Armenia

==History==
{{Main|History of Armenia}}

===Prehistoric===
{{Main|Prehistoric Armenia|Prehistory of the Armenians|Satrapy of Armenia|Kingdom of Armenia (antiquity)|Roman Armenia|Sasanian Armenia|Lesser Armenia|Armenian archeology}}
[[File:Zorats Karer 2008, part of the stone circle.jpg|right|thumb|Bronze Age burial site [[Zorats Karer]] (also known as [[Zorats Karer|Karahunj]]).]]
The first human traces are supported by the presence of Acheulean tools, generally close to the obsidian outcrops more than 1 million years ago.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Dolukhanov|first1=Pavel|last2=Aslanian|first2=Stepan|last3=Kolpakov|first3=Evgeny|last4=Belyaeva|first4=Elena|date=2004|title=Prehistoric Sites in Northern Armenia|url=http://www.antiquity.ac.uk/projgall/dolukhanov301/#author|journal=Antiquity|volume=78|issue=301}}</ref>

The most recent and important excavation is at the [[Nor Geghi|Nor Geghi 1]] Stone Age site in the [[Hrazdan river]] valley.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Adler|first1=D. S.|last2=Wilkinson|first2=K. N.|last3=Blockley|first3=S.|last4=Mark|first4=D. F.|last5=Pinhasi|first5=R.|last6=Schmidt-Magee|first6=B. A.|last7=Nahapetyan|first7=S.|last8=Mallol|first8=C.|last9=Berna|first9=F.|date=2014-09-26|title=Early Levallois technology and the Lower to Middle Paleolithic transition in the Southern Caucasus|journal=Science|language=en|volume=345|issue=6204|pages=1609–1613|doi=10.1126/science.1256484|issn=0036-8075|pmid=25258079|bibcode=2014Sci...345.1609A|s2cid=10266660}}</ref> Thousands of 325,000 year-old artifacts may indicate that this stage of human technological innovation occurred intermittently throughout the Old World, rather than spreading from a single point of origin (usually hypothesized to be Africa), as was previously thought.<ref>[http://www.science20.com/news_articles/325000_year_old_stone_age_site_in_armenia_leads_to_human_technology_rethink-145698 325,000 Year Old Stone Age Site In Armenia Leads To Human Technology Rethink]</ref>
[[File:Petrogliph-Ughtasar-Armenia2.jpg|thumb|[[Ughtasar Petroglyphs]], These petroglyphs, some believed to date back to the Paleolithic (12,000 BCE), are carved onto dark brownish-black volcanic stones left behind by an extinct volcano.]]

Many early Bronze Age settlements were built in Armenia (Valley of Ararat, Shengavit, Harich, Karaz, Amiranisgora, Margahovit, Garni, etc.). One of the important sites of the Early Bronze Age is [[Shengavit (site)|Shengavit Settlement]], It was located on the site of today's capital of Armenia, [[Yerevan]].
[[File:Shengavit Settlement 2.jpg|thumb|Shengavit Settlement.]]

[[File:Chalcolithic leather shoe from Areni-1 cave.jpg|left|thumb|A 5500-year-old leather shoe, the oldest shoe in the world, was discovered in the [[Areni-1 shoe|Areni cave]] in Armenia.]]

===Antiquity===
[[File:Arshakuni Armenia 150-en.svg|thumb|upright=1.3|Historical Armenia, 150 BC]]
Armenia lies in the highlands surrounding the mountains of [[Mount Ararat|Ararat]]. There is evidence of an early civilisation in Armenia in the [[Bronze Age]] and earlier, dating to about 4000 BC. Archaeological surveys in 2010 and 2011 at the [[Areni-1 cave complex]] have resulted in the discovery of [[Areni-1 shoe|the world's earliest known leather shoe]],<ref name="CNNc">{{cite news |publisher=[[CNN]] |title=Armenian cave yields what may be world's oldest leather shoe |url=http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/06/09/armenia.old.shoe/ |date=9 June 2010 |access-date=28 January 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180128074651/http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/06/09/armenia.old.shoe/ |archive-date=28 January 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref> skirt,<ref name=strawskirt>{{cite web |url = http://news.am/eng/news/73915.html |title = 5,900-year-old women's skirt discovered in Armenian cave |work = News Armenia |date = 13 September 2011 |access-date = 14 September 2011 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20171010142655/https://news.am/eng/news/73915.html |archive-date = 10 October 2017 |url-status = dead |df = dmy-all }}</ref> and [[Areni-1 winery|wine-producing facility]].<ref name="National Geographic">{{cite web|publisher=[[National Geographic Society|National Geographic]]|title=Earliest Known Winery Found in Armenian Cave|url=https://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/01/110111-oldest-wine-press-making-winery-armenia-science-ucla/|date=12 January 2011|access-date=28 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180108093549/https://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/01/110111-oldest-wine-press-making-winery-armenia-science-ucla/|archive-date=8 January 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[File:Xerxes I tomb Armenian soldier circa 470 BCE.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.7|Armenian soldier of the Achaemenid army, {{Circa|470 BC}}. [[Xerxes I]] tomb relief.]]
Several [[Bronze Age]] cultures and states flourished in the area of Greater Armenia, including the [[Trialeti culture|Trialeti-Vanadzor culture]], [[Hayasa-Azzi]], and [[Mitanni]] (located in southwestern historical Armenia), all of which are believed to have had Indo-European populations.<ref>{{cite journal | jstor=603403 | last1=Greppin | first1=John A. C. | last2=Diakonoff | first2=I. M. | title=Some Effects of the Hurro-Urartian People and Their Languages upon the Earliest Armenians | journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society | year=1991 | volume=111 | issue=4 | pages=720–730 | doi=10.2307/603403 }}</ref><ref>Joan Aruz, Kim Benzel, Jean M. Evans, ''Beyond Babylon: Art, Trade, and Diplomacy in the Second Millennium B.C.'' Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.)[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_gr5BgOwEJicC/page/n179] (2008) pp. 92</ref><ref>{{citation|url=https://docplayer.net/108120425-The-mushki-problem-reconsidered.html|title=The Mushki Problem Reconsidered|date=1997|first=Aram V.|last=Kossian|access-date=31 August 2019|archive-date=29 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190829005531/https://docplayer.net/108120425-The-mushki-problem-reconsidered.html|url-status=dead}} pp. 254</ref><ref>Peter I. Bogucki and Pam J. Crabtree [http://lukashevichus.info/knigi/ancient_europe_encycl_bogucki_crabtree_1.pdf ''Ancient Europe, 8000 B.C. to A.D. 1000: An Encyclopedia of the Barbarian World''.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160109082658/http://lukashevichus.info/knigi/ancient_europe_encycl_bogucki_crabtree_1.pdf |date=9 January 2016 }} Charles Scribner's Sons, 2004 {{ISBN|978-0684806686}}</ref><ref>Paul Thieme, The 'Aryan' Gods of the Mitanni Treaties. JAOS 80, 1960, 301-17</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Petrosyan|first=Armen|title=Towards the Origins of the Armenian People: The Problem of Identification of the Proto-Armenians: A Critical Review (in English)|journal=Journal for the Society of Armenian Studies|date=2007|volume=16|pages=49–54|url=https://www.academia.edu/3657764|access-date=30 August 2019|archive-date=4 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201004180224/https://www.academia.edu/3657764/Towards_the_Origins_of_the_Armenian_People_The_Problem_of_Identification_of_the_Proto_Armenians_A_Critical_Review_in_English_|url-status=live}}</ref> The [[Nairi]] confederation and its successor, [[Urartu]], successively established their sovereignty over the [[Armenian Highlands]]. Each of the aforementioned nations and confederacies participated in the ethnogenesis of the [[Armenians]].<ref>{{cite book|first=Vahan|last=Kurkjian|title=History of Armenia|location=Michigan|publisher=[[Armenian General Benevolent Union]]|year=1958|edition=1964|url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/Asia/Armenia/_Texts/KURARM/home.html|access-date=22 July 2009|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120527052930/http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/Asia/Armenia/_Texts/KURARM/home.html|archive-date=27 May 2012|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Armenian Soviet Encyclopedia|page=v. 12|location=Yerevan|publisher=Armenian Encyclopedia|year=1987|title-link=Armenian Soviet Encyclopedia}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=Artak|last=Movsisyan|title=Sacred Highland: Armenia in the spiritual conception of the Near East|publisher=Yerevan|year=2000}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=Martiros|last=Kavoukjian|title=The Genesis of Armenian People|publisher=Montreal|year=1982|author-link=Martiros Kavoukjian}}</ref> A large cuneiform lapidary inscription found in [[Yerevan]] established that the modern capital of Armenia was founded in the summer of 782&nbsp;BC by King [[Argishti I of Urartu|Argishti I]]. Yerevan is one of the world's [[List of oldest continuously inhabited cities|oldest continuously inhabited cities]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Bournoutian|first=George A.|title=A concise history of the Armenian people: (from ancient times to the present)|year=2003|publisher=Mazda Publishers|location=Costa Mesa, California|isbn=9781568591414|edition=2nd|author-link=George Bournoutian|url=https://archive.org/details/concisehistoryof00geor}}</ref>

