The February Uprising ( classical hy, Փետրուարեան ապստամբութիւն, reformed: Փետրվարյան ապստամբություն, ''P'etrvaryan apstambut'yun'') was an anti-Bolshevik rebellion by the nationalist

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 ...

which started on February 13 and was suppressed on April 2, 1921 by the recapture of

Yerevan Yerevan ( , , hy, Երևան , sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia and one of the world's oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerevan is the administrative, cultural, and i ...

by Bolshevik forces.

Background

After the Republic of Armenia was Sovietized in December 1920 about 1,000 Armenian officers were arrested by the new Bolshevik authorities, including generals

Tovmas Nazarbekian Tovmas Nazarbekian ( Armenian: Թովմաս Նազարբէկեան; 4 April 1855 – 19 February 1931), also known as Foma Nazarbekov (russian: Фома Назарбеков), was an Armenian general in the Russian Caucasus Army and later promote ...

and

Movses Silikyan Movses Silikyan or Silikov (, ; 14 September 1862 – 22 November 1937) was an Armenian general who served in the Imperial Russian Army during World War I and later in the army of the First Republic of Armenia. He is regarded as a national hero i ...

. They were forced to walk from

to Alaverdi by foot (about 160 kilometers) and some of them were killed on the road. These officers were subsequently sent to jails in Baku and

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

. In February 1921, many heroes of the

Battle of Sardarabad The Battle of Sardarabad ( hy, Սարդարապատի ճակատամարտ, translit=Sardarapati chakatamart; tr, Serdarabad Muharebesi) was a battle of the Caucasus campaign of World War I that took place near Sardarabad, Armenia, from 21 to ...

were shot, including Daniel Bek-Pirumyan, while his brother Poghos Bek-Pirumyan committed suicide after being tortured. Pro-

(ARF) intellectuals were also harassed. Wheat was taken away from villagers without any compensation.

The Uprising

The repressions by the Bolshevik government of Armenia created widespread discontent and the

began a rebellion on February 13. By February 17

Ashtarak Ashtarak (Armenian: ), is a town and urban municipal community in the Aragatsotn Province of Armenia, located on the left bank of Kasagh River along the gorge, northwest of the capital Yerevan. It is the administrative centre of the Aragatsotn pr ...

Ejmiatsin Vagharshapat ( hy, Վաղարշապատ ) is the 4th-largest city in Armenia and the most populous municipal community of Armavir Province, located about west of the capital Yerevan, and north of the closed Turkish-Armenian border. It is comm ...

Garni Garni ( hy, Գառնի), is a major village in the Kotayk Province of Armenia. It is known for the nearby classical temple. As of the 2011 census, the population of the village is 6,910. History The settlement has an ancient history, and is b ...

, and

Hrazdan Hrazdan ( hy, Հրազդան), is a town and urban municipal community in Armenia serving as the administrative centre of Kotayk Province, located northeast of the capital Yerevan. As of the 2011 census, the population of the town is 41,875. I ...

were taken over by ARF forces. On February 18 they entered

. The Bolsheviks and the Red Army retreated to Artashat. Hovhannes Katchaznouni, Levon Shant, Nikol Aghbalian and 100 other political activists and intellectuals were freed from jails. After the capture of

, the Salvation Committee of the Fatherland was founded under the leadership of former Prime Minister

Simon Vratsian Simon Vratsian ( hy, Սիմոն Վրացեան; 1882 – 21 May 1969) was an Armenian politician and activist of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation. He was one of the leaders of the First Republic of Armenia (1918–1920) and served as its las ...

, which was to govern the country until the formation of a new government. The committee addressed the population on February 18 which invoked people to "protect order and rule, strictly fulfill all the orders of the committee". Throughout the 42-day rebellion, bloody battles took places between ARF forces and the Bolsheviks. On February 27 the Bolsheviks tried to attack Yerevan but on March 1 they were forced to retreat. After a two-week pause, Bolshevik units again attacked and took over Artashat on March 16 but the next day ARF forces started an offensive and recaptured the town. The Bolshevik forces, greatly outnumbering the ARF, began a large offensive on March 24. They captured

Aparan Aparan (Armenian: ), is a town and urban municipal community in Armenia, located in the Aragatsotn Province, about 50 kilometers northwest of the capital Yerevan. As of the 2011 census, the population of the town was 6,451. As per the 2016 offic ...

, Kotayk and gradually emerging, entered Yerevan on April 2. The ARF forces retreated without any serious battle to avoid the destruction of the capital.

Aftermath

Yerevan prision after Bolshevik slaughter

The "Salvation Committee of the Fatherland", ARF forces and many civilians retreated to Zangezur, where they joined

Garegin Nzhdeh Garegin Ter-Harutyunyan, better known by his '' nom de guerre'' Garegin Nzhdeh ( hy, Գարեգին Նժդեհ, ; 1 January 1886 – 21 December 1955), was an Armenian statesman, military commander and political thinker. As a member of the A ...

, where the

Republic of Mountainous Armenia The Republic of Mountainous Armenia ( hy, Լեռնահայաստանի Հանրապետութիւն ''Leřnahayastani Hanrapetutyun''), also known as simply Mountainous Armenia ( ''Leřnahayastan''), was an anti-Bolshevik Armenian state roughly ...

was established. It was finally taken over by Bolshevik forces in July 1921. The Armenian leaders escaped to Persia to avoid arrest and possible execution by the Bolsheviks. The reasons of the revolt were later discussed by the Bolshevik government and was decided to treat the population with more tolerance. After suppressing the February Uprising, Aleksandr Myasnikyan was appointed Chairman of the

Council of People's Commissars The Councils of People's Commissars (SNK; russian: Совет народных комиссаров (СНК), ''Sovet narodnykh kommissarov''), commonly known as the ''Sovnarkom'' (Совнарком), were the highest executive authorities of ...

of Armenia, the newly installed government of the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic.

International reactions

On February 18, the Committee sent a message to the Armenian delegation in Paris and to the leaders of world powers (France, United Kingdom, Italy),

League of Nations The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ...

, etc., but it remained unanswered. A message was also sent to the Armenian delegation in

Tiflis 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 pe ...

, Georgia, where after the Sovietization of Armenia, local Armenians were subjected to violence.

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

responded to the message on February 21, when the Armenian embassy was reopened in Tiflis. Georgia fell to the Soviets on February 25, thereafter the Armenian rebels were left alone against the Bolshevik forces in the Caucasus.

References

Bibliography

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