page_title: Aram Manukian
section_title: Historical assessment
hierarchical_section_title: Aram Manukian / Legacy and public image / Historical assessment
caption_attribution_description: English: Aram Street sign in Yerevan
context_page_description: Aram Manukian, also referred to as simply Aram, was an Armenian revolutionary, statesman, and a leading member of the nationalist Armenian Revolutionary Federation party. He is widely regarded as the founder of the First Republic of Armenia.
  Born and educated in Russian Armenia, he was mostly active in Van, one of the largest cities in Turkish Armenia. He rose to prominence there as a community organizer. During the first months of World War I he worked with local Ottoman officials to de-escalate rising tensions until mid-April 1915, when Turkish forces laid siege to the city. He led the successful Armenian civilian self-defense of Van. As a result, tens of thousands avoided being deported and massacred by the Turkish government while the Armenian Genocide was underway. He briefly served as the head of the provisional government in Van.
  Following the Russian Revolution and the collapse of the Caucasian front in 1917–18, Aram was "popular dictator" of the unconquered area around the city of Yerevan.
context_section_description: Aram Manukian is now almost universally considered the founder of the First Republic, including by historians Richard G. Hovannisian, Gerard Libaridian, Armen Asryan, Amatuni Virabyan, and Levon Shirinyan. Historian Harutyun Turshian described him as "one of the few realist figures in Armenia's entire history" and opined that "a distance in time is necessary to see his greatness and correctly evaluate him."
caption: Aram Street sign n Yerevan
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