Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic

Soviet republic from 1920 to 1991

Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic[a]
(1936–1990)
Հայկական Սովետական Սոցիալիստական Հանրապետություն (Armenian)
Армянская Советская Социалистическая Республика (Russian)

* * *

Republic of Armenia
(1990–1991)
Հայաստանի Հանրապետություն (Armenian)
Республика Армения (Russian)

1920–1991[b]

Flag (1952–1990)

State emblem
(1937–1991)

Motto: Պրոլետարներ բոլոր երկրների, միացե՜ք (Armenian)
Proletarner bolor erkrneri, miac’ek’ (transliteration)
"Proletarians of all countries, unite!"
Anthem: Հայկական Սովետական Սոցիալիստական Հանրապետություն օրհներգ
Haykakan Sovetakan Soc’ialistakan Hanrapetut’yun òrhnerg
"Anthem of the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic"
(1944–1991)

Location of Armenia (red) within the Soviet Union

Status| 1920–1922:
Independent state
1922–1936:
Part of the Transcaucasian SFSR
1936–1991:
Union republic of the Soviet Union
1990–1991:
De facto independent state
Capital

and largest city

| Yerevan
Official languages| Armenian (state language)
Russian (official)
Religion

* Secular state (de jure)
* State atheism (de facto)
* Armenian Apostolic (majority)

Demonym(s)| Armenian
Soviet
Government|

* 1920–1990:
Unitary Marxist-Leninist single-party Soviet socialist republic
* 1990–1991:
Unitary multi-party parliamentary republic
* Nov–Dec. 1991:
Unitary multi-party semi-presidential republic

First Secretary|

• 1920–1921 (first)

| Gevork Alikhanyan

• 1990 (last)[1]

| Vladimir Movsisyan
Head of state|

• 1920–1921 (first)

| Sarkis Kasyan

• 1990–1991 (last)

| Levon Ter-Petrosyan
Head of government|

• 1921–1922 (first)

| Alexander Miasnikian

• 1991 (last)

| Gagik Harutyunyan
Legislature| Supreme Soviet
History|

• Republic proclaimed

| 29 November 1920

• Becomes part of the Transcaucasian SFSR

| 30 December 1922

• Re-established

| 5 December 1936

• First Nagorno-Karabakh War

| 20 February 1988

• Independence declared, Renamed Republic of Armenia

| 23 August 1990

• Independence referendum

| 21 September 1991

• Independence recognized

| 26 December 1991

• Soviet government abolished

| 5 July 1995
Population

• 1989 census

| 3,287,677
HDI (1991)| 0.648
medium
Currency| Soviet ruble (Rbl) (SUR)
Calling code| +7 885

Preceded by | Succeeded by

|

|  | 1920:
First Republic of Armenia

|

| 1921:
Republic of Mountainous Armenia
| 1936:
Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic
| 1922:
Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic |

|

1991:
Armenia |
Today part of| Armenia

Part of a series on the

History of Armenia
Coat of Arms of Armenia

Prehistory

* Shulaveri–Shomu culture
* Kura–Araxes culture
* Legend of Hayk
* Trialeti–Vanadzor culture
* Armani
* Lchashen–Metsamor culture
* Hayasa-Azzi
* Arme–Shupria
* Mushki
* Urumu
* Nairi Confederation
* Urartu (Kingdom of Van)
* Etiuni

Antiquity

* Satrapy of Armenia
* Armenia Minor
* Kingdom of Armenia
* Armenian Empire
* Roman Armenia
* Christianization of Armenia
* Kingdom of Sophene
* Commagene
* Byzantine Armenia
* Sasanian Armenia
* Muslim conquest of Armenia

Middle Ages

* Emirate of Armenia
* Principality of Hamamshen
* Kingdom of Armenia
* Kingdom of Vaspurakan
* Kingdom of Tashir-Dzoraget
* Kingdom of Syunik
* Kingdom of Artsakh
* Zakarid Armenia
* Principality of Khachen
* Mongol Armenia
* Kingdom of Cilicia

Early modern age

* Iranian Armenia
* Five Melikdoms
* Ottoman Armenia
* Russian Armenia
* Armenian Oblast
* Armenian question
* Armenian genocide
* Western Armenia
* National movement

Modern age

* First Republic of Armenia
* Armenian S.S.R.
* Republic of Mountainous Armenia
* Contemporary Armenia
* Republic of Artsakh

Timeline • Origins • Etymology

* v
* t
* e

The Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic (ArSSR),[c] also known as Soviet Armenia,[d] or simply Armenia,[f] was one of the constituent republics of the Soviet Union, located in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Soviet Armenia bordered the Soviet republics of Azerbaijan and Georgia and the independent states of Iran and Turkey. The capital of the republic was Yerevan, and it contained 37 districts (raions). Other major cities in the Armenian SSR included Leninakan, Kirovakan, Hrazdan, Etchmiadzin, and Kapan. The republic was governed by Communist Party of Armenia, a branch of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

Soviet Armenia was established on 29 November 1920, with the Sovietisation of the short-lived First Republic of Armenia. Consequently, it has been referred to as the Second Republic of Armenia.[3][4] It became part of the Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic (TSFSR) along with neighboring Georgia and Azerbaijan, which comprised one of the four founding republics of the Soviet Union. When the TSFSR was dissolved in 1936, Armenia became a constituent republic of the Soviet Union.

As part of the Soviet Union, Armenia initially experienced stabilization under the administration of Alexander Miasnikian during Vladimir Lenin's New Economic Policy. During its 71 year history, the republic was transformed from a largely agricultural hinterland to an important industrial production center, while its population almost quadrupled from around 880,000 in 1926 to 3.3 million in 1989 due to natural growth and large-scale influx of Armenian genocide survivors and their descendants.

Soviet Armenia suffered during the Great Purge of Joseph Stalin but contributed significantly to the Soviet victory in the Great Patriotic War of World War II. After the death of Stalin, Armenia experienced a period of liberalization during the Khrushchev Thaw. Following the Brezhnev era, Mikhail Gorbachev's reforms of glasnost and perestroika saw the rise of the Karabakh movement in 1988. Local authorities declared state sovereignty on 23 August 1990 and boycotted the March 1991 referendum on the New Union Treaty. An independence referendum held on 21 September 1991 was supported by more than 99% of voters. With the dissolution of the Soviet Union on 26 December 1991, the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic ceased to exist, and Armenia became an independent state.