[[File:Darius I the Great's inscription.jpg|thumb|[[Behistun Inscription|Behistun Inscription of Darius I]] mentioning Armenia. 6th century BC]]
After the fall of the state of [[Urartu]] at the beginning of the 6th century BC, the [[Armenian Highlands]] were for some time under the hegemony of the [[Medes]], and after that they were part of the [[Achaemenid Empire]]. Armenia was part of the Achaemenid state from the second half of the 6th century BC until the second half of the 4th century BC divided into two satrapies - XIII (western part, with the capital in [[Melitene]]) and XVIII (northeastern part).<ref name="ИВ">История Востока: в шести томах. Т. 1. Восток в древности / Отв. ред. В. А. Якобсен. — М.: Вост. лит., 1997. — 688 с. — {{ISBN|5-02-017936-1}}. Раздел «[http://gumilevica.kulichki.net/HE1/he129.htm#he129para1 Закавказье и сопредельные страны в период эллинизма] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150712015334/http://gumilevica.kulichki.net/HE1/he129.htm#he129para1}}»</ref>

During the late 6th century BC, the [[Satrapy of Armenia|first geographical entity that was called Armenia]] by neighbouring populations was established under the [[Orontid Dynasty]] within the [[Achaemenid Empire]], as part of the latter's territories.

[[File:Karte Pomponius Mela.jpg|thumb|Armenia on the oldest Roman map of [[Pomponius Mela]], 1st century BC Book I, 13: «The interior lands [of Asia] are inhabited by many different tribes: […] beyond the Caspian Gulf - Mosquitoes, Massagetae […] and where the country approaches our seas - Matians, Tibarans and names already more familiar to us: honeys, armenia, commagenes,...»]]

The kingdom became fully sovereign from the sphere of influence of the [[Seleucid Empire]] in 190 BC under King [[Artaxias I]] and begun the rule of the [[Artaxiad dynasty]]. Armenia reached its height between 95 and 66&nbsp;BC under [[Tigranes the Great]], becoming the most powerful kingdom of its time east of the [[Roman Republic]].<ref name="RydénRosenqvist1993">{{cite book | editor1 = Lennart Rydén | editor2 = Jan Olof Rosenqvist | author = Svenska forskningsinstitutet i Istanbul | date = 1993 | title = Aspects of Late Antiquity and Early Byzantium: Papers Read at a Colloquium Held at the Swedish Research Institute in Istanbul 31 May-5 June, 1992 | publisher = Swedish Research Institute | pages = | isbn = 9789186884055 | oclc = 1131566057}}</ref>
In the next centuries, Armenia was in the [[Persian Empire]]'s sphere of influence during the reign of [[Tiridates I of Armenia|Tiridates I]], the founder of the [[Arsacid dynasty of Armenia]], which itself was a branch of the [[Parthian Empire]]. Throughout its history, the kingdom of Armenia enjoyed both periods of independence and periods of autonomy subject to contemporary empires. Its strategic location between two continents has subjected it to invasions by many peoples, including [[Assyria]] (under [[Ashurbanipal]], at around 669–627 BC, the boundaries of Assyria reached as far as Armenia and the [[Caucasus Mountains]]),<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.worldhistory.org/assyria/|title=Assyria|author=Joshua J. Mark|encyclopedia=[[World History Encyclopedia]]|access-date=13 May 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210416073851/https://www.worldhistory.org/assyria/|archive-date=16 April 2021|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Medes]], [[Achaemenid Empire]], [[Greeks]], [[Parthian Empire|Parthians]], [[ancient Rome|Romans]], [[Sasanian Empire]], [[Byzantine Empire]], [[Arabs]], [[Seljuk Empire]], [[Mongols]], [[Ottoman Empire]], the successive [[Safavid dynasty|Safavid]], [[Afsharid dynasty|Afsharid]], and [[Qajar dynasty|Qajar]] dynasties of Iran, and the Russians.

[[File:Garni Temple 02.JPG|upright=0.8|thumb|The pagan [[Garni Temple]], probably built in the first century, is the only "Greco-Roman [[colonnade]]d building" in the [[post-Soviet states]].<ref>{{cite book|title=The Archaeology of Power and Politics in Eurasia: Regimes and Revolutions|date=2012|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-107-01652-1|page=65|editor1=Charles W. Hartley |editor2=G. Bike Yazicioğlu |editor3=Adam T. Smith |quote=...the unique temple-tomb at Garni, just east of Yerevan – the only Greco-Roman colonnaded building anywhere in the Soviet Union.}}</ref>]]
Religion in ancient Armenia was historically related to a set of beliefs that, in Persia, led to the emergence of [[Zoroastrianism]]. It particularly focused on the worship of [[Mithra]] and also included a pantheon of gods such as [[Aramazd]], [[Vahagn]], [[Anahit]], and [[Astghik]]. The country used the solar [[Armenian calendar]], which consisted of 12 months.

Christianity spread into the country in the early 4th century AD.<ref name="CIA">{{cite web|publisher=[[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] |title=The World Factbook: Armenia |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/armenia/ |access-date=15 November 2007 }}</ref> [[Tiridates III of Armenia]] (238–314) made Christianity the [[state religion]] in 301,<ref name="CIA"/><ref name="almanac">{{cite book|last=Brunner|first=Borgna|title=Time Almanac with Information Please 2007|page=[https://archive.org/details/timealmanac2007w00brun/page/685 685]|isbn=978-1-933405-49-0|year=2006|publisher=Time Home Entertainment|location=New York|url=https://archive.org/details/timealmanac2007w00brun/page/685}}</ref> partly, in defiance of the [[Sasanian Empire]], it seems,<ref name="books.google.nl">Mary Boyce. [https://books.google.com/books?id=a6gbxVfjtUEC&pg=PA84 ''Zoroastrians: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150919131431/https://books.google.com/books?id=a6gbxVfjtUEC&pg=PA84 |date=19 September 2015 }} Psychology Press, 2001 {{ISBN|0-415-23902-8}} p. 84</ref> becoming the first officially Christian state, ten years before the [[Roman Empire]] granted Christianity an official toleration under [[Galerius]], and 36&nbsp;years before [[Constantine the Great]] was baptised. Prior to this, during the latter part of the Parthian period, Armenia was a predominantly Zoroastrian country.<ref name="books.google.nl"/>

[[File:Vartanantz.jpg|thumb|A 15th-century [[Armenian language|Armenian]] miniature representing the [[Sassanid]] Persians in the [[Battle of Avarayr]] (451 CE)]]

After the fall of the Kingdom of Armenia in 428, most of Armenia was incorporated as a [[Sasanian Armenia|''marzpanate'' within the Sasanian Empire]].<ref name="Geukjian2016">{{cite book | author = Ohannes Geukjian | date = 13 May 2016 | title = Ethnicity, Nationalism and Conflict in the South Caucasus: Nagorno-Karabakh and the Legacy of Soviet Nationalities Policy | publisher = Routledge | pages = 30– | isbn = 978-1-317-14074-0 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=E_AoDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA30}}</ref> Following the [[Battle of Avarayr]] in 451, Christian Armenians maintained their religion and Armenia gained autonomy.<ref name="Panossian2006">{{cite book | author = Razmik Panossian | date = 27 May 2006 | title = The Armenians: From Kings and Priests to Merchants and Commissars | publisher = Columbia University Press | pages = 48– | isbn = 978-0-231-51133-9 | oclc = 1017996521 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=cEL-CuhdWU4C&pg=PA48}}</ref>

