History UsefulNotes / Armenia

* Vartan Mamikonian, led the Armenian army in the year 451 against the Persians, who were attempting to force Armenians to integrate with the rest of the Persian Empire. Though he died in battle, the Persians [[WorthyOpponent were impressed]] by the Armenian efforts, and allowed them to keep their cultural and religious traditions despite being the victors. Vartan is canonized as a saint in the Armenian church.

Armenia fell under the rule of almost anyone building an empire for the next thousand years or so after the Kingdom of Armenia fell, being ruled over by everyone from Persians to Parthians to Mongolians, eventually falling under Ottoman Turkish rule for the majority of the last millennium (its location, between the Black and Caspian seas, makes it a hot commodity for empire builders, unfortunately for the Armenians themselves). It then was partitioned between Russia and Turkey, ultimately causing the Eastern-Western split in the Armenian language still present today. The Turkish Armenians fell under suspicion during the latter half of the 19th century, as the Ottoman Empire lost territory, and the remaining Christians in the empire became a scapegoat of sorts, resulting in sporadic massacres of the Armenians during this time. This finally came to a head during WorldWarOne, and the matter of the Armenian Genocide that was to follow is still a very contentious one - few western observers doubt that there was a major humanitarian disaster in the area in 1915, precipitated by Turkish troops against the Ottoman Empire's Christian population. And the common opinion of genocide scholars is that it falls under the definition of a genocide. The contention comes from Turkey; modern Turkey, nearly 100 years later, still refuses to even discuss the issue, even though any crimes would have been committed by the government deposed by the current state. The Turkish government often goes to great lengths to force other countries not to pass any legislation [[WouldBeRudeToSayGenocide acknowledging]] the Armenian Genocide. This has not stopped quite a number of countries from doing so anyway, however. You can even be arrested and fined for denying it in Switzerland, as you can any other genocide.

Armenia fell under the rule of almost anyone building an empire for the next thousand years or so after the Kingdom of Armenia fell, being ruled over by everyone from Persians to Parthians to Mongolians, eventually falling under Ottoman Turkish rule for the majority of the last millennium (its location, between the Black and Caspian seas, makes it a hot commodity for empire builders, unfortunately for the Armenians themselves). It then was partitioned between Russia and Turkey, ultimately causing the Eastern-Western split in the Armenian language still present today. The Turkish Armenians fell under suspicion during the latter half of the 19th century, as the Ottoman Empire lost territory, and the remaining Christians in the empire became a scapegoat of sorts, resulting in sporadic massacres of the Armenians during this time. This finally came to a head during WorldWarOne, and the matter of the Armenian Genocide that was to follow is still a very contentious one - few western observers doubt that there was a major humanitarian disaster in the area in 1915, precipitated by Turkish troops against the Ottoman Empire's Christian population. And the common opinion of genocide scholars is that it falls under the definition a genocide. The contention comes from Turkey; modern Turkey, nearly 100 years later, still refuses to even discuss the issue, even though any crimes would have been committed by the government deposed by the current state. The Turkish government often goes to great lengths to force other countries not to pass any legislation [[WouldBeRudeToSayGenocide acknowledging]] the Armenian Genocide. This has not stopped quite a number of countries from doing so anyway, however. You can even be arrested and fined for denying it in Switzerland, as you can any other genocide.

Armenia fell under the rule of almost anyone building an empire for the next thousand years or so after the Kingdom of Armenia fell, being ruled over by everyone from Persians to Parthians to Mongolians, eventually falling under Ottoman Turkish rule for the majority of the last millennium (its location, between the Black and Caspian seas, makes it a hot commodity for empire builders, unfortunately for the Armenians themselves). It then was partitioned between Russia and Turkey, ultimately causing the Eastern-Western split in the Armenian language still present today. The Turkish Armenians fell under suspicion during the latter half of the 19th century, as the Ottoman Empire lost territory, and the remaining Christians in the empire became a scapegoat of sorts, resulting in sporadic massacres of the Armenians during this time. This finally came to a head during WorldWarOne, and the matter of the Armenian Genocide that was to follow is still a very contentious one - few western observers doubt that there was a major humanitarian disaster in the area in 1915, precipitated by Turkish troops against the Ottoman Empire's Christian population. The contention comes from Turkey; modern Turkey, nearly 100 years later, still refuses to even discuss the issue, even though any crimes would have been committed by the government deposed by the current state. The Turkish government often goes to great lengths to force other countries not to pass any legislation [[WouldBeRudeToSayGenocide acknowledging]] the Armenian Genocide. This has not stopped quite a number of countries from doing so anyway, however. You can even be arrested and fined for denying it in Switzerland, as you can any other genocide.

