May Uprising: Difference between revisions

{{flagicon image|Star and Crescent.svg}} Muslims of Armenia<ref name="Ghost of Freedom"/> <br /> ''supported by'': <br /> {{flagicon image|Flag of Russian SFSR (1918-1937).svg}} [[Soviet Russia]]

The '''May Uprising'''<ref>{{cite book|last=Shaginyan|first=Marietta|title=Journey Through Soviet Armenia|year=1954|publisher=Foreign Languages Publishing House|author-link=Marietta Shaginyan|quote=Underground Bolshevik organizations worked actively in all parts of the country, preparing the people for a general uprising. In May 1920 the uprising broke out and it has gone down in the history of Armenia as the "May Uprising."}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Payaslian|first=Simon|title=The history of Armenia: from the origins to the present|url=https://archive.org/details/historyarmeniapa00paya|url-access=limited|year=2007|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|location=New York|isbn=9781403974679|page=[https://archive.org/details/historyarmeniapa00paya/page/n178 170]}}</ref> ({{lang-hy|Մայիսյան ապստամբություն|translit=Mayisyan apstambutyun}}) was a [[coup d'état]] attempt by the Armenian [[Bolsheviks]] that started in Alexandropol (modern-day [[Gyumri]]) on May 10, 1920.<ref>{{cite book|last=Panossian|first=Razmik|title=The Armenians: From Kings and Priests to Merchants and Commissars|year=2006|publisher=Hurst & Co.|location=London|isbn=9780231511339|page=258}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Derogy|first=Jacques|title=Resistance and Revenge: The Armenian Assassination of the Turkish Leaders Responsible for the 1915 Massacres and Deportations|year=1990|publisher=Transaction Publishers|location=New Brunswick, New Jersey|isbn=9781412833165|page=106|author-link=:fr:Jacques Derogy}}</ref> It was eventually suppressed by the Armenian government on May 14 and its leaders executed. Although the revolt failed, [[First Republic of Armenia|Armenia]] was [[Sovietization|Sovietized]]taken over by the soviets after the [[11th Army (Soviet Union)|11th Army]] of [[Soviet Russia]] invaded the country in November 1920 and the [[Turkish National Movement|Turkish Nationalists]] occupied the western half of the country. The revolt and its executed leaders were praised during the Soviet period from 1920 until the late 1980s, when the [[Karabakh movement]] began and anti-Soviet sentiment rose in Armenia – The revolt remains a controversial topic in Armenia.

Since the establishment of the [[First Republic of Armenia|Republic of Armenia]] in 1918, the political parties and different factions, for the most part, avoided internal conflicts or rebellions against the dominant [[Dashnak]] party as the country suffered from deep economic and demographic crises and was at some point, during its two-year existence, at war with three of four neighboring countries ([[Turkish–Armenian War|Turkey]], [[Armenian–Azerbaijani war (1918–1920)|Azerbaijan]], [[Georgian–Armenian War|Georgia]]). This changed in early 1920, after by the advance of Bolshevik forces into the [[South Caucasus]] in early 1920.<ref name="Հայոց Պատմություն"/> The Armenian Communist Party, operating in secrecy, was founded in January 1920 to fight against the "vilifying the [[Allies of World War I|Allied Powers]] and their Dashnakist 'collaborators'."<ref name="Scanlan"/> The uprising was mainly carried out by Bolsheviks born in [[Russian Armenia]], as most of the Armenian refugees from the [[Ottoman Empire]] were "aloof" or "hostile" to [[Bolshevism]].{{sfn|Hovannisian|1996a|p=209}} Conversely, partPart of the [[Armenian army]] was sympathetic to the uprising, following the direction of the mutineering Captain {{Ill|Sargis Musayelyan|hy|Սարգիս Մուսայելյան}} who commanded the [[armored train]] named ''Vardan Zoravar'' ({{Lang-hy|Վարդան Զորավար|lit=[[Vardan Mamikonian|General Vardan]]}}) in Alexandropol since February 1919.{{sfn|Hovannisian|1996a|p=218}}

