Armenian Revolutionary Federation in Iran
The
History
The activities of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation in Iran has its roots in the vibrant Armenian political life in northwestern Iran, in the historic Iranian region of Azerbaijan (also known as Iranian Azerbaijan). This area of native Armenian settlement, housed prior to the Armenian genocide as well as other events of the 20th century (e.g. Iran crisis of 1946, Iranian Revolution), a significant native Armenian population. Apart from the ARF, the Social Democrat Hunchakian Party was active there as well, and was often at odds with the (much larger) ARF.
Shortly after the foundation of the ARF in 1890, it already began to send representatives to recruit Armenian members living in
The ARF drew most of its support from the Armenians from
, the latter which was also regarded as an important ARF base in the region. The ARF had a long history of making publications; first, it published weekly Aravat in Tabriz (1909–12), as well as the monthly Garabar, which was later changed to Gharadag (1913–14), as well as the weekly Ayg (1914–20), the latter which eventually replaced Aravat as the main publication of the party. A weekly youth magazine was also produced by the younger members of the ARF, which was called the Aršaloys.Around the same time, the Armenian community in Tehran had grown rapidly in size and importance, and therefore the ARF founded another central committee there in 1911. After
ARF guerilla groups crossed the Ottoman border from
Iranian Constitutional Revolution
The most important episode of the ARF in Iranian history happened during the Iranian Constitutional Revolution. Members of the ARF were individually involved with the constitutionalist faction since 1906. Further commitment of the ARF to the constitutional cause was fueled by the Ottoman incursions into Iranian Azerbaijan, and the overall pillaging of Armenian villages in the region. In 1907, during the Fourth General Congress, a voting was done by the ARF leaders to discuss the ARF's open and official involvement in the Constitutional Revolution. With 25 votes in favour and 1 in absentia,
Yeprem Khan, a member of the Persian A.R.F. since 1896, played also an immense role in the revolutionary efforts, and is considered a national hero in Iran.
In 1921, ARF actions against the Sovietization of Russian Armenia were completely crushed. As a result, some 10,000 ARF party leaders, fighters, intellectuals (and their families) crossed the Iranian border to find shelter there.[10] The direct result of their presence was that the ARF would ensure its predominance over the other Armenian parties active in Iran, and therefore over the complete Armenian community as a whole (which itself was centered around the Armenian Apostolic Church).
Pahlavi era up to including the 21st century
The ARF organ in Iran usually supported the Pahlavi regime (1925-1979), which in turn appreciated the party's anti-Soviet stance as well as stance of having no claims to Iranian territory. The only genuine opposition against the Pahlavi regime came when Reza Shah closed most of the minority schools (incl. therefore the Armenian ones). During the Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran, and the ensuing Iran crisis of 1946, the Iranian Armenian community elected parliamentary representatives who were regarded as hostile to the ARF, while at the same time the occupying Soviets imprisoned and exiled some of the Iranian ARF leaders.[11][12]
During the
References
- ^ Amurian, A.; Kasheff, M. (1986). "ARMENIANS OF MODERN IRAN". Encyclopaedia Iranica. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
- ^ Arkun, Aram (1994). "DAŠNAK". Encyclopaedia Iranica. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
- ^ Arkun, Aram (1994). "DAŠNAK". Encyclopaedia Iranica. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
- ^ Arkun, Aram (1994). "DAŠNAK". Encyclopaedia Iranica. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
- ^ Arkun, Aram (1994). "DAŠNAK". Encyclopaedia Iranica. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
- ^ Arkun, Aram (1994). "DAŠNAK". Encyclopaedia Iranica. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
- ^ Arkun, Aram (1994). "DAŠNAK". Encyclopaedia Iranica. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
- ISBN 978-0-8133-3817-0.
- ^ Arkun, Aram (1994). "DAŠNAK". Encyclopaedia Iranica. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
- ^ Arkun, Aram (1994). "DAŠNAK". Encyclopaedia Iranica. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
- ^ Abrahamian, 1982, pp. 198, 292
- ^ Demirǰean, pp. 105-13
- ^ Arkun, Aram (1994). "DAŠNAK". Encyclopaedia Iranica. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
Sources
- E. Abrahamian, Iranbetween Two Revolutions, Princeton, N.J., 1982.
- Arkun, Aram (1994). "DAŠNAK". Encyclopaedia Iranica. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
- Berberian, Houri (2001). Armenians and the Iranian Constitutional Revolution of 1905-1911: "the Love for Freedom Has No Fatherland". Westview Press. pp. 1–226. ISBN 978-0813338170.
- V. Demirǰean, “Ancʿkerə Darašambi S. Stepʿanos Naxavkayi Vankʿum 1905-1965 Tʿ. Tʿ.,” in V. Demirǰean, ed., Diwan Atrpatakani hayocʿ patmutʿean I, Tehran, 1345 Š./1966, pp. 99–130. (in Armenian)
- Herzig, Edmund; Kurkchiyan, Marina (2004). The Armenians: Past and Present in the Making of National Identity. Routledge. pp. 82, 84–85. ISBN 978-1135798376.
- A. Ter Minassian, La question arménienne, Paris, 1983. (in French)
- Tasnapetean, Hrachʻ (1990). History of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, Dashnaktsutiun, 1890-1924. Oemme Edizioni. pp. 1–221. ISBN 9788885822115.
Further reading
- Berberian, Houri (1996). "The Dashnaktsutiun and the Iranian constitutional revolution, 1905–1911". Iranian Studies. 29 (1–2): 7–33. .