## Formal name

[edit]

Main article: Name of Armenia

Following the Sovietization of Armenia, the republic became officially known as the Socialist Soviet Republic of Armenia. After the dissolution of the TSFSR in 1936, the name was changed to the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic, which was used until 1991.[5]

In Armenian, the official name had been variously changed since the creation of the ArSSR. It was initially "Hayastani Socʼialistakan Xorhrdayin Hanrapetutʼyun" (Հայաստանի Սոցիալիստական Խորհրդային Հանրապետություն, Socialist Soviet Republic of Armenia).[6] The second name, in accordance to the then latest Soviet Constitution, was adopted on 5 December 1936 as Haykakan Xorhrdayin Socʻialistakan Hanrapetutʻyun (Հայկական խորհրդային Սոցիալիստական Հանրապետություն, Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic), with the term haykakan (հայկական, "Armenian") replacing Hayastani (Հայաստան, "Armenia"), and transposing the second (սոցիալիստական, socialist) and third (Խորհրդային, soviet) words. It was ratified by the ninth All-Armenian Extraordinary Congress of Soviets on 23 March 1937.[7]

Thereafter, direct borrowings of soviet (սովետական, sovetakan) and republic (ռեսպուբլիկա, ṙespublika) were included in the formal name on 22 August 1940, in accordance with a regulation approved by the People's Commissariat of Enlightenment of the Armenian SSR.[8] In 1966, the original term for republic was restored.[9]

On 25 June 1989, the Supreme Council of the Armenian SSR passed the bill that constitutionally restored the 1936 name, as well as in other legislative acts.[10] After declaring the sovereign polity, the Supreme Council adopted the Declaration of Independence in which the formal name was declared Hayastani Hanrapetut’yun (Հայաստանի Հանրապետություն, Republic of Armenia) on 23 August 1990.[11]

## History

[edit]

Main article: History of Armenia

### Sovietization

[edit]

Map of Soviet Armenia and the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast in 1926

Armenian SSR border changes from 1921 to 1936

Prior to Soviet rule, Eastern Armenia had been part of the Russian Empire since the 1828 Treaty of Turkmenchay up until the October Revolution, and partly confined to the borders of the Erivan Governorate.[12] After the October Revolution, the Bolshevik government led by Vladimir Lenin announced that non-Russian nationalities could pursue a course of self-determination, and in April 1918, the major national groups of Russian Transcaucasia declared independence as the Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic. By May 1918, this entity split into three independent states: the Democratic Republic of Georgia, the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, and the First Republic of Armenia. The latter was governed by the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF, Dashnaksutiun) and suffered from socioeconomic difficulties, including a large population of refugees from the Armenian genocide.[13]

By May 1920, the Red Army had gained the upper-hand in the Russian Civil War and overthrew the Azerbaijan Republic, thus establishing Soviet Azerbaijan. The Armenian government, concerned about its sovereignty, responded by sending a mission to Moscow in May to convince the Bolsheviks that "an independent and friendly Armenia would be better for Russian interests in the region." In the meantime, the Bolshevik movement had already arrived in Armenia. Although a minority, the Bolsheviks were vocal and managed to lead the May Uprising in Alexandropol, the largest city of the Eastern Armenia, demanding the establishment of a Soviet Republic. The revolt was suppressed by the Armenian government by 14 May and its leaders executed or exiled.[14]

As George Bournoutian highlights, the historical sources differ in their interpretations of the events preceding Armenia's Sovietization. Sources critical of Soviet Armenia and sympathetic to the Dashnaks claim that the Bolsheviks gave the Armenians false assurances, while awaiting the results of the Soviet-Turkish negotiations. By contrast, those sources sympathetic to Soviet Armenia point out that the Dashnak government was to blame, because they refused to work with the Russian SFSR, forcing the Russian Bolsheviks into a collaboration with the Turkish National Movement.[15]

In September 1920, Turkish forces invaded Armenia and, by mid-November, had recaptured most of the Armenian territories that they controlled before 1878. Concerned by the rapid advancement of the Turkish forces, the Russian government approached the Yerevan government and offered to intercede on their behalf. At the end of November, the Bolsheviks encroached onto Armenian territory and sent an ultimatum, proposing that "Armenia's salvation lay in becoming a Bolshevik state, and cutting its ties to the West." Consequently, the Armenian government sent the former Prime Minister Alexander Khatisian to negotiate with the Turks and appointed a team headed by General Drastamat Kanayan to transfer political power to the Bolsheviks. On 2 December, Kanayan signed a short-lived pact with the Bolsheviks, guaranteeing Armenian sovereignty as an "independent Soviet state." Moreover, the Bolsheviks promised to restore Armenia's pre-September 1920 borders. Dashnak political leaders, as well as other party representatives, were guaranteed freedom and continued to serve the state. A few days later, however, Bolsheviks of the Revolutionary Committee, led by Sarkis Kasyan and Avis Nurijanyan and supported by the Red Army, arrived in Yerevan and, violating the agreement made with Kanayan, arrested several Dashnak officials and officers, "wreak[ing] havoc for the next two months." These events helped spark a short-lived, anti-Bolshevik rebellion in February–April 1921.[16]

After the Yerevan was recaptured from the anti-Bolshevik rebellion, the Bolsheviks and the Turkish nationalists negotiated Turkey's borders with Armenia and the rest of Transcaucasia.[17] In the treaties of Moscow and Kars, Turkey renounced its claims on Batumi to Georgia and guaranteed the independence of Armenian Republic—in exchange they gained rights to the regions of Kars, Ardahan, and Surmalu, including the medieval Armenian capital Ani and Mount Ararat, the cultural icon of the Armenian people.[18] Additionally, despite opposition from Armenian Bolshevik revolutionary Alexander Miasnikian, the Soviet government granted Nagorno-Karabakh and Nakhichevan to Soviet Azerbaijan, as they did not have direct control over those areas at the time and were primarily concerned with restoring regional stability.[19] The sides agreed that the treaty would be later signed and ratified by the Transcaucasian republics.[17]

### New Economic Policy

[edit]

Lenin Monument on Yerevan's Lenin Square (today Republic Square)

From 12 March 1922 to 5 December 1936, Armenia was a part of the Transcaucasian SFSR (TSFSR) together with the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic and the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic. The policies of the first Soviet Armenian government (the Revolutionary Committee, headed by young, inexperienced, and militant communists such as Sarkis Kasyan and Avis Nurijanyan) were implemented in a high-handed manner and did not take into consideration the poor conditions of the republic and the general weariness of the people after years of conflict and civil strife.[20] As the Soviet Armenian historian Bagrat Borian wrote in 1929, the Revolutionary Committee engaged in "a series of indiscriminate seizures and confiscations, without regard to class, and without taking into account the general economic and psychological state of the peasantry."[21]

Such was the degree of the requisitioning and terror imposed by the local Cheka that in February 1921 the Armenians, led by former leaders of the republic, rose up in revolt and briefly unseated the communists in Yerevan. The Red Army, which was campaigning in Georgia at the time, returned to suppress the revolt and drove its leaders out of Armenia.[22]

