The Tsar's Armenians: A Minority in Late Imperial Russia

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In 1903 Tsar Nicholas II issued a decree allowing the confiscation of Armenian Church property, marking the low point in relations between imperial Russia and its Armenian subjects. Yet just over a decade later, Russian Armenians were fully supportive of the Russian war effort. Drawing on previously untouched archival material and a range of secondary sources published in English, French, Russian and Turkish, this is the first English-language study of this drastic change in relations in the Caucasus. Onur Onol explains how and why the shift took place by looking in detail at the imperial Russian authorities and their relationship with the three pillars of the Russian Armenian community: the Armenian Church, the Armenian bourgeoisie and the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutiun). Onol places the evolution within a context of wider political questions, such as the Russian revolutionary movement, Russia's nationalities question, Tsarist fears of pan-Islamism, the path to World War I and the influence of key characters in Russian policy making, from Pyotr Stolypin to Illarion Vorontsov-Dashkov.This book fills a conspicuous void in the extant historiography, and will be of interest to scholars working on Russian, Armenian and Ottoman history. Cover Title Copyright Contents Notes on Transliteration and Usage Acknowledgements Introduction Three Political Pillars and Russia until 1903 Literature Review and Sources Structure of this Book 1. The Russian Armenians in a ‘Sea of Troubles’: From Confiscation to Revolution (1903–7) Introduction The Confiscation of Armenian Church Properties (1903) The Armenian Reaction to the Tsarist Decision (1903–5) The Response of the Dashnaks to the Decree of Confiscation The Revolutionary Explosion in the South Caucasus and the Establishment of the Viceroyalty (1905–6) The Constitutional Period and the Tsarist Recovery (1906–7) 2. Russia against the Dashnaktsutiun (1907–12) The Aftermath of June 1907 and the Stolypinshchina The Dashnak Flirtation with Socialism and the Second International Armenian Revolutionaries in the Making of Revolutions in the Neighbouring Empires (1907–8) Tsarist Urgency The First Phase of the Trial of the Dashnaktsutiun (1908–10) The Repercussions of the Initial Phase of the Dashnak Trial Slowing Down the Tempo: The Second Phase of the Dashnak Trial (1910–12) The Dashnaktsutiun Approaching the Final Session The Final Session (January–March 1912) 3. St Petersburg against Tiflis: Relations between the Russian Administration and the Armenian Church (1907–12) Introduction Russian Strategy in the Aftermath of Khrimian’s Death and the Catholicosate Elections of 1908 The Election of 1908 The New Catholicos Izmirlian (1909–10) and the Impact of the Dashnak Trial on the Armenian Church Reorganisation in the Armenian Church under Izmirlian The Armenian Church and its Privileges in Education The Election of 1911 4. The National Question in the South Caucasus and Relations between the Viceroyalty and the Armenian Bourgeoisie (1907–12) The National Question in the Russian Empire by 1907 The Viceroyalty and the Georgians (1907–12) The Viceroyalty and the Azeris (1907–12) The Viceroyalty and the Armenian Bourgeoisie (1907–12) 5. Russia as Patron and Defender: The Armenian Reforms in the Ottoman Empire and their Impact on Russian Armenians (1912–14) Introduction From the Initiation of the Armenian Reforms until the End of the First Balkan War (September 1912–May 1913) From the End of the First Balkan War to Agreement on the Armenian Reforms (May 1913–February 1914) From the February Agreement to the Outbreak of World War I (February 1914–July 1914) Conclusion Notes Bibliography Index