The Russian-Turkish Union of 1921 – The End of Independence of Armenia and Georgia

In the spring of 1921, the Russian-Turkish Union put an end to the existence of Armenia and Georgia as independent states.

On February 26, 1921, the second Russian-Turkish conference began in Moscow, the outcome of which was the signing of the Moscow Treaty on Friendship and Brotherhood on March 16.

On the eve of the negotiations on February 25, the Russian army captured Tiflis. And on March 11, 1921, the Turkish troops invading Ajaria entered Batumi.

10 days before the beginning of the conference, a nationwide uprising against the Bolsheviks broke out in Armenia. On February 18, the Committee for the Salvation of the Fatherland headed by Simon Vratsyin was established in liberated Yerevan.

In fact, during the days of the Russian-Turkish negotiations (from February 26 to March 16), the Red Army waged an aggressive war on Georgia and Armenia in order to again subjugate the liberated republic.

On the day of the signing of the Moscow Treaty, the Soviet regime was established in Georgia. In the meantime, Armenia continued the unequal struggle against the Bolsheviks. Only two weeks after the end of the conference, on April 2, 1921, the Russians managed to suppress the resistance of the Armenians and enter Yerevan.

The Armenian army commanded by Kuro Tarkhanian retreated to Zangezur. There, on December 25, 1920, an independent state was proclaimed. The army of Tarkhanian united with the forces of Garegin Nzhdeh and until July 13, 1921, continued the heroic struggle against the Red Army, as a result of which Syunik remained part of Soviet Armenia.

It should be noted that the troops of Soviet Russia were the first to attack independent Armenia. In May 1920, prior to the Armenian-Turkish war, the Soviet troops had invaded the First Republic of Armenia and had captured Artsakh.

In June-July 1920, the Russians occupied Syunik and Nakhichevan. The Republic of Armenia, which until 1920 has had a territory of about 70 thousand square kilometers, after the occupation was divided in half between Kemalist Turkey and Soviet Russia. This was enforced by the signing of the Friendship and Brotherhood Treaty.

Arshaluis Zurabyan