Reflections on the First Republic

Dr. Richard Hovannisian reflects on the historical importance of the First Republic of Armenia. Three years after the devastation of genocide, the Armenian people found their resurrection in the founding of the First Republic of Armenia on May 28, 1918. This was a time of great joy and hope for the Armenian nation, and despite the fact that this small independent state lasted only a short three years, it was nevertheless an important turning point in modern history because without it there would not have been a Soviet Armenia and without Soviet Armenia there wouldn’t be the Armenian Republic of today.

Produced by AGBU WebTalks in partnership with the Zoryan Institute

Originally published May 2016.

About the speaker

Richard Hovannisian

Dr. Richard Hovannisian is Professor Emeritus of History and First Holder of the Armenian Educational Foundation Chair in Modern Armenian History at UCLA, the author or contributing editor of 32 books, including five volumes on the first Republic of Armenia and five volumes on the Armenian Genocide, together with some 80 scholarly articles. A Guggenheim Fellow, he is the initiator and six-time president of the Society for Armenian Studies, established in 1974, and has lectured worldwide on topics relating to Armenian and Near Eastern history and cultures, for which he has received numerous awards, commendations, and encyclicals.

Richard Hovannisian