Fall of Armenia: Chapter 7
The date was October 8, 1912, when Montenegro declared war on the Ottoman Empire. This action caused the Balkan Wars. The Young Turks launched a huge campaign to raise money for the war effort, and Armenian merchants responded very generously, raising 30,000 Turkish gold pounds. This is remarkable considering that when the Armenian defense movements were in full swing the merchants committed negligible amounts of funds to the Armenians.Chapter 7: The Balkan Wars and the Re-emergence of the Armenian Question
In 1912, Armenians who were citizens of Bulgaria where drafted into the Bulgarian army. However, Armenian refugees who had fled Ottoman oppression were not required to fight. Andranik was included in this latter group, but he wanted to fight so much that he organized a group of 273 Armenian refugees to enlist in the Bulgarian forces under his command. Leon Trotsky, who was an eyewitness to the war, reported Andranik’s actions:
The noted Armenian revolutionary, Andranik, left Sofia for the front with his troop, to help the Bulgarians.
Andranik’s battle group participated in large numbers of battles during the war, the most major being the Battle of Merhamle. Yaver Pasha commanded a force of 11,000 Ottomans. Bulgarian troops under Colonel Brotokerov had orders to advance and attack the Ottoman army. Brotokerov gave the order to advance, but Andranik and his troops advanced too quickly (horseback) and left the Bulgarian foot soldiers in the dust. Brotokerov blew his trumpet to tell Andranik to slow down, but the trumpet was broken and Andranik continued on in blissful ignorance. Andranik arrived to fight Yaver’s forces so quickly that the Pasha was stunned. Yaver Pasha’s 11,000 man army surrendered to Andranik’s volunteer battalion. Yaver Pasha later made this statement:
Behind me was the sea, and facing me were the pigs. What else could I do?
At the end of the war, Colonel Brotokerov gave Andranik the medals of “Hero of the Balkans” and the “Golden Cross of Bravery.” King Ferdinand himself issued a royal decree granting Andranik citizenship and an officer’s rank.
Meanwhile, in the Ottoman Empire, after a couple of years of peace, the Armenian vilayets once again descended into anarchy. The Catholicos, Gevorg V of Etchmiadzin, petitioned to Russia for intervention in Armenia (October 1912). The Viceroy Vorontsov-Dashkov was unhappy with the current anti-Armenian policies of Russia and pleaded to the Czar that putting pressure on the Ottomans “would strengthen the Russian-orientation of the Armenians.”
Nicholas II decided to resurrect the Armenian Question after years of dormancy. Nicholas’s plan was rejected by Germany, but in the end, the major powers which included Austria-Hungary, Germany, Britain, France, and Italy, compromised. The plan said that there were to be two Armenian provinces; one would consist of Trebizond, Sivas, and Erzurum, while the other would consist of Van, Bitlis, Kharpert, and Diarbekir. Major Hoff of the Norwegian Army was to oversee the southern province while Westenenk, a Dutch administrator, was to oversee the northern province. The plan was about to be put into effect (Hoff had already arrived in Van) when World War I began and all hopes for a lasting peace in Armenia were lost…
As this went on, yet another major event occurred. The ARF Bureau held a meeting in Constantinople after the Balkan Wars had ended. Ruben Zartarian, who was holding the meeting, contacted Andranik and asked him to come. Andranik did not want to come, but because it was his friend (Zartarian) asking, Andranik obliged.
The meeting went terribly. Andranik was convinced that the Young Turks were feigning friendship. Andranik did not like the ARF’s friendly attitude towards the Young Turks.
Not even… Not even the Cilicia pogrom had been able to awaken them to see the fraudulence of the Ittihad party’s principles.
Aknuni opposed Andranik. Andranik later remarked about his opposition:
Aknuni was miles away from reality. His mind was at rest on a hammock overhanging an abyss.
Aknuni continued to support the Young Turks throughout the meeting. Even when the Young Turks ordered that the Armenian intellectuals be deported and killed, Aknuni stayed loyal to Talaat:
It’s impossible! Talaat probably doesn’t know about it!
As the meeting continued on to discuss the coming elections in the Ottoman Empire, Andranik finally could not take them anymore and exclaimed:
Your wife, your sister, your daughter, in front of your very eyes… Their bayonets will pierce through your newborn babies… They will slaughter the old; they will slaughter the young; the whole country will be a slaughterhouse.
As Andranik said these words he suddenly brought his hand and placed it on his heart. Zartarian quickly helped Andranik into the next room, where he calmed down. It was now understood that the ARF’s stupidity was taking its toll on Andranik’s heart…
Stay tuned for the next chapter: The ARF’s Eighth Congress, World War I, and the Armenian Volunteer Movement
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Originally Posted by A.J.P. Taylor