===Middle Ages===
{{main|Medieval Armenia}}
[[File:Etchmiadzin cathedral.jpg|thumb|The [[Etchmiadzin Cathedral]], Armenia's Mother Church traditionally dated 303 AD, is considered the oldest cathedral in the world.<ref>{{cite book|title=Encyclopedia of the Peoples of Africa and the Middle East|year=2008|publisher=[[Infobase Publishing]]|location=New York|isbn=978-1-4381-2676-0|page=65|editor=Stokes, Jamie|quote=Etchmiatzin is located in the west of modern Armenia, close to the border with Turkey, and its fourth-century cathedral is generally regarded as the oldest in the world.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Bauer-Manndorff|first=Elisabeth|title=Armenia: Past and Present|year=1981|publisher=Reich Verlag|location=Lucerne|oclc=8063377|quote=Etchmiadzin, with the world's oldest cathedral and the seat of the Catholicos, draws tourists from all over the world.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Utudjian|first=Édouard|title=Armenian Architecture: fourth to 17th Century|year=1968|publisher=Editions A. Morancé|location=Paris|oclc=464421|page=7|author-link=Édouard Utudjian|quote=...the oldest cathedral in Christendom, that of Etchmiadzin, founded in the fourth century.}}</ref>]]

The Sassanid Empire was conquered by the [[Rashidun Caliphate]] in the mid 7th century, reuniting Armenian lands previously taken by the [[Byzantine Empire]], and Armenia subsequently emerged as [[Arminiya]], an autonomous principality under the [[Umayyad Caliphate]]. The principality was ruled by the Prince of Armenia, and recognised by the [[Caliphate|Caliph]] and the [[List of Byzantine emperors|Byzantine Emperor]]. It was part of the administrative division/emirate ''Arminiya'' created by the Arabs, which also included parts of Georgia and [[Caucasian Albania]], and had its centre in the Armenian city, [[Dvin (ancient city)|Dvin]]. Arminiya lasted until 884, when it regained its independence from the weakened [[Abbasid Caliphate]] under [[Ashot I of Armenia]].{{Sfn|Canard|Cahen|1960}}

The reemergent Armenian kingdom was ruled by the [[Bagratuni dynasty]] and lasted until 1045. In time, several areas of the Bagratid Armenia separated as independent kingdoms and principalities such as the Kingdom of [[Vaspurakan]] ruled by the House of [[Artsruni]] in the south, Kingdom of [[Syunik Province|Syunik]] in the east, or [[Kingdom of Artsakh]] on the territory of modern [[Nagorno-Karabakh]], while still recognising the supremacy of the Bagratid kings.<ref name="Payaslian2008">{{cite book | author = S. Payaslian | date = 13 March 2008 | title = The History of Armenia: From the Origins to the Present | publisher = Springer | pages = 52– | isbn = 978-0-230-60858-0 | oclc = 1001334466 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=UMIWDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA52}}</ref>

[[File:Cilician Armenia-en.svg|thumb|left|upright=1.2|The [[Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia]], 1198–1375]]
In 1045, the Byzantine Empire conquered Bagratid Armenia. Soon, the other Armenian states fell under Byzantine control as well. The Byzantine rule was short-lived, as in 1071 the [[Seljuk Empire]] defeated the Byzantines and conquered Armenia at the [[Battle of Manzikert]], establishing the Seljuk Empire.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Holt |first1=Peter Malcolm |last2=Lambton |first2=Ann Katharine Swynford |last3=Lewis |first3=Bernard |name-list-style=amp |title=The Cambridge History of Islam |year=1977 |pages=231–32 }}</ref> To escape death or servitude at the hands of those who had assassinated his relative, [[Gagik II of Armenia]], King of [[Ani]], an Armenian named [[Ruben I, Prince of Armenia]], went with some of his countrymen into the gorges of the [[Taurus Mountains]] and then into [[Tarsus, Mersin|Tarsus]] of [[Cilicia]]. The Byzantine governor of the palace gave them shelter where the [[Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia]] was eventually established on 6 January 1198 under [[Leo I, King of Armenia]], a descendant of Prince Ruben.<ref name="EvansWixomWixom1997">{{cite book | editor1 = Helen C. Evans | editor2 = William D. Wixom | editor3 = William D.. Wixom | author1 = Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.) | author2 = N. Y.) Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York | author3 = Speros P. (jr.) Vryonis | author4 = Thomas F. Mathews | author5 = Jeffrey C. Anderson | author6 = Annemarie Weyl Carr | author7 = Henry Maguire | author8 = Robert G. Ousterhout | author9 = Ioli Kalavrezou | author10 = Eunice Dauterman Maguire | author11 = Olenka Z. Pevny | author12 = Joseph D. Alchermes | author13 = S. Peter Cowe | author14 = Thelma K. Thomas | author15 = Jaroslav Folda | author16 = Priscilla Soucek | date = 1997 | title = The Glory of Byzantium: Art and Culture of the Middle Byzantine Era, A.D. 843-1261 | publisher = Metropolitan Museum of Art | pages = 361– | isbn = 978-0-87099-777-8 | oclc = 1008249298 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Caqa12aj55wC&pg=PA361}}</ref>

Cilicia was a strong ally of the [[Crusades|European Crusaders]], and saw itself as a bastion of [[Christendom]] in the East. Cilicia's significance in Armenian history and statehood is also attested by the transfer of the seat of the Catholicos of the Armenian Apostolic Church, the spiritual leader of the Armenian people, to the region.

The Seljuk Empire soon started to collapse. In the early 12th century, Armenian princes of the Zakarid family drove out the Seljuk Turks and established a semi-independent principality in northern and eastern Armenia known as [[Zakarid Armenia]], which lasted under the patronage of the [[History of Georgia (country)|Georgian Kingdom]]. The [[Orbelian Dynasty]] shared control with the Zakarids in various parts of the country, especially in Syunik and [[Vayots Dzor Province|Vayots Dzor]], while the [[House of Hasan-Jalalyan]] controlled provinces of [[Artsakh (historic province)|Artsakh]] and [[Utik]] as the Kingdom of Artsakh.<ref name="Hovannisian2004">{{cite book |author=Richard G. Hovannisian |url=https://archive.org/details/armenianpeoplefr00rich_0/page/57/mode/2up |title=The Armenian People from Ancient to Modern Times: Volume I: The Dynastic Periods: From Antiquity to the Fourteenth Century |date=11 February 2004 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan US |isbn=978-1-4039-6422-9 |page=57 |oclc=805125065 |url-access=registration}}</ref>

===Early Modern era===
{{further|Iranian Armenia (1502–1828)|Armenians in the Ottoman Empire|Russian Armenia}}
[[File:Map Safavid persia.png|thumb|In 1501–02, most of the [[Eastern Armenia]]n territories, including Yerevan, were conquered by the emerging [[Safavid dynasty]] of Iran led by Shah [[Ismail I]].]]
During the 1230s, the [[Mongol Empire]] conquered Zakarid Armenia and then the remainder of Armenia. The Mongolian invasions were soon followed by those of other Central Asian tribes, such as the [[Kara Koyunlu]], [[Timurid dynasty]] and [[Ağ Qoyunlu]], which continued from the 13th century until the 15th century. After incessant invasions, each bringing destruction to the country, with time Armenia became weakened.<ref name="Hovannisian2004b">{{cite book | author = Richard G. Hovannisian | date = 11 February 2004 | title = The Armenian People from Ancient to Modern Times: Volume I: The Dynastic Periods: From Antiquity to the Fourteenth Century | publisher = Palgrave Macmillan US | pages =23–31 | isbn = 978-1-4039-6422-9 | oclc = 805125065}}</ref>

In the 16th century, the [[Ottoman Empire]] and the [[Safavid dynasty]] of Iran divided Armenia. From the early 16th century, both [[Western Armenia]] and [[Eastern Armenia]] fell to the Safavid Empire.<ref>{{cite book|last=Rayfield|first=Donald|title=Edge of Empires: A History of Georgia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PxQpmg_JIpwC&pg=PA165|year=2013|publisher=Reaktion Books|isbn=978-1-78023-070-2|page=165|access-date=28 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170205172633/https://books.google.com/books?id=PxQpmg_JIpwC&pg=PA165|archive-date=5 February 2017|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Ward2014">{{cite book|last=Ward|first=Steven R.|title=Immortal, Updated Edition: A Military History of Iran and Its Armed Forces|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MOuVAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA43|year=2014|publisher=Georgetown University Press|isbn=978-1-62616-032-3|page=43|access-date=28 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170205171942/https://books.google.com/books?id=MOuVAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA43|archive-date=5 February 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> Owing to the century long [[Ottoman–Safavid relations|Turco-Iranian geopolitical rivalry]] that would last in Western Asia, significant parts of the region were frequently fought over between the two rivalling empires during the [[Ottoman–Persian Wars]]. From the mid 16th century with the [[Peace of Amasya]], and decisively from the first half of the 17th century with the [[Treaty of Zuhab]] until the first half of the 19th century,<ref name="HerzigKurkchiyan2004">{{cite book|last1=Herzig|first1=Edmund|last2=Kurkchiyan|first2=Marina|title=The Armenians: Past and Present in the Making of National Identity|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B8WRAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA47|year=2004|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-135-79837-6|page=47|access-date=28 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170111210219/https://books.google.com/books?id=B8WRAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA47|archive-date=11 January 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> Eastern Armenia was ruled by the successive Safavid, [[Afsharid dynasty|Afsharid]] and [[Qajar dynasty|Qajar]] empires, while Western Armenia remained under [[Ottoman Turkey|Ottoman]] rule.