Convinced that these heavy-handed tactics were the source of the alienation of the native population to Soviet rule, in 1921, Lenin appointed Myasnikyan, an experienced administrator, to carry out a more moderate policy and one better attuned to Armenian national sensibilities. With the introduction of the New Economic Policy (NEP), Armenians began to enjoy a period of relative stability. Life under Soviet rule proved to be a soothing balm in contrast to the turbulent years of the First Republic.[23] Alexander Tamanian began to realize his city plan for Yerevan and the population received medicine, food, as well as other provisions from Moscow.[24]

Prior to his debilitating illness, Lenin encouraged the policy of korenizatsiya or "nativization" in the republics which essentially called for the different nationalities of the Soviet Union to "administer their republics", establishing native-language schools, newspapers, and theaters.[25] In Armenia, the Soviet government directed all illiterate citizens up to the age of 50 to attend school and learn to read Armenian, which became the official language of the republic. Throughout the Soviet era, the number of Armenian-language newspapers (Sovetakan Hayastan), magazines (Garun), and journals (Sovetakan Grakanutyun, Patma-Banasirakan Handes) grew.[26] A Kurdish newspaper, Riya Teze (The New Path), was established in Armenia in 1930.[27]

An institute for culture and history was created in 1921 in Ejmiatsin, and the Yerevan Opera Theatre and a dramatic theater in Yerevan were built and established in the 1920s and 1930s. Popular works in the fields of art and literature were produced by Martiros Saryan, Yeghishe Charents, Axel Bakunts, and Shushanik Kurghinian who all adhered to the socialist dictum of creating works "national in form, socialist in content." Armenkino released the first Armenian feature film, Namus (Honor) in 1925 and the first Kurdish film, Zare, in 1926. Both were directed by Hamo Bek-Nazaryan, who would later direct the first Armenian sound film Pepo, released in 1935.[26] The Armenian diaspora was divided about the new Soviet government in Yerevan. Supporters of the Dashnaksutiun did not support the Soviet state, while supporters of the Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU) were more positive about the newly-founded Soviet republic.[28]

### Stalinism and the Great Purge

[edit]

See also: Armenian victims of the Great Purge

First Secretary Aghasi Khanjian, a native of Van, was killed in 1936 by Lavrentiy Beria

The situation in Armenia and the USSR significantly changed after the death of Lenin and the rise of Joseph Stalin to Soviet leader. In the Caucasus, Stalin's ally in Georgia, Lavrentiy Beria, sought to consolidate his control over the region, resulting in a political struggle with Armenian First Secretary Aghasi Khanjian. The struggle culminated in Khanjian's assassination by Beria in Tiflis (Tbilisi) on 9 July 1936, beginning the Great Purge in Armenia. At first, Beria framed Khanjian's death as "suicide," but soon condemned him for abetting "rabid nationalist elements among the Armenian intelligentsia."[29]

After Khanjian's death, Beria promoted his loyalists in Armenia—Amatuni Amatuni as Armenian First Secretary and Khachik Mughdusi as chief of the Armenian NKVD. Under the command of Beria's allies, the campaign against "enemies" intensified. Expressions of "nationalism" were suspect, and many leading Armenian intellectuals were arrested, including Charents, Bakunts, Vahram Alazan, Gurgen Mahari, Vahan Totovents, Nersik Stepanyan, and others. According to Amatuni in a June 1937 letter to Stalin, 1,365 people were arrested in the ten months after the death of Khanjian, among them 900 "Dashnak-Trotskiites."[30]

The death of Sahak Ter-Gabrielyan in August 1937 was a turning point in the repressions. While being interrogated by Mughdusi's men, Ter-Gabrielyan "either jumped or was pushed from the third-floor window" of the NKVD building in Yerevan.[31] Stalin was angered that Mughdusi and Amatuni neglected to inform him about the incident. In response, in September 1937, he sent Georgy Malenkov, Mikhail Litvin, and later Anastas Mikoyan to oversee a purge of the Communist Party of Armenia.[32] During the trip, Mikoyan tried, but failed, to save one individual (Danush Shahverdyan) from the repressions.[33] More than a thousand people were arrested and seven of nine members of the Armenian Politburo were sacked from office.[34] The trip also resulted in the appointment of a new Armenian Party leadership, headed by Grigory Arutinov, who was approved by Beria.[35]

The Armenian Apostolic Church was not spared from the repressions. Soviet attacks against the Church under Stalin were known since 1929, but momentarily eased to improve the Soviet Union's relations with the Armenian diaspora. In 1932, Khoren I became Catholicos of All Armenians and assumed the leadership of the church. However, in the late 1930s, the Armenian NKVD, led by Mughdusi and his successor Viktor Khvorostyan, renewed the attacks against the Church.[24] These attacks culminated in the 1938 murder of Khoren and the closing of the Catholicate of Ejmiatsin, an act for which Beria is usually held responsible.[36] However, the Church survived and was later revived when Stalin eased restrictions on religion at the end of World War II.[24]

### Great Patriotic War

[edit]

Great Patriotic War memorial near Kapan

Armenia was spared the devastation and destruction that wrought most of the western Soviet Union during the Great Patriotic War of World War II. The Wehrmacht never reached the South Caucasus, which they intended to do in order to capture the oil fields in Azerbaijan. Still, Armenia played a valuable role in the war in providing food, manpower and war material. An estimated 300–500,000 Armenians served in the war, almost half of whom did not return.[37][38] Many attained the highest honor of Hero of the Soviet Union.[39] Over 60 Armenians were promoted to the rank of general, with an additional four achieving the rank of Marshal of the Soviet Union: Ivan Bagramyan (the first non-Slavic commander to hold the position of front commander when he was assigned to be the commander of the First Baltic Front in 1943), Admiral Ivan Isakov, Hamazasp Babadzhanian, and Sergei Khudyakov.[39] Another prominent wartime figure was Artem Mikoyan, the younger brother of Anastas, who, along with Mikhail Gurevich, was the designer and co-founder of the Soviet MiG fighter jet company.[40]

In an effort to shore up popular support for the war effort, the Soviet government allowed certain expressions of nationalism with the publication of Armenian novels such as Derenik Demirchian's Vardanank, the production of films like David Bek (1944), and the easing of restrictions placed against the Church.[41] Stalin temporarily relaxed his attacks on religion during the war. This led to the election of bishop Gevorg in 1945 as Catholicos Gevorg VI. He was subsequently allowed to reside in Ejmiatsin.[42][43]

At the end of the war, after Germany's capitulation, the Soviet government attempted to annul the Treaty of Kars, allowing it to regain the provinces of Kars, Ardahan, Artvin, and Surmalu. On 7 June 1945, Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov informed the Turkish ambassador in Moscow that the disputed provinces should be returned to Soviet Union in the name of both the Armenian and Georgian Soviet Republics.[44] Turkey was in no condition to fight a war with the Soviet Union, which had emerged as a superpower after the Second World War.[44] The Soviet territorial claims were supported by the Armenian Catholicos and by all shades of the Armenian diaspora, including the anti-Soviet Dashnaksutiun.[44] However, with the onset of the Cold War, especially the Truman Doctrine in 1947, Turkey strengthened its ties with the West. The Soviet Union relinquished its claims over the lost territories, and Ankara joined the anti-Soviet NATO military alliance in 1952.[45]