The revolt escalated after the armored train ''Vardan Zoravar'' and its crew under Musayelyan's command joined the Bolshevik rebels who had formed a [[Revolutionary committee (Soviet Union)|revolutionary committee]] (''Armkom'') and proclaimed Armenia a Soviet state in Alexandopol on May 10.<ref>''National Republic'', Volumes 21-22, 1933, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=vRAhAQAAMAAJ&q=may+10+1920+armenia+uprising&dq=may+10+1920+armenia+uprising&hl=en&sa=X&ei=m2f8UczNLO-v4APPxIDgAg&ved=0CEQQ6AEwBA 84] "A republic had been declared in 1918, and on May 10, 1920, a "Soviet Republic" acclaimed. However, on May 14 the little soviet fell..."</ref>{{sfn|Kiesling|19992000|p=49}}<ref name="Հայոց Պատմություն">{{cite book|title=Հայոց Պատմություն [Armenian History]|year=2009|publisher=VMV-Print|location=Yerevan|url=http://books.nt.am/book_info.php?ID=54&LangID=4&h=4&l=l4|author=Armenian State Pedagogical University|author-link=Armenian State Pedagogical University|author2=Poghsosyan, Samvel|author3=Asryan, Armen|author4=Stepanyan, Khachatur|author5=Hovhannisyan, Edgar|pages=198–200|access-date=2013-08-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714200009/http://books.nt.am/book_info.php?ID=54&LangID=4&h=4&l=l4|archive-date=2014-07-14|url-status=dead}}</ref> The Bolshevik rebels successfully took over Alexandropol, [[Kars]] and [[Sarikamis]].<ref>[[Richard G. Hovannisian]]. ''The Republic of Armenia, Vol. IV: Between Crescent and Sickle: Partition and Sovietization'', (Berkeley, 1996), pp. 209-253</ref><ref>{{in lang|ru}} A.B. Kadishev, ''Interventsia I Grazhdanskaja Vojna v Zakavkazje'' (Moscow, 1961), pp. 280-289</ref> On May 5, 1920, the government (the cabinet) of [[Alexander Khatisian]] resigned and a new one was formed under [[Hamo Ohanjanyan]]'s leadership. It was entirely made up of [[Dashnak]] party members. The parliament gave up its rights to the government since Armenia was under [[state of emergency]]. [[Sebouh Nersesian]] was appointed commander to suppress the revolt. On May 13 his unit reached Alexandropol and by the next day the rebels left the city, and the government forces entered the city and established order. <ref name="Հայոց Պատմություն" />

The leaders of the revolt, including Sargis Musayelyan and Ghukas Ghukasyan,{{sfn|Kiesling|19992000|p=49}} were initially imprisoned as the Soviet government on 4 June warning that diplomatic relations would be "detrimented" if the "persecution of Communists continued" and the fact that several notable Dashnaks were imprisoned in Soviet Russia and Azerbaijan at the time.{{sfn|Hovannisian|1996a|pp=252–253}} Following the Soviet invasion of Zangezur and the capture and torture of Dashnaks The Communist party of Armenia was banned in Armenia.<ref name="Հայոց Պատմություն"/> Armenia's domestic situation deteoriateddeteriorated as the government lost its prestigefavour and hope among the people and hope among Allied officials.{{sfn|Hovannisian|1996a|pp=247–249}} After three months, the [[Treaty of Alexandropol]] was signed on December 3, effectively partitioning Armenia between Turkish and the Soviet rule. A new government in the remainder of independent Armenia then cleared the way for a new government that accomplished the purpose sought in the uprising. The [[Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic]] was declared and became a constituent part of the [[Union of Soviet Socialist Republics]] in 1922,. They finally regainingregained itstheir independence upon the [[breakup of the USSR]] in 1991. <ref>Charlotte Hille, ''State Building and Conflict Resolution in the Caucasus'' (Brill Publishing, 2010) pp. 152-157</ref><ref name="Հայոց Պատմություն"/>

