🇦🇲 Հայաստանը գրավում է Նախիջևանը։ Հայաստանի Առաջին Հանրապետություն
Հայաստանի Առաջին Հանրապետություն
The Republic of Armenia Surrounded by Adversaries
After proclaiming independence, the Republic of Armenia found itself in an extremely vulnerable position. The young state was surrounded by a hostile Muslim environment: millions of Muslims lived in neighboring regions of Turkey and Azerbaijan, while in the southern districts of Armenia itself—especially in the Aras Valley—the population was predominantly Muslim, numbering around 300,000 people.
Although Armenians constituted the majority of the population of the Erivan Governorate as a whole, Tatars (Azerbaijanis) controlled a significant part of the countryside, key lines of communication, and the southern districts—Surmalu, Sharur-Daralayaz, and Nakhichevan. The Azerbaijani government laid claim to the entire region, relying both on local Muslim leaders and on the influence of Turkish officers who had remained in Transcaucasia after the end of the First World War.
Despite the difficult circumstances, the Armenian leadership considered it vital to establish control over the southern territories up to the Persian border. Without this, the republic would remain defenseless and cut off from important economic regions.
First Attempts to Establish Control in the South
The first steps toward strengthening the Armenian presence in the south were taken immediately after the war ended. In November–December 1918, armed Armenian detachments from Sasun and Mush expelled the inhabitants of several Muslim villages in Daralayaz and settled about 15,000 Armenian refugees there. This secured the mountain road between Yerevan and Zangezur.
At the same time, tens of thousands of Armenians who had fled during the Turkish offensive of 1918 began demanding a return to their native regions under army protection. In December 1918, Armenian units escorted refugee caravans across the Aras River into Igdir, the center of the Surmalu district.
The 8th Infantry Regiment, numbering approximately one thousand men, established garrisons along the border with Persia. However, the government possessed extremely limited resources: Minister of War General Kristapor Araratov (Khristofor Akhverdyan) lacked sufficient forces for a major military operation.
By mid-December, Armenian units were already preparing to enter Sharur, but the outbreak of the Armenian-Georgian war in Lori forced them to halt their advance temporarily.
British Intervention and the Creation of the Governorship
After the conflict with Georgia ended in January 1919, the Armenian command again began preparations for an offensive into Sharur. However, British intervention drastically changed the situation.
Representatives of the Muslim population of Nakhichevan and Sharur proposed negotiations, and shortly afterward British Captain F. E. Lawton demanded, on behalf of the British command, that military operations cease. The Armenian government was forced to yield: it did not possess sufficient forces against roughly 10,000 armed Muslims.
On January 26, 1919, British General George T. Forestier-Walker appointed Lawton military governor of Nakhichevan. Formally, the governorship was declared temporary until the decision of the Paris Peace Conference, but in practice it limited Armenian sovereignty.
The British allowed the borders of the governorship to be expanded into part of the southern Erivan district and demanded the withdrawal of Armenian troops. By February, Armenian forces had retreated to Kamarlu, and the Armenian garrison in Surmalu was prohibited.
Reaction of the Armenian Government
The decisions of the British command caused deep disappointment within the Armenian government. Foreign Minister Sirakan Tigranyan wrote to the Armenian delegation in Paris that the British military governorships had become merely a cover for strengthening Turkish influence in the region.
In Yerevan, there were fears that Nakhichevan, Karabakh, and other disputed territories would gradually come under the control of Muslim administrations supported by Great Britain. The Armenian leadership believed that British forces were either unable or unwilling to resist Turkish and Azerbaijani influence in Transcaucasia.
Change in British Policy
In the spring of 1919, British policy began to change. The new commander of British forces in Transcaucasia, General William M. Thomson, concluded that Ottoman agents were actively operating in the region and that local Muslim structures were coordinating with Baku.
In March–April, the British began preparing to transfer Nakhichevan under Armenian administration. At the Batumi Conference on April 2–3, 1919, it was decided to abolish the British governorship and hand the region over to Armenia after the withdrawal of British troops.
The Armenian government began creating a new administrative system. Plans were made to form a province centered in Nakhichevan, including Sharur and Goghtn.
Dron’s Military Advance
The military leader of Armenian forces, General Drastamat Kanayan (Dro), developed a plan for the gradual occupation of the region. However, the British feared open conflict and insisted on cautious actions, restrictions on the number of Armenian troops, and refusal to forcibly disarm the Muslim population.
Meanwhile, the Azerbaijani representative in Yerevan, Khan Tekinski, actively urged Baku to organize resistance against the Armenian advance. He warned of the possible annexation of Nakhichevan by Armenia and demanded the dispatch of troops or volunteers.
On May 3, 1919, General Dro issued a declaration stating that all territories of the Republic of Armenia must be restored under its control and that resistance would be suppressed by force.
Despite a temporary delay caused by events in Zangezur, the Armenian offensive continued. Under British pressure, the Muslim leaders of Nakhichevan were forced to concede, and on May 20 the first Armenian company entered the city. By early June, British troops had completely evacuated the region.
Return of Refugees and Growing Tensions
In the summer of 1919, a large-scale repatriation of Armenian refugees began. Thousands of people returned to Kars, Nakhichevan, Sharur, Surmalu, and the southern districts of the Erivan Governorate.
The government allocated funds for food supplies, militia units and aid stations were established. However, the situation in the Republic of Armenia remained extremely unstable. The economy had been devastated by war, infrastructure lay in ruins, and relations between the Armenian and Muslim populations remained highly tense.
An additional threat came from Azerbaijan, which after the events of spring 1919 increased support for anti-Armenian uprisings. Through its representatives, Baku encouraged the population of Nakhichevan to resist and attempted to apply economic pressure, including the suspension of oil supplies.
The Loss of Nakhichevan
Already in the summer of 1919, Armenian forces faced new uprisings and mounting pressure from Muslim armed groups. The southern front of the Republic proved too vulnerable, and the state lacked the resources necessary for long-term control of the region.
At the end of July 1919, Armenian units were forced to abandon Nakhichevan. Armenia’s attempt to secure control over the southern territories resulted only in a temporary success, one that proved fragile under conditions of international pressure, internal state weakness, and the continuing Armenian-Azerbaijani confrontation.