From 1604, [[Abbas I of Persia|Abbas I of Iran]] implemented a "[[scorched earth]]" policy in the region to protect his north-western frontier against any [[Ottoman–Safavid War (1603–1618)|invading Ottoman forces]], a policy that involved a [[History of Armenia#Persian Armenia|forced resettlement]] of masses of Armenians outside of their homelands.<ref>H. Nahavandi, Y. Bomati, ''Shah Abbas, empereur de Perse (1587–1629)'' (Perrin, Paris, 1998)</ref>
[[File:Siege of Erivan Fortress on 1 October 1827.jpg|thumb|[[Capture of Erivan]] fortress by Russian troops in 1827 during the [[Russo-Persian War (1826–28)]] by [[Franz Roubaud]]]]
In the 1813 [[Treaty of Gulistan]] and the 1828 [[Treaty of Turkmenchay]], following the [[Russo-Persian War (1804–13)]] and the [[Russo-Persian War (1826–28)]], respectively, the [[Qajar dynasty]] of Iran was forced to irrevocably cede [[Eastern Armenia]], consisting of the [[Erivan Khanate|Erivan]] and [[Karabakh Khanate]]s, to [[Imperial Russia]].<ref name="Mikaberidze2011">{{cite book|last=Mikaberidze|first=Alexander|author-link=Alexander Mikaberidze|title=Conflict and Conquest in the Islamic World: A Historical Encyclopedia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jBBYD2J2oE4C&pg=PA351|year=2011|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-59884-337-8|pages=33, 351|access-date=28 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170205173031/https://books.google.com/books?id=jBBYD2J2oE4C&pg=PA351|archive-date=5 February 2017|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Dowling2014">{{cite book|last=Dowling|first=Timothy C.|title=Russia at War: From the Mongol Conquest to Afghanistan, Chechnya, and Beyond &#91;2 volumes&#93;|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KTq2BQAAQBAJ&pg=PA728|year=2014|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-59884-948-6|pages=728–|access-date=28 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170208103437/https://books.google.com/books?id=KTq2BQAAQBAJ&pg=PA728|archive-date=8 February 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> This period is known as [[Russian Armenia]].

While Western Armenia still remained under Ottoman rule, the Armenians were granted considerable autonomy within their own [[enclave]]s and lived in relative harmony with other groups in the empire (including the ruling Turks). However, as Christians under a strict Muslim [[social structure]], Armenians faced pervasive discrimination. In response to [[1894 Sasun rebellion]], Sultan [[Abdul Hamid II]] organised state-sponsored massacres against the Armenians between 1894 and 1896, resulting in an estimated death toll of 80,000 to 300,000 people. The [[Hamidian massacres]], as they came to be known, gave Hamid international infamy as the "Red Sultan" or "Bloody Sultan".<ref>{{cite book|last1=Minahan|first1=James|title=The complete guide to national symbols and emblems|date=2010|publisher=Greenwood Press|location=Santa Barbara, Calif.|isbn=978-0-313-34497-8|page=310|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jfrWCQAAQBAJ|access-date=27 August 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151025182604/https://books.google.com/books?id=jfrWCQAAQBAJ|archive-date=25 October 2015|url-status=live}}</ref>

During the 1890s, the [[Armenian Revolutionary Federation]], commonly known as ''Dashnaktsutyun'', became active within the [[Ottoman Empire]] with the aim of unifying the various small groups in the empire that were advocating for reform and defending Armenian villages from massacres that were widespread in some of the Armenian-populated areas of the empire. Dashnaktsutyun members also formed [[Armenian fedayi]] groups that defended Armenian civilians through armed resistance. The Dashnaks also worked for the wider goal of creating a "free, independent and unified" Armenia, although they sometimes set aside this goal in favour of a more realistic approach, such as advocating autonomy.

The Ottoman Empire began to collapse, and in 1908, the [[Young Turk Revolution]] overthrew the government of Sultan Hamid. In April 1909, the [[Adana massacre]] occurred in the [[Adana Vilayet]] of the Ottoman Empire resulting in the deaths of as many as 20,000–30,000 Armenians. The Armenians living in the empire hoped that the [[Committee of Union and Progress]] would change their second-class status. The [[Armenian reform package]] (1914) was presented as a solution by appointing an [[inspector general]] over Armenian issues.<ref>{{cite book |last=Kirakosian|first=J. S.|title=Hayastane michazkayin divanakitut'yan ew sovetakan artakin kaghakakanut'yan pastateghterum, 1828–1923 |trans-title=Armenia in the documents of international diplomacy and Soviet foreign policy, 1828–1923 |publisher=Yerevan|year=1972|pages=149–358|language=hy}}</ref>

===World War I and the Armenian genocide===
{{main|Armenian genocide}}
[[File:Morgenthau336.jpg|thumb|[[Armenian genocide]] victims in 1915]]
The outbreak of World War I led to confrontation between the [[Ottoman Empire]] and the [[Russian Empire]] in the [[Caucasus campaign|Caucasus]] and [[Persian campaign (World War I)|Persian campaign]]s. The new government in [[Istanbul]] began to look on the Armenians with distrust and suspicion because the [[Imperial Russian Army]] contained a contingent of [[Armenian volunteer units|Armenian volunteers]]. On 24 April 1915, [[Deportation of Armenian intellectuals on 24 April 1915|Armenian intellectuals were arrested by Ottoman authorities]] and, with the [[Tehcir Law]] (29 May 1915), eventually a large proportion of Armenians living in [[Anatolia]] perished in what has become known as the [[Armenian genocide]].

The genocide was implemented in two phases: the wholesale killing of the able-bodied male population through massacre and subjection of army conscripts to forced labour, followed by the deportation of women, children, the elderly and infirm on [[death march]]es leading to the [[Syrian desert]]. Driven forward by military escorts, the deportees were deprived of food and water and subjected to periodic robbery, rape, and massacre.<ref>{{Citation|first1=Hans-Lukas|last1=Kieser|first2=Dominik J.|last2=Schaller|language=de|title=Der Völkermord an den Armeniern und die Shoah|trans-title=The Armenian genocide and the Shoah|publisher=Chronos|year=2002|isbn=978-3-0340-0561-6|page=114}}</ref><ref>{{citation |title = Armenia: The Survival of A Nation |first = Christopher J. |last = Walker |publisher = Croom Helm |place = London |year = 1980 |pages = 200–03}}</ref> There was local [[Armenian resistance during the Armenian genocide|Armenian resistance]] in the region, developed against the activities of the Ottoman Empire. The events of 1915 to 1917 are regarded by Armenians and the vast majority of Western historians to have been state-sponsored mass killings, or genocide.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.umd.umich.edu/dept/armenian/facts/gen_bib1.html|archive-url=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20011116212954/http://www.umd.umich.edu/dept/armenian/facts/gen_bib1.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=16 November 2001|title=Extensive bibliography by University of Michigan on the Armenian genocide |publisher=Umd.umich.edu |access-date=30 December 2010}}</ref>

