Armenia

The Kingdom of Armenia is a nation within the Caucasus region. A puppet of the Ottoman Empire, it borders it to the west. Georgia to the north, Azerbaijan to the west, and Persia to the south.

## Armenia

### Motto

Պրոլետարներ բոլոր երկրների, միացե'ք(Workers of the world, unite!)

## History

With the collapse of Russia due to the October Revolution, the Tiflis-based Transcaucasian Commissariat declared its independence. Ruled by an unstable committee of Armenians, Azerbaijanis, Georgians, and Russians, the future of this newly proclaimed state stood on shaky grounds from the beginning. The Armistice of Erzincan, signed in December, brought a brief period of peace to the Caucasus.

This would end in March 1918 as the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk between Germany and Soviet Russia granted Kars, Ardahan and Batumi to the Ottoman Empire, giving the Turks the justification to begin a new offensive. In May, Georgia became the first to abandon the Commissariat after signing a defensive pact with the German Empire, followed by Azerbaijan which established ties with the Turks.

After the dissolution of Transcaucasia, the new-born Republic of Armenia was forced to stand alone against the Turkish might. Eventually, Armenia was able to secure peace through the Treaty of Batum, but only after making some painful territorial concessions to the Ottoman Empire, for example the surrender of Alexandropol, Nakhchivan and Surmali. For the time being, Armenia's independence was secured.

In November 1919, the war was officially over, but the problematic situation in the Caucasus still proved to be a problem that needed to be solved, as a full fledged border war between the former allies Germany and the Ottoman Empire was looming. A conference was called in Constantinople, which should finally clarify the future of the Caucasus.

Germany's primary interest was focused on Georgia and Azerbaijan; The ports of Georgia would connect Germany to the Caucasus via the Black Sea routes from German-influenced Ukraine, while Azerbaijan was extremely precious due to the Baku oil fields. The only problem: The Ottoman Empire was interested in Azerbaijan as well, mainly because of the historical-cultural ties, and Baku was still under the control of Enver Pasha. Therefore, Germany tried to bring Azerbaijan into its sphere of influence. The Azerbaijani government was initially opposed to this move and wanted closer relations with the Ottomans, but Germany won the Azeris over by promising large amounts of economic investment and granting them all of Azerbaijan’s claimed territory - including the Armenian-held Zangezur and Karabakh, the Georgian-held Zaqatala and the Ottoman-held Nakhchivan. Azerbaijan was appeased by this, joined the German sphere and kicked Enver out of Baku with the help of German forces, greatly angering the Ottomans.

However the Armenian Armed Forces still had a lot of German Soldiers within their territory. Azerbaijan sent an ultimatum demanding Zangezur and Karabakh. Armenia refused, and Azerbaijan declared war. Tovmas Nazarbekian (The head of the Armenian Army) had ordered the construction of barricades on the borders with the turkic nations. the Battle of Mesis proved that their army was not going to leave their nation without a fight. Nazarbekian was noted for using artillery before sending infantry toward the enemy. Afterwards, Kaiser Wilhelm II ordered the Deutschesheer back to Germany. Suing for peace and suggesting that the Ottomans and Azeris do the same.

A peace is signed in Yerevan, with a mutual compromise: Armenia gains their traditional lands in Anatolia (Including the cities of Alexandropol, Mesis, Nakhichievan, and Julfa), and Zangezur, Azerbaijan gains Karabakh, and the Ottoman Empire gains 200,000 Akçe in reparations from Berlin.

### Syndicalist Revolution

After the end of the Armenian War for independence, the economy was in a very awful position. 5 in 15 armenian adults were unemployed. Nazarbekian attempted to reform the economy with some leftist rhetoric. Like buying several thousands of goods from the Internationale. After about 2-3 years, the Armenian Soviet Party wins the election. Several historians consider this revolution to be the least bloody of all.