Alexander Fyodori Miasnikian, an Armenian Bolshevik

Alexander Fyodori Miasnikian or Myasnikov, also known by his revolutionary nom de guerre Martuni, was an Armenian Bolshevik revolutionary, military leader, and politician.

In March 1921, following the February Uprising where forces of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation briefly overthrew Soviet authority in Armenia, the Bolshevik leadership in Moscow decided to appoint Miasnikian as head of the newly installed government of the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic.

On his way to Armenia, he delivered Lenin’s letter “To the Comrade Communists of Azerbaijan, Georgia, Armenia, Dagestan, and the Mountainous Republic” to the Caucasian Bolshevik leadership in Tiflis, which called on them to exercise moderation and slow down their transition to socialism.

After arriving in Soviet Armenia in May 1921 and taking leadership of the government, Miasnikian was faced with two urgent issues: the anti-Bolshevik rebellion in the southern region of Zangezur and the question of Mountainous Karabakh, an Armenian-populated region disputed between Soviet Armenia and Soviet Azerbaijan.

Miasnikian engaged in negotiations with the rebels in Zangezur, offering several concessions in return for accepting Soviet authority in Armenia, but on June 3, 1921, the Kavbiuro (the Bolshevik Party’s decision-making body in the Caucasus) resolved to suppress the rebellion. The rebels were defeated and fled to Persia in July.

The resolution adopted at the Kavbiuro meeting on June 3 (at which Miasnikian was present) included a point that stated that Mountainous Karabakh should be declared a part of Armenia.

On June 12, Miasnikian signed a decree adopted by the Soviet Armenian government which stated that the Revkoms of Armenia and Azerbaijan had agreed that Mountainous Karabakh was now an inalienable part of Armenia.

However, there was disagreement from the Azerbaijani side, which insisted on leaving the final resolution of the status of Karabakh for future Kavbiuro meetings. At a Kavbiuro meeting on July 4, 1921, Miasnikian and a majority of members voted to conduct a referendum in the Armenian-populated mountainous part of Karabakh and make it part of Armenia.

Just the next day, Kavbiuro decided to revise the decision and adopt a new one whereby Mountainous Karabakh would become an autonomous region within the Azerbaijani SSR.

The Central Committee of the Armenian Communist Party unsuccessfully protested the decision. Six months later, Miasnikian told the First Congress of the Armenian Communist Party that Azerbaijan had threatened to cut off Armenia’s supply of kerosene if they demanded Karabakh.

Saparov, Suny

Taken from Mano Chil