Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic

The Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic (ArSSR),^[a] also known as Soviet Armenia,^[b] or simply Armenia,^[c] 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 thirty-seven districts (raions). Other major cities in the ArmSSR included Leninakan, Kirovakan, Hrazdan, Etchmiadzin, and Kapan. The republic was governed by Communist Party of Armenia, a republican branch of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

Socialist Soviet Republic of Armenia (1920–1936) Հայաստանի Սոցիալիստական Խորհրդային Հանրապետություն (Armenian) Социалистическая Советская Республика Армения (Russian) Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic (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 (1922–1936; Part of the Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic)
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	Independent state (1920–1922) Part of the Transcaucasian SFSR (1922–1936) Union republic (1936–1991) De facto independent state (1990–1991)
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
HDI (1991)	0.648 medium
Currency	Soviet ruble (Rbl) (SUR)
Calling code	+7 885
Preceded by Succeeded by First Republic of Armenia Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic Republic of Mountainous Armenia Armenia
Today part of	Armenia

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.^[2] It became part of the Transcaucasian SFSR (TSFSR), along with neighboring Georgia and Azerbaijan, which comprised one of the four founding republics of the USSR. 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 (NEP). During its seventy-one 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 new period of liberalization during the Khrushchev Thaw. Following the Brezhnev era, Mikhail Gorbachev's reforms of glasnost and perestroika saw the rise of nationalist movements challenging the republic's territorial configuration within the Soviet Union. 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

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.^[3]

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).^[4] 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.^[5]

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.^[6] In 1966, the original term for republic was restored.^[7]

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.^[8] 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.^[9]

History

Main article: History of Armenia

Sovietization

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

Prior to Soviet rule, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF, Dashnaksutiun) had governed the First Republic of Armenia. The Socialist Soviet Republic of Armenia was founded in 1920. Armenian diasporas were divided about this; supporters of the nationalist Dashnaksutiun did not support the Soviet state, while supporters of the Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU) were more positive about the newly founded Soviet state.^[10]

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.^[11] After the October Revolution, the Bolshevik government led by Vladimir Lenin announced that minority cultures of the empire could pursue a course of self-determination, and in May 1918 Armenia, and its neighbors Azerbaijan and Georgia, declared their independence from Russian rule and each established separate republics.^[12] However, the Red Army overthrew the Azerbaijan Republic and established Azerbaijan SSR by May 1920, and the Armenian government, worried about their 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 already arrived in Armenia, although a minority, they were vocal and managed to design a small 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 May 14 and its leaders executed or exiled.^[13]

The sources mentioned in A Concise History of the Armenian People give different interpretations of the precursor events that led to the Red Army's invasion of Armenia and the establishment of Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic (ArSSR). The sources, sympathetic to the Armenian nationalist and anti-Sovietism movement (Dashnaks), claim that the Bolsheviks gave the Armenians false assurances, while awaiting the results of the Soviet-Turkish negotiations. The anti-Dashnak sources point out that the Dashnak government was to blame, because the majority of them refused to work with the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, bringing tension to the relations and forcing the Russian Bolshevik into making a treaty with the Turkish government, signed in Moscow on August 20, 1920. A number of Bolsheviks insisted that the Turks had to give Armenians some territory from western Armenia, but the Turks refused to discuss the issue of borders. Both Joseph Stalin, who did not favor the Armenians, and Vladimir Lenin, who was more concerned about other diplomatic matters, agreed to the proposals of the agreement. Additionally, the Russian Bolsheviks assured cooperation and noninterference during the Turkish invasion of Armenia in late September, the agreement which they effectively was broken shortly afterwards.^[14]

By mid-November, the Turks recaptured most of the territories they controlled before the end of WWI, and the Russian government, worried by the rapid advancement of the Turkish armies, 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". Clench between two powerful forces, 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 the government to the Bolsheviks. On December 2, General Kanayan signed a short-living pact with the Bolsheviks guaranteeing Armenian sovereignty as "independent Soviet state", and moreover, the Bolsheviks promised to restore its pre-September 1920 borders. Dashnaks, as well as other party representatives were guaranteed freedom and continued to serve the state in a number of positions. "A few days" later, 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 General Kanayan, arrested a number of Dashnak officials and officers, "wreak[ing] havoc for the next two months". In the aftermath, the nationalist of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation started a short-lived, anti-Bolshevik rebellion in February–April 1921.^[15]

After the Yerevan was recaptured from the anti-Bolshevik rebellion, the Turks and Russians, without any representatives from Armenia or Georgia, negotiated the fate of Armenia and the rest of Transcaucasia.^[16] 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 the cultural icon of the Armenian people (Mount Ararat).^[17] 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.^[18] Finally, the sides agreed that the treaty would be later signed and ratified by the Transcaucasian Republics.^[16]

New Economic Policy (NEP)

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.^[19] As the Soviet Armenian historian Bagrat Borian, who was to later perish during Stalin's purges, wrote in 1929:

