The Participation of Armenians in the Russian Revolutionary Narodnik Movement in the 70s of the 19th Century

This article attempts to present the active participation of Armenian students in the revolutionary Narodnik (Populist) movement that emerged in Russia in the 60s and 70s of the 19th Century. Based on the fact that during this period the Armenian people, who were under the rule of the Ottoman and Russian Empires, never stopped striving to preserve their identity and achieve their main national goal of freedom, the Armenian youth, who joined the Narodnik movement that arose in Russia, also tried to use its opportunities for a fair solution to the national question. Armenian narodniks, who linked the solution of the national question with the victory of the All-Russian Revolution, not only participated in this movement with great enthusiasm, but sometimes headed some circles. Armenian activists often founded narodnik circles themselves, in which the majority were Armenians, especially in the Caucasus. This was due to the fact that, after graduation, the youth returned and became propagators of narodnik ideas in their homeland. The spread of populist ideas in Transcaucasia was also facilitated by the fact that the government sent politically unreliable – revolutionary-minded individuals to the Caucasus. The circles organized in Transcaucasia were analogues of Russian narodnik organizations. In all theoretical and tactical matters, they followed the Russian narodniks and, even from the point of view of the social composition of the organization’s members, did not differ fundamentally from the latter. Nevertheless, in the Armenian environment, the narodnik ideas gradually underwent qualitative changes and, under the influence of objective and subjective factors, local organizations with a national composition turned into national narodnik organizations. At the same time, they worked on adapting the ideology of revolutionary populism to various problems existing in the Armenian reality, and began to bring the problems of the national liberation movement to the forefront of their activities. In other words, the narodnik ideas acquired a national coloring in the Armenian reality. The authors conclude that due to socio-economic and political reasons, the emergence of the national Narodnik circles in Armenian reality became a qualitatively new phenomenon in socio-political life and became the basis for the formation of parties in Armenian reality in the near future. Therefore, the purpose of the study was to show the participation of Armenians in the Narodnik movement, and that, even under foreign rule, the Armenian progressive forces believed in the idea of restoring freedom and did everything possible to realize it. The objective of this article is to emphasize the desire to achieve the dreamed freedom through the ideas of the Narodnik revolutionary movement. At the present stage, taking into account the complex geopolitical conditions and changes that have taken place in the world, the coverage of the topic under study is of current importance, since the Armenian issue has once again found itself under threat, as well as from the point of view of strengthening the centuries-old friendship of the Armenian and Russian peoples at the present stage. Based on previously undiscovered documents, the article explores the little studied topic of the spread of Narodnik ideas in Armenian reality and the involvement of Armenians in this movement. An important source for studying the problem were the documents of the National Archives of the Russian Federation, Armenia and Georgia, most of which are introduced into scientific circulation for the first time in this article and determines the novelty of the research. Memoirs of the movement’s participants are also of great importance in studying the problem. Although many of them were written later, they contain quite detailed information. Of particular value are the memoirs of Khr. Mikaelyan, M. Shatiryan, R. Khan-Azat. These memoirs are quite reliable in the sense that the latter in their memoirs assessed the problems under the direct influence of their own impressions. The study and historical analysis of materials contained in primary sources and literature concerning the problem are necessary and have scientific and practical significance. The article is written using the methods of historicism, historical comparison and critical analysis, by formulating the corresponding conclusions.