The Armenian Legion ( French : Légion Arménienne ) was a volunteer unit that was raised by the Allied Powers to serve in the Middle East Theatre during World War I . Trained and led by French army commanders, the Légion d'Orient (Eastern Legion), as the unit was originally known, was created in 1916, its ranks chiefly drawn from Levantine and Armenian exiles and refugees from the Ottoman Empire . In 1919, it was renamed the Légion Arménienne (Armenian Legion).
22-678: The establishment of an Armenian fighting force was first proposed by Boghos Nubar , the head of the Armenian National Delegation in Paris, during the landing of Allied forces to Alexandretta ( İskenderun ) in 1914, to British military planners. The British government rejected the plan, on the basis that such a plan would lead to the massacres of local Armenians. However, appeals by the Armenian National Defense Committee continued into 1915. French authorities also rejected
44-778: A useful summary of the Armenian contribution to the allied war effort. Our volunteers fought in the French Foreign Legion and covered themselves with glory. In the Légion d'Orient they numbered over 5,000 and made up more than half of the French contingent in Syria and Palestine , which took part in General Allenby 's decisive victory. In the Caucasus , without mentioning the 150,000 Armenians in
66-570: Is buried near Mother Cathedral of Holy Etchmiadzin in the Catholicosate complex. After his death, the Armenian Church as well as all organized religions in the Soviet Union became subject to persecution and rigid control, particularly through Joseph Stalin 's orders. No new catholicos was elected for 2 years as the throne remained vacant from 1930 to 1932. However, when Stalin temporarily eased
88-630: The Ottoman army and its German ally. The two battalions of the legion were supplemented by an Infantry company of recruits from Syria and a platoon of two 37mm infantry guns. Under the command of General Edmund Allenby , the Legion, fighting in Palestine, Syria, and, finally, Cilicia, won the plaudits of Clemenceau ’s government and its Entente allies. The Armenian Legion assisted the British and French in winning
110-841: The Russian Armies , about 50,000 Armenian volunteers under Andranik , Nazarbekoff and others, not only fought for four years for the Entente, but after the breakdown of Russia, they were the only forces in the Caucasus to resist the advance of the Ottoman Empire, whom they held in check until the Armistice was signed. They helped the British in Mesopotamia by preventing the ... Boghos Nubar retired from politics in 1921 died in Paris in 1930. Boghos Nubar
132-635: The Armenian Legion was signed on 15 November 1916 in Paris. According to this initial decision, The number of volunteers was an equivalent of 6 battalions, each containing 800 volunteers, and another 6 battalions were planned to be formed. Armenian committees were organizing to recruit these soldiers in France and the United States. The Legion included Ottoman Armenian refugees, former prisoners of war, and permanent residents of Egypt, America, and Europe, and
154-660: The Cabinets of Europe with a commission to demand administrative autonomy for Armenians in the Ottoman Empire . He has also been considered as one of the prominent Armenian figures in the Ottoman Empire. This proceeding was a step for Russian and French policy in Constantinople almost at the same moment on March 15, 1913. Boghos Nubar, the ambassador, repeatedly asserts that the Armenians of Ottoman Empire in no way desire to bring up
176-469: The accord of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and an Armenian delegation. Several Armenian organizations pledged contributions to form several battalions under the planned Armenian Legion. The parties agreed to the following: Signed in Paris by General Pierre Roques , Minister of War, and General Marie-Jean-Lucien Lacaze , Minister of Navy, the official decision regarding the establishment of
198-728: The classical gymnasium in his hometown and in 1872 was consecrated as a priest (vartabed) in the Armenian Apostolic Church and consecrated as bishop in 1882. In 1874, he taught at the Gevorkian Theological Seminary in Etchmiadzin, until his appointment the following year as bishop of Artsakh (present-day Karabakh ) and later as assistant prelate in Alexandropol (present-day Gyumri) in 1878 and in Yerevan in 1881. He
220-538: The creation of two provinces in Ottoman Armenia placed under the supervision of two European inspectors general, who would be appointed to oversee matters related to the Armenian issues. In January, 1919, The Times published a letter from Boghos Nubar (an Ottoman citizen) in which he protests, belatedly, about the non-representation of Armenians at the Paris Peace Conference, 1919 . The letter includes
242-579: The decisive Battle of Arara and has been credited with making General Allenby's victory possible. Following this campaign, the Armenian Legion was deployed in Anatolia (Asia Minor) according to the initial decisions. They were active around the cities of Adana and Mersin and involved in skirmishes with local civilians and unorganized Turkish militia. Boghos Nubar Boghos Nubar ( Western Armenian : Պօղոս Նուպար ), also known as Boghos Nubar Pasha ( Պօղոս Նուպար Փաշա ; 2 August 1851 – 25 June 1930),