[[File:Mayisyan apstambneri hushardzan Gyumrium 02.jpg|thumbnail|Monument to the participants of May Uprising in [[Gyumri]].]]The revolt was extensively sharply criticized{{sfn|Hovannisian|1996a|p=249}} and praised in [[Soviet Armenia]] and Soviet historiography, presented as a "heroic struggle".<ref name="edumeres"/> Several books were written on it.<ref>{{in lang|hy}} Karian, S. M. (2003) [http://lraber.asj-oa.am/122/ 1920թ. Մայիսյան ապստամբության հիմնահարցը խորհրդահայ պատմագրության մեջ]. ''Herald of the Social Sciences'', [[Armenian National Academy of Sciences]], Yerevan, № 1 . pp. 61-71 ISSN 0320-8117</ref><ref>{{in lang|hy}} Melkonian, A. H. (1970) [http://hpj.asj-oa.am/1500/ Մայիսյան ապստամբության սովետահայ պատմագրությունը (Ապստամբության 50-ամյակի առթիվ)]. ''[[Patma-Banasirakan Handes|Historical-Philological Journal]]'', [[Armenian National Academy of Sciences]], Yerevan, № 2, pp. 197-201</ref> Numerous settlements in [[Soviet Armenia]] were named after notable Bolshevik participants of the revolt, including [[Gandzak, Armenia|Gandzak]] (formerly named Batikian after Batik Batikian),{{sfn|Kiesling|19992000|p=28}} [[Sarukhan]] (after Hovhannes Sarukhanian),{{sfn|Kiesling|19992000|p=28}} [[Nahapetavan]] (after Nahapet Kurghinian),{{sfn|Kiesling|19992000|p=48}} [[Gharibjanyan]] (after Bagrat Gharibjanyan),{{sfn|Kiesling|19992000|p=49}} [[Musayelian]] (after Sargis Musayelian),{{sfn|Kiesling|19992000|p=49}} Mayisyan (after the "May uprising" itself"),{{sfn|Kiesling|19992000|p=50}} [[Ashotsk]] (formerly named Ghukasyan after Ghukas Ghukasyan).{{sfn|Kiesling|19992000|p=51}}

A statue of Ghukas Ghukasyan was erected in 1935 in the park near the [[Armenian National Agrarian University|Agrarian University]] in central Yerevan. The statue was blown up in 1990, during the height of the anti-Soviet struggle in Armenia.<ref>{{cite web|script-title=hy:Ղուկաս Ղուկասյանի արձանը|url=http://hinyerevan.com/#!/photos/505/|publisher=HinYerevan project|access-date=13 August 2013|language=hy}}</ref> In 2009, the statue of prominent Armenian astrophysicist [[Viktor Hambardzumyan]] was put on its place.<ref>{{cite news|script-title=hy:Վիկտոր Համբարձումյանի արձանը՝ Ղուկաս Ղուկասյանի արձանի տեղում|url=http://www.azg.am/AM/2009111825|access-date=13 August 2013|newspaper=[[Azg Daily]]|date=18 November 2009|language=hy}}</ref> The central square of Armenia's second largest city [[Gyumri]] (called Leninakan during the Soviet period) was called after the revolt. It is now called [[Vardanants Square]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Urban Spaces After Socialism: Ethnographies of Public Places in Eurasian Cities|year=2011|publisher=Campus|location=Frankfurt am Main|isbn=9783593393841|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=9k9pXQZ6oiEC&pg=PA70&lpg=PA70&dq=Vardanants+Square+may&sourcepg=bl&ots=nM3NM8Em0_&sig=pDaFNEcfY-1-sOqSJ6Dtwt1UcP4&hl=en&sa=X&ei=J10VUt_ROZPk4AOlmoGQDQ&ved=0CE0Q6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=Vardanants%20Square%20may&f=falsePA70 70]|author1=Tsypylma Darieva |author2=Wolfgang Kaschuba |author3=Melanie Krebs }}</ref>

*{{Cite Rediscovering Armenia |ref={{sfnref|Kiesling|2000}}}}