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    "title": "ARMENIA",
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    "verified_text": "the soviet socialist republic of armenia is a component part of the federation of the s.s. republics of transcaucasia, itself a unit of the russian soviet union (u.s.s.r.). the area of the republic is about 27,000 sq. km., and its population, 1,000,000, 86% of which is armenian. it consists of the provinces of erivan and alexandropol, and lies between the araxes and the kura rivers. there are about 600,000 armenians in georgia and azerbaijan, and another 500,000 in northern caucasus and in other parts of the union of russian soviet republics. under turkish rule—in 1911 the young turk administra- tion had produced noticeable improvement in the conditions of armenian life in the ottoman empire. although there were occasional disorders and acts of injustice, the general security prevailing in the vilayets bestowed economic and social benefits on the people. freedom of movement and travel gave great impetus to agriculture, cattle-breeding and commerce. tens of thousands of armenian exiles had returned home and recovered their lands and properties. military service by armenian youth in the ottoman army and the presence of armenian deputies in the chamber gave the nation a new status in the empire. armenians under tsarist rule-—the armenian people in transcaucasia were in a not less favourable condition. as a counterpoise to the restoration of their lands to the armenian peasants in turkey, the russian imperial duma voted a credit to enable armenian and tatar peasants in transcaucasia to re- purchase their lands and become independent proprietors, the comparatively impartial administration of count vorontsov dashkov, the viceroy of the caucasus from 1905 to 1915, had given opportunities for national and economic development. yet at this period even the armenian leaders of transcaucasia looked across the frontiers to progressive turkey as the rallying ground for the armenian race. “ reform programme” of 1913.—after the overthrow of the balance of power in the balkans by the balkan wars of 1912-3, russia,! supported by great britain and france and reluctantly followed by the central powers and italy, took the initiative in drawing up a scheme of “ reforms ” for the armenian vilayets, trebizond being added to the other six vilayets defined as armenian in the treaty of berlin, 1878. no armenian then asked for reforms. fearing, however, that the european negotia- tions might compromise his people, the catholicos of ejmiadzin persuaded boghos nubar pasha to visit petrograd as his delegate in may 1913. the diplomatic representatives of six european powers met on the bosporus in the summer of 1913 to discuss the russian draft. a scheme emerged in the autumn, according to which the seven vilayets of erzerum, van, bitlis, diarbekr, trebizond, kharput and sivas were to be divided into two sectors over each of which a european inspector was to supervise the carrying out of re- forms. at the time when the scheme was imposed on a defeated turkey, in to14, the armenian people on both sides of the frontier had never been more compact and prosperous. between the watersheds of the euphrates and the kura, about 3,000,000 armenians constituted a strong and healthy nationality. armenians in the world war.—when the turks mobilised in aug. 1914, armenian recruits responded to the call. the arme- nian ecclesiastical authorities and the party leaders assured the turks of their loyalty, but could not vouch for their compatriots in transcaucasia. the declaration of war between the allied powers and turkey (nov. 1914) immediately turned the thickly populated armenian-kurdish frontier districts into a battle- field. the harshness of turkish requisitions and ill-treatment of armenian troops in the turkish army increased the number of deserters, and caused racial friction. among the russian forces operating on the caucasian front were various volunteer units, as well as some armenian regiments consisting mostly of ar- 1see orange book of russian foreign office, feb. 1915. armour menians from russia, but including armenian political refugees from turkey encouraged by the repeated declarations of allied war aims to follow a doubtful course. the turks confounded armenian resistance to injustice with sympathy for the allies. the successful defence of the armenians in van strengthened turkish suspicions. armenian peasants in the war area were forcibly driven from their homes in april rgr5 and many of them were murdered. simultaneously with one of the worst defeats of tsarist russia in galicia and the utter failure of the british naval attack on the dardanelles, the three entente powers issued in the third week of may a joint threat to the turkish govt. to the effect that they would hold them individually and severally responsible for any further armenian “ atrocities.’? the turks translated this official threat into the language they were accus- tomed to understand by past experiences, and drew their own conclusion therefrom. the committee of union and progress, which had been waver- ing in april and may in their armenian programme, resolved at the end of may on the murder, deportation and spoliation of the entire armenian people in turkey (see j. lepsius, deutschland und armenien, 1919, page 19). telegraphic instructions were issued by the turkish govt. to provincial authorities to ‘* evacu- ate ’’ all armenians from the military zones, where they repre- sented “‘danger”’ to turkish defence and deport them to the deserts of mesopotamia and syria. this scheme was carried out in june-july ror5, with unparalleled barbarity; men, women and children were murdered indiscriminately and the remainder driven to the desert to fend for themselves. this ‘evacuation’ of the armenians produced a funda- mental change in the attitude of entente powers toward the armenian question. the grand duke nicholas, who had re- placed the former viceroy, occupied erzerum, trebizond and the upper valleys of euphrates and tigris. this achievement enabled the grand duke to proclaim in the summer of 1916 ‘“‘ the liberation of armenia from the turkish yoke.”’ he tried, however, to bar the native surviving armenians from returning to settle in the occupied region, because tsarist russia had planned to plant cossack settlements in the araxes and eu- phrates valleys on armenian-kurdish fertile lands. this “‘ euphrates cossack ”’ idea had its repercussion in great britain. in spite of the secret treaties concluded by the allied powers for the partition of turkey, the british prime minister declared in his guildhall speech in 1916 “ that h.m. govt. was resolved to secure the liberation of this ancient (armenian) people.” soviet russia and armenia.