Modern Armenia still has poor relations with Turkey, and also with its neighbour, Azerbaijan, over the region of Nagorno-Karabakh, nominally an autonomous Arminopohone part of Azerbaijan [[hottip:*:ItsALongStory, but the gist of it is: Stalin's DivideAndConquer tactics basically carved up the Caucasus and placed lots of ethnicities that [[{{Understatement}} didn't really like other]] in the same administrative area. Nagorno-Karabakh, being a traditionally Armenian area, was yanked wholesale and given to Azerbaijan in 1923. This is a bit more complicated due to the wars the country had been in before being annexed by the USSR, and at least part of the reason for the Azerbaijan transfer was to placate Turkey.]], but which the region's native Armenians, [[ArmosWithArmor with help from the country itself]], freed after a war between 1992-1994. It's now declared itself an independent country known as Artsakh, which no one recognizes - no, not even Armenia, because the situation's basically been frozen ever since the 1994 ceasefire and [[StatusQuoIsGod understandably, the Armenian government is not eager to restart armed conflict]], though the Armenian president went on the record stating Armenia would recognize it if another war broke out. Azerbaijan, on the other hand, hasn't been quite as passive, and violates the ceasefire almost daily. The country is only stopped from unleashing a full-on war by international pressure, and the fact that it didn't fare so well the last time it tried. Turkey, showing solidarity with its ally Azerbaijan, shut its borders with Armenia during the war, and the borders remain closed to this day. Which only adds insult to injury when you consider Armenia's former historic lands that Turkey annexed in the 1920's, including Mt. Ararat, are easily within sight of it's capital, Yerevan.

Modern Armenia still has poor relations with Turkey, and also with its neighbour, Azerbaijan, over the region of Nagorno-Karabakh, nominally an autonomous Arminopohone part of Azerbaijan [[hottip:*:ItsALongStory, but the gist of it is: Stalin's DivideAndConquer tactics basically carved up the Caucasus and placed lots of ethnicities that [[{{Understatement}} didn't really like other]] in the same administrative area. Nagorno-Karabakh, being a traditionally Armenian area, was yanked wholesale and given to Azerbaijan in 1923. This is a bit more complicated due to the wars the country had been in before being annexed by the USSR, and at least part of the reason for the Azerbaijan transfer was to placate Turkey.]], but which the region's native Armenians, [[ArmosWithArmor with help from the country itself]], freed after a war between 1992-1994. It's now declared itself an independent country, which no one recognizes - no, not even Armenia, because the situation's basically been frozen ever since the 1994 ceasefire and [[StatusQuoIsGod understandably, neither government is eager to restart armed conflict]]. Turkey, showing solidarity with its ally Azerbaijan, shut its borders with Armenia during this war, and the borders remain closed to this day. Which only adds insult to injury when you consider Armenia's former historic lands that Turkey annexed in the 1920's, including Mt. Ararat, are easily within sight of it's capital, Yerevan.

Modern Armenia still has poor relations with Turkey, and also with its neighbour, Azerbaijan, over the region of Nagorno-Karabakh, nominally an autonomous Arminopohone part of Azerbaijan [[hottip:*:ItsALongStory, but the gist of it is: Stalin's DivideAndConquer tactics basically carved up the Caucasus and placed lots of ethnicities that [[{{Understatement}} didn't really like other]] in the same administrative area. Nagorno-Karabakh, being a traditionally Armenian area, was yanked wholesale and given to Azerbaijan in 1923. This is a bit more complicated due to the wars the country had been in before being annexed by the USSR, and at least part of the reason for the Azerbaijan transfer was to placate Turkey.]], but which the region's native Armenians, [[ArmosWithArmor with help from the country itself]], freed after a war between 1992-1994. It's now declared itself an independent country, which no one recognizes - no, not even Armenia, because the situation's basically been frozen ever since the 1994 ceasefire and [[StatusQuoIsGod nobody wants to provoke the other side in any way]]. Turkey, showing solidarity with its ally Azerbaijan, shut its borders with Armenia during this war, and the borders remain closed to this day. Which only adds insult to injury when you consider Armenia's former historic lands that Turkey annexed in the 1920's, including Mt. Ararat, are easily within sight of it's capital, Yerevan.

