Armenia on the Eve of World War II

The establishment of Soviet Armenia

Following the collapse of the Russian Empire in 1917, Armenians established the First Republic of Armenia on May 28, 1918. The republic faced extraordinary difficulties, including famine, refugees, epidemics, military threats, territorial disputes, and the aftermath of the Armenian Genocide.

The republic's independence ended in late 1920, when Soviet power was established in Armenia amid military and political pressure.

In 1922, Armenia became part of the Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic, alongside Georgia and Azerbaijan. The federation was incorporated into the newly established Soviet Union.

In 1936, the Transcaucasian federation was dissolved, and the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic became a separate constituent republic of the USSR.

By the beginning of World War II, Armenia had therefore been governed under Soviet rule for almost two decades.

Society, industry, and agriculture

During the interwar years, Soviet authorities pursued industrialization, collectivization, educational expansion, and infrastructure development.

Yerevan developed as the republic's principal political and industrial center. Industrial enterprises expanded in sectors such as food processing, chemicals, engineering, and the production of construction materials.

Agricultural communities remained central to Armenian society, particularly in the Ararat Plain, Shirak, Lori, and other regions.

The Soviet government also expanded technical education and professional training, creating a generation of engineers, doctors, teachers, and specialists who would later contribute to the wartime economy.

These developments were accompanied by severe repression.

During the Stalinist purges of the 1930s, Armenian political leaders, military officers, intellectuals, clergy, and ordinary citizens were arrested, imprisoned, executed, or deported.

The repression weakened institutions and caused lasting damage to Armenian cultural and political life.

The consequences of the Armenian Genocide

The Armenian Genocide remained a recent historical catastrophe when World War II began.

Survivors and their descendants lived in Soviet Armenia and across the diaspora. Many Armenian families had lost relatives, property, communities, and ancestral homes in the Ottoman Empire.

The genocide had also reshaped Armenian demographics, creating substantial communities in France, Lebanon, Syria, Greece, the United States, and elsewhere.

Consequently, Armenians entered World War II with experiences shaped by displacement, statelessness, and the destruction of earlier generations.

For some, the rise of Nazi Germany and the persecution of ethnic and religious communities revived fears of organized mass violence.

The Armenian experience during the Second World War cannot be fully understood without recognizing this earlier history.