—the russian revolution of 1917 eventually resulted in the secession of transcaucasia from russia after the dispersal of the russian armies. on his accession to power, lenin proclaimed the unity of armenian lands and sent shahumian to organise it. by the brest-litovsk treaty of march 1918, however, soviet russia was compelled to cede the batum, kars and ardahan districts to turkey. the federated republic of georgians, armenians and tatars, which was formed in consequence of bolshevik revolution, attempted to resist the turkish advance. but misunderstanding broke out among the three peoples, and the turks occupied the three ceded districts. under the auspices of german military leaders then in transcaucasia and with the help of turkey, the armenians in transcaucasia proclaimed their independence on may 28 1018, with their capital at erivan. after the armistice the victorious allied powers again prom- ised to reconstitute armenian nationality. some‘cfforts were made to concentrate the surviving armenians in turkey in cilicia, then occupied by british troops, presumably with the idea of making that area the home of the ottoman armenians; whereas in transcaucasia the british military authorities in occupation were indifferent to armenian legitimate rights. a small war between georgia and armenia was stopped by them. armenian delegates at the paris conferences —at the peace conference in paris the armenian delegation were induced to demand a “‘ great armenia ”’ extending from sea to sea. presi- dent wilson was being urged to accept a mandate for this 215 ‘“* great armenia.” consequently the two armenian delegates, boghos nubar pasha and m. aharonian, presented a memoran- dum to the supreme council in feb. 1919. the demand was conditional on the acceptance of a mandate by the united states, which the american senate did not want. while the negotiations for peace with turkey were dragging on, the armenian delegates concluded an agreement with sherif pasha, the kurdish delegate to the peace conference, in oct. 1919. in the conference held in london in march 1920, the armenian delegates again pleaded their case. in april at the san remo conference the supreme council offered the mandate for armenia to the league of nations. the arrangements made with regard to oil at san remo, however, hastened the reappearance of russia at baku. this approach of soviet russia had its immediate effect in ar- menia and georgia, both of which negotiated peace treaties with her in may. the armenian delegates in moscow were offered assistance if the armenian govt. allowed the transport of rus- sian troops over the railway line of alexandropol-kars-erzerum to go to the rescue of the turks, who, hard pressed by the greeks in the west, were willing to make any concession. the armenian govt., after consultation with the british representatives, re- jected the russian offer. in the summer of 1920 the turkish nationalist govt. at angora repeatedly invited erivan to ne- gotiate a separate peace, but the delegate of the armenian republic signed the treaty of sevres on aug. to, which pravided a de jure recognition of the independent armenian state. two months after the signature of the treaty of sevres the turks attacked armenia. abandoned by the allied powers and badly equipped, the armenian army put up little resistance to the turks, who by the end of nov. had occupied kars and alexandropol. after the armenian govt. had signed a treaty of peace, soviet russia rushed troops, led by armenian bolsheviks, to erivan, and by an open telegram invited the turks instantly to stop the operation. s.s. republic of armenia.—a soviet armenian govt. was es- tablished in erivan in dec. 1920 amid circumstances of famine and disruption. since that time the armenian communist party, about 1,000 strong, has been governing the country. with the financial support of soviet russia and the federated re- publics of georgia and azerbaijan, the armenian soviet govt. has established peace and a measure of prosperity. barren land and marshes have been reclaimed bv a scientific system of irrigation, and considerable encouragement is given to cotton and tobacco growing. copper mines at allahverdi and ghatar are in process of exploitation, and schemes of generating electric power are in progress. armenians abroad.— the position of armenians of turkey stands to-day as follows: there are about 100,000 armenians in con- stantinople. when the french evacuated cilicia in 1921, about 80,- ooo armenians migrated from that district to syria under deplorable circumstances. there they still remain, insecure and helpless. the greek rout at smyrna in 1922 drove about 100,000 armenians to greece and the balkans, where they remain since in uncertainty. there are large or small communities of armenians tn the united states of america, persia, france, egypt and smaller groups in various european and asiatic countries. ; nansen settlement scheme.—after five years of discussion, the league of nations at last sent a commission in 1925 to armenia headed by dr. nansen to ads upon the possibilities of settling refugees within the frontier of the republic. dr. nansen recommended a loan of £900,000 to the armenian govt. for this object, and the council of the league has set up a commission to arrange the loan. biptiograrny.