Day of the First Republic in Armenia

Day of the First RepublicSince 1918, the Day of the First Republic has been celebrated in Armenia on May 28. The second name of this holiday is the Day of restoration of sovereignty. On May 28, 1918, the independence of Armenia was restored, which was under the yoke of various conquerors for more than six centuries.

Divided between the Ottoman Empire and Persia in 1639, Armenia remained relatively stable until the fall of the Safavid dynasty in 1722. Around this time, Russian expansion into the region began. Russia annexed Persian Armenia in 1813-1827 and part of Turkish Armenia in 1828 and 1878. In the 1870s, an Armenian national movement was born, whose leaders tried to profit from the rivalry of the great powers of the time, trying to subjugate the Ottoman Empire.

Soon after the outbreak of the First World War, the Turks began to solve the “Armenian question” by forcibly expelling all Armenians from Asia Minor. Armenian soldiers who served in the Turkish army were demobilized and shot, women, children and the elderly were forcibly expelled into the deserts of Syria. Estimates of the death toll vary widely, ranging from 600,000 to 1 million.

Some Armenians managed to survive with help from Turks and Kurds, and most fled to Russian Armenia or other Middle Eastern countries. Russian Armenia was declared an independent republic on May 28, 1918. Despite the famine, massive influx of refugees and conflicts with neighboring countries - Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey - the republic bravely fought for its existence. In 1920, units of the Red Army entered Armenia, and on December 2, 1920, a Soviet republic was proclaimed there.