state
power to make peace with the Ottomans.
Independence of Armenia, the first since
1375 AD in Cilicia, was declared on
May 28, 1918 at noon, by a provisional
coalition government led by Hovhannes
Katchaznouni.
As the Armenian National
Council was making this decision, the
Armenian people were making what
might have been their very last stand
from the Turks. A term of this
protection required Georgia to leave the
Transcausian Republic, which it did by
declaring Georgian independence. On
May 26, 1 918, the Georgians declared
that while they respected the efforts
of the Armenians in resisting Turkish
aggression, they had been defeated and so
Georgia must protect itself alone. Georgia
declared independence and the German
Avetik Sahakyan (First President of the Armenian Parliament) and Hmayak Manukyan (Secretary)
banner was raised in Tiflis as a sign of
new protectors. The following day, the
Tatars declared their own independence,
taking on the name Azerbaijan after the
Persian territories to the south. The
Azerbaijanis quickly received Ottoman
support who had already promised to help
them take back Baku from the control of
a coalition of Armenian and Bolshevik
leaders. The Armenian population was
now alone, and its leaders felt the only
chance to escape total destruction was
to declare independence to take on
2 (22) 2013
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before total destruction. A three-prong
invasion of Armenia with the aim of
capturing Yerevan would culminate with
three battles at Bash-Abaran, Karakilisia,
and Sardarapat taking place in the week
before the independence declaration. The
Armenian force at the Battle of Bash-
Abaran, about a thousand riflemen, was
led by General Dro. The Armenian forces
gained advantage after three days of
strong fighting, and were able to make
a counter-attack on the Ottomans and
forced them to retreat. As the Turks
were being turned back at Bash-Abaran,
another outnumbered Armenian force at
Karakilisia (now Vanadzor) was met in
battle by another prong of the Ottoman
invasion. The local Armenian population
had been fleeing to the south, but was
rallied by Garegin Njdeh and his troops
to stay and fight. The forces were led by
General Tovmas Nazarbekian, and the
difficult battle resulted in many losses
for both sides. Even though Karakilisia
was eventually taken, the Ottoman
commander realized that his force had
been greatly weakened and could not
continue pushing forward against the
fiercely fighting Armenians. Meanwhile,
as these two battles raged, the largest part
of the Ottoman invasion force entered
Armavir region in what became a glorious
and miraculous resistance by Armenians
at Sardarapat. With nowhere to retreat
and no choice left, the Armenians knew
they had to resist the Ottomans on
the spot or the nation would likely be
destroyed. Catholicos Gevorg V had
church bells ring for six days as a call
to the entire population that they were
needed. After resisting the Ottomans for
many days, a military maneuver on May
27 to hit the forces from behind while the
rest of the Armenians hit from the front
finally caused the Ottomans to order a
retreat. The leader of the forces General
Silikyan hoped to pursue the Ottomans
to push them out even further, as they still
occupied places such as Alexandropol.
However, he was told to stop military
operations due to the negotiations with
the Ottomans which had taken up by
the just announced newly independent
Armenia, and by this time the Armenian
army was quite exhausted and low on
ammunition. Sardarapat is seen as a
pivotal moment in Armenian history, one
which perhaps saved the entire Armenian
nation from a final destruction. If
Armenians had not been victorious, there
would have been no chance to declare
independence, the Ottomans would have
pressed on to Yerevan, and the fate of
western Armenia might have been like
that of eastern Armenia as well. Though
there were many more difficulties for
the small newly-born republic, it saw its
birth from a mighty self-defense in an
almost hopeless situation. This beginning
to the first Armenian Republic was
appropriate as it is a fitting metaphor for
the Armenian people: though they are
often faced with impossible odds, they
possess the strength to survive anything
and somehow find the way to victory.