Turkish authorities deny the genocide took place to this day. The Armenian Genocide is acknowledged to have been one of the first modern [[genocide]]s.<ref name="24.04.1998">{{cite web |url = http://www.armenian-genocide.org/Affirmation.153/current_category.7/affirmation_detail.html |title = Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly Resolution |publisher = Armenian genocide |access-date = 10 February 2016 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160303171925/http://www.armenian-genocide.org/Affirmation.153/current_category.7/affirmation_detail.html |archive-date = 3 March 2016 |url-status=live |df = dmy-all }}</ref><ref name="Ferguson">{{Cite book |author-link = Niall Ferguson |last = Ferguson |first = Niall |title = The War of the World: Twentieth-Century Conflict and the Descent of the West |place = New York |publisher = Penguin Press |year = 2006 |isbn = 978-1-59420-100-4 |page = [https://archive.org/details/warofworldtwenti00nial/page/177 177] |url = https://archive.org/details/warofworldtwenti00nial/page/177 }}</ref> According to the research conducted by [[Arnold J. Toynbee]], an estimated 600,000 Armenians died during deportation from 1915 to 1916. This figure, however, accounts for solely the first year of the Genocide and does not take into account those who died or were killed after the report was compiled on 24 May 1916.<ref>[[Robert Melson (political scientist)|Robert Melson]], ''Revolution and Genocide: On the Origins of the Armenian genocide and the Holocaust'', University of Chicago Press, 15 October 1992, p. 147</ref> The [[International Association of Genocide Scholars]] places the death toll at "more than a million".<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6045182.stm Q&A: Armenian genocide dispute] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070301211630/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6045182.stm |date=1 March 2007 }}. BBC News. 10 July 2008.</ref> The total number of people killed has been most widely estimated at between 1 and 1.5 million.<ref>{{cite web|title = Tsitsernakaberd Memorial Complex|url = http://www.genocide-museum.am/eng/Description_and_history.php|publisher = [[Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute]]|access-date = 10 February 2016|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160120092829/http://www.genocide-museum.am/eng/Description_and_history.php|archive-date = 20 January 2016|url-status=live|df = dmy-all}}</ref>

Armenia and the Armenian diaspora have been campaigning for [[Recognition of the Armenian genocide|official recognition]] of the events as genocide for over 30&nbsp;years. These events are traditionally commemorated yearly on 24 April, the Armenian Martyr Day, or the Day of the Armenian genocide.<ref name="Matiossian2021">{{cite book | author = Vartan Matiossian | date = 23 September 2021 | title = The Politics of Naming the Armenian Genocide: Language, History and 'Medz Yeghern' | publisher = Bloomsbury Publishing | pages = 125– | isbn = 978-0-7556-4109-3 | oclc = 1247655673 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=-j9DEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA125}}</ref>

===First Republic of Armenia===
{{main|First Republic of Armenia}}
[[File:First Republic of Armenia.png|thumb|{{legend|#FF7F00|Territory held by [[First Republic of Armenia|Armenia]] and the [[Karabakh Council]] at some point}} {{legend|beige|Area given to Armenia by the [[Treaty of Sèvres]], which was never enforced<ref>{{cite book|last=Hille|first=Charlotte Mathilde Louise|title=State Building and Conflict Resolution in the Caucasus|url=https://archive.org/details/statebuildingcon00hill|url-access=limited|year=2010|publisher=Brill|location=Leiden, Netherlands|isbn=978-90-04-17901-1|page=[https://archive.org/details/statebuildingcon00hill/page/n165 151]}}</ref>}}]]
[[File:Government-House-of-Republic-of-Armenia-1918-1920.jpg|thumb|upright|The Government house of the [[First Republic of Armenia]] (1918–1920)]]
Although the [[Russian Caucasus Army (World War I)|Russian Caucasus Army]] of Imperial forces commanded by [[Nikolai Yudenich]] and Armenians in volunteer units and Armenian militia led by [[Andranik Ozanian]] and [[Tovmas Nazarbekian]] succeeded in gaining most of [[Western Armenia]] during World War I, their gains were lost with the [[October Revolution|Bolshevik Revolution of 1917]].{{citation needed|date=July 2009}} At the time, Russian-controlled [[Eastern Armenia]], Georgia, and [[Azerbaijan]] attempted to bond together in the [[Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic]]. This federation, however, lasted from only February to May 1918, when all three parties decided to dissolve it. As a result, the Dashnaktsutyun government of Eastern Armenia declared its independence on 28 May as the [[First Republic of Armenia]] under the leadership of [[Aram Manukian]].

The First Republic's short-lived independence was fraught with war, [[territorial dispute]]s, [[Muslim uprisings in Kars and Sharur–Nakhichevan|large-scale rebellions]], and a mass influx of refugees from Western Armenia, bringing with them disease and starvation. The [[Allies of World War I|Entente Powers]] sought to help the newly founded Armenian state through relief funds and other forms of support.

At the end of the war, the victorious powers sought to divide up the Ottoman Empire. Signed between the [[Allies of World War I|Allied and Associated Powers]] and [[Ottoman Empire]] at [[Sèvres]] on 10 August 1920, the [[Treaty of Sèvres]] promised to maintain the existence of the Armenian republic and to attach the former territories of Western Armenia to it. Because the new borders of Armenia were to be drawn by United States President [[Woodrow Wilson]], Western Armenia was also referred to as "[[Wilsonian Armenia]]". In addition, just days prior, on 5 August 1920, [[Mihran Damadian]] of the Armenian National Union, the de facto Armenian administration in Cilicia, declared the independence of [[Cilicia]] as an Armenian autonomous republic under French protectorate.<ref>Hovannisian, Richard, and Simon Payaslian. Armenian Cilicia. Costa Mesa: Mazda Publishers, Inc., 2008. 483. Print.</ref>

There was even consideration of making Armenia a mandate under the protection of the United States. The treaty, however, was rejected by the [[Turkish National Movement]], and never came into effect. The movement used the treaty as the occasion to declare itself the rightful [[Politics of Turkey|government of Turkey]], replacing the monarchy based in [[Istanbul]] with a republic based in [[Ankara]].

[[File:11thRedArmyYerevan.jpg|thumb|left|Advance of the [[11th Army (RSFSR)|11th Red Army]] into the city of Yerevan]]
In 1920, Turkish nationalist forces invaded the fledgling Armenian republic from the east. Turkish forces under the command of [[Kâzım Karabekir|Kazım Karabekir]] captured Armenian territories that Russia had annexed in the aftermath of the [[Russo-Turkish War (1877–78)|1877–1878 Russo-Turkish War]] and occupied the old city of Alexandropol (present-day [[Gyumri]]). The violent conflict finally concluded with the [[Treaty of Alexandropol]] on 2 December 1920. The treaty forced Armenia to disarm most of its [[Armed forces|military forces]], cede all former Ottoman territory granted to it by the [[Treaty of Sèvres]], and to give up all the "Wilsonian Armenia" granted to it at the Sèvres treaty. Simultaneously, the [[11th Army (RSFSR)|Soviet Eleventh Army]], under the command of [[Grigoriy Ordzhonikidze]], invaded Armenia at Karavansarai (present-day [[Ijevan]]) on 29 November. By 4 December, Ordzhonikidze's forces entered Yerevan and the short-lived Armenian republic collapsed.<ref name="Pipes1997">{{cite book | author = Richard Pipes | date = 25 April 1997 | title = The Formation of the Soviet Union: Communism and Nationalism, 1917-1923, First Edition | publisher = Harvard University Press | pages = | isbn = 978-0-674-41764-9 | oclc = 1259423784 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=IVgwEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT167}}</ref>

After the fall of the republic, the [[February Uprising]] soon took place in 1921, and led to the establishment of the [[Republic of Mountainous Armenia]] by Armenian forces under command of [[Garegin Nzhdeh]] on 26 April, which fought off both Soviet and Turkish intrusions in the Zangezur region of southern Armenia. After Soviet agreements to include the [[Syunik Province]] in Armenia's borders, the rebellion ended and the Red Army took control of the region on 13 July.

