Soviet rule and the Armenian people.
Date
1956
DOI
Authors
Sarafian, Vahe Antranig
Version
OA Version
Citation
Abstract
This paper investigates the establishment of Soviet rule in Armenia and the meaning of that rule for the Armenian people. The procedure followed was to describe the status of the Armenian people in World War I, events during the Independent Republic, and Soviet measures regarding the Armenian Church, agriculture, and industry.
The Armenian people faced extinction during World War I. The number of Armenians today in the Soviet Union is approximately 3,750,000, of whom only about 2,000,000 live in the part of Historic Armenia termed "Soviet Armenia". Most of the good agricultural land has been seized by Turkey. In Turkish Armenia, there are at least 1,300,000 ethnic Armenians (Ghzelbashi, Yezidi, Armenian Moslems, Armenian Christians, etc. ). It may be estimated that there are 1,661,000 Armenian Christians outside the Soviet Union.
The Soviet nationalities policy subordinates national areas such as Armenia to Russian interests. In Bolshevik theory, the Soviet nationalities are fated to merge with the Russian people to form a new proletarian nation. There is little real difference between Tsarist and Soviet policy toward the Armenian people, and both have encouraged the assimilation of Armenian-populated areas in neighboring Republics. The purge has been used to further national liquidation, as have the squandering of Armenian troops during World War II and the sending of Armenians to other parts of the Union. [TRUNCATED]
Description
Thesis (Ph.D.)--Boston University
License
Based on investigation of the BU Libraries' staff, this work is free of known copyright restrictions.