### Armenian repatriation

[edit]

1945 decree signed by Stalin on the repatriation of Armenian diaspora to Soviet Armenia

With the republic suffering heavy losses after the war, Stalin allowed an open immigration policy in Armenia; the diaspora were encouraged to repatriate to Armenia (nergaght) and revitalize the population and bolster the workforce. Armenians living in countries such as Cyprus, France, Greece, Iraq, Lebanon, and Syria were primarily the survivors or the descendants of the genocide. Offered an expenses paid return, an estimated 150,000 Armenians arrived in Soviet Armenia between 1946 and 1948, settling in Yerevan, Leninakan, Kirovakan and other towns.[46][47]

Lured by numerous incentives such as food coupons, better housing and other benefits, they were received coldly by the Armenians living in the republic upon their arrival. The repatriates spoke the Western Armenian dialect, instead of the Eastern Armenian prevalent in Soviet Armenia. They were often addressed as aghbars ("brothers") by Armenians living in the republic, due to their different pronunciation of the word. Initially humorous in tone, usage evolved to carry a more pejorative connotation.[48]

Thousands of Armenians were forcibly exiled to the Altai Krai in 1949.[49][50] Many were repatriated Armenians who had arrived from the Armenian diaspora but who were suspected of being Dashnak party members.[28] Lazare Indjeyan's Les Années volées and Armand Maloumian's Les Fils du Goulag are two repatriate narratives about incarceration and eventual escape from the gulags. Many other repatriate narratives explored family memories of the genocide and resettlement in the Soviet Union.[28]

### Khrushchev Thaw

[edit]

The statues of Mesrop Mashtots and his disciple Koryun at the Matenadaran by Ghukas Chubaryan (1962)

Armenia underwent significant social and cultural changed in the aftermath of Stalin's death in 1953 and the emergence of Nikita Khrushchev as the new Soviet leader. One of Khrushchev's advisers and close friends, Armenian Politburo member Anastas Mikoyan, urged Armenians to reaffirm their national identity. In March 1954, two years before Khrushchev denounced Stalin, Mikoyan gave a speech in Yerevan where he encouraged the re-publication of Raffi and Raphael Patkanian, the rehabilitation of Charents, and the revival of the memory of Miasnikian.[51][52] Behind the scenes, he assisted Soviet Armenian leaders in the rehabilitation of former "enemies" in the republic.[53]

Khrushchev, in his speech "On the Cult of Personality and Its Consequences" delivered before the 20th Party Congress in 1956, sharply denounced Stalin and his crimes. During the subsequent Khrushchev Thaw, the Soviet leadership loosened political restrictions and rehabilitated the victims of the Great Purge, such as Khanjian and Charents, as well as the releasing thousands political prisoners from the Siberian gulag. In 1962, the massive statue of Stalin that towered over Yerevan was pulled down from its pedestal by troops and replaced in 1967 with that of Mother Armenia.[54][55] Moreover, union-wide economic reforms impacted Armenia, diversifying its grain production. Farmers were permitted to cultivate small plots for their own personal use, and the newly-integrated production of livestock and various irrigation projects increased Armenia's agricultural output.[56]

Religious freedom, to a limited degree, was granted to Armenia when Catholicos Vazgen I assumed office in 1955.[57] The party once again accepted Armenian language and culture, and a new policy of "nativization" emerged. Armenians from other parts of the USSR, as well as Armenians from Iran, came to Yerevan.[56] Contacts between Armenia and the diaspora were revived, and Armenians from abroad were able to visit the republic more frequently. In 1959, the Matenadaran was opened in Yerevan as an archive to house the nationalized monastic collections of Echmiadzin, and to encourage preservation of the manuscripts and to promote historical research.[58]

### Brezhnev era

[edit]

Yerevan Youth Palace

After Leonid Brezhnev assumed power in 1964, many of Khrushchev's reforms were partly curtailed. However, although the Soviet state remained ever wary of the potential resurgence of Armenian nationalism, it did not impose the sort of restrictions seen during Stalin's time. On 24 April 1965, thousands of Armenians demonstrated in the streets of Yerevan during the 50th anniversary of the Armenian genocide.[59] In the aftermath of these demonstrations, the memorial in honor of the genocide victims was erected at the Tsitsernakaberd hill above the Hrazdan gorge in Yerevan in 1967. The government also permitted the construction of other monuments honoring the important events of the Armenian history, such as monuments commemorating the Sardarapat and Bash Abaran, as well as creation of statues dedicated to popular Armenian figures like the fifth-century military commander Vardan Mamikonian and the folk hero David of Sassoun.[54]

The Brezhnev era saw the rise of corruption and shadow economy. Materials allocated for the building of new homes, such as cement and concrete, were diverted for other uses, and bribery and a lack of oversight produced shoddily built and weakly supported apartment buildings. The impact of this problem was later evidenced during the 1988 Armenian earthquake—when the earthquake hit, the Brezhnevka apartments were the most susceptible to collapse, while the older buildings better withstood the quake.[60] When compared to other republics, the regions of Transcaucasia and Central Asia had the highest levels of corruption.[61]

In the more politically liberated climate, new intelligentsia appeared in Armenia who despised the prevailing situation, and felt that "the corruption, emigration of talented individuals, pollution and general loss of ethics had put Armenia on the road to disaster." This sentiment resulted in the removal of Armenian First Secretary Anton Kochinyan and the promotion of Karen Demirchyan, whose main prerogative was to "clean up the republic." Demirchyan's promises and activities raised the hopes of those Armenians who demanded concrete changes. His government undertook the battle with corruption and established major construction projects, such as the Yerevan Metro, Karen Demirchyan Complex, and an airport. However, some Armenians believed that the Demirchyan government was delivering its promises too slowly.[61]

In 1978, during the debate over a new Soviet Constitution, the Armenians unsuccessfully petitioned Moscow for the separation of Mountainous Karabakh and Nakhichevan from Azerbaijan Republic. Around the same time, Moscow considered removing a part of the constitution that guaranteed the use of native languages as the official languages of the republics, but the Armenians, alongside the Georgians, fervently protested and defeated the proposition.[61] In the 1970s a Soviet census revealed that over 99 percent of the people of Armenia (including Kurds, Assyrians, and Azeris) considered Armenian, rather than Russian, their national language, a much higher number compared to the other republics. However, only two thirds of the Armenians of the USSR lived in Armenia, with the remaining one-third lived primarily in Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Russia.[62]

