Christophor Araratov

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Christophor Araratian (Araratov)
Russian-Japanese War
World War I
Armenian National Liberation Movement
Awardssee below

Christophor Araratov (

Sardarapat and Karakilisa
against Turkish invaders.

Armenian-American historian Richard G. Hovannisian describes Christophor Araratov:[1]: 19 

Minister of Military Affairs Kristapor Araratian was a relative latecomer to Armenian national affairs. As was not uncommon in the officer corps, he had been reared in a Russian milieu and had first served in the Caucasus during the world war. Distinguishing himself at the battle of Sardarabad as commander of the 2nd Artillery Brigade of the Armenian Corps, Colonel Araratian quickly advanced to the rank of major general. In March 1919 he was selected to replace Major General Hakhverdian as the nonpartisan military minister, a post he retained in the coalition, the interim, and [later] the regular cabinet of Alexandre Khatisian.

For having fought to establish the independence of the First Republic of Armenia, in 1937 during the Great Purge of Joseph Stalin, Araratov was arrested and executed on charges of nationalism. Following Stalin's death in 1953, the Soviet government began a period of rehabilitation, which was extended posthumously to many of the tens of thousands of Stalin's victims. Araratov was rehabilitated and his awards were officially restored to him (via his survivors). His achievements were again acknowledged in history books. Araratov during the short-lived Republic of Armenia was described to be a "jolly and honest" soldier.[2]

Early years

Christophor Araratov was born in a noble family on June 18, 1876, in

Tiflis (present day capital of Georgia). His father, Karapet Avetikovich Araratov, was a lieutenant colonel of the Russian Imperial Army.[3] At the age of 10, the young Araratov entered the Tbilisi cadet corps. He studied there for seven years and graduated in 1893. Thereafter, he entered Mikhaylov artillery school in Petersburg. Graduating from the academy in 1895,[3]
he won recognition as one of the three best students, which earned him the rank of a second lieutenant and right to choose the location of service. At the graduation ceremony, he was the head of Cavalry troops.

First military experience

Araratov chose Caucasus grenadier artillery brigade to continue service, where he had the position of senior adjutant of the brigade head. Right after the outbreak of the

Russian-Japanese War
, he asked to be assigned to the front. His knowledge gained at the artillery school helped him gain a high reputation, and he was soon awarded his first medal for his innovations.

First World War

Christophor Araratov in 1907.
See also:
Caucasus Campaign

Araratov was in post-graduate studies at Officer School at

Ottoman Empire would likely use the situation to enter Russian Armenia and the Caucasus
.

On December 5, 1917, the

Armenian National Council of Tiflis it was set up to fight against the Ottoman Empire in late 1917 and early 1918. Units of this corps were the basis of the army First Republic of Armenia. Armenians had planned to keep their existence based on a political strategy in the way of being supporting the Allies and Russia and to establish their national army with Russian support.[4]

General

Armenian army
.

Following the

Transcaucasian Sejm. The representatives in Tiflis acknowledged the existence of a state of war between themselves and the Ottoman Empire.[5]
With the fall of Kars, Araratov realized that the government of Transcaucasian Seym was not interested in struggle against the invader: Caucasian Turks supported Turkey to gain an alliance in founding their own independent state.

On May 11, 1918, a new peace conference opened at Batum.

Battle of Bash Abaran
(May 23–29).

Kemal Asad, commander of 9th Infantry Division of Turkish army, sent a message to Kemal Esad, commander of Attacking Group of Forces, about Armenian artillery during Sardarapat Battle, commanded by Kristapor Araratov:

Your Excellency, I have honor to inform you the following. The attack we started two days ago in Bash-Aparan was not successful at first, because gyaurs [unfaithfuls] arranged significant forces there... Moreover Armenians had brilliant artillery brigade of mountain weapons, I don't know who was the commander, but he hit without a miss. He, damned by Allah, brought our artillery down and a number of heavy choppers, as well as made serious damage to our infantry...

During the Battle of Sardarapat, Araratov's artillery brigade fought bravely and took prisoners of a

Sardarapat made Republic of Armenia
independence possible.

After Sardarapat, Araratov was reassigned to the front against the Georgian Army, which occupied Lori in 1918. On October 30, the Armistice of Mudros was signed, and the Caucasus Campaign ended. The fights stopped before the New Year of 1919.

