History of Armenia

Main

Haik

2100 B.C.

patriarch of Armenia who defeated the Assyrian giant Pel. Armenians call themselves Hai in honor of him.

Tigran Rulership

66 B.C.

Armenia's borders extended from Caspian sea to Mediterranean

Arshakuni Dynasty

64 A.D.

country became buffer zone between Romans and Parthians

King Tiridates III

301 A.D.

converted to Christianity by Gregory the Illuminator who was elected Catholic of national Armenian church; King declared Christianity the religion of state in 301 AD

Vartan Mamikonian/Vartanans

451 A.D.

led the battle against the Persians to defend Armenian religion and heritage; Armenians defeated but Persians came to terms of allowing religious freedom with the Treaty of Nvarsag

Bagratuni Dynasty

800

during 9th century, brilliant period of independence, prosperity, artistic/literary pursuits. Ani became known as "City of a thousand and one churches"

Rubenian Dynasty

1080 - 1335

Kingdom of Cicilia, Lesser Armenia; influenced by Western European ideas such as feudal class structure; regarded as Golden Age of Armenian Illumination; came to be due to Seljuk Turk invasion where Armenians moved South

King Levon VI

1300

the last monarch died in 1393

Ottoman Empire and Safavid Iran

1600 - 1700

these two empires divided Armenia amongst themselves; Shah Abbas I annexed Armenian plateau and was responsible for relocation of nearly 300,000 Armenians to Iran

Turkish rule

1800

Armenians suffered from discrimination, heavy taxation, armed attacks..

Young Turks and Adana

1909

in 1909, 30,000 Armenians lost their lives after desperate resistance in Adana

Armenian Genocide

1915

arrest and prompt execution of Armenian community leaders in 1915, towns and villages marched into deserts, flogging, drowning.. 1.5 million people perished in the first genocide of the 20th century

"Pan-Turkism" strategy: expand the Ottoman Empire from Asia minor to Asia
Key leaders: Talad Pasha. Enver Pasha. Jamar Pasha
Talad Pasha executed by Soghomon Tehlirian in Berlin, Germany

Independent Republic of Armenia

1918

this is established after Armenians forced the Turkish troops to withdraw in battle, especially the Battle of Sardarapat

Wilsonian Armenia

1919

U.S. government draws the borders between the new republic of Armenia and Turkey; included six western Ottoman provinces and a large coastline on the Black Sea; but the republic collapsed due to pressure by Turks & Communists making it nonexistent

Soviet republic moves into Armenia

1920

Armenia is made part of the Soviet Federal Socialist Republic in 1922 and in 1935, it became one of Soviet Union's constituent republics

Raphael Lemkin

1930

coined the word "genocide" referring to the "ethnic cleansing" of a certain group of people in order to describe the historical plight of the Armenians as the first genocide of the 20th century

Nagorno Karabagh's (Artsakh) independence

1988

this fight begans after a series of massacred carried out on the Armenian population living in Karabagh by the Azerbaijan government

Armenia's Second Independence

1991

September 21, 1991 the Armenian people overwhelmingly voted in favor of independence in a national referendum after the Armenian National movement won a majority of seats in the parliament & formed a government