===Armenian SSR===
{{main|Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic}}
[[File:Emblem of the Armenian SSR.svg|thumb|The coat of arms of [[Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic|Soviet Armenia]] depicting [[Mount Ararat]] in the centre]]

====1922 till WWII====
Armenia was annexed by the [[Red Army]] and along with [[Democratic Republic of Georgia|Georgia]] and [[Azerbaijan Democratic Republic|Azerbaijan]], was incorporated into the [[Union of Soviet Socialist Republics]] as part of the [[Transcaucasian SFSR]] (TSFSR) on 4 March 1922.<ref name="main1">{{cite web |url=http://www.countriesquest.com/asia/azerbaijan/history/the_soviet_period.htm |title=The Soviet Period – History – Azerbaijan – Asia |access-date=25 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110929150339/http://www.countriesquest.com/asia/azerbaijan/history/the_soviet_period.htm |archive-date=29 September 2011 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="BSE">[https://web.archive.org/web/20150925080238/http://bse.chemport.ru/zakavkazskaya_federatsiya.shtml Закавказская федерация]. ''Большая советская энциклопедия'', 3-е изд., гл. ред. А. М. Прохоров. Москва: Советская энциклопедия, 1972. Т. 9 ({{cite book|section = Transcaucasian Federation |title = Great Soviet Encyclopedia |editor = A. M. Prokhorov|language = ru |publisher = Soviet Encyclopedia |location = Moscow |year = 1972 |volume = 9|display-editors=etal|title-link = Great Soviet Encyclopedia }})</ref> With this annexation, the Treaty of Alexandropol was superseded by the Turkish-Soviet [[Treaty of Kars]]. In the agreement, Turkey allowed the Soviet Union to assume control over [[Adjara]] with the port city of [[Batumi]] in return for sovereignty over the cities of [[Kars]], [[Ardahan]], and [[Iğdır]], all of which were part of Russian Armenia.<ref name="main1"/><ref name="BSE"/>

The TSFSR existed from 1922 to 1936, when it was divided up into three separate entities ([[Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic|Armenian SSR]], [[Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic|Azerbaijan SSR]], and [[Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic|Georgian SSR]]). Armenians enjoyed a period of relative stability within USSR in contrast to the turbulent final years of the Ottoman Empire. The situation was difficult for the church, which struggled with [[Religion in soviet union|secular policies of USSR]]. After the death of [[Vladimir Lenin]], [[Joseph Stalin]], the general secretary of the [[CPSU|Communist Party]], gradually established himself as the dictator of the USSR. Stalin's reign was characterized by mass repressions, that cost millions of lives all over the USSR.{{Citation needed|reason=Repressions, sure, but millions of lives is a heavily disputed topic, so it would be good to have sources for this in this context|date=September 2023}}

====WWII; post-Stalinist period====
[[File:ArmenianStamps-066-069.jpg|thumb|Armenian [[Marshal of the Soviet Union|Marshal]]s and [[Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union|Admiral]] of World War II on stamps:<br />[[Ivan Bagramyan|Bagramyan]], [[Ivan Isakov|Isakov]], [[Hamazasp Babadzhanian|Babadzhanian]], [[Sergei Khudyakov|Khudyakov]]]]

Armenia was not the scene of any battles in [[Eastern Front (World War II)|World War II]]. An estimated 500,000 Armenians (nearly a third of the population) served in the [[Red Army]] during the war, and 175,000 died.<ref>C. Mouradian, ''L'Armenie sovietique'', pp. 278–79</ref> A total of 117 citizens of Armenia including 10 non ethnic Armenians were awarded [[Hero of the Soviet Union]]. Six special military divisions were formed in Soviet Armenia in 1941–42, partly because so many draftees from the republic could not understand Russian. Five of them, the [[Soviet 89th "Tamanyan" Division|89th]], [[409th Rifle Division|409th]], [[408th Rifle Division (Soviet Union)|408th]], [[390th Rifle Division|390th]], and [[76th Rifle Division (Soviet Union)|76th]] Divisions, would have a distinguished war record, while the sixth was ordered to stay in Armenia to guard the republic's western borders against a possible incursion by neighboring Turkey.
The [[Soviet 89th "Tamanyan" Division|89th Tamanyan Division]], composed of ethnic Armenians, fought in the [[Battle of Berlin]] and entered [[Berlin]].

It is claimed{{By whom|date=September 2023}} that the freedom index in the region had seen an improvement after the [[State funeral of Joseph Stalin|death of Joseph Stalin]] in 1953 and the emergence of [[Nikita Khrushchev]] as the new general secretary of the [[CPSU]]. Soon, life in Armenia's SSR began to see rapid improvement. The church, which was limited during the secretaryship of Stalin, was revived when [[Catholicos of All Armenians|Catholicos]] [[Vazgen I]] assumed the duties of his office in 1955. In 1967, a memorial to the victims of the Armenian genocide was built at the [[Tsitsernakaberd]] hill above the [[Hrazdan]] [[Canyon|gorge]] in [[Yerevan]]. This occurred after [[1965 Yerevan demonstrations|mass demonstrations]] took place on the tragic event's fiftieth anniversary in 1965.

====Gorbachev era====

[[File:Karabakh movement demonstration at Yerevan Opera square (4).jpg|thumb|Armenians gather at [[Freedom Square, Yerevan|Theater Square]] in central [[Yerevan]] to claim unification of [[Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast]] with the [[Armenian SSR]] (1988)]]

During the [[Mikhail Gorbachev|Gorbachev]] era of the 1980s, with the reforms of [[Glasnost]] and [[Perestroika]], Armenians began to demand better environmental care for their country, opposing the pollution that Soviet-built factories brought. Tensions also developed between Soviet Azerbaijan and its autonomous district of [[Nagorno-Karabakh]], a majority-Armenian region. About 484,000 [[Armenians in Azerbaijan|Armenians]] lived in Azerbaijan in 1970.<ref>"[http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Azerbaijan+Soviet+Socialist+Republic Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111103114602/http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Azerbaijan+Soviet+Socialist+Republic |date=3 November 2011}}". The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979).</ref> The Armenians of Karabakh demanded unification with Soviet Armenia. Peaceful protests in Armenia supporting the Karabakh Armenians were met with anti-Armenian [[pogrom]]s in Azerbaijan, such as the one in [[Sumgait pogrom|Sumgait]], which was followed by [[Gugark massacre|anti-Azerbaijani violence]] in Armenia.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.rferl.org/a/1088062.html |title=Azerbaijan: Armenians and Azerbaijanis Remember Suffering |archive-url=https://archive.today/20201220163702/https://www.rferl.org/a/1088062.html |archive-date=20 December 2020 |access-date=11 January 2021 |work=[[Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty]]|date=9 April 2008 |last1=Naegele |first1=Jolyon }}</ref> Compounding Armenia's problems was a [[1988 Armenian earthquake|devastating earthquake]] in 1988 with a [[moment magnitude scale|moment magnitude]] of 7.2.<ref>Eastern Europe, Russia and Central Asia 2004. p. 74 by Imogen Gladman, [[Taylor and Francis|Taylor & Francis]] Group</ref>

Gorbachev's inability to alleviate any of Armenia's problems created disillusionment among the Armenians and fed a growing hunger for independence. In May 1990, the New [[Armenian Army]] (NAA) was established, serving as a defence force separate from the Soviet [[Red Army]]. Clashes soon broke out between the NAA and [[Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs|Soviet Internal Security Forces]] (MVD) troops based in Yerevan when Armenians decided to commemorate the establishment of the 1918 First Republic of Armenia. The violence resulted in the deaths of five Armenians killed in a shootout with the MVD at the railway station. Witnesses there claimed that the MVD used excessive force and that they had instigated the fighting.{{Citation needed|date=September 2023}}

Further firefights between Armenian militiamen and Soviet troops occurred in [[Nubarashen|Sovetashen]], near the capital and resulted in the deaths of over 26 people, mostly Armenians. The [[pogrom of Armenians in Baku]] in January 1990 forced almost all of the 200,000 Armenians in the Azerbaijani capital [[Baku]] to flee to Armenia.<ref>[http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/rights/articles/pp021603.shtml Notes from Baku: Black January] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090827072157/http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/rights/articles/pp021603.shtml |date=27 August 2009}}. Rufat Ahmedov. EurasiaNet Human Rights.</ref> On 23 August 1990, Armenia declared its sovereignty on its territory. On 17 March 1991, Armenia, along with the [[Baltic states]], Georgia and [[Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic|Moldova]], boycotted a nationwide [[1991 Soviet Union referendum|referendum]] in which 78% of all voters voted for the retention of the Soviet Union in a reformed form.<ref name="NewsBrief">{{cite web|url=http://soviethistory.org/index.php?action=L2&SubjectID=1991march&Year=1991 |title=The March Referendum |access-date=10 November 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061015092843/http://www.soviethistory.org/index.php?action=L2&SubjectID=1991march&Year=1991 |archive-date=15 October 2006}}</ref>

===Restoration of independence===
{{Main|History of Armenia#Independent Armenia (1991-today)}}
[[File:NKR war.JPG|thumb|Armenian soldiers in 2008, during the ongoing and unresolved [[Nagorno-Karabakh conflict]]]]
On 21 September 1991, Armenia officially declared its [[statehood]] after the [[1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt|failed August coup]] in Moscow, [[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic|RSFSR]]. [[Levon Ter-Petrosyan]] was popularly elected the first President of the newly independent Republic of Armenia on 16 October 1991. He had risen to prominence by leading the [[Karabakh movement]] for the unification of the Armenian-populated [[Nagorno-Karabakh]].<ref name="Croissant"/> On 26 December 1991, the Soviet Union ceased to exist and Armenia's independence was recognised.

