The Gugunian Expedition ( hy, Կուկունեանի արշաւանքը) was an attempt by a small group of
Armenia
Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ' ...
n nationalists from the
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...
to launch an armed expedition across the border into the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
in 1890 in support of local Armenians.
Background
The
Armenian Revolutionary Federation
The Armenian Revolutionary Federation ( hy, Հայ Յեղափոխական Դաշնակցութիւն, ՀՅԴ ( classical spelling), abbr. ARF or ARF-D) also known as Dashnaktsutyun (collectively referred to as Dashnaks for short), is an Armenian ...
was the Armenian organization of
Armenian national movement
The Armenian national movement ( hy, Հայ ազգային-ազատագրական շարժում ''Hay azgayin-azatagrakan sharzhum'') included social, cultural, but primarily political and military movements that reached their height during Worl ...
active in the region. The leader of the expedition was a former student, Sarkis Gugunian (1866–1913). Like many other Russian Armenians, he was concerned with the fate of Ottoman Armenians living under the rule of the
Sultan Abdul Hamid II. Initially, Gugunian had the backing of the leading Armenian nationalist party in Russia, the
Dashnaks
The Armenian Revolutionary Federation ( hy, Հայ Յեղափոխական Դաշնակցութիւն, ՀՅԴ ( classical spelling), abbr. ARF or ARF-D) also known as Dashnaktsutyun (collectively referred to as Dashnaks for short), is an Armenian ...
, but they soon tried to dissuade him from embarking on such an unrealistic scheme.
With financial support from wealthy Armenians living in
Tbilisi
Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Kura River with a population of approximately 1.5 million p ...
and
Baku, Gugunian was able to buy weapons and raise a volunteer force of 125 men.
Conflict
Gugunian went ahead with his expedition and his volunteer force set off on September 27, 1890. They crossed the border but ran low on food supplies and after a clash with
Turkish and
Kurdish
Kurdish may refer to:
*Kurds or Kurdish people
*Kurdish languages
*Kurdish alphabets
*Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes:
**Southern Kurdistan
**Eastern Kurdistan
**Northern Kurdistan
**Western Kurdistan
See also
* Kurd (dis ...
troops, they retreated to Russia. Here they were intercepted by
Cossacks who arrested 43 members of the expedition. The Russian authorities treated any Armenian nationalist activity within their empire with deep suspicion and the arrested members were put on trial. They had fought under a banner with the initials "M.H.", which could stand for either "Mother Armenia" or "Union of Patriots" in Armenian. The prosecutor at the trial, which took place in
Kars in 1892, alleged that the letters meant "United Armenia", another possible – and more subversive – interpretation. 27 of the accused were convicted and exiled to
Siberia
Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive region, geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a ...
.
Aftermath
Although the expedition was a failure, its members became heroes of the
Armenian nationalist
Armenian nationalism in the modern period has its roots in the romantic nationalism of Mikayel Chamchian (1738–1823) and generally defined as the creation of a free, independent and united Armenia formulated as the Armenian Cause ( hy, Հայ ...
cause and the subject of patriotic songs.
Sources
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{{Armenian Resistance
1890 in the Ottoman Empire
1890 in the Russian Empire
19th century in Armenia