### Glasnost and perestroika

[edit]

Main article: Karabakh movement

Armenians demonstrating for the unification of the republic with Nagorno-Karabakh at Opera Square in Yerevan in the summer of 1988

Mikhail Gorbachev's introduction of the reforms of glasnost and perestroika in the 1980s fueled Armenian visions of a better life under Soviet rule. Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh, which was promised to Armenia by the Bolsheviks but transferred to Soviet Azerbaijan, began a movement to unite the area with Armenia. The majority Armenian population expressed concern about the forced "Azerification" of the region.[63] On 20 February 1988, the Supreme Soviet of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast voted to unify with Armenia.[64]

Demonstrations took place in Yerevan in support of the Karabakh Armenians and grew into what became known as the Karabakh movement. By the beginning of 1988, nearly one million Armenians from several regions of the republic engaged in these demonstrations, centered on Yerevan's Theater Square (currently Freedom Square).[65] However, in neighboring Azerbaijan, violence against Armenians erupted in the city of Sumgait.[66] Ethnic rioting broke out between Armenians and Azeris, preventing any peaceful resolution from taking place. Armenians became increasingly disillusioned with the Kremlin's response toward the issue. Gorbachev, who had until then been viewed favorably in Armenia, saw his standing among Armenians deteriorate significantly.[67]

Tension between the central government in Moscow and the local government in Yerevan heightened in the final years of the Soviet Union. The reasons largely stemmed from Moscow's perceived indecision on Karabakh, ongoing difficulties with earthquake relief, and the shortcomings of the Soviet economy.[68] On 23 August 1990, the Supreme Soviet of the Armenian SSR adopted the Declaration of Independence of Armenia, declaring the Republic of Armenia to be a subject of international law.[69][70] On 17 March 1991, Armenia, along with the Baltics, Georgia and Moldova, boycotted the union-wide referendum in which 78% of all voters voted for the retention of the Soviet Union in a reformed form.[71] Armenia confirmed its independence in a referendum on 21 September 1991 after the unsuccessful coup attempt in Moscow by the Communist Party of the Soviet Union hardliners.[72] The republic's independence became official with the Belovezh Accords and the formal dissolution of the Soviet Union on 26 December 1991, making Armenia a sovereign, independent state. The constitution of 1978 remained in effect until July 5, 1995, when a new constitution was adopted.[73][74]

## Politics

[edit]

Administrative divisions of the Armenian SSR

Administrative divisions of the Armenian SSR in 1928

Main article: Politics of the Soviet Union

The structure of government in the Armenian SSR was identical to that of the other Soviet republics. The First Secretary was the administrative head of the republic, and the head of government was the Chairman of the Council of Ministers. The republic's legislative body was the Armenian Supreme Soviet, which included the highest judicial branch of the republic, the supreme court. Members of the Supreme Soviet served for a term of five years, whereas regional deputies served for two and a half years. All officials holding office were mandated to be members of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, and sessions were convened in the Supreme Soviet building in Yerevan.[75]

The administrative divisions of the Armenian SSR from 1930 consisted of up 37 raions and 22 city districts.[76] In the aftermath of the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the districts were abolished in 1995 and replaced by larger marzer ("provinces").[77]

Depending on the historical period, Soviet authorities would variously tolerate, co-opt, undermine, or sometimes even attempt to eliminate certain currents within Armenian society, such as nationalism and religion, to strengthen the cohesiveness of the Union. In the eyes of early Soviet policymakers, Armenians, along with Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians, Georgians, Germans, and Jews were deemed "advanced" (as opposed to "backward") peoples and were grouped together with Western nationalities.[78] The Caucasus and particularly Armenia were recognized by academic scholars and in Soviet textbooks as the "oldest civilisation on the territory" of the Soviet Union.[79] By the mid-1970s, Armenian nationalism had resurfaced, mostly directed against the Turks, and the Demirjian government allowed the not-too-overt expression of it. More books about conditions in Karabakh and the destruction of Armenian monuments in Nakhichevan were published. The "Armenian question" was "raised unofficially in some circles". The Armenian government formally adopted Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day in 1988.[80]

Like all the other republics of the Soviet Union, Armenia had its own flag and coat of arms. According to Nikita Khrushchev, the latter became a source of dispute between the Soviet Union and Turkey in the 1950s, when Ankara objected the coat of arms that would include Mount Ararat, which holds a deep symbolic importance for Armenians but has been located on Turkish territory since the early 20th century. Turkey felt that the presence of such an image implied Soviet designs on Turkish territory. Khrushchev retorted by asking, "Why do you have a moon depicted on your flag? After all, the moon doesn't belong to Turkey, not even half the moon. Do you want to take over the whole universe?" Turkey dropped the issue after this.[81]

## Economy

[edit]

Main article: Economy of the Soviet Union

Under the centralized economy, the Armenian Republic imposed a ban on private property—beginning in the late 1920s, privately owned farms in Armenia were collectivized and placed under the directive of the state, which was often met with active resistance from the peasantry. The communist society collectively owned the means of production, divided into state property and cooperative and collective-farm property. The economic life of the Republic was determined and guided by the state economic plan.[82]

In the nascent Soviet Armenia 80 percent of its population engaged in agriculture. From 1929 to 1936, the government began the process of industrialization, and by 1935, the gross product from agriculture reached the 132% and the gross product from industry reached the 650%, both compared to the production in 1928. The economic revolution of the 1930s, however, came with a cost, breaking up the traditional peasant family and village institution and compelling many living in the rural countryside to settle in urban areas.[83] At the time of the republic's dissolution, close to 80 percent of its population lived in urban centers and engaged in heavy industry, management, and services.[84]

During Khrushchev's secretaryship, the large collective farms were divided into smaller ones, and farmers were permitted to cultivate small plots for their own personal use. Armenia was permitted to plant other crops besides grain—including the production of tobacco, vegetables, grapes and other fruits—more suitable to Armenia's soil and climate. The newly-introduced production of livestock and various irrigation projects increased Armenia's agricultural output. However, the lack of land suitable for farming meant the republic's agricultural output was less compared to other republics.[85]

The Brezhnev era signified the prospering tourism sector, which constituted a substantial fraction of Soviet Armenia's economy. Hotels and museums were opened and cultural exchange programs were established.[62]

Metsamor Nuclear Power Plant was constructed and launched in 1976,[86] satisfying the electricity needs of Armenia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan. During this period, the rising industrial output of Armenia, the levels of pollution increased, which caused the growth in cancer cases and ecological problems.[62] Hydroelectric projects resulted in the dramatic lowering of Lake Sevan's water levels, a process that began to be reversed with the realization of the Arpa–Sevan tunnel during the Khrushchev period.[87]

## Military forces

[edit]

The military forces of the Armenian SSR were provided by the Soviet Army's 7th Guards Combined Arms Army of the Transcaucasian Military District. It was organized into the following:

