Why Armenia Should Be Free: Armenia's Rôle in the Present WarGaro, Armen
History
Why Armenia Should Be Free: Armenia's Rôle in the Present War
Garo, Armen
World War, 1914-1918 -- Armenia
The Armenians, besides battling on the Caucasian front, where they have
been fighting in their own native land, have co-operated unreservedly
with the Allies on far distant fronts, as for example on the French
front. At the beginning of the war the young Armenian students living in
France--about 900 in number--volunteered to serve in the French army for
the defence of civilization and freedom. Today, scarcely 50 of them are
alive; the majority of the 850 others gave their lives in 1916 in the
immortal defence of Verdun. This small episode in this universal drama
will not be forgotten by either France or the Free Armenia of the
future. Glory to the memory of those immortal heroes! Beyond, on another
front of the war, by an extraordinary coincidence of fate, in the deadly
blow which fell on the head of the criminal Ottoman Empire in the Holy
Land, the sons of the sorrowful people whom it had ruthlessly
slaughtered had their just share of active participation. And indeed, in
General Allenby's victorious army, which saved Palestine and Syria from
Turkish tyranny in September, 1918, by General Allenby's own testimony,
the eight battalions of the Armenian volunteers (who took part in those
battles under the French flag) were conspicuous for their bravery. In
response to a congratulatory telegram from the chairman of the Armenian
National Union of Egypt for the victories on the Palestine front,
General Allenby said: "I thank you warmly for your congratulations, and
am proud of the fact that your Armenian compatriots in the Oriental
Legion took an active part in the fighting and shared in our victory."
CONCLUSION.
If we wish to condense all we have said in a few pages, we shall have
the following picture:
In 1914 both Turkey and Russia appealed to the Armenians by various
promises of a future autonomous Armenia to secure their assistance in
their respective military operations. Through their long and bitter
experience the Armenians knew very well that the imperialistic
governments of both Turkey and of Russia were opposed to their national
aspirations and therefore those promises had no value whatever. But,
realizing the universal significance of the present war, and considering
the fact that justice was on the side of the Entente, the Armenians, in
spite of their distrust of the Russian government, from the very
beginning, unreservedly bound themselves to the allied cause.
This decision of the Armenians cost them the sacrifice of more than
1,000,000 men in Turkish Armenia, and complete devastation of their
native land even in the first year of the war.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account