The Armenian Republic and the Question of a Homeland

The First Republic of Armenia

On May 28, 1918, Armenian leaders declared the establishment of the First Republic of Armenia in the South Caucasus.

The republic emerged under extremely difficult circumstances.

It faced military threats, food shortages, disease, economic collapse, and the arrival of large numbers of refugees.

Despite these conditions, it represented the restoration of Armenian statehood after centuries without an independent Armenian state in the historical homeland.

The republic existed until late 1920, when Sovietization brought Armenia into the emerging Soviet political system.

The Treaty of Sèvres

The Treaty of Sèvres, signed in August 1920, proposed a postwar settlement that included provisions for an independent Armenia and a determination of its western boundary through arbitration by United States President Woodrow Wilson.

The proposed settlement reflected the international recognition that the Armenian Question remained unresolved.

However, the treaty was never implemented.

The Turkish nationalist movement rejected it, and subsequent military and diplomatic developments fundamentally changed the regional settlement.

The Treaty of Lausanne

The Treaty of Lausanne, signed in July 1923, established the principal international framework for the recognition of the modern Turkish state.

Unlike the Treaty of Sèvres, it did not provide for the establishment of an Armenian state in eastern Anatolia.

The political consequences were profound.

The Armenian survivors and diaspora were left without the territorial settlement that many had hoped would follow the Ottoman defeat.

The Republic of Armenia remained in the South Caucasus, while most of the historical Armenian communities of eastern Anatolia were no longer present.