First Republic of Armenia

Members of the Second Cabinet, October 1, 1919.
Sitting (left to right): Avetik Sahakyan, Alexander Khatisian, Christophor Araratov, Standing (left to right): Nikol Aghbalian, Abraham Gyulkhandanyan, Sargis Araratyan.
See also: First Republic of Armenia

In the start of 1919, all around

Major General
.

In April 1920 he was assigned to Kars as a military governor of the region. In October 1920, when the city yielded to Turks, he was taken prisoner by Turkey.[3] Turkish General Kâzım Karabekir Pasha used to visit him in prison and offered him a chance to teach a course of Russian artillery at the Turkish military university. Araratov refused it several times.

In 24 years of military service from 1896 to 1920, Araratov only went on vacation for a total of about 3 months.

Soviet Armenia period

At the end of 1921, Araratov was returned at the request of

Aleksandr Myasnikyan to what was then Soviet Armenia. He took a position as head assistant of a rifle division. Later he was appointed as head of military chairs at Yerevan State University and then at National Economy Institute.[3]

On September 2, 1937, during the

Sardarapat: Movses Silikyan, Dmitry Mirimanov, Aghasi Varosyan, Stepan Ohanesyan, Hakob Mkrtchyan, and Harutyun Hakobyan, Araratov was taken on December 10 to Nork gorge and executed by a firing squad of the NKVD.[3]
Within Soviet territories, many more military and other suspected political enemies were executed.

The officers' awards were stripped from their names, their families were sometimes sent to labor camps in the gulag as enemies of the state, and the men's names were removed from history books.

Rehabilitation

Following Stalin's death in 1953, the Soviet Union began rehabilitation of his victims of political repression. They first offered amnesty to prisoners held for non-political offenses, then began to release political prisoners as well. The government later rehabilitated numerous people posthumously, as they did for Araratov and Silikyan: restoring their medals and their places in history.

Personal life

Araratov was married to a woman named Nina Ejubova and they had two children, Constantine and Elena. Elena was a very talented dancer whose career was greatly undermined on the basis that her father was executed as an enemy of the Soviet Union. Through her, he has a grandson, Yuriy Araratyan.

He was fluent in Armenian, Russian and French. His last name was banned under Soviet rule, due to Mount Ararat being associated with Armenian nationalism.

Famous Armenian writer and poet Khachik Dashtents wrote a poem about his teachers, among whom was Kristapor Araratov:

...Արարատովն էր մեզ զորաշարժի տանում`

Ղարսի հրացանը կապած ուսին...

...Araratov took us to military exercises,

With his Kars rifle over his shoulder...

Legacy and honors

  • Cross of St. George
    , 4th class (September 24, 1914)
  • Order of Saint Stanislaus
    , 4th class with Swords and Bow (February 26, 1915)
  • Order of Saint Stanislaus
    , 3rd class with Swords and Bow (March 1903)
  • Order of Saint Stanislaus
    , 2nd class with Swords (December 1910)
  • Order of St. Vladimir
    , 3rd class with Swords
  • Order of St. Anna
    , 4th class, "For Courage" (January 6, 1916)
  • Order of St. Anna
    , 3rd class with Swords and Bow (twice) (October 17, 1905, and April 27, 1916)
  • Order of St. Anna
    , 2nd class with Swords (twice) (May 14, 1914, and June 5, 1915)
  • Russian Empire Order of St. George, 4th class (August 26, 1916)
  • Russian Empire Medal "In memory of Russian-Japanese War", Dark Bronze
  • Order of the Crown
    , Commander class with Swords (September 20, 1917)
  • Ottoman Empire Turkish medal in memory of Armenian Government visiting of Turkish Commandership of Halil Pasha

References

  1. ISBN 978-0520041868
    .
  2. ^ Bechhofer Roberts, Carl Eric (1921). In Denikin's Russia And The Caucasus, 1919-1920: Being A Record Of A Journey To South Russia, The Crimea, Armenia, Georgia, And Baku In 1919 And 1920. p. 271.
  3. ^
    ISBN 978-1442252813
    .
  4. ^ W. E. D. Allen- P. Muratoff, Caucasian Battlefields: A History of the Wars on the Turco-Caucasian Border 1828–1921 (Cambridge, 1953), p. 458.
  5. ^ Richard Hovannisian, The Armenian People from Ancient to Modern Times, pp. 292–293
  6. ^ Ezel Kural Shaw, History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey, p. 326
  • Source: «Христофор Араратов – "Бог Сардарапата"» Новое время, May 21, 2008
  • Source: « Араратов Христофор Герасимович» at http://ru.hayazg.info

External links

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