SECTION 10
#1732855915741264-727: The idea of supporting the Allied initiative and signed an agreement to that effect. The decision to form the legion became possible only after Britain and France settled their designs over the region in the Sykes-Picot Agreement . Negotiations of Boghos Nubar with French political and military authorities culminated in the formation of the French Armenian Legion. The Legion was established officially in Cairo , Egypt in November 1916, with
286-602: The plan at the end of 1915. In 1916, British and French authorities revisited the idea of forming an Armenian unit within the Allied armies in the Middle East, not least due to the British burden in hosting Armenian refugees from Musa Dagh at Port Said in Egypt. The French military agreed to shoulder the costs of training and arming such a fighting force and began preparations. Boghos Nubar and other Armenian leaders in turn expressed some hesitation, but by October of that year came around
308-517: The position and encouraged the Armenian population to cooperate with the new regime installed as an alternative safe haven for Armenians. He was also actively involved in building new churches in the Armenian diaspora , developing a network of religious institutions and schools and for admitting the four-voice religious music of composer Makar Yekmalyan into the church Mass. George V died at Etchmiadzin , Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic , in 1930 and
330-526: The question of independence or constitutional changes (regarding Armenian National Constitution). Their sole aim is to secure the reforms drawn up by Russia France and England and provided for in the Treaty of Berlin reforms which have remained a dead letter hitherto. In February 1914, the Armenian reform package passed. Yeniköy accord was a reform plan devised by the European powers between 1912 and 1914 that envisaged
352-682: Was 95% Armenian in composition. The majority of the soldiers were said to be recruited from the Armenian-American community or survivors of the battle of Musa Dagh who were living in refugee camps in Port Said , Egypt, at the time. After the initial training in Cyprus, the Armenian Legion joined the Détachement Français de Palestine et de Syrie , taking part in the Sinai and Palestine campaign against
374-613: Was assigned prelate and bishop of Astrakhan , Russia in 1886 and Armenian prelate of Georgia in 1894. In 1907 he was assigned as assistant to the Catholicossate in Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin and elected Catholicos of All Armenians in December 1911, a post he held for three decades until 1930. In October 1912, he advocated Russian intervention for Turkish Armenians. He was active in Armenian political affairs at very critical times and
396-775: Was awarded the Belgian " Ordre de Leopold " and Egyptian Medjidieh , Osmanieh and Nile Orders, honorary degrees and medals for distinguished services George V of Armenia George V of Armenia (in Armenian Գևորգ Ե. Սուրենյանց (Տփղիսեցի) (28 August 1847 – 8 May 1930) was the Catholicos of All Armenians of the Armenian Apostolic Church in the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin from 1911–1930. He succeeded Catholicos Matthew II (in Armenian Մատթեոս Բ Կոստանդնուպոլսեց), who had died on 11 December 1910 after less than three years as Catholicos. Born in Tiflis , he studied between 1865 and 1868 at
418-655: Was born in Istanbul (capital of the Ottoman Empire ) in 1851. His father was Egyptian Prime Minister Nubar Pasha . He was educated in Egypt and France as a civil engineer. Worked on water works of Egypt and irrigation projects in Sudan. Nubar fought for the Armenian cause. As early as the beginning of 1912 the Catholicos of Mother See of Echmiazin Gevork V had sent the Boghos Nubar to
440-681: Was established in May 1918. He supported the various military campaigns, refusing to relocate the catholicosate from Etchmiadzin to a safer venue. Catholicos of All Armenians Georeg V Surenyants's appeal to the Armenian people. May, 1918 With the establishment of the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1920–1921 and the Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic in 1922 made up of Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan, he refused to leave
462-510: Was part of the Armenian delegation headed by Boghos Nubar Pasha . He also organized relief efforts for the survivors of the Armenian genocide . He presided over the Aid Committee for Armenian victims, refugees and wounded soldiers and their families. Aid was provided throughout Armenia as well as Turkey, Georgia and Russia. He was the presiding Catholicos when the First Republic of Armenia
SECTION 20
#1732855915741484-579: Was the son of Nubar Pasha , a three time governor of Egypt. A chairman of the Armenian National Delegation, and the founder, alongside ten other Armenian national movement leaders, of the Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU) on April 15, 1906, becoming its first ever president, a position he held from 1906 to 1928. In 1912, he was appointed by Catholicos Gevorg V to head the Armenian National Delegation . Nubar
#740259