This article is about the short lived Armenian "provisional government". For other uses, see Armenia.

Administration for Western Armenia
1915–1918
Flag
Status	Provisional government
Capital	Van, Turkey
Common languages	Armenian
Governor
• Apr 1915 - Dec 1917	Aram Manougian
• Dec 1917 - Mar 1918	Tovmas Nazarbekian
• Mar 1918 - Apr 1918	Andranik Toros Ozanian
Historical era	WWI period
• Van Resistance	28 May 1915
• Battle of Van	August 19, 1915
• Transcaucasian Federation	24 February, 1918
• Ottoman take over	7 April 1918
Preceded by Succeeded by Ottoman Empire Democratic Republic of Armenia

The Armenian provisional government (see Western) with the progressive autonomous region^[1] that initially set up around of Lake Van, which later at the end of World War I officiated as "Wilsonian Armenia" in Treaty of Sèvres. It was initially referred as Free Vaspurakan;^[2] after a setback during Battle of Van, was reestablished in June 1916 as "Administration for Western Armenia" (see Transcaucasia) under the war zone. During the initial stages of the Democratic Republic of Armenia (see separate administration), it was included with other Armenian National Councils under a unified Armenia.

This provisional government stabilized itself using the Armenian volunteer units. Declared an administrative structure formed after the Van Resistance, around April 1915. Dominant representation was from Armenian Revolutionary Federation. Aram Manougian was its most famous leader, which his contributions named him as famous "Aram of Van".

Population distribution

It was no surprise that the provisional government was formed in this region as Armenian population of Van has the highest ratio in Western Armenia. Ottomans statistics were based on the Millet (Ottoman Empire) structure, so 1914 population statistics for the city of Van and its regions contained 67,792 Christian (Armenians and others) and 179,389 Muslims (Kurds and others). According to Armenian resources, the real size of the Armenian population was close to 46% of the whole population, whatever it was.

The difference between representation and size of the population should be noted. Another criteria to look at the population distribution is from economical outputs. Even if the Armenian population size does not reach to be the majority, 80% of the trade, profits, crafts were performed by Armenians. Most of the educated people was also belong to either Hnchakian or Armenian Revolutionary Federation committees. The mayor of Van was an Armenian, Bedros Kapamaciyan, which could be taken as the major power were Armenians.

Activities

Formation, 1915

During the Van Resistance, there were approximately 185,000 Armenians in the Van Province which Armenians call it Vaspurakan. In the city of Van itself, there were around 30,000 Armenians, but more Armenians from surrounding villages joined them during the Ottoman offensive. The conflict started on April 20, 1915, with Aram Manougian as the leader of the resistance, and lasted for two months. In May, the Armenian battalions and Russian regulars entered the city and successfully drove the Ottoman army out of Van.^[3]

Depart from Van, August

After two months of self-government under the leadership of Aram, the path of the war turned against one more time. In the game of military strategy, the quarter of a million Armenians of Van, Alashkerd, had also to retreat towards the Russian frontier^[4]. Beginning with the July Ottoman Army the Pasha Kerim launched a counterattack in the Lake Van area and defeated the Russians at the Battle of Malazgirt. The Russians under the soon-to-be-replaced Oganovski retreated east from to Kara Kilise towards Bayburt. This movement which will soon in August 19 will be face with the Battle of Van. Aram Manougian who was assigned governor of the province of Van after the Van Resistance helped the refugees from the region reach to Echmiadzin. Mr. Sampson Aroutiounian president of the Armenian National Council of Tiflis went to Echmiadzin during the 13 August 1915^[5]. The refugees from the province of Van have traversed the whole distance on foot. As a result of famine and fatigue, a large number of refugees have been more or less severely attacked by serious epidemics, especially dysentery^[5]. The assistance of Aram Manougian, which is now the ex-governer of the province of Van, was in Echmiadzin helped with other representatives of the refugees to summarize the number of refugees which needs help as^[5]:

Battle of Van ended with the retreat of the Ottoman forces, one more time. Aram Manougian returned to Van and re established post. As the winter of 1915 was on the way, people were seeking safe places. Some returned to Van^[6]. On 29 December, 1915 Mr. Sarebey, the "Dragoman of the Vice-Consulate at Van", from the Armenian Bishop of Erivan and from various other data he has been able to procure on the spot, the number of Armenian refugees in the Caucasus was:

Return to Van

The situation at Van has improved through out December^[6]. Governer declared strict measures to prevent further pillage and destruction of property^[6]. Some threshing machines and four or five flour mills have resumed work in the district, with the result that several bakeries have reopened^[6]. In some streets the restoration of buildings has been commenced^[6].

