Armenian Apostolic Church Under Bolshevik Ideological and Political Pressure Between 1920 and 1922

Authors

Ruben MIRZAKHANYAN Khachatur Abovyan Armenian State Pedagogical University
Hayk GRIGORYAN Khachatur Abovian Armenian State Pedagogical University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.24234/wisdom.v18i2.539

Keywords:

Armenian Apostolic church, Bolshevik ideology, Holy Etchmiadzin, Catholicos of All Armenians, H. H. George V, Revolutionary Committee of Armenia, Council of Salvation of Armenia, the confiscation of the Church‟s property, the repressions against the clergymen

Abstract

This article presents the ideological controversies that arose between the Armenian Apostolic church and the bolshevik regime following the invasion of soviet troops into Armenia. From its first days in power bolshevik authorities implemented radical steps against its ideological rival – the armenian church. Following the harsh anti-church political line of Russian bolsheviks, the soviet authorities in Armenia started a massive appropriation of Armenian church properties. The article mentions also the first attempts of the soviet administration to organize state institutions for the preservation and study of national cultural heritage.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biographies

Ruben MIRZAKHANYAN, Khachatur Abovyan Armenian State Pedagogical University

(Dr. of Science in History) is a Professor, the Chancellor of Khachatur Abovyan Armenian State Pedagogical University, and Chair of Academic Council. He is also Honorary Chief of the Editorial Board of the journal WISDOM and Chairman of Scientific Laboratory Armenia in the 1920-1991 years. His areas of interest include the modern period of the history of Armenia, the history of Armenian culture, history of Armenian visual arts. Mirzakhanyan is the author of 11 monographs and about 70 scientific articles. Recent publications: “Socialist Realism and Fine Arts in Soviet Armenia”, “The Educational and Cultural Life in Soviet Armenia between 1920 and 1932”.

Hayk GRIGORYAN, Khachatur Abovian Armenian State Pedagogical University

(PhD in History) is an Associate Professor in the chair of World History and its Teaching Methods and the Vice-dean on educational work at the Faculty of History and Social Studies in Khachatur Abovian Armenian State Pedagogical University. His areas of interest include the history of social thought in Russia and the Eastern Armenian reality of the XIX century, the history of ideology, the modern period of the history of Armenia, the national question in Russia. Grigoryan is the author of 14 scientific articles.

References

Behbutyan, S. (Ed.) (1996). Vaveragrer hay yekeghetsu patmut’yan, girq B, Xoren A. Muradbekyan Kat’oghikos Amenayn Hayoc (hogevor gorc’uneut’yuny 1901-1938 t’.t.’)(Documented sources of the history of Armenian Church, Book 2, Catholicos of All Armenians Khoren A. Muradbekyan (spiritual activities in 1901-1938), in Armenian). Yerevan: Anahit.

Evoyan, V. (1972). P’astat’ght’er L&von Lisitsyani masin (Documents on Levon Lisitsyan, in Armenian). Banber Hayastani arxivneri (Bulletin of the Archives of Armenia, in Armenian), 1, 183-196.

Hovhannisyan, E. (2014, January). Martnchogh anastvac’neri miut’yan gorc’uneut’yuny Xorhrdayin Hayastanum 1920-1930-akan t’vakannerin (The activities of belligerent atheists in Soviet Armenia in the 1920s and 1930s, in Armenian). Etchmiadzin (Etchmiadzin, in Armenian), 100-107.

Kertogh, S. (2018). Hay ar’aqelakan Surb yekeghecu gorc’uneut’yuny’ Hayastani arajin hanrapetut’yan tarinerin (Activities of Saint Armenian Apostolic Church during the years of the first Republic of Armenia, in Armenian). Etchmiadzin: S. Etchmiadzin.

Klyuchnikov, Yu., & Sabanin, A. (1928). Mezhdunarodnaya politika noveishego vremeni v dogovorakh, notakh i deklaraciyakh. Ch. III. Ot snyatiya blokady s Sovetskoi Rossii do desyatiletiya Oktabr’skoi revolyutsii. Vyp. 1 Akty sovetskoi diplomatii. (International Policy in the contemporary period through agreements, diplomatic notes, and declarations, in Russian), From lifting the blockade from Soviet Russia to the decade of the October Revolution, Issue 1. Soviet Diplomatic Acts). Moscow. Litizdat NKID.

Komunist (Communist, in Armenian) (1920, December 18).Yerevan.

Komunist (Communist, in Armenian) (1921, February 8).Yerevan.

Lunacharskiy, A. (1911). Religiya i sotsializm (Religion and Socialism, in Russian). (Vol. 2). Saint Petersburg: Shipovnik.

Manukyan, A. (1996). Yekeghecin Hayastanum 1930-akan t’vakannerin (The Church in Armenia in the 1930s, in Armenian). Banber Er&ani hamalsarani (Bulletin of Yerevan University, in Armenian), 2(89), 188-199.

National Archive of Armenia, Fond 122, List 1, Entry 228, File 2-3.

National Archive of Armenia, Fond 57, List 2, Entry 2252, File 1.

National Archive of Armenia, Fond 57, List 2, Entry 2252, File 2.

National Archive of Armenia, Fond 57, List 2, Entry 642, File 2.

National Archive of Armenia, Fond 57, List 3, Entry 146, File 2.

National Archive of Armenia, Fond 57, List 3, Entry 146, File 24.

National Archive of Armenia, Fond 57, List 3, Entry 216, File 1.

National Archive of Armenia, Fond 57, List 3, Entry 216, File 2.

National Archive of Armenia, Fond 57, List 3, Entry 313, File 2.

Petrosyan, Y. Archbishop (2016). Hay yekeghecu patmut’yun, Mas 1 (History of the Armenian Church, Part 1, in Armenian) (7th ed.). Yerevan: Bible Society of Armenia.

Stepanyants, S. (1994). Hay araqelakan yekeghecin stalinyan brnapetut’yan oroq (The Armenian Apostolic Church under Stalin’s repressions, in Armenian). Yerevan: Apolon.

Sukiasyan, H. (2014). Yekeghecu sepakanut’yan brnagravumy’ Xorhrdayin Hayastanum (1920 dektember - 1921 p’etrvar) (Confiscation of the Church property in Soviet Armenia (December, 1920 – February, 1921), in Armenian). Lraber hasarakakan gitut’yunneri (Bulletin of Social Sciences, in Armenian), 1, 95-102.

Downloads

Published

2021-06-25

How to Cite

MIRZAKHANYAN, R., & GRIGORYAN, H. (2021). Armenian Apostolic Church Under Bolshevik Ideological and Political Pressure Between 1920 and 1922. WISDOM, 18(2), 67–76. https://doi.org/10.24234/wisdom.v18i2.539

Download Citation

Endnote/Zotero/Mendeley (RIS)

Issue

Vol. 18 No. 2 (2021): 2-2021

Section

Articles

License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial (CC BY-NC). CC BY-NC allows users to copy and distribute the article, provided this is not done for commercial purposes. The users may adapt – remix, transform, and build upon the material giving appropriate credit, and providing a link to the license. The full details of the license are available at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.