—a. p. wacobian, armenia and the war (1917); a. mandelstam, le sort de empire ottoman, pp. 206-245 (lau- sanne, 1917); l’angleterre et les armentens, 1539-1904 (vhe hague, 1918); emile laloy, les documents secrets des archives de russie (1919); afemorandum of the armenian delegation, presented to the peace conference (feb. 1919); publications of the armenian government in armenian (1919-25); a. andonian, memoirs of naim bey (1920); die grosse polttik der europdischen kabinette, 1871-10914, vol. 7-8 (foreign office berlin, 1922); e. h. bierstadt, the great betrayal (1924); a. j. toynbee, survey of international affairs, 1920-3, pp. 361-376 (1925). (a. sa.) armour, jonathan ogden (1863- ), american mer- chant, was born in milwaukee, wis., nov. 11 1863, the son of philip d. armour (see 2.578). he entered yale in 1881, but did not finish his course, as in 1883 he joined the business of armour & co. made a partner the following year, he became general manager and head of the company after the death of his father in 1901. under his guidance the business became one of the largest 216 in the united states, branching out into the preparation of by- products. in 1920 the company was forced by the action of the u.s. govt. to restrict its operations to a wholesale business in meat, poultry, eggs, butter and cheese. armoured car, a motor-car or lorry provided with pro- tective armour and adapted as a fighting machine. the main characteristic of an armoured car is great mobility. an objective which is situated as far as 200 m. from the main body of an army can be attacked by an armoured car within ro hours under suit- able conditions. the early types of armoured car consisted of motor-cars or lorries with iron plating fastened on the sides. the design developed rapidly into cars that were completely protected by armour plate and provided with one or two turrets with all-round fire. 7 | on the outbreak of the world war in 1914, the possibility of using armoured cars was at once apparent; but, owing to the numerous requirements for motor transport in other directions, it was not found possible to supply them in any numbers while the mobile warfare on the western front lasted, though the armoured cars of the royal naval air service rendered valuable service on the belgian coast a few weeks before the trench dead- lock became established. later, when the armies settled down to trench warfare, the roads were blocked and armoured cars could not be used. they were, however, employed with con- siderable success on several occasions during the last few months of the war when the mobility of the armies was partially re- stored. although armoured cars are confined to roads in most parts of europe, they can traverse large tracts of desert in coun- tries such as egypt. during the war, british armoured cars were successfully used in egypt, mesopotamia, east and south- west africa, rumania and south russia. attempts have been made to give armoured cars some means of leaving the roads and traversing ordinary country when required. these attempts have taken the form of replacing the rear wheels by short endless belts of the tractor type, or of ar- ranging that the wheels can, when desired, be removed and the weight taken by a pair of steel or rubber tracks. these ex- periments have so far resulted in machines that have a reduced mobility compared with an armoured car and less fighting power than the tank. wheels have therefore been retained for armoured cars, and cross-country work is confined in most countries to tanks. (see tanks.) riibliograpity.— german attempts to suppress islant in east africa, pub. by intelligence branch of general staff, egyptian ex- peditionary force (cairo, 1916); h. pirie-gordon, a brief record of the advance of the egyptian expeditionary force, july ror to oct. r9is (1919); armoured car training, british cae ager ye )s (ci te oq. nm) armoured trains.—in the earliest days of the application of railways to war uses, the idea presented itself of utilising the weight-carrying capacity of the railway and the pulling power of the locomotive for tactical as well as for strategic purposes. “ railroad batteries’ figured in the american civil war and in the war of 1870-1 and armoured trains have appeared thereafter sporadically in most wars. their utility, though it was confined within rather narrow limits, was unquestionable until the devel- opment of mechanical road transport. nowadays, however, in countries where the rail system is sufficiently developed to give such trains real freedom of move- ment there exists an even fuller system of main roads on which armoured cars can operate, and in the world-war period the fighting train only figured in such theatres as those of the russian civil wars, in which roads fit for heavy traffic are asa rule rarer than railways. as against the armoured car working on good roads the train must always suffer from being limited to certain tracks which are very easily interrupted by raids, air bombing, or artillery fire, and in the future, as cars of the four-wheel drive or caterpillar types improve, the freedom of movement of the armoured car cannot but increase even in theatres of war in which roads are few. on the other hand, the old railroad battery, considered as a iorm of gun-mounting, possesses many advantages over other forms of mounting heavy ordnance for field warfare. tn the well- armoured car—army laid bed of a railway track, organised to distribute heavy strains equably, such mountings have their firing platform ready made, and the power of the locomotive gives heavy artillery a mobility that otherwise it would lack. in this form, then, the train repre- sents the battery vehicles of horsed or motor artillery. the central member is the heavy truck carrying the gun, and the others are arranged for ammunition and for the accommodation of the gun personnel. light armour is frequently used for the protection of the vehicles against shrapnel bullets, and in some cases the gun itself is provided with a shield. (sce ordnance.) armstrong, henry edward, british chemist, became, in 1874, professor of chemistry in the london institution. in 1876 he was elected f. r.s. and served on the council of the royal society 1888-90, 1900-2 and was vice-president in rgo1-2. he achieved considerable success in his researches on organic and general chemistry, particularly in his work on the terpenes, the naphthalene and benzene series, and on physical chemistry. he was professor of chemistry in the city and guilds college, south kensington, and took a prominent part in the advancement of his science.",
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