Ter-Petrosyan led Armenia alongside Defense Minister [[Vazgen Sargsyan]] through the [[First Nagorno-Karabakh War]] with neighbouring Azerbaijan. The initial post-Soviet years were marred by economic difficulties, which had their roots early in the Karabakh conflict when the [[Azerbaijani Popular Front Party|Azerbaijani Popular Front]] managed to pressure the Azerbaijan SSR to instigate a railway and air [[blockade]] against Armenia. This move effectively debilitated Armenia's economy as 85% of its cargo and goods arrived through rail traffic.<ref name="Croissant">{{cite book
|last=Croissant
|first=Michael P.
|title=The Armenia-Azerbaijan Conflict: Causes and Implications
|publisher=Praeger
|year=1998
|location=London
|isbn=978-0-275-96241-8
|url=https://archive.org/details/armeniaazerbaija00croi
}}</ref> In 1993, Turkey joined the blockade against Armenia in support of Azerbaijan.<ref name=GHF>{{cite web |url=http://www.globalheritagefund.org/news/GHF_in_the_news/economist_ties_that_divide_june_17_06.asp |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060820170846/http://www.globalheritagefund.org/news/GHF_in_the_news/economist_ties_that_divide_june_17_06.asp |archive-date=20 August 2006 |publisher=[[Global Heritage Fund]] |title=The Ties That Divide |date=17 June 2006 |access-date=22 July 2009}}</ref>

[[File:September 21, 2011 parade, Yerevan.jpg|thumb|left|upright|21 September 2011 parade in Yerevan, marking the 20th anniversary of Armenia's re-independence]]
The Karabakh war ended after a Russian-brokered [[ceasefire]] was put in place in 1994. The war was a success for the Karabakh Armenian forces who managed to capture 16% of Azerbaijan's internationally recognised territory including almost all of the Nagorno-Karabakh itself.<ref name="DeWaal">{{cite book |first=Thomas|last=De Waal|title=Black Garden: Armenia And Azerbaijan Through Peace and War|location=New York|publisher=New York University Press|page=240|isbn=978-0-8147-1945-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jycTCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA240 |year=2004}}</ref> The Armenian backed forces remained in control of practically all of that territory until 2020. The economies of both Armenia and Azerbaijan have been hurt in the absence of a complete resolution and Armenia's borders with Turkey and Azerbaijan remain closed. By the time both Azerbaijan and Armenia had finally agreed to a ceasefire in 1994, an estimated 30,000 people had been killed and over a million had been displaced.<ref>[http://belfercenter.ksg.harvard.edu/publication/1283/conflict_that_can_be_resolved_in_time.html A Conflict That Can Be Resolved in Time: Nagorno-Karabakh] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081001192200/http://belfercenter.ksg.harvard.edu/publication/1283/conflict_that_can_be_resolved_in_time.html |date=1 October 2008 }}. International Herald Tribune. 29 November 2003.</ref> Several thousand were killed in the later 2020 Karabakh war.

===21st century===
In the 21st century, Armenia faces many hardships. It has made a full switch to a [[market economy]]. One study ranks it the 50th most "economically free" nation in the world, {{As of|2023|lc=y}}.<ref name="economic-index">{{cite web|url=https://heritage.org/index/country/armenia|title=Heritage Index of Economic Freedom|publisher=[[The Heritage Foundation]]|access-date=22 June 2023|archive-date=29 September 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230929071128/https://www.heritage.org/index/country/armenia|url-status=dead}}</ref> Its relations with Europe, the [[Arab League]], and the [[Commonwealth of Independent States]] have allowed Armenia to increase trade.<ref name="EPP Group">{{cite web|url=http://eppgroup.eu/press-release/Georgia-and-Armenia%3A-EU-reaches-trade-deal|title=EU negotiations with Armenia and Georgia on Free Trade Agreements successfully concluded|publisher=EPP Group|access-date=10 February 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160120092829/http://www.eppgroup.eu/press-release/Georgia-and-Armenia:-EU-reaches-trade-deal|archive-date=20 January 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="Arka news agency">{{cite web|url=http://arka.am/en/news/interview/armenia_will_significantly_increase_its_revenues_by_reinforcing_its_role_of_a_transit_country_betwee/|title=Armenia will significantly increase its revenues by reinforcing its role of a transit country between Europe, CIS and Middle East|date=28 March 2013 |publisher=Arka News Agency|access-date=10 February 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160216041554/http://arka.am/en/news/interview/armenia_will_significantly_increase_its_revenues_by_reinforcing_its_role_of_a_transit_country_betwee/|archive-date=16 February 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> Gas, oil, and other supplies come through two vital routes: Iran and Georgia. {{as of|2016}}, Armenia maintained cordial relations with both countries.<ref name="European Dialogue">{{cite web|url=http://eurodialogue.eu/676|title=Europe Could Draw Gas Through Iran–Armenia Pipeline|publisher=European dialogue|access-date=10 February 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160217042353/http://eurodialogue.eu/676|archive-date=17 February 2016}}</ref>{{update after|2020}}

The [[2018 Armenian revolution|2018 Armenian Revolution]] was a series of anti-government protests in Armenia from April to May 2018 staged by various political and civil groups led by a member of the Armenian parliament — [[Nikol Pashinyan]] (head of the [[Civil Contract (Armenia)|Civil Contract]] party). Protests and marches took place initially in response to [[Serzh Sargsyan|Serzh Sargsyan's]] third consecutive term as President of Armenia and later against the [[Republican Party of Armenia|Republican Party]] controlled government in general. Pashinyan declared the movement, which led to Sargsyan's resignation, a "[[velvet revolution]]".<ref>{{cite news|title="Velvet Revolution" Takes Armenia into the Unknown|url=https://www.crisisgroup.org/europe-central-asia/caucasus/armenia/velvet-revolution-takes-armenia-unknown|publisher=[[Crisis Group]]|date=20 November 2020}}</ref>

In March 2018, the Armenian parliament elected [[Armen Sarkissian]] as the new President of Armenia. The controversial constitutional reform to reduce presidential power was implemented, while the authority of the prime minister was strengthened.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dw.com/en/armenia-armen-sarkissian-elected-into-new-less-powerful-presidential-role/a-42797330|title = Armenia: Armen Sarkissian elected into new, less powerful presidential role &#124; DW &#124; 02.03.2018|website = [[Deutsche Welle]]}}</ref> In May 2018, parliament elected opposition leader Nikol Pashinyan as the new prime minister. His predecessor Serzh Sargsyan resigned two weeks earlier following [[2018 Armenian revolution|widespread anti-government demonstrations]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/5/8/armenia-nikol-pashinyan-elected-as-new-prime-minister|title=Pashinyan elected as Armenia's new prime minister|website=Al Jazeera}}</ref>

On 27 September 2020, a full-scale war erupted due to the unresolved [[Nagorno-Karabakh conflict]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Fighting over Nagorno-Karabakh goes on despite US mediation |url=https://apnews.com/article/europe-azerbaijan-armenia-41a103bcde14fa8b28968000d7992b84 |work=Associated Press |date=24 October 2020}}</ref> Both the armed forces of Armenia and Azerbaijan reported military and civilian casualties.<ref>{{cite news |title=Fury and celebrations as Russia brokers peace deal to end Nagorno-Karabakh war |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/russia-armenia-azerbaijan-war-fighting-peace-deal-b1720219.html |work=The Independent |date=11 November 2020}}</ref> The [[2020 Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire agreement|Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire agreement]] to end the six-week [[2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war|war between Armenia and Azerbaijan]] was seen by many as Armenia's defeat and capitulation.<ref>{{cite news |title=Armenians vent fury at West after truce in bloody war in Nagorno-Karabakh |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/armenia-azerbaijan-nagorno-karabakh-truce-1.5796470 |work=CBC News |date=11 November 2020}}</ref> The year-long [[2020–2021 Armenian protests|March of Dignity]] protests forced early elections.