Armenia fell under the rule of almost anyone building an empire for the next thousand years or so after the Kingdom of Armenia fell, being ruled over by everyone from Persians to Parthians to Mongolians, eventually falling under Ottoman Turkish rule for the majority of the last millennium (its location, between the Black and Caspian seas, makes it a hot commodity for empire builders, unfortunately for the Armenians themselves). It then was partitioned between Russia and Turkey, ultimately causing the Eastern-Western split in the Armenian language still present today. The Turkish Armenians fell under suspicion during the latter half of the 19th century, as the Ottoman Empire lost territory, and the remaining Christians in the empire became a scapegoat of sorts, resulting in sporadic massacres of the Armenians during this time. This finally came to a head during WorldWarOne, and the matter of the Armenian Genocide that was to follow is still a very contentious one - few western observers doubt that there was a major humanitarian disaster in the area in 1915, precipitated by Turkish troops against the Ottoman Empire's Christian population. The contention comes from Turkey; modern Turkey, nearly 100 years later, still refuses to even discuss the issue, even though any crimes would have been committed by the government deposed by the current state. The Turkish government often goes to great lengths to force other countries not to pass any legislation acknowledging the Armenian Genocide. This has not stopped quite a number of countries from doing so anyway, however. You can even be arrested and fined for denying it in Switzerland, as you can any other genocide.

Armenia fell under the rule of almost anyone building an empire for the next thousand years or so after the Kingdom of Armenia fell, being ruled over by everyone from Persians to Parthians to Mongolians, eventually falling under Ottoman Turkish rule for the majority of the last millennium (its location, between the Black and Caspian seas, makes it a hot commodity for empire builders, unfortunately for the Armenians themselves). It then was partitioned between Russia and Turkey, ultimately causing the Eastern-Western split in the Armenian language still present today. The Turkish Armenians fell under suspicion during the latter half of the 19th century, as the Ottoman Empire lost territory, and the remaining Christians in the empire became a scapegoat of sorts, resulting in sporadic massacres of the Armenians during this time. This finally came to a head during WorldWarOne, and the matter of the Armenian Genocide that was to follow is still a very contentious one - few western observers doubt that there was a major humanitarian disaster in the area in 1915, precipitated by Turkish troops against the Ottoman Empire's Christian population. The contention comes from Turkey; modern Turkey, nearly 100 years later, still refuses to even discuss the issue, even though any crimes would have been committed by the government deposed by the current state. The Turkish government often goes to great lengths to force other countries not to pass any legislation acknowledging the Armenian Genocide. This has not stopped quite a number of countries from doing so anyway, however.

Modern Armenia still has poor relations with Turkey over this, and also with its neighbour, Azerbaijan, over the region of Nagorno-Karabakh, nominally an autonomous Arminopohone part of Azerbaijan [[hottip:*:ItsALongStory, but the gist of it is: Stalin's DivideAndConquer tactics basically carved up the Caucasus and placed lots of ethnicities that [[{{Understatement}} didn't really like other]] in the same administrative area. Nagorno-Karabakh, being a traditionally Armenian area, was yanked wholesale and given to Azerbaijan in 1923. This is a bit more complicated due to the wars the country had been in before being annexed by the USSR, and at least part of the reason for the Azerbaijan transfer was to placate Turkey.]], but which the region's native Armenians, [[ArmosWithArmor with help from the country itself]], freed after a war between 1992-1994. It's now declared itself an independent country, which no one recognizes - no, not even Armenia, because the situation's basically been frozen ever since the 1994 ceasefire and [[StatusQuoIsGod nobody wants to provoke the other side in any way]]. Turkey, showing solidarity with its ally Azerbaijan, shut its borders with Armenia during this war, and the borders remain closed to this day. Which only adds insult to injury when you consider Armenia's former historic lands that Turkey annexed in the 1920's, including Mt. Ararat, are easily within sight of it's capital, Yerevan.

Armenia is best described as an oddity - in an area mainly Muslim or Orthodox, it has its own form of Christianity, a language that seems to be in its own little branch of the Indo-European family (as far as anyone can guess, it descended from Phrygian and may be sorta-kinda related to Greek, but no one is 100% sure), its own alphabet and friendly towards Russia in a region increasingly hostile to them (having the Turks on one side, the Azeris on the other and a long history of being the regional ButtMonkey and [[TheWoobie Woobie]] tends to make them grateful for all the help they can get.) Armenia has fairly stable relations with Iran, and a bit of a love/hate relationship with Georgia through which it imports and exports to Russia. [[hottip:*: Though also Christian and sharing many cultural similarities with the Armenians, Georgia is more inclined to serve their own interests and remain neutral than protect Armenia from Turkey or Azerbaijan, plus they're a little bitter over Armenia's good relations with Russia.]]