The Revolutionary Committee started 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. Devoid of revolutionary planning, and executed with needless brutality, these confiscations were unorganized and promiscuous. Unattended by disciplinary machinery, without preliminary propaganda or enlightenment, and with utter disregard of the country's unusually distressing condition, the Revolutionary Committee issued its orders nationalizing food supply of the cities and peasantry. With amazing recklessness and unconcern, they seized and nationalized everything – military uniforms, artisan tools, rice mills, water mills, barbers' implements, beehives, linen, household furniture, and livestock.^[20]

Such was the degree and scale 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.^[21]

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.^[22] Alexander Tamanian began to realize his city plan for Yerevan and the population received medicine, food, as well as other provisions from Moscow.^[23]

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.^[24] In Armenia, the Soviet government directed all illiterate citizens up to the age of fifty 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.^[25] A Kurdish newspaper, Riya Teze (The New Path), was established in Armenia in 1930.^[26]

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.^[25]

Stalinism and the Great Purge

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".^[27]

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.^[28] Under the command of Beria's allies, the campaign against "enemies" intensified. Expressions of "nationalism" were suspect and many leading Armenian intellectuals were executed or imprisoned, including Charents, Bakunts, 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-Trotskyists".^[27]

The arrest and death of Sahak Ter-Gabrielyan in August 1937 was a turning point in the repressions. When being interrogated by Mughdusi, Ter-Gabrielyan "either jumped or was thrown from" the window of the NKVD building in Yerevan.^[29] Stalin was angered that Mughdusi and Amatuni neglected to inform him about the incident.^[28] 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. During his trip to Armenia, Mikoyan tried, but failed, to save one individual (Daniel "Danush" Shahverdyan) from being executed.^[28] More than a thousand people were arrested and seven of nine members of the Armenian Politburo were sacked from office.^[30] The trip also resulted in the appointment of a new Armenian Party leadership, headed by Grigory Arutinov, who was approved by Beria.^[31]

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.^[23] 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.^[32] However, the Church survived and was later revived when Stalin eased restrictions on religion at the end of World War II.^[23]

In addition to the repression of the Church, tens of thousands of Armenians were executed or deported, as with various other ethnic minorities living in the Soviet Union under Stalin. In 1936, Beria and Stalin worked to deport Armenians to Siberia in an attempt to bring Armenia's population under 700,000 in order to justify an annexation into Georgia.^[33]

Great Patriotic War

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.^[34][35] Many attained the highest honor of Hero of the Soviet Union.^[36] Over sixty Armenians were promoted to the rank of general, and with an additional four eventually 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.^[36] 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.^[37]

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.^[38] Stalin temporarily relaxed his attacks on religion during the war. This led to the election of bishop Gevorg in 1945 as new Catholicos Gevorg VI. He was subsequently allowed to reside in Ejmiatsin.^[39][40]

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.^[41] Turkey itself was in no condition to fight a war with the Soviet Union, which had emerged as a superpower after the Second World War.^[41] The Soviet territorial claims were supported by the Armenian Catholicos and by all shades of the Armenian diaspora, including the anti-Soviet Dashnaksutiun.^[41] 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.^[42]

Armenian repatriation

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.^[43][44]

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.^[45]

Thousands of Armenians were forcibly exiled to the Altai Krai in 1949.^[46][47] Many were repatriated Armenians who had arrived from the Armenian diaspora, but who were suspected of being Dashnak party members.^[10] 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.^[10]

Khrushchev Thaw in Armenia

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.^[48] 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 republication of Raffi and Raphael Patkanian, the rehabilitation of Charents, and the revival of the memory of Miasnikian. Behind the scenes, he assisted Soviet Armenian leaders in the rehabilitation of former "enemies" in the republic.^[28]

Khrushchev, in his speech "On the Cult of Personality and Its Consequences" delivered before the 20th Party Congress in 1956, Khrushchev sharply denounced Stalin and his crimes. During the subsequent Khrushchev Thaw Soviet leadership loosened the grip of the pervasive NKVD and rehabilitated dead communists executed during the Great Purge, such as Khanjian and Charents, as well as the releasing thousands political prisoners from the Siberian gulag. The works of Raffi and Raphael Patkanian were returned to print.^[49] 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.^[50][51] Moreover, the Union-wide economic reforms affected 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.^[49]

Religious freedom, to a limited degree, was granted to Armenia when Catholicos Vazgen I assumed office in 1955.^[28] The party once again accepted Armenian language and culture, and a new policy of "nativization" emerged. Armenians from other parts of the USSR came, as well as Armenians from Iran, came to Yerevan.^[49] 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, to promote historical studies and publish materials.^[52]

Mikoyan was not the only Armenian figure who rose to prominence during this era. Other noted Soviet Armenians included composers Aram Khachaturian, Arno Babajanian, Konstantin Orbelyan, and Tigran Mansurian; scientists Viktor Hambardzumyan and Artem Alikhanyan; actors Armen Dzhigarkhanyan and Frunzik Mkrtchyan; filmmakers Frunze Dovlatyan, Henrik Malyan, Sergei Parajanov, and Artavazd Peleshyan; artists Minas Avetisyan, Yervand Kochar, Hakob Kojoyan, and Tereza Mirzoyan; singers Georgi Minasyan, Raisa Mkrtchyan, and Ruben Matevosyan; and writers Avetik Isahakyan, Silva Kaputikyan, Hrant Matevosyan, Paruyr Sevak, and Hovhannes Shiraz, among many others.^{[citation needed]}

Brezhnev era

After Leonid Brezhnev assumed power in 1964, many of Khrushchev's reforms were partly curtailed, wary of a potential Armenian nationalism resurgence, however 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 fiftieth anniversary of the Armenian genocide.^[53] 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.^[50]

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 underqualified development proved to be vital 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.^[54] When compared to other republics, the regions of Transcaucasia and Central Asia had the highest levels of corruption.^[55]

Karen Demirchyan Complex in 2019

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". Theis anti-Soviet sentiment resulted in the removal of Anton Kochinyan, the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Armenia from 1966 until 1974, and the promotion of Karen Demirchyan, whose main prerogative was to "clean up the Republic". Demirjian promises and activities raised hopes for 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, the new airport. However, Soviet system was too encumbered, and some Armenians believed that Demirjian government delivered their promises too slow.^[55]

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 Armenians, alongside Georgians, fervently protested and defeated the proposition.^[55]

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, which is much higher than the numbers amassed in other republics. However, only two thirds of the Armenians of the USSR lived in Armenia, with the remaining one-third primarily settling in Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Russia.^[56]

Glasnost and perestroika

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.^[57] On February 20, 1988, the Supreme Soviet of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast voted to unify with Armenia.^[58]

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).^[59] However, in neighboring Azerbaijan, violence against Armenians erupted in the city of Sumgait.^[60] Ethnic rioting soon 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.^[61]

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.^[62] On August 23, 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.^[63][64] 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.^[65] Armenia confirmed its independence in a referendum on 21 September 1991 after the unsuccessful coup attempt in Moscow by the CPSU hardliners.^[66]

The republic's independence became official with the Belovezh Accords and the formal dissolution of the Soviet Union on December 26, 1991, making Armenia a sovereign, independent state. The constitution of 1978 remained in effect until July 5, 1995, when a new constitution was adopted.^[67][68]

Politics

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 and sessions were convened in the Supreme Soviet building in Yerevan.^[69]

The administrative divisions of the Armenian SSR from 1930 consisted of up 37 raions and 22 city districts.^[70] In the aftermath of the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the districts were abolished in 1995 and replaced by larger marzer ("provinces").^[71]

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.^[72] 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.^[73] By mid-70s, 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.^[74]

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 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.^[75]

Economy

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.^[76]

In the nansent Soviet Armenia eighty percent of its population engaged in agriculture. During the 1929–1936, the government began the process of industrialization in Armenia, 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.^[77] 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.^[78]

During Nikita 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.^[79]

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.^[56]

Metsamor Nuclear Power Plant has been constructed and launched in 1976,^[80] satisfying the electricity needs of Armenia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan. During this period, the rising industrial output of Armenia, the levels of pollution has increased, which caused the growth in cancer cases, "every major river in Armenia was declared ecologically dead, and poorly planned projects resulted in the lowering of Lake Sevan's water level".^[56]

Military forces

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^[81]
• 15th Motor Rifle Division, Kirovakan^[82]
• 127th Motor Rifle Division, Leninakan (today the Russian 102nd Military Base)
• 164th Motor Rifle Division, Yerevan
• 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.^[83]
• 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.^[83]

Notes

1. Armenian SSR

   • Armenian: Հայկական Սովետական Սոցիալիստական Հանրապետություն, romanized: Haykakan Sovetakan Socʼialistakan Hanrapetutʼyun, '"`UNIQ--templatestyles-00000032-QINU`"'IPA: [hɑjkɑˈkɑn sovetɑˈkɑn sot͡sʰiɑlistɑˈkɑn hɑnɾɑpetuˈtʰjun]
   • Russian: Армянская Советская Социалистическая Республика, romanized: Armyanskaya Sovetskaya Sotsialisticheskaya Respublika'"`UNIQ--nowiki-00000033-QINU`"' '"`UNIQ--templatestyles-00000034-QINU`"'IPA: [ɐrˈmʲanskəjə sɐˈvʲetskəjə sətsɨəlʲɪˈsʲtʲitɕɪskəjə rʲɪˈspublʲɪkə]
2. Armenian: Սովետական Հայաստան, romanized: Sovetakan Hayastan; Russian: Советская Армения, romanized: Sovetskaya Armeniya
3. /ɑːrˈmiːniə/ '"`UNIQ--phonos-00000037-QINU`"';'"`UNIQ--ref-00000038-QINU`"' Armenian: Հայաստան, romanized: Hayastan, '"`UNIQ--templatestyles-00000039-QINU`"'IPA: [hɑjɑsˈtɑn];'"`UNIQ--ref-0000003A-QINU`"' Russian: Армения, romanized: Armeniya'"`UNIQ--nowiki-0000003B-QINU`"' '"`UNIQ--templatestyles-0000003C-QINU`"'IPA: [ɐrˈmʲenʲɪjə]