Three of the formative revolutions that shook the early twentieth-century world occurred almost simultaneously in regions bordering each other. Though the Russian, Iranian, and Young Turk Revolutions all exploded between 1904 and 1911, they have never been studied through their linkages until now. Roving Revolutionaries probes the interconnected aspects of these three revolutions through the involvement of Armenian revolutionaries whose movements and participation within these empires (where Armenians were minorities) and across frontiers tell us a great deal about the global transformations that were taking shape. Exploring the geographical and ideological boundary crossings that occurred, Houri Berberian’s archivally grounded analysis of the circulation of revolutionaries, ideas, and print tells the story of peoples and ideologies amid upheaval and collaboration. In doing so, it illuminates our understanding of revolutions and movements.

This is the first comprehensive work in English dealing with the nineteenth-century Armenian revolutionary movement and the subsequent rise of Armenian political parties. It covers in details the history of the Armenian revolutionists' armed struggle against the government of the Ottoman Turks beginning with the first major uprising in 1862 and extending to the culmination of the Turkish Armenian massacres in 1896. Incredibly daring yet loosely organized and sporadic uprisings directed by small secret societies characterized the early stage of Armenian political consciousness. But in 1885 the first Armenian political party, the Armenakan, was founded in Turkish Armenia, signaling the beginning of political maturity. Thereafter the leadership of the Armenian revolutionary forces passed into the hands of organized political parties; the Armenakan, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, and the Hunchakian Revolutionary Party. These same parties, with some changes, continue to remain active through 1963. Nalbandian analyzes the actions of the revolutionists within the framework of the political and intellectual history of the Armenians and endeavors to clarify the sources, objectives, and accomplishments of the Armenian political parties. The efforts of these groups were not immediately successful; the revolutionists' fight against the Ottoman regime took place against incredibly sever odds: they lacked sufficient manpower, materials, and economic strength to combat the powerful forces of the Ottoman Turks. They did, however, contribute to the ultimate disintegration of the corrupt Ottoman regime and server to further Armenian nationalism. Because of the concern of most Armenian political leaders with the socio-economic theories of the day lead them to connect their own revolutionary movement with that of international socialism, Nalbandian examines the relationship of the Armenian parties to other nineteenth-century revolutionary movements in Western Europe, Russia, and the Balkans. The author, drawing upon research she has done in Soviet Armenia and in Armenian centers in the United States, Europe, and the Near East, presents an organized survey and interpretation of nineteenth-century Armenian politics as an aid to understanding current international alignments. This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1963.

In the late 19th century, the Armenian nation was ruled by two great empires: the Ottoman and the Russian. The sultans ruled over the bulk of the Armenians' historical homeland, while the tsars controlled Armenian lands in the Transcaucasus. Often, when those empires clashed, they did so on territories that the Armenians had called their own for three millennia. On the verge of the modern era, both empires were in decline... and desperate to repel the revolutionary-socialist and liberal-democratic ideas emanating from Europe—and to suppress the national liberation movements of the peoples under their rule. The Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) was founded in those days of sociopolitical ferment, in 1890, in Tbilisi, Georgia. The principal aim of the new organization was the liberation of Armenians under Ottoman rule, but its goals soon evolved to include freedom for Armenians under Russian rule, as well. The biographies and writings of ARF-affiliated statesmen, intellectuals, military commanders, revolutionaries, and rank-and-file fighters included in this book reflect the arch of Armenian history from the 1890s to the 1940s. They contain not merely points of view but larger ideas, ideologies, worldviews, and hard-won life-lessons that energized and guided the lives of individual party members, the collective outlook of ARF, as well as the movement the party engendered. That said, this compilation is merely a small sampling of the thousands of personalities and their works that could have been included. Nevertheless, it contains invaluable insights that would benefit those who would involve themselves in the affairs of Armenia and the Diaspora today, for the past has much to teach those seeking to build the future.

Modern Armenia reviews Armenian politics and political thinking from the mid-nineteenth century to the present, and the evolution of Armenians from peoplehood to statehood. Written by a key governmental advisor in the early years of Armenian independence, this book analyzes the internal dynamics of the revolutionary movement, the genocide, the Armenian Diaspora, its recovered statehood and recent independence, as well as the relationship of these developments to processes in the Ottoman/Turkish, Russian, and Western states. It also explores current dilemmas and future choices independent Armenia faces today. Libaridian concludes with an overview of Armenia and Armenians during the past two decades, including the rebirth of independent Armenia, its foreign and security policy options, its position within the region, and its relations with the Diaspora. Fascinating and timely, Modern Armenia will be of interest to students and scholars of Armenian history, independence movements, the dissolution of the Soviet empire, foreign relations, and political science.

Avoiding the sterile "was-it-genocide-or-not" debate, this book will open a new chapter in this contentious controversy and may help achieve a long-overdue reconciliation of Armenians and Turks.