For the past two years, I’ve been writing about my Armenian family history. By conducting interviews with family members, translating quotes (great thanks to this sub reddit) and reading various primary sources (letters, books, etc.), I have written nearly 50 pages about my family’s history in the former Ottoman Empire, the genocide, and as American immigrants. In addition, I have written another 10 pages about my grandparents when they were growing up as children of immigrants. I still have a lot to write and many family members to ask, but I hope to publish this one day.
While I was interviewing my grandmother and uncle (both are in their 90s), they mentioned how their uncles or parents were affiliated with certain Armenian political organizations. For example, my great-grandfather was a staunch Ramgavar. He even named his two sons after one of the party’s leaders, Hratch Yervant. However, his older brother was a supporter of the ARF or Dashnak party. I have a very basic understanding of these two parties, but I know they were nationalist organizations with different goals to support Armenians. The Dashnaks wanted an independent Armenia with as much land as possible while the Ramgavars were less militant and more liberal. However, according to some of my older family members, the Dashnaks were more like the Nazis or the Ramgavars were pushovers to foreign powers.
I would love to learn more about this two parties, especially in the context of Armenian-American immigrants in the 20th century. Are there any good books about the ARF and the Ramgavar Party? Did these two groups have an intense rivalry as my older relatives suggested? Please recommend any books.
Also, the picture is my great-uncle (he is the middle man on the right) at an ARF event with one of the former leaders of the 1st Armenian Republic and I think one of the assassins of Operation Nemesis.
https://i.redd.it/dcypd04tymrc1.jpeg
Posted by bush1946
2 Comments
The Dashnaks were a socialist organization. They wanted equal rights under the Ottoman Empire
The Ramgavar were and still is a liberalist/capitalist. They wanted a liberal revolution for Armenians as well as independence.
The Hunchaks were socialist-democrats. They wanted an independent democratic Armenia.
I say was, because over the course of the genocide, all the organizations failed to upkeep their own ideals, and are simply remnants of their core ideas.
All three changed into the ultra-nationalist and ultra-right wing parties they are today, although the Ramgavars have probably remained somewhat the same. the ARF has also elements of Christofascism, and a deformed version of the Tsehakronism idea. dont know about the Ramgavars, I do know that they are mostly “old heads” that are part of the party today, and many still believe in the ideology of liberalism (unlike the ARF)
The Hamazkayin organization for example, was built in cooperation of these 3 parties, albeit it was ransomed and taken over by the ARF, who little by little kicked out all remaining “non-ARF” members.
Already, back in the heyday of the 19th century. Armenian academics would butt heads to prove which was the “better alternative for Armenians”. The ARF wanted to remain under the Ottoman rule, they were nationalist in Ottoman Armenian identity. They had for a long time asked for a “state within a state” solution for the Armenians.
Hunchaks on the other hand, wanted independence.
Ramgavars wanted (as their party name suggested) a liberal revolution for Armenians. Which would be founded in nationalism of course. They were mostly composed of the Armenakans who later merged with the “reformed Hunchaks” to form the party.
Armenakans were also expecting a liberal revolution for Armenia. However, **being Liberals**, they for 1 did not think the use of armed forces against the Ottoman oppression was necessary. And **believed that the ottoman enemies would attack them if they learned about the atrocities committed against Armenians**.
Comparisons can be made today to the modern liberal Armenia, who expected Europe and US to help them, when facing atrocities. And we can see the “effectiveness” of that
In contrast the Ramgavars were more than ready to fight against the ottomans, but very much retained the second part of “Eventually help will come to us through liberal democratic countries”. Which as I said, failed.
During the 20th century, these three groups would try to steal each others young recruits with feats of heroism, representation of ideology, defense, etc…
The ARF, of course, would be the biggest group. They were a federation after all, and all different groups that joined them. This is one of the reasons why the socialist ideology got diluted. Since many (as said also by Katchaznuni) wanted blood and only blood.
The problem here is that these political groups caused a lot more harm than good especially in Lebanon.