Following the devastation resulting from the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire beginning in 1915, the survivors of the massacres were dispersed across the Middle East, Europe and North and South America. Not content with watching World War I silently from the sidelines, a large number of Armenian volunteers joined the Legion d'Orient. They were trained in Cyprus and fought courageously in Palestine and Cilicia alongside Allied commander General Allenby, eventually playing a crucial role in defeating German and Ottoman forces in Palestine at the Battle of Arara in September 1918. The Armenian Legionnaires signed up on the understanding that they would be fighting in Syria and Turkey, and, should the Allies be successful, they would be part of an occupying army in their old homelands, laying the foundation for a self-governing Armenian state. Susan Paul Pattie describes the motivations and dreams of the Armenian Legionnaires and their ultimate betrayal as the French and the British shifted priorities, leaving their ancestral Armenian homelands to the emerging Republic of Turkey. Complete with eyewitness accounts, letters and photographs, this book provides an insight into relations between the Great Powers through the lens of a small, vulnerable people caught in a war that was not their own, but which had already destroyed their known world.
By:
Susan Paul Pattie
Imprint: I.B. Tauris
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions:
Height: 234mm,
Width: 156mm,
Weight: 752g
ISBN: 9781788311250
ISBN 10: 1788311256
Pages: 288
Publication Date: 30 August 2018
Audience:
General/trade
,
ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
TABLE OF CONTENTS Dedication Acknowledgements Note on the Content of The Armenian Legionnaires Timeline Chapter One: Armenians in a World at War Introduction and Context Chapter Two: The Armenian Legion at the Crossroads of Imperial Politics By Varak Ketsemanian Chapter Three: Recruitment and the Voyage Chapter Four: Training in Cyprus Chapter Five: Palestine and Preparation for Battle Chapter Six: The Battle of Arara Chapter Seven: The Next Stages: Beirut Chapter Eight: To Cilicia, The Promised Land Chapter Nine: Repatriation and Increasing Uncertainties Chapter Ten: The Transfer of Power in Marash Chapter Eleven: The Battles of Marash or The Marash Affair Chapter Twelve: The Aftermath Epilogue Appendix Short Biographies Dickran Boyajian by Mark Mamigonian Vahan Portukalian by Gagik Stepan-Sarkissian Hagop Arevian Ovsia Saghdejian by Vahe Apelian B. Letters and Declarations Official Declaration to the Armenian People Statement by General Henri Gouraud Letters of Commendation (excerpts) compiled by Boyajian C. The French Record in Cilicia from the Christian Science Monitor, 1921. An interview with legionnaire Lieutenant John Shishmanian. Bibliography and Further Reading
Susan Pattie is an Honorary Senior Research Associate at University College London and former Director of the Armenian Institute in London. In recent years she served as Director of the Armenian Museum of America and was Program Manager of the National Armenian Genocide Centennial Commemorations in Washington, DC. She holds a PhD in Anthropology from University College London.
Reviews for The Armenian Legionnaires: Sacrifice and Betrayal in World War I
In effect a portable exhibition - most welcomed no doubt by the diaspora but also of great value to anyone interested in Armenian history or of the aftermath of the First World War. * Chartist *
