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| Life Under Soviet Rule (1922 -1991) |
Stability
Despite being occupied and under Soviet rule, for the first time in many decades Armenians were able to enjoy a period of comparative stability. The Soviet overloads provided food, medicine and other essential provisions direct from Moscow and their rule proved to be kinder than the Armenian people experienced under the rule of the Ottoman Empire.
Church
However, as with many religions under Soviet rule, the Armenian Church struggled and when Lenin died in 1924 things got a lot worse under the rule of new leader Joseph Stalin. Many ethnic Armenian groups suffered under this new regime and during Stalin’s Great Purge (1934-1939) tens of thousands of Armenian citizens were deported or executed.
World War II
The devastation that was brought upon the majority of the Western Soviet Union during the Second World War failed to reach Armenia, The German war machine was unable to reach the South Caucasus which was a major part of their plan to capture the oil fields in Azerbaijan. That said, this does not mean the Armenians did not contribute to the Allied war effort, they contributed through industry and agriculture and over 500,000 Armenians made an active contribution to the war effort with 175,000 of these men died in the war.
Improvements
Stalin died in 1953 and when Nikita Khruschev became Soviet leader life for the Armenian people began to improve rapidly. Even the Armenian Church, which had suffered under Stalin’s rule, was revived under Khruschev’s sympathetic rule. In 1965, after mass demonstrations on the 50th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, Khruschev commissioned a memorial to the victims of the Armenian Genocide to be built in Yerevan.
Glasnost
During the 1980’s, when the Gorbachev administration took over , the Soviet reforms of Glasnost and Perestroika began to impact on occupied territories and Armenians began demanding an end to the pollution caused by Soviet built factories and wanted better care to be taken on their environment. Furthermore, tensions grew between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh. However, in 1988 disaster stuck when a devastating earthquake hit the Spitak region of Armenia with an enormous magnitude of 7.2.
Independence
When the Gorbachev administration was unable to solve many of Armenia’s growing social, economic and environmental difficulties it fed and increasing desire for independence. In mid-1990 the New Armenian Army was formed and served as a defence force which was separate from the existing Soviet forces in the country. Inevitably clashes soon broke out between the two forces, especially during the commemorations of the establishment of the first Armenian Republic in 1918; full independence was granted 1991.
Despite being occupied and under Soviet rule, for the first time in many decades Armenians were able to enjoy a period of comparative stability. The Soviet overloads provided food, medicine and other essential provisions direct from Moscow and their rule proved to be kinder than the Armenian people experienced under the rule of the Ottoman Empire.
Church
However, as with many religions under Soviet rule, the Armenian Church struggled and when Lenin died in 1924 things got a lot worse under the rule of new leader Joseph Stalin. Many ethnic Armenian groups suffered under this new regime and during Stalin’s Great Purge (1934-1939) tens of thousands of Armenian citizens were deported or executed.
World War II
The devastation that was brought upon the majority of the Western Soviet Union during the Second World War failed to reach Armenia, The German war machine was unable to reach the South Caucasus which was a major part of their plan to capture the oil fields in Azerbaijan. That said, this does not mean the Armenians did not contribute to the Allied war effort, they contributed through industry and agriculture and over 500,000 Armenians made an active contribution to the war effort with 175,000 of these men died in the war.
Improvements
Stalin died in 1953 and when Nikita Khruschev became Soviet leader life for the Armenian people began to improve rapidly. Even the Armenian Church, which had suffered under Stalin’s rule, was revived under Khruschev’s sympathetic rule. In 1965, after mass demonstrations on the 50th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, Khruschev commissioned a memorial to the victims of the Armenian Genocide to be built in Yerevan.
Glasnost
During the 1980’s, when the Gorbachev administration took over , the Soviet reforms of Glasnost and Perestroika began to impact on occupied territories and Armenians began demanding an end to the pollution caused by Soviet built factories and wanted better care to be taken on their environment. Furthermore, tensions grew between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh. However, in 1988 disaster stuck when a devastating earthquake hit the Spitak region of Armenia with an enormous magnitude of 7.2.
Independence
When the Gorbachev administration was unable to solve many of Armenia’s growing social, economic and environmental difficulties it fed and increasing desire for independence. In mid-1990 the New Armenian Army was formed and served as a defence force which was separate from the existing Soviet forces in the country. Inevitably clashes soon broke out between the two forces, especially during the commemorations of the establishment of the first Armenian Republic in 1918; full independence was granted 1991.
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