Defenders of Van in front of ARF flag

Armenian militia (Armenian irregular units, Armenian partisans, or Armenian Cethes, Armenian: Ֆէտայի), better known by Armenians as Fedayee, is a term referring to Armenian guerrillas who voluntarily leave their families in order to fight for Armenians. Image File history File links Armenian_ARF_Van_resistance. ... Image File history File links Armenian_ARF_Van_resistance. ... The Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) (Armenian: Hay Heghapokhakan Dashnaktsutiun Dashnaktsutiun, Dashnak, or Tashnak) is an Armenian political party founded in Georgia in 1890 by Christapor Mikaelian, Stepan Zorian, and Simon Zavarian. ...

Origins in the Ottoman Empire

See also: Armenian rebellions

Armenian rebellions were the rebellions of ethnic Armenian citizens of the Ottoman Empire. ...

Abdul Hamid II era

An Armenian partisan with his wife and children.

See also: Hamidian massacres

The term Fedayee was first used in the Ottoman Empire although Fedayeen was used by Arab fighters earlier. Armenians, like other minorities such as Greeks and Assyrians were persecuted by Sultan Abdul Hamid II. They did not possess the same rights as the Turkish citizens of the empire because of