Expansion, 1916

Before the winter of 1915-1916 ended, the return of the refugees to the Van province officially authorized by the March. Reports say "Men are going in large numbers, caravans of those returning to the fatherland enter via Igdir. Most of refuges in the Erivan province returned to Van ^[7].":

In January of 1916, the official establishment of Administration for Western Armenia achieved, some sources refer to it as the first republic of Armenia. The government's first act was to divide up all Russian property between Armenian adults (women not included). Most of the formerly Russian farms were turned into communal farms, resulting in over 40% of the population of Van leaving the city to go work on the farms. The Armenian government started a weapons and ammunition industry. Most of the formerly Russian mines were scrapped into scrap metal and used for building projects in Van. The Russian soldiers were unpaid and it became common practice for them to steal from the Armenians. The Armenian government tried to impose taxes but most of the Armenians ignored the tax collectors.

The only bright spot for the Ottomans during 1916-17 was General Mustafa Kemal's reconquest of Mush and Battle of Bitlis in August of 1916.

The settlement, 1917

In 1917 some 150,000 Armenians relocated to the provinces of Erzurum, Bitlis, Mush and Van.^[8] The Armenians began to build their houses and create their farmlands in preparation for the 1917 autumn harvest. The prospect of a new autonomous state in this region was looking favorable for the provisional governor, Aram Manougian, (Turkish sources name him as "Aram Pasha"). Administration was in a favorable place between the Russia and Ottoman Empire. After the hard times of the 1915 and 1916 events of the Van Resistance, 1917 was the year things were getting very stable on the front line, but political perspective began to change one more time, as Russia was changing. In preparation of the change Armen Garo (famous Karekin Pastirmaciyan) and other spokesmen asked Armenian regulars in the European theater to be to be transferred to the Caucasus front. This move was aimed to increase the stability and protection of the new establishment.

Armenian soldiers began to create a strongmen between the Ottoman Army and Armenian front, which will be shortly (Russian Revolution of 1917) only defense against the Ottoman Army. The Armenians (in their thousands), who moved to their hometowns with their own resources found out that Russian soldiers had left their posts and returned to their hometowns.^[9]

National the frontline

The Russian Revolution of 1917 changed the political and military structure of the region. On the eve of 1917, the Russian army in the Caucasus was organized along national and ethnic lines, such as the Armenian volunteer units,^[10] with General Movses Silikian. The disintegration of the imperial army was partly blamed on this national formation. On the other hand, this organization gave a chance for the Confederation of Armenian parties to develop an organized armed structure, instead of working in militias. In December, 1917, regular Russian regiments were deserting the frontline.

The line from Van to Erzincan was organized through the army corps in this frontline which realigned themselves under the command of General Tovmas Nazarbekian, with Dro as a civilian commissioner. The frontline had three main divisions: Movses Silikyan, Adrianic and Mikhail Areshian. Another regular unit was under Colonel Korganian. There were Armenian partisan guerrilla detachments accompanying these main units.

Ottomans had to be stopped with 1/3 to 1/4 (without location information, it was mentioned that Adrianic had 150,000 men) of the previous uprising levels with 300 mile frontline (high mountain area, with specific gateways).

Losing the grounds, 1918

A famine caused by drought left many Armenians starving. An outbreak of polio killed 20% of the Armenian population and, to add to the Armenian troubles.

Special Transcaucasus Committee, February 1918

On the Eastern Armenia side a Russian Provisional Government was established in 1917. The Armenians learned that the Grand Duke Nicholas and the OSAKOM (особый Закавказский Комитет, transliteration: osobyy Zakavkazskiy Komitet (OZAKOM), translation: Special Transcaucasus Committee) were not going to keep his promise of helping the Armenians to move back from the Caucasus refugee camps to their homeland.

Under the provisional government of the OSAKOM, elections were held for a Duma for the Transcaucasus. Determined to defend their people, the Armenian National Councils of the Russian Empire merged into the Armenian Congress of Eastern Armenians. The Congress had its representatives on the Duma join their colleagues in declaring the independence of the Transcaucasus from Russia. Once free of Russia, the Armenian Congress of Eastern Armenians(ACEA) established the Democratic Republic of Armenia from the Armenian regions of the Transcaucasus. The ACEA first devised policies to direct the war effort, and the relief and repatriation of refugees. The Congress passed a law organizing the defence of the Caucasus against the Ottoman Empire using the vast quantity of supplies and ammunition left by the Russian army. The Congress also selected a fifteen member permanent executive committee, known as the Armenian National Council. The chairman of this committee was Avetis Aharonian. The committee’s first task was to set the stage and then declare the Democratic Republic of Armenia, which at that time the Administration for Western Armenia was claimed to be a part of. The claim become official with the recognition of the Wilsonian Armenia.

Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, March, 1918

While the Armenian Congress of Eastern Armenians(ACEA) was working on the new state, which will be declared on May, a new border was drawn by the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk signed between Russian SFSR and Ottoman Empire on 3 March, 1918. The treaty assigned the Van province alongside the Kars, Ardahan and Batum regions to the Ottoman Empire.

The Resistance, March, 1918

Armenian Congress of Eastern Armenians did not recognize the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk and the Ottoman Empire struggled against what will be declared as Democratic Republic of Armenia. Enver Pasha was the War Minister for the Ottoman Empire at that time, and sent the newly established Army of Islam to Armenia. Under heavy pressure from the combined forces of the Ottoman army and the Kurdish irregulars, the Republic was forced to withdraw from Erzincan to Erzurum. In the end, the Republic had to evacuate Erzurum as well. With all the units gathered in Sardarapat, the Battle of Sardarapat (May 22-26 1918), proved that General Movses Silikian could cause an Ottoman retreat. Conditions in the resistance of March 1918 was best explained by R.G. Hovannisian:

"In the summer of 1918 the Armenian National councils reluctantly transferred from Tiflis to Yerevan to take over the leadership of the republic [ Administration of Western Armenia] from the popular dictator Aram Manukian and the renowned military commander Drastamat Kanayan. It then began the daunting process of establishing a national administrative machinery in an isolated and landlocked misery. This was not the autonomy or independence of which Armenian intellectuals had dreamed and for which a generation of youth had been sacrificed. Yet, as it happened, it was here [Erivan] that the Armenian people were destined to continue its national existence".^[11]

— R.G. Hovannisian

Emptying the Van, April, 1918

Further southeast, in Van, the Armenians resisted the Turkish army until April 1918. The Ottoman Army entered the city of Van on April 28. Armenians were eventually forced to evacuate it and withdraw to Persia. In this region , the Azerbaijani Tatars sided with the Ottoman Empire and seized the lines of communication, thus cutting off the Armenian National Councils in Baku and Erevan from the National Council in Tiflis. The British sent a small military force under the command of General Lionel Charles Dunsterville into Baku, which arrived around 4 August, 1918. This unit showed no opposition to marching Ottomans. With the Armistice of Mudros, Enver Pasha's movement disintegrated.^[12]

On 30 October 1918 the Ottoman Empire signed the Armistice of Mudros with the Triple Entente and its military activity in this region ceased.

Recognition Efforts

The Administration for Western Armenia, being part of Democratic Republic of Armenia had a setback with the Treaty of Batum.

Paris Conference, 1919

This area stayed outside the control of the Ottoman Empire for nearly 3 years, (1915-18). The ARF's achievement was including their activity region during this period in the Paris Peace Conference, 1919. Armenian Diaspora defended the argument that it was natural to extend it to Armenian control, as after the Russian Revolution this region was controlled by Armenian volunteer units and later Armenia. The Armenian "provisional government" that was set up used as an argument "the ability to control the region" in Wilsonian Armenia. A secondary argument developed during this period was the dominant population becoming Armenian as the Turkish inhabitants of the region moved to the western provinces. With the defeat of the Ottoman Empire at the end of World War I, the triple Entente Powers try to determine the fate of Anatolia.

Wilsonian Armenia

Paris Peace Conference established the fact that Russia has the right determine its own boarders.

During the Conference of London, David Lloyd George encouraged Wilson to accept a mandate for Anatolia, and particularly with the support of Armenian diaspora for the provinces claimed by Administration for Western Armenia. Wilson send two commissions (King-Crane Commission and General James Harbord) to understand what is behind the claims of Armenian diaspora, and if these claims fit to Fourteen Points. King-Crane Commission tackled the issue of whether there should be an Armenian state, or if it should be under US mandate. James Harbord hold the position that he would not recommend a division, which might bring other problems. Harbord's report stated that "the temptation to reprisals for past wrongs" would make it extremely difficult to maintain peace in the region. King-Crane Commission came to the conclusion that there should be one. While one explanation might be mere favoritism (the Armenians were generally Christian), the arguments used for an Armenian state are quite similar to later arguments for the existence of Israel after World War II (except that the Armenians were already living in the territory designated for their state). The report noted that the Armenians had suffered a traumatic experience, that they couldn't trust the Ottoman Empire to respect their rights anymore, and that they were "a people." Therefore, Armenian independence should be respected and insured. The Woodrow Wilson agreed to transfer what will be named as "Wilsonian Armenia" back to the Armenians in the Treaty of Sèvres.

