more and more involved in the Bolshevik movement in Baku and that they provided a kind of sustenance to them is explainable only with this.

Just as we unintentionally came under the domination of the Georgian Mensheviks in Tiflis (Tbilisi), we were under the influence of the Bolsheviks in Baku. In both cases the motivating force was the Turkish-Tatar threat. Bolsheviks wiped out Musavat in Baku with our support (March 1918); we, on the other hand were able to protect Baku against the Turkish-Tatar assault with the help of the Russian elements among the Bolsheviks.

Later, again with our initiative, British forces were invited over from Iran. This happened in the last moments when the Bolsheviks were getting ready to escape to Russia and had got on the ships.

If the British had been able to settle down firmly in Baku, the outcome of the events would probably have been different. However, the few numbers of the British troops did not promote trust among the people and they got on their ships and went back to Iran.