* HQ of the 7th Guards Combined Arms Army - Yerevan[88]
* 15th Motor Rifle Division, Kirovakan[89]
* 127th Motor Rifle Division, Leninakan (today the Russian 102nd Military Base)[90][91]
* 7th Fortified Area, Leninakan – Originally formed as 55th Fortified Region on 4 February 1941 and covered Turkish border during World War II. Became a part of the 7th Guards Army during the late 1980s.[92]
* 9th Fortified Area, Ejmiatsin – Originally formed as 69th Fortified Region at Kazan in April 1942. Fought in Battle of the Caucasus and later transferred to Ejmiatsin as part of the 45th Army. Became a part of the 7th Guards Army during the late 1980s.[92]

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ Historical names:
* 1920-1936: Socialist Soviet Republic of Armenia
(Armenian: Հայաստանի Սոցիալիստական Խորհրդային Հանրապետություն
Russian: Социалистическая Советская Республика Армения)
2. ^ Part of the Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic from 1922–1936.
3. ^ Armenian SSR

* Armenian: Հայկական Սովետական Սոցիալիստական Հանրապետություն, romanized: Haykakan Sovetakan Socʼialistakan Hanrapetutʼyun, IPA: [hɑjkɑˈkɑn sovetɑˈkɑn sot͡sʰiɑlistɑˈkɑn hɑnɾɑpetuˈtʰjun]
* Russian: Армянская Советская Социалистическая Республика, romanized: Armyanskaya Sovetskaya Sotsialisticheskaya Respublika, IPA: [ɐrˈmʲanskəjə sɐˈvʲetskəjə sətsɨəlʲɪˈsʲtʲitɕɪskəjə rʲɪˈspublʲɪkə]

