Book Description

Drawing upon original sources, this study provides the most comprehensive treatment to date of the issue of Armenian politicization and participation in the Iranian Constitutional Revolution (1905-1911). Houri Berberian traces the political, economic, and social situation of Armenians in the nineteenth century with a special emphasis on the Armenian provinces of the Ottoman Empire, which became the focus of the Armenian revolutionary movement in the late nineteenth century, and on the Russian-ruled Caucasus, which became the source of the nationalist and socialist revolutionary movement. Discussion of the Iranian Armenian community includes, for the first time, a look into the roles and activism of Iranian Armenian women. Berberian explores the ideological, political, and pragmatic motivations of Armenians, and examines the collaboration of Armenian and Iranian constitutionalists, drawing attention to the ideological and military contributions of Armenians to the revolution as well as to the internal and external conflicts among Armenian activists and between Armenian and Iranian constitutionalist elements. Berberian concludes with a discussion of the causes and consequences of the retreat of Armenians from Iranian politics.