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February Uprising
Part ofSovietization of Armenia andSouthern Front of the Russian Civil War
Headline inThe New York Times from March 17, 1921
Date February – April 1921 Location Armenia Result Soviet victory
Belligerents
Dashnaktsutiun Mountainous Armenia	Soviet Russia Soviet Armenia
Commanders and leaders
Simon Vratsian Garegin Nzhdeh Suren Tarkhanan	Anatoliy Gekker Sarkis Kasyan Avis Nurijanyan
Units involved
Salvation Committee of the Fatherland	11th Red Army
Strength
~10,000 (April)[1]	Unknown
Casualties and losses
Unknown	200 (in mid-April, Soviet claim)[2]

TheFebruary Uprising (Armenian:Փետրվարյան ապստամբություն,romanized: P’etrvaryan apstambut’yun)^[a] was ananti-Bolshevik rebellion by the nationalistArmenian Revolutionary Federation which started on February 13 and was suppressed on April 2, 1921, by the recapture ofYerevan by Bolshevik forces.

After theRepublic of Armenia was Sovietized in December 1920, about 1,000 Armenian officers were arrested by the new Bolshevik authorities, including generalsTovmas Nazarbekian andMovses Silikyan. They were forced to walk fromYerevan toAlaverdi by foot (about 160 kilometers) and some of them were killed on the road. These officers were subsequently sent to jails inBaku and Russia. In February 1921, many heroes of theBattle of Sardarabad were shot, includingDaniel Bek-Pirumyan, while his brotherPoghos Bek-Pirumyan committed suicide after being tortured. Pro-Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF, the former ruling party of Armenia) intellectuals were also harassed. Wheat was taken away from villagers without any compensation.

The repressions by the Bolshevik government of Armenia created widespread discontent and the Armenian Revolutionary Federation began a rebellion on February 13. By February 17,Ashtarak,Ejmiatsin,Garni, andHrazdan were taken over by ARF forces. On February 18, they enteredYerevan.^[3] The Bolsheviks and the Red Army retreated toArtashat.Hovhannes Katchaznouni,Levon Shant,Nikol Aghbalian, and 100 other political activists and intellectuals were freed from jails.

After the capture ofYerevan, the Salvation Committee of the Fatherland was founded under the leadership of former prime ministerSimon Vratsian,^[3] which was to govern the country until the formation of a new government. The committee addressed the population on February 18 which called on people to "protect order and rule, [and] strictly fulfill all the orders of the committee". Throughout the 42-day rebellion, bloody battles took places between ARF forces and the Bolsheviks. On February 27, the Bolsheviks tried to attack Yerevan, but they were forced to retreat on March 1. After a two-week pause, Bolshevik units attacked again and took over Artashat on March 16, but the next day ARF forces started an offensive and recaptured the town.

The Bolshevik forces, greatly outnumbering the ARF, began a large offensive on March 24. They capturedAparan andKotayk and entered Yerevan on April 2.^[4] The ARF forces retreated without any serious battle to avoid the destruction of the capital.

The "Salvation Committee of the Fatherland", ARF forces and many civilians retreated to Zangezur, where they joinedGaregin Nzhdeh, where theRepublic of Mountainous Armenia was established. The mountain republic held out against the Bolsheviks until July. The Armenian leaders escaped to Persia to avoid arrest and possible execution by the Bolsheviks.

The reasons of the revolt were later discussed by the Bolshevik government and it was decided to treat the population with more tolerance. After suppressing the February Uprising,Alexander Miasnikian was appointed chairman of theCouncil of People's Commissars of Armenia, the newly installed government of theArmenian Soviet Socialist Republic.

On February 18, the Committee sent a message to the Armenian delegation in Paris and to the leaders of world powers (France, United Kingdom, Italy),League of Nations, etc., but it remained unanswered. A message was also sent to the Armenian delegation inTiflis, Georgia, where after the Sovietization of Armenia, local Armenians were subjected to violence.Georgia responded to the message on February 21, when the Armenian embassy was reopened in Tiflis. Georgiafell to the Soviets on February 25, thereafter the Armenian rebels were left alone against the Bolshevik forces in the Caucasus.

• Chorbajian, Levon;Mutafian, Claude; Donabedian, Patrick (1994).The Caucasian Knot: The History and Geopolitics of Nagorno-Karabagh. Zed Books.ISBN 1-85649-287-7.
• Payaslian, Simon (2007).The History of Armenia. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.ISBN 978-1-4039-7467-9.
• Հայօց Պատմություն։ Հատոր 4-րդ։ Գիրք Առաջին։ Նորագույն ժամանակաշրջան, 1918-1945 թթ.: ՀՀ Գիտությունների Ազգային Ակադէմիա։ Պատմության ինստիտուտ։ Երեւան, 2010 թ.:
• Ա․Աստուածատրեան, Փետրուարեան Ապստամբութիւնը։ ՙՀայրենիք՚, Բոստօն, 1965, թիւ 9։
• Հովհաննիսեան Աշոտ, Համազգային կրիզիսը։ Երեւան, 1926թ․:
• Ալեքսանդր Բեկզադեան, Նամակներ, յօդուածներ, փաստաթղթեր։ Երեւան, 1981 թ․:
• Հայաստանի Ազգային Արխիւ, ֆոնդ 1022։
• Հայաստանի Ազգային Արխիւ, ֆոնդ 1438։
• Հ. Կարապետեան, Մեծ պայքարի մարդիկ, գիրք I, Երեւան, 1963։
• Հայոց պատմության 11-րդ դասարանի դասագիրք ընդհանուր և բնագիտամաթեմատիկական հոսք։ Աշոտ Մելքոնյան ՀՀ ԳԱԱ թղթակից անդամ, Երևան-2010, Մաս Բ, Բաժին 2, գլուխ 1, § 1, - էջ՝ 217-218Archived 2019-04-07 at theWayback Machine
• Լեռ Կամսարն ու 1921թ. Փետրվարյան ապստամբությունը

• Hovsepian, Yurik (1987)."1921 թ. փետրվարյան խռովության առաջացման պատճառների նենգափոխումը հայ բուրժուական պատմագիտության մեջ [The falsification of the beginning of February, 1921 mutiny in Armenian bourgeois historiography]".Lraber Hasarakakan Gitutyunneri (in Armenian) (4):49–55. Archived fromthe original on 2020-03-14. Retrieved2014-12-23. [a Soviet-era propaganda article about the causes of the uprising]

• 20th century in Armenia
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