4. ^ Armenian: Սովետական Հայաստան, romanized: Sovetakan Hayastan; Russian: Советская Армения, romanized: Sovetskaya Armeniya
5. ^ Standard pronunciation is in Eastern Armenian ([hɑjɑsˈtɑn]). Western Armenian: [hɑjɑsˈdɑn].
6. ^ /ɑːrˈmiːniə/ ⓘ;[2] Armenian: Հայաստան, romanized: Hayastan, IPA: [hɑjɑsˈtɑn];[e] Russian: Армения, romanized: Armeniya, IPA: [ɐrˈmʲenʲɪjə]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ On 4 August 1990, article 6 on the monopoly of the Communist Party of Armenia on power was excluded from the Constitution of the Armenian SSR
2. ^ "Armenia". Dictionary.com. 2015.
3. ^ Bournoutian 2003, p. 313.
4. ^ Shakarian 2025, p. 141.
5. ^ Конституция СССР (1936) Глава II. Государственное устройство (ст. 13) [USSR Constitution (1936) Chapter II. Government structure (p. 13)] (in Russian). Archived from the original on 2020-03-20. Retrieved 2020-03-21.
6. ^ "Hrazdan No.1" Հրազդան No.1 [Order No.1] (PDF). Komunist. Yerevan. 1920-12-07. p. 1\. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-10-24. Retrieved 2024-12-30.
7. ^ "Sovetskaya Armeniya" Cоветская Армения [Soviet Armenia]. Vexillographia. Retrieved 2024-12-30.
8. ^ HSSRR Lusavorut'yan zhoghovrdakan komisariati hramanner yev kanonakarger ՀՍՍՌ Լուսավորության ժողովրդական կոմիսարիատի հրամաններ եվ կանոնակարգեր [Orders and Regulations of the People's Commissariat of Enlightenment of the Armenian SSR] (PDF) (Report). Yerevan: People's Commissariat of Enlightenment of the Armenian SSR. 1940. p. 5. Retrieved 2024-12-30.
9. ^ "Armenia: Polity Style: 1920-1990". archontology.org. Retrieved 2024-12-30.
10. ^ Haykakan Khorhrdayin Sots'ialistakan Hanrapetut'yun Geraguyn xorhrdi teghekagrer Հայկական Խորհրդային Սոցիալիստական Հանրապետություն Գերագույն խորհրդի տեղեկագրեր [Records of the Supreme Council of the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic] (PDF) (Report). Yerevan: Supreme Council of the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic. 1989-06-30. p. 116. Retrieved 2024-12-30.
11. ^ Hayastani Hanrapetut'yan Geraguyn xorhrdi teghekagrer Հայաստանի Հանրապետության Գերագույն խորհրդի տեղեկագրեր [Records of the Supreme Council of the Republic of Armenia] (PDF) (Report). Yerevan: Supreme Council of the Republic of Armenia. 1990-08-31. p. 6.
12. ^ Hovannisian 1971, p. 33.
13. ^ Richard G. Hovannisian (1971–1996). The Republic of Armenia: The first year, 1918-1919. Berkeley: University of California Press.`{{cite book}}`: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)
14. ^ Bournoutian 2003, p. 309.
15. ^ Bournoutian 2003, p. 310.
16. ^ Bournoutian 2003, pp. 310–312.
17. ^ a b Bournoutian 2003, p. 312.
18. ^ Tsutsiev, Arthur (2014). Atlas of the Ethno-Political History of the Caucasus. Translated by Nora Seligman Favorov. New Haven: Yale University Press. pp. 74–76, 79. ISBN 978-0300153088.
19. ^ Saparov, Arsène (March 2012). "Why Autonomy? The Making of Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region 1918-1925". Europe-Asia Studies. 64 (2): 281–323\. doi:10.1080/09668136.2011.642583. S2CID 154783461. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
20. ^ Suny 1993, p. 139.
21. ^ Suny 1997, p. 350.
22. ^ Hovannisian, Richard G. (1996). The Republic of Armenia, Vol. IV: Between Crescent and Sickle - Partition and Sovietization. Berkeley: University of California Press. pp. 405–07.`{{cite book}}`: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)
23. ^ Suny 1997, pp. 355–57.
24. ^ a b c Matossian 1962, p. 80.
25. ^ Martin, Terry (2001). The Affirmative Action Empire: Nations and Nationalism in the Soviet Union, 1923-1939. New York: Cornell University. pp. 10–13\. ISBN 0-8014-8677-7.`{{cite book}}`: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)
26. ^ a b Suny 1997, pp. 356–57.
27. ^ Can, Polat (24 June 2003). "Kurdish newspaper ends publication after 73 years". KurdishMedia.com. Archived from the original on 18 April 2014.
28. ^ a b c Jo Laycock (2016). "Survivor or Soviet Stories? Repatriate Narratives in Armenian Histories, Memories and Identities" (PDF). History and Memory. 28 (2): 123–151\. doi:10.2979/histmemo.28.2.0123. ISSN 0935-560X. JSTOR 10.2979/histmemo.28.2.0123. S2CID 159467141.
29. ^ Shakarian 2025, p. 14.
30. ^ Shakarian 2025, p. 15.
31. ^ Shakarian 2025, p. 16.
32. ^ Shakarian 2025, pp. 16–17, 23.
33. ^ Shakarian 2025, pp. 27–28.
34. ^ Tucker 1992, pp. 488–489.
35. ^ Shakarian 2025, pp. 29–30.
36. ^ Hayrapetyan, Kanakara (2018). "Ամենայն Հայոց Կաթողիկոս Խորէն Ա. Մուրադբեկյանի մահվան առեղծվածի վերլուծությունը պատմագիտության մեջ [Historiographical analysis of the mysterious death of Khoren I Muradbekyan, Catholicos of All Armenians]". Ejmiatsin (in Armenian). 75 (7): 145.
37. ^ Walker 1980, pp. 355–356.
38. ^ Harutyunyan, Kliment (2001). Hay zhoghovrdi masnaktsutyune Erkrord Hamashkharhayin Paterazmin (1939-1945 թթ.) [The Participation of the Armenian People in the Second World War, (1939-1945)] (in Armenian). Yerevan: Hrazdan.`{{cite book}}`: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)
39. ^ a b Khudaverdian, Konstantin. Sovetakan Miutyan Hayrenakan Mets Paterazm, 1941-1945 [The Soviet Union's Great Patriotic War, 1941-1945] (in Armenian). Vol. 10\. Armenian Soviet Encyclopedia. pp. 542–547.
40. ^ Karwatka, Dennis (April 2017). "Artem Mikoyan and Mikhail Gurevich and Their MiG Fighter Airplanes". Tech Directions. 76 (8): 10–11\. ProQuest 1889990440.
41. ^ Panossian 2006, p. 351.
42. ^ Matossian 1962, pp. 194–195.
43. ^ Corley 1996, pp. 16–18.
44. ^ a b c Suny 1993, pp. 165–169.
45. ^ Krikorian, Robert O. "Kars-Ardahan and Soviet Armenian Irredentism, 1945-1946", in Armenian Kars and Ani, ed. Richard G. Hovannisian. Costa Mesa, CA: Mazda Publishers, 2011, pp. 393-410.
46. ^ Dekmejian, R. Hrair, "The Armenian Diaspora", in The Armenian People From Ancient to Modern Times, pp. 416-417.
47. ^ Yousefian, Sevan (2011). The Postwar Repatriation Movement of Armenians to Soviet Armenia, 1945-1948 (unpublished Ph.D Dissertation). University of California, Los Angeles.
48. ^ Lehmann, Maike (2012). "A Different Kind of Brothers: Exclusion and Partial Integration After Repatriation to a Soviet "Homeland"". Ab Imperio (3): 171–211\. doi:10.1353/imp.2012.0104.
49. ^ Yalanuzyan, Mikael (31 August 2021). "Exile to Siberia". EVN Report. Retrieved 12 December 2021.
50. ^ Polian, Pavel Markovich (2004). Against Their Will: The History and Geography of Forced Migrations in the USSR. Translated by Anna Yastrzhembska. Budapest: Central European University Press. p. 333\. ISBN 9789639241688.
51. ^ Shakarian 2025, pp. 34–35.
52. ^ Virabyan 2001, p. 212.
53. ^ Shakarian 2025, pp. 52–53.
54. ^ a b Panossian 2006, p. 349.
55. ^ Suny, Ronald Grigor (1983). Armenia in the Twentieth Century. Chico, CA: Scholars Press. pp. 72–73.
56. ^ a b Bournoutian 2003, p. 322.
57. ^ Panossian 2006, p. 352.
58. ^ Hewsen 1981, p. 137.
59. ^ Lehmann, Maike (Spring 2015). Apricot Socialism: The National Past, the Soviet Project, and the Imagining of Community in Late Soviet Armenia. Vol. 74\. Slavic Review. pp. 9–31.
60. ^ Verluise, Pierre; Chorbajian, Levon (1995). Armenia in Crisis: the 1988 Earthquake. Detroit: Wayne State University Press.`{{cite book}}`: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)
61. ^ a b c Bournoutian 2003, p. 325.
62. ^ a b c Bournoutian 2003, p. 324.
63. ^ On Karabakh, see Cheterian, Vicken (2009). War and Peace in the Caucasus: Russia's Troubled Frontier. New York: Columbia University Press. pp. 87–154\. ISBN 978-0-231-70064-1.
64. ^ Kaufman, Stuart (2001). Modern Hatreds: The Symbolic Politics of Ethnic War. New York: Cornell Studies in Security Affairs. p. 61\. ISBN 978-0-8014-8736-1.
65. ^ Malkasian, Mark (1996). Gha-ra-bagh!: The Emergence of the National Democratic Movement in Armenia. Detroit: Wayne State University Press. p. 41\. ISBN 0-8143-2605-6.
66. ^ Tonoyan, Artyom (2021). "Introduction". Black Garden Aflame: The Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict in the Soviet and Russian Press. Minneapolis: East View Press. pp. xx–xxi. ISBN 978-1879944558.
67. ^ Geukjian, Ohannes (2016). Ethnicity, Nationalism and Conflict in the South Caucasus: Nagorno-Karabakh and the Legacy of Soviet Nationalities Policy. London: Routledge.`{{cite book}}`: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)
68. ^ Krikorian, Robert O; Masih, Joseph R. (1999). Armenia: At the Crossroads. Amsterdam: Harwood Academic Publishers. pp. 19–20.`{{cite book}}`: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)
69. ^ "Декларация о независимости Армении" [Armenian Declaration of Independence] (in Russian).
70. ^ "Legislation: National Assembly of RA". www.parliament.am.
71. ^ "Baltic states, Armenia, Georgia, and Moldova boycott USSR referendum". Archived from the original on November 16, 2005. Retrieved 2007-02-06.
72. ^ Маркедонов Сергей Самоопределение по ленинским принципам
73. ^ Payaslian 2007, pp. 197–200.
74. ^ Maddex 2008, p. 24.
75. ^ "История Армянского Парламента" [History of Armenian Parliament] (in Russian).
76. ^ "System of Territorial Administration". Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure Օf the Republic of Armenia. Archived from the original on 2022-02-14. Retrieved 2022-02-14.
77. ^ "Regions". The Government of Armenia.
78. ^ Martin, The Affirmative Action Empire, p. 23.
79. ^ Panossian 2006, pp. 288–89.
80. ^ Bournoutian 2003, p. 326.
81. ^ Khrushchev, Nikita (2004). Sergei Khrushchev (ed.). Memoirs of Nikita Khrushchev: Statesman, 1953-1964. Philadelphia: Pennsylvania State University Press. pp. 467–68\. ISBN 0-271-02935-8.`{{cite book}}`: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)
82. ^ USSR Armenia. Moscow: Press Agency Publishing House MOSCOW. p. 1967.
83. ^ Matossian 1962, pp. 99–116.
84. ^ Bournoutian 2003, pp. 318, 323.
85. ^ Bournoutian 2003, p. 323.
86. ^ Experience Gained from Fires in Nuclear Power Plants: Lessons Learned. International Atomic Energy Agency. 2004. ISBN 978-92-0-112604-7. Archived from the original on 9 June 2020. Retrieved 2 November 2017.
87. ^ Shakarian 2025, pp. 90–95.
88. ^ Holm, Michael. "7th Guards Combined Arms Army". www.ww2.dk. Retrieved 2016-02-14.
89. ^ Holm, Michael. "91st Motorised Rifle Division". www.ww2.dk. Retrieved 2016-02-14.
90. ^ "Russian Ground Forces" (PDF). understandingwar.org. Retrieved 14 July 2023.
91. ^ Luís Rodrigues; Sergiy Glebov, eds. (2009). Military Bases – Historical Perspectives, Contemporary Challenges. IOS Press. p. 190\. ISBN 9781586039677.
92. ^ a b Feskov, V.I.; Golikov, V.I.; Kalashnikov, K.A.; Slugin, S.A. (2013). Вооруженные силы СССР после Второй Мировой войны: от Красной Армии к Советской [The Armed Forces of the USSR after World War II: From the Red Army to the Soviet: Part 1 Land Forces] (in Russian). Tomsk: Scientific and Technical Literature Publishing. ISBN 9785895035306.

