Assessing an Independent Republic of Armenia, 1918-1920, by

French, British and American Politicians

Summary

The justification for Armenian political independence and Western Armenia’s unification with its Eastern counterpart into the single state was based on four historical realities: a) the Armenian genocide, b) the complete devastation of the provinces of Western Armenia by the Ottoman government in 1915-1918, c) the collapse of the Caucasus Front, the flight of the Russian Army from it (December 1917 – February 1918), and d) its replacement by Armenian self-defence units (from 5 February till 4 June 1918 and actually until 18 October) in 1918.

French politicians were the first who quite adequately paid attention to the situation and the necessity of an independent Armenian Republic, in December 1917. After the victory of the Entente Powers in the World War I, the USA and Great Britain leaders responded positively to the activities of the Republic of Armenia, providing it in 1919 with vitally important food and some military aid. At the same time, the British Command took all territorial disputes of the region to its ows jurisdiction. At the Paris Peace conference Armenian independence was evaluated by all as politically quite accomplished, though it required foreign military protection, administrative and material support in the form of a mandate. Politicians of all three Powers noted that the main threat to Armenian independence and especially to a united Armenian state came from the absence of external communications alonside the danger of a Turkish-Tatar invasion. In 1920 France stressed its economic ties as a priority, the USA gave up the mandate and Britain completely evacuated its troops from the Transcaucaus, clearly apprehending the danger of the Turkish-Bolshevik alliance for the Armenian state. All of them theoretically dealt with the issues of delimitation of the United Armenia’s borders, though in practice they merely observed and accepted the catastrophic results of the Turkish-Armenian war of 1920, Russia’s return and Turkey’s territorial acquisitions. Overall, in 1918-1920 France was the most ardent supporter of Armenian independence, followed by the USA, while Britain took the most reserved position. Generally, the work of the Armenian state apparatus was appreciated and the Republic was considered to be a natural nucleus for further unification. //-168