Regardless of the degree of economic development of their countries. of their cultural and industrial level. or of their rare intellectual attainments. they all aim first for their national political independence. The Armenian people. having long lost their independence. and having lived under most oppressive alien regimes for centuries. are no exception. From the time of the late Middle Ages historic Armenia was overrun by Asiatic conquerors and the Armenian people were subjected to the rule of their conquerors. The Ottoman Turks. as the last and the most oppressive of these overlords. held down the Armenians for more than four centuries. treating them as less than secondclass citizens. and often massacring them by the thousands. No one can say how many hundreds of thousands have thus been done to death. but it is estimated that during the First World War more than 1.000.000 Armenians lost their likes in Turkish massacres. Fortunately many hundreds of thousands managed to survive. and these joined hands with their compatriots in the Caucasus and were enabled to proclaim their independence on May 28. This was done in the northeastern part of historic Armenia. within sight of Mount Ararat. Thenceforth for a little more than 2 years they tried and struggled hard to be independent. hoping to make their state a safe home for refugee Armenians. But from the very beginning the newborn Armenian Republic was faced with insoluble problemsshortages of goods and of manpower. and in need of ablebodied men to carry on the fight against the then rising Bolshevism and also against their implacable foes. the Turks. After a precarious and agonizing existence of about 2 years the Armenian Republic was overwhelmed by the more powerful Turkish Army in December of 1920.
Keywords matched
Asiatic refugee