## Bibliography

[edit]

* Bournoutian, George A. (2003). A Concise History of the Armenian People (2nd ed.). Costa Mesa: Mazda Publishers CA. ISBN 1568591411.
* Corley, Felix (1996-03-01). "The Armenian Church under the Soviet regime, part 1: The leadership of Kevork". Religion, State and Society. 24 (1): 9–53\. doi:10.1080/09637499608431724. ISSN 0963-7494.
* Hewsen, Robert H. (1981). "Matenadaran (The Mashtotz Institute of Ancient Manuscripts)". In Wieczynski, Joseph L. (ed.). The Modern Encyclopedia of Russian and Soviet History (Vol 21). Gulf Breeze, Fla: Academic International Press. pp. 136–138\. ISBN 9780875690643.
* Hovannisian, Richard G. (1971). "Russian Armenia. A Century of Tsarist Rule". Jahrbücher für Geschichte Osteuropas. 19 (1): 31–48\. ISSN 0021-4019. JSTOR 41044266.
* Maddex, Robert L. (2008). Constitutions of the world (3rd ed.). Washington, DC: CQ Press. ISBN 9780872895560.
* Matossian, Mary Allerton Kilbourne (1962). The Impact of Soviet policies in Armenia. Boston: Brill. doi:10.1163/9789004619234. ISBN 9789004705432. `{{cite book}}`: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
* Panossian, Razmik (2006). The Armenians: From Kings And Priests to Merchants And Commissars. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0-231-13926-7.
* Payaslian, Simon (2007). The History of Armenia: From the Origins to the Present. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-230-60858-0.
* Shakarian, Pietro A. (2025). Anastas Mikoyan: An Armenian Reformer in Khrushchev's Kremlin. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0253073556.
* Suny, Ronald Grigor (1993). Looking toward Ararat: Armenia in modern history. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0-253-20773-9.
* Suny, Ronald Grigor (1997). "Soviet Armenia". In Hovannisian, Richard G. (ed.). The Armenian people from ancient to modern times, Volume 2: Foreign dominion to statehood: the fifteenth century to the twentieth century. New York: St. Martin's Press. pp. 347–388\. ISBN 978-0-312-10168-8.
* Tucker, Robert C. (1992). Stalin in Power: The Revolution from Above, 1928–1941. New York: W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 978-0-393-30869-3. LCCN 89078047. OCLC 26298147.
* Virabyan, Amatuni (2001). Հայաստանը Ստալինից մինչև Խրուշչով: Հասարակական-քաղաքական կյանքը 1945-1957 թթ [Armenia from Stalin to Khrushchev: Social-political life, 1945-1957] (in Armenian). Yerevan: Gitutyun Publishing.`{{cite book}}`: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)
* Walker, Christopher J. (1980). Armenia The Survival of a Nation. New York: St. Martin's Press. ISBN 9780709902102.

## Further reading

[edit]

* Aghayan, Tsatur (1967–1970). Հայ Ժողովրդի Պատմություն [History of the Armenian People] (in Armenian). Vol. 7 and 8. Yerevan: Armenian Academy of Sciences.`{{cite book}}`: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)
* Armenian Soviet Encyclopedia, 12 volumes (in Armenian). Yerevan: Armenian Academy of Sciences. 1974–1987.`{{cite book}}`: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)
* Aslanyan, A. A. (1971). Soviet Armenia. Moscow: Progress Publishers.`{{cite book}}`: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)
* Geghamyan, Gurgen M (1978). Սոցիալ-տնտեսական փոփոխությունները Հայաստանում ՆԵՊ-ի տարիներին (1921-1936) [Socio-Economic Changes in the Armenia during the NEP Years] (in Armenian). Yerevan: Armenian Academy of Sciences.`{{cite book}}`: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)
* Miller, Donald E; Miller, Lorna Touryan (2003). Armenia: Portraits of Survival and Hope. Berkeley: University of California Press.`{{cite book}}`: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)
* Shaginian [Shahinyan], Marietta S (1954). Journey through Soviet Armenia. Moscow: Foreign Languages Publishing House.`{{cite book}}`: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)
* Yeghenian, Aghavnie Y (1932). The Red Flag at Ararat. New York: The Women's Press.
* Kochinyan, Anton. Armenia: Big Strides in an Ancient Land. UHM Library Digital Image Collections. Retrieved February 27, 2025.

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Culture|

* Alphabet
* Architecture
* Art
* Cinema
* Cuisine (wine)
* Dance
* Dress
* Language
* Eastern
* Western
* Literature
* Music
* Sport
* Theatre
* more...

Demographics|

* Census
* Crime
* Education
* Ethnic minorities
* Health
* People
* diaspora
* Social issues
* Women
* more...

Religion|

* Armenian Apostolic Church
* Armenian Catholic Church
* Armenian Evangelical Church
* Armenian Brotherhood Church
* Judaism
* Islam
* more...

Symbols|

* Armenian Cross
* Armenian eternity sign
* Coat of arms
* Flag
* Mount Ararat
* National anthem
* Apricot
* Grape
* Pomegranate

* Outline
* Index

* Category

Authority control databases

International|

* VIAF
* WorldCat

National|

* Germany
* United States
* France
* BnF data
* Israel

Other|

* Yale LUX

40°14′N 44°34′E﻿ / ﻿40.23°N 44.57°E﻿ / 40.23; 44.57
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