On 20 June 2021, Pashinyan's Civil Contract party won an early parliamentary [[2021 Armenian parliamentary election|election]]. Acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan was officially appointed to the post of prime minister by Armenia's President Armen Sarkissian.<ref>{{cite news |title=Nikol Pashinyan officially appointed Armenia's prime minister |url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/world/2021/aug/02/nikol-pashinyan-officially-appointed-armenias-prime-minister-2339082.html |work=The New Indian Express |date=2 August 2021}}</ref> In January 2022, Armenian President Armen Sarkissian resigned from office, stating that the constitution no longer gives the president sufficient powers or influence.<ref>{{cite news |title=Armenian president resigns over lack of influence |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/1/23/armenian-president-armen-sarkissian-resigns |work=www.aljazeera.com |language=en}}</ref> On 3 March 2022, [[Vahagn Khachaturyan]] was elected as the fifth president of Armenia in the second round of parliamentary vote.<ref>{{cite news |title=Vahagn Khachaturyan elected new Armenian president |url=https://www.aa.com.tr/en/politics/vahagn-khachaturyan-elected-new-armenian-president/2522507 |work=www.aa.com.tr}}</ref> The next month [[2022 Armenian protests|yet more protests broke out]].<ref>{{Cite news |title=Facing Mass Protests Calling For Him To Resign, Armenia's Prime Minister Is Running Out Of Options |url=https://www.rferl.org/a/armenia-pashinian-karabakh-options-protests/31837928.html |access-date=2022-05-07 |newspaper=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |date=7 May 2022 |language=en|last1=Wesolowsky |first1=Tony }}</ref>

===2023 Azerbaijani offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh===
{{Main|2023 Azerbaijani offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh}}
{{See also|Flight of Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians}}

Between 19 and 20 September 2023, [[Azerbaijan]] launched a large-scale military offensive against the [[Political status of Nagorno-Karabakh|self-declared]] breakaway state of [[Republic of Artsakh|Artsakh]], a move seen by the European Parliament as a violation of the [[2020 Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire agreement|2020 ceasefire agreement]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|date=2023-09-19|title=Armenia, Azerbaijan: Baku Launches Military Operation In Nagorno-Karabakh|url=https://worldview.stratfor.com/situation-report/armenia-azerbaijan-baku-launches-military-operation-nagorno-karabakh|archive-url=https://archive.today/20230919182727/https://worldview.stratfor.com/situation-report/armenia-azerbaijan-baku-launches-military-operation-nagorno-karabakh|archive-date=19 September 2023|access-date=2023-09-22|website=[[Stratfor]]|quote=...the Russian peacekeeping contingent is incapable of preventing Azerbaijan's seizure of the region, despite this being a clear violation of the November 2020 ceasefire brokered by Russia that ended the last war.}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{Cite web|title=Joint statement on Azerbaijan's attack on Nagorno-Karabakh |url=https://www.europarl.europa.eu/delegations/en/joint-statement-on-azerbaijan-s-attack-o/product-details/20230919DPU37422|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230922111407/https://www.europarl.europa.eu/delegations/en/joint-statement-on-azerbaijan-s-attack-o/product-details/20230919DPU37422|archive-date=22 September 2023|access-date=2023-09-21|publisher=European Parliament|quote=We condemn in the strongest terms today's pre-planned and unjustified attack of Azerbaijan against Nagorno-Karabakh...We recall that the attack takes place in the context of a major humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh, following Azerbaijan's blockade of the Lachin Corridor for the past nine months, in violation of Baku's commitments under the ceasefire statement of 9 November 2020 and of the legally binding orders of the International Court of Justice. Humanitarian access to Nagorno-Karabakh needs to be fully and permanently restored.}}</ref> The offensive took place in the disputed region of [[Nagorno-Karabakh]], which is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, but populated by [[Armenians]].<ref>{{Cite news|title=Azerbaijani forces strike Armenian-controlled Karabakh, raising risk of new Caucasus war|work=Reuters|date=19 September 2023|url=https://www.reuters.com/world/azerbaijan-says-six-its-citizens-were-killed-by-land-mines-karabakh-2023-09-19/|access-date=19 September 2023|archive-date=19 September 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230919114910/https://www.reuters.com/world/azerbaijan-says-six-its-citizens-were-killed-by-land-mines-karabakh-2023-09-19/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Ilyushina|first1=Mary|title=Fighting flares between Azerbaijan and Armenia in Nagorno-Karabakh|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/09/19/nagorno-karabakh-azerbaijan-armenia/|access-date=19 September 2023|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=19 September 2023|quote=Azerbaijan and Armenia have repeatedly clashed over Nagorno-Karabakh, which is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan but largely populated by ethnic Armenians and largely governed by the unrecognized Republic of Artsakh.|archive-date=19 September 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230919200531/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/09/19/nagorno-karabakh-azerbaijan-armenia/|url-status=live}}</ref> The attacks occurred in the midst of an escalating crisis caused by Azerbaijan [[Blockade of the Republic of Artsakh (2022–present)|blockading Artsakh]], which has resulted in significant scarcities of essential supplies such as food, medicine, and other goods in the affected region.<ref name="Nagorno-Karabakh">{{cite web|last=Roth|first=Andrew|date=19 September 2023|title=Azerbaijan launches 'anti-terrorist' campaign in disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/sep/19/azerbaijan-launches-anti-terrorist-campaign-in-disputed-nagorno-karabakh-region|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230919111008/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/sep/19/azerbaijan-launches-anti-terrorist-campaign-in-disputed-nagorno-karabakh-region|archive-date=19 September 2023|access-date=19 September 2023|website=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref>

One day after the offensive started, on 20 September, a [[2023 Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire agreement|ceasefire agreement]] was reached at the mediation of the [[Peacekeeping operations in Nagorno-Karabakh|Russian peacekeeping command]] in Nagorno-Karabakh.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Russian-mediated ceasefire announced in Nagorno-Karabakh|url=https://armenpress.am/eng/news/1120051.html|website=Armenpress}}</ref> Azerbaijan held a meeting with representatives of the Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians on 21 September in [[Yevlakh]], to be followed by another meeting in October.<ref>{{cite news|title=Ethnic Armenians accept Russia ceasefire plan after Azerbaijan offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh|url=https://edition.cnn.com/2023/09/20/asia/nagorno-karabakh-russia-ceasefire-intl/index.html|access-date=20 September 2023|publisher=[[CNN]]|date=20 September 2023|archive-date=20 September 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230920132915/https://edition.cnn.com/2023/09/20/asia/nagorno-karabakh-russia-ceasefire-intl/index.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=BREAKING: Stepanakert to disband army in ceasefire deal|url=https://www.civilnet.am/en/news/751112/breaking-stepanakert-to-disband-army-in-ceasefire-deal/|access-date=20 September 2023|publisher=CIVILNET|date=20 September 2023|archive-date=20 September 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230920132923/https://www.civilnet.am/en/news/751112/breaking-stepanakert-to-disband-army-in-ceasefire-deal/|url-status=live}}</ref> Ceasefire violations by Azerbaijan were nonetheless reported by both Artsakhi residents and officials.<ref name="ceasefirevio1">{{Cite web|title=МВД Нагорного Карабаха обвинило Азербайджан в нарушении договора о прекращении огня|url=https://meduza.io/news/2023/09/21/mvd-nagornogo-karabaha-obvinilo-azerbaydzhan-v-narushenii-dogovora-o-prekraschenii-ognya|website=[[Meduza]]|access-date=21 September 2023|archive-date=21 September 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230921113954/https://meduza.io/news/2023/09/21/mvd-nagornogo-karabaha-obvinilo-azerbaydzhan-v-narushenii-dogovora-o-prekraschenii-ognya|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="ceasefirevio2">{{Cite web|title=Aserbaidschan soll Waffenruhe gebrochen haben|url=https://rp-online.de/politik/ausland/berg-karabach-aserbaidschan-soll-waffenruhe-gebrochen-haben_aid-98086627|website=[[Rheinische Post]]|date=21 September 2023|access-date=21 September 2023|archive-date=21 September 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230921114231/https://rp-online.de/politik/ausland/berg-karabach-aliyev-entschuldigt-sich-fuer-tod-russischer-soldaten_aid-98086627|url-status=live}}</ref>

Human rights organizations and experts in genocide prevention issued multiple alerts, stating that the region's Armenian population was at risk or actively [[Flight of Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians|being subjected to ethnic cleansing and genocide]]. [[Luis Moreno Ocampo]], a former [[prosecutor of the International Criminal Court]], warned that another [[Armenian genocide]] could take place, and attributed the inaction of the international community to encouraging Azerbaijan that it would face no serious consequences.<ref name="washingtonpost-genocide">{{cite news|last=Moreno Ocampo|first=Luis|author-link=Luis Moreno Ocampo|date=22 September 2023|title=Call what is happening in Nagorno-Karabakh by its proper name|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/09/22/nagorno-karabakh-genocide-armenia/|url-status=live|access-date=22 September 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230922173112/https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/09/22/nagorno-karabakh-genocide-armenia/|archive-date=22 September 2023}}</ref>