Armenia claimed to be tolerant of minorities (Muslims). President Wilson’s acceptance letter (for drawing the frontier), to the Paris Peace Conference in 1919 said: "The world expects of them (the Armenians), that they give every encouragement and help within their power to those Turkish refugees who may desire to return to their former homes in the districts of Trebizond, Erzerum, Van and Bitlis remembering that these peoples, too, have suffered greatly."^[13] Today, as a continuation of the initial goal, the creation of a free, independent, and united Armenia; all territories designated as Wilsonian Armenia by the Treaty of Sèvres as well as the regions of Artsakh, Javakhk, and Nakhichevan, is the first goal of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation^[14]

As the coming months had shown, King-Crane Commission did not really analyze the situation. Some sources even claim they did not even spend enough time. The realities of the ground were different, and they were not included in the report. Treaty of Alexandropol and then the treaty of Kars were the first blockage to this idea and than with the following months Treaty of Sèvres put to shelf as it was superseded by treaty of Lausanne. The fight for "Administration for Western Armenia" dropped from the table.

Administration

Governors

• 1915 - Jun 1916 ....
• Jun 1916 - Dec 1917 Aram Manougian (interim)
• Dec 1917 - Mar 1918 Tovmas Nazarbekian, (Foma Nazarbekov)
• Mar 1918 - Apr 1918 Andranik Toros Ozanian

Civil Affairs

• May 1917 - Dec 1917 Hakob Zavriev

Civil Commissioner (as part of ADR)

• Dec 1917 - 7 Apr 1918 Drastamat Kanayan

Timeline

• April 19, 1915, fire in the powder stores in the Van armoury.
• April 20, 1915, Armenians in the city of Van, the countryside, and small towns begins a local uprising.
• April 24 1915, Ottoman governor asks permission to move the Muslim civilian population to the west.
• May 2 1915, Ottoman Army moves close to Van, but withdraws because of the presence of the Russian Army.
• May 3 1915, Russian Army enters Van.
• August 16 1915, Ottoman Army besieges Van, Battle of Van.
• September 1915, Ottoman Army is forced out by Russians.
• August 1916 Ottoman Army moves to the west of the region (Mush and Bitlis), but is forced out within a month.
• February 1917 Russian units disintegrate. Armenian volunteer units keep formation.
• Summer 1917 Inconclusive skirmishes.
• September 1917 The Armenian Congress of Eastern Armenia merges Armenian volunteer units into a single militia under its control.
• February 10, 1918 The Duma of the Transcaucasus convenes.
• February 24, 1918 The Duma of the Transcaucasus declares the region to be an independent, democratic, federative republic.
• March 3 1918, The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk gives Kars, Ardahan and Batum regions to the Ottoman Empire.
• March 4 1918, The Administration for Western Armenia condemns the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk.
• March 9 1918, The Administration for Western Armenia presents its position to the Ottoman Empire.
• March 12 1918, Change of hands in Kars rejected by the Administration for Western Armenia.
• May 22 1918, Battle of Sardarapat, Armenian militia fight against the Ottoman Empire.
• May 28, 1918 The Armenian Congress of Eastern Armenia declares the formation of the Democratic Republic of Armenia and its independence from the Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic. With Azerbaijan and Georgia also declaring independence, the Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic ceases to exist. The Democratic Republic of Armenia now leads the struggle for Armenian independence from the Ottoman Turks to the west and the Azeri Turks to the east.
• August 4, 1918 General Lionel Charles Dunsterville leads a British expeditionary force into Baku, making himself the city's military governor.
• October 30, 1918 The Ottoman Empire signs the Armistice of Mudros, agreeing to leave the Transcaucasus. As military governor of Baku, General Dunsterville arranges a temporary peace between the Azeris and Armenians. Meanwhile, the Democratic Republic of Armenia assumes control of Western Armenia, now that the Ottomans are forced to leave.
• 1919 The Paris Peace Conference is held. The Democratic Republic of Armenia, backed by President Woodrow Wilson of the United States, demands international recognition of its annexation of the territory held by the Administration for Western Armenia. As a result, the territory once held by the Administration for Western Armenia becomes known as Wilsonian Armenia.
• 24 September to 2 December 1920 The Turkish National Movement invades the DRA, seizing control of Wilsonian Armenia.
• December 4 1920 The Red Army enters the capital of the DRA, bringing the DRA under Soviet control.
• 23 October 1921 The Treaty of Kars is signed by Russian SFSR, Azerbaijan SSR, Armenian SSR, Georgian SSR and Turkey. This Treaty not only recognizes Turkish annexation of Wilsonian Armenia--it also grants Turkey the Province of Kars.

References

See also

• Garegin Njdeh
• Andranik Toros Ozanian

External links

• Self-defense Battle Memorial of Artsiv Vaspurakan in Agarak village, Armenia