Armenia fell under the rule of almost anyone building an empire for the next thousand years or so after the Kingdom of Armenia fell, being ruled over by everyone from Persians to Parthians to Mongolians, eventually falling under Ottoman Turkish rule for the majority of the last millennium (its location, between the Black and Caspian seas, makes it a hot commodity for empire builders, unfortunately for the Armenians themselves). It then was partitioned between Russia and Turkey. The Turkish Armenians fell under suspicion during the latter half of the 19th century, as the Ottoman Empire lost territory, and the remaining Christians in the empire became a scapegoat of sorts, resulting in sporadic massacres of the Armenians during this time. This finally came to a head during WorldWarOne, and the matter of the Armenian Genocide that was to follow is still a very contentious one - few western observers doubt that there was a major humanitarian disaster in the area in 1915, precipitated by Turkish troops against the Ottoman Empire's Christian population. The contention comes from Turkey; modern Turkey, nearly 100 years later, still refuses to even discuss the issue, even though any crimes would have been committed by the government deposed by the current state. The Turkish government often goes to great lengths to force other countries not to pass any legislation acknowledging the Armenian Genocide. This has not stopped quite a number of countries from doing so anyway, however.

* Hayk Nahapet, the founder of Armenia according to folklore. He defeated the Assyrian titan Bel and led the Armenians out of Assyria in 2490 B.C.

* And er, Eva and Kevin Khatchadourian of ''WeNeedToTalkAboutKevin''.

Armenia fell under the rule of almost anyone building an empire for the next thousand years or so after the Kingdom of Armenia fell, being ruled over by everyone from Persians to Parthians to Mongolians, eventually falling under Ottoman Turkish rule for the majority of the last millennium (its location, between the Black and Caspian seas, makes it a hot commodity for empire builders, unfortunately for the Armenians themselves). It then was partitioned between Russia and Turkey. The Turkish Armenians fell under suspicion during the latter half of the 19th century, as the Ottoman Empire lost territory, and the remaining Christians in the empire became a scapegoat of sorts, resulting in sporadic massacres of the Armenians during this time. This finally came to a head during WorldWarOne, and the matter of the Armenian Genocide that was to follow is still a very contentious one - few western observers doubt that there was a major humanitarian disaster in the area in 1915, precipitated by Turkish troops against the Ottoman Empire's Christian population. The contention comes from Turkey; modern Turkey, nearly 100 years later, still refuses to even discuss the issue, even though any crimes would have been committed by the government deposed by the current state. The Turkish government often goes to great lengths to force other countries not to pass any legislation acknowledging the Armenian Genocide. This has not stopped quite a number of countries from doing so anyway, however. In France it is even illegal to deny the genocide, and it carries the same penalty as denying the Holocaust.

'''Famous Armenians and Diaspora Armenians'''

Tucked away in the Caucasus mountains, in that little clutch of former Soviet Republics where Russia meets Turkey, is Armenia (''Hayastan'', as its natives call it). It's not a new country by any means - the Kingdom of Armenia goes back to Roman times (331 BC to be exact), and was later the first country to officially adopt Christianity, in 301 AD. It also used to be ''much'' bigger than it is now, most of it's former historical lands now being part of Turkey (this includes Mt. Ararat, which is considered a national symbol for the country. Ouch...).

Armenia fell under the rule of almost anyone building an empire for the next thousand years or so after the Kingdom of Armenia fell, being ruled over from Persians to Parthians to Mongolians, eventually falling under Ottoman Turkish rule for the majority of the last millennium. It then was partitioned between Russia and Turkey. The Turkish Armenians fell under suspicion during the latter half of the 19th century, as the Ottoman Empire lost territory, and the remaining Christians in the empire became a scapegoat of sorts, resulting in sporadic massacres of the Armenians during this time. This finally came to a head during WorldWarOne, and the matter of the Armenian Genocide that was to follow is still a very contentious one - few western observers doubt that there was a major humanitarian disaster in the area in 1915, precipitated by Turkish troops against the Ottoman Empire's Christian population. The contention comes from Turkey; modern Turkey, nearly 100 years later, still refuses to even discuss the issue, even though any crimes would have been committed by the government deposed by the current state. The Turkish government often goes to great lengths to force other countries not to pass any legislation acknowledging the Armenian Genocide. This has not stopped quite a number of countries from doing so anyway, however. In France it is even illegal to deny the genocide, and it carries the same penalty as denying the Holocaust.

