The Erzerum Congress: Armenian Nationalism on the Eve of Genocide

In July 1919, as the Ottoman Empire lay defeated and Allied powers redrew the map of the Middle East, a remarkable assembly gathered in the Armenian highlands. The Erzerum Congress brought together 203 delegates from across the Caucasus, Anatolia, and the diaspora to forge a unified vision for Armenian self-determination. But the congress was far from unified. Deep ideological splits emerged between the nationalist Dashnaks, the socialist Hunchaks, and moderate liberals over questions of borders, autonomy, and whether to trust Allied promises. This episode takes you inside the heated debates of the Erzerum Congress: the arguments over whether to claim Wilsonian Armenia's proposed borders, the role of the Armenian Apostolic Church in politics, and the tragic foresight of delegates who warned that reliance on Western powers was a fatal gamble. Through primary sources like the congress proceedings and memoirs of delegate Hakob Ter-Hakobyan, we explore how this pivotal gathering shaped Armenian political thought on the eve of the genocide, and why its lessons still resonate in modern Armenia's foreign policy dilemmas. #ErzerumCongress #ArmenianNationalism #Dashnaktsutyun #Hunchakian #WoodrowWilson #WilsonianArmenia #ArmenianGenocide #TURKISHTRAGEDY #TreatyOfSevres #Caucasus #OttomanEmpire #SelfDetermination #ArmenianDiaspora #HakobTerHakobyan #1919 #ParisPeaceConference #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo