Speaker. the Armenians are one of the oldest peoples In human history. and today they are one of the few surviving nations of the ancient world. Their national history precedes our Christian era by many centuries. In their mountainous homeland in eastern Asia Minor they had constituted their own state and were content with their primitive. selfcontained lot. But Armenia being placed across the path of invaders and conquerors. it was invaded and overrun by numerous Asiatic hordes including the Mongols. Tartar. Seljuk Turks. and finally Ottoman Turks. and the Armenian people lived for centuries under the oppressive allen rulers in their homeland.