How the Armenian Independent First Republic was destroyed in 1920″, Brief chronology

The First Republic of Armenia effectively lost its independence on December 2, 1920, as a result of the joint military occupation of Armenian territories by the military forces of Kemalist Turkey and Bolshevik Russia.

It is interesting to know that a real official document of the loss of independence of Armenia has been preserved in the archives.

Let’s present that rare historical decree, the Act “On the Transfer of Power” adopted by the Government of the Republic of Armenia in the capital Yerevan on December 2, 1920, that is, on the self-dissolution of the Government of Armenia and the ceding of Armenia’s sovereignty to Soviet Russia.

The act was signed by Prime Minister Simon Vratsyan, Ministers Arshak Hovhannisyan, Arsham Khondkaryan, Hambardzum Terteryan, Drastamat Ganayan (Dro), and Prime Minister Hamlik Tumanyan (son of the great Armenian poet).

In just one dramatic sentence, is the cruel verdict of Armenia as an independent and sovereign country.

“Considering the situation created in the country due to external circumstances, the Government of the Republic of Armenia decided in its session of December 2, 1920, to renounce the Authority and hand over the Military and Civil Content Authority to the General Commander of the military barracks, to which position the Minister of Defense Dro was appointed.”

In 1920, the rapprochement between Kemalist Turkey and Bolshevik Russia began, which bore its bitter fruits for the newly independent Republic of Armenia in the fall of the same year.

On September 28, the Turkish army, receiving great support from the Bolsheviks, invaded from the west the internationally recognized territory of Armenia, Kars province, then Alexandrapol (Gyumri), and on November 29, the Russian 11th Red Army entered the current Tavush province of Armenia from the northeast and Proclaimed Soviet order in Ijevan (Carvansara).

On November 30, Boris Legrand, the supreme representative of Soviet Russia in Armenia, presented an ultimatum to the Armenian government to immediately hand over all power to the Soviet Power Committee in Ijevan and formed by the Russian side in Baku, otherwise, the Russian-Turkish coalition troops were ready to attack and occupy Etchmiadzin and Yerevan within hours.

The Armenian government, to somehow prevent the final destruction of the country and the impending massacre of the civilian population, is forced to agree to that ultimatum and accept the aforementioned Act of December 2.

Then, on December 4, Dro handed over his powers to the Soviet Power Committee that arrived in Yerevan, after which Russian 11th Red Army units entered Yerevan, putting an end to the existence of independent Armenian statehood.

As a result of the Moscow Treaty of Russian-Turkish friendship and brotherhood signed in March 1921, the Republic of Armenia was finally deprived of a significant part of its legal territories in favor of Turkey and the newly created Azerbaijan.

Via Ruben Shukhyan FB page ⬇️ARM⬇️

Translated to English by Kegham Papazian