Modern Armenia still has poor relations with Turkey over this, and also with its neighbour, Azerbaijan, over the region of Nagorno-Karabakh, nominally an autonomous Arminopohone part of Azerbaijan [[hottip:*:ItsALongStory, but the gist of it is: Stalin's DivideAndConquer tactics basically carved up the Caucasus and placed lots of ethnicities that [[{{Understatement}} didn't really like other]] in the same administrative area. Nagorno-Karabakh, being a traditionally Armenian area, was yanked wholesale and given to Azerbaijan in 1923. This is a bit more complicated due to the wars the country had been in before being annexed by the USSR, and at least part of the reason for the Azerbaijan transfer was to placate Turkey.]], but which the region's native Armenians, with help from the country itself, freed after a war between 1992-1994. It's now declared itself an independent country, which no one recognizes - no, not even Armenia, because the situation's basically been frozen ever since the 1994 ceasefire and [[StatusQuoIsGod nobody wants to provoke the other side in any way]]. See ArmosWithArmor for more information on this and the history of the Armenian military.

Armenia fell under the rule of almost anyone building an empire for the next thousand years or so after the Kingdom of Armenia fell, being ruled over from Persians to Parthians to Mongolians, eventually falling under Ottoman Turkish rule for the majority of the last millennium. It then was partitioned between Russia and Turkey. The Turkish Armenians fell under suspicion during the latter half of the 19th century, as the Ottoman Empire lost territory, and the remaining Christians in the empire became a scapegoat of sorts, resulting in sporadic massacres of the Armenians during this time. This finally came to a head during WorldWarOne, and the matter of the Armenian Genocide that was to follow is still a very contentious one - few western observers doubt that there was a major humanitarian disaster in the area in 1915, precipitated by Turkish troops against the Ottoman Empire's Christian population. The contention comes from Turkey; modern Turkey, nearly 100 years later, still [[DisContinuity refuses to even discuss the issue]], even though any crimes would have been committed by the government deposed by the current state. The Turkish government often goes to great lengths to force other countries not to pass any legislation acknowledging the Armenian Genocide. This has not stopped quite a number of countries from doing so anyway, however. In France it is even illegal to deny the genocide, and it carries the same penalty as denying the Holocaust.

* Charles Aznavour, of the French-Armenian diaspora.

Armenia is best described as an oddity - in an area mainly Muslim or Orthodox, it has its own form of Christianity, a language that seems to be in its own little branch of the Indo-European family (as far as anyone can guess, it descended from Phrygian and may be sorta-kinda closely related to Greek, but no one is 100% sure), its own alphabet and friendly towards Russia in a region increasingly hostile to them (having the Turks on one side, the Azeris on the other and a long history of being the regional ButtMonkey and [[TheWoobie Woobie]] tends to make them grateful for all the help they can get.) Armenia has fairly stable relations with Iran, and a bit of a love/hate relationship with Georgia through which it imports and exports to Russia. [[hottip:*: Though also Christian and sharing many cultural similarities with the Armenians, Georgia is more inclined to serve their own interests and remain neutral than protect Armenia from Turkey or Azerbaijan, plus they're a little bitter over Armenia's good relations with Russia.]]

Armenia is best described as an oddity - in an area mainly Muslim or Orthodox, it has its own form of Christianity, a language that seems to be in its own little branch of the Indo-European family, its own alphabet and friendly towards Russia in a region increasingly hostile to them (having the Turks on one side, the Azeris on the other and a long history of being the regional ButtMonkey and [[TheWoobie Woobie]] tends to make them grateful for all the help they can get.) Armenia has fairly stable relations with Iran, and a bit of a love/hate relationship with Georgia through which it imports and exports to Russia. [[hottip:*: Though also Christian and sharing many cultural similarities with the Armenians, Georgia is more inclined to serve their own interests and remain neutral than protect Armenia from Turkey or Azerbaijan, plus they're a little bitter over Armenia's good relations with Russia.]]

* Andre Agassi, whose father is Iranian-Armenian.

* Alex Manoogian, an Armenian-American industrialist and philanthropist known for starting an auto-parts empire and for donating his mansion to the [[MotorCity City of Detroit]] to serve as its executive residence.