Armenia, so long martyred and tormented, with its people condemned by the grace of the Entente and the Dashnaks to starvation, ruin and the lot of refugees— this Armenia, deceived by all its “friends,” has now found salvation by proclaiming itself a Soviet land. Neither the false assurances of Britain, the “ancient protector” of Armenian interests, nor Wilson’s celebrated fourteen points,113 nor yet the ostentatious promises of the League of Nations, with its “mandate” for the administration of Armenia, had saved (or could save!) the Armenians from massacre and physical extermination. Only the idea of Soviet power has brought Armenia peace and the possibility of national renovation. Here are some of the factors that have led to the sovietization of Armenia. The fatal policy of the Dashnaks, those agents of the Entente, condemned the country to anarchy and poverty. The war instigated by the Dashnaks against Turkey reduced Armenia to the last extreme of misery. In the latter part of November, the northern provinces of Armenia, tormented by hunger and tyranny, rose in revolt and set up an Armenian Revolutionary Military Committee, headed by Comrade Kasyan. On November 30, a telegram of greetings, addressed to Comrade

Lenin, was received from the Chairman of the Armenian Revolutionary Military Committee, announcing the birth of Soviet Armenia and the occupation of the town of Delijan by the Committee. On December 1, Soviet Azerbaijan voluntarily renounced its claim to the disputed provinces and ceded Zangezur, Nakhichevan and Nagorny Karabakh to Soviet Armenia. On December 1, the Revolutionary Committee received the congratulations of the Turkish command. On December 2, information was received from Comrade Ordjonikidze that the Dashnak government in Erivan had been driven out and that the Armenian troops were placing themselves under the orders of the Revolutionary Committee.

The capital of Armenia, Erivan, is now in the hands of the Armenian Soviet Government.

The age-old enmity between Armenia and the surrounding Moslem peoples has been dispelled at one stroke by the establishment of fraternal solidarity between the working people of Armenia, Turkey and Azerbaijan. Let it be known to all concerned that the so-called Armenian “problem,” over which the old wolves of imperialist diplomacy racked their brains in vain, only Soviet power has proved capable of solving.

Long Live Soviet Armenia!

Pravda, No. 273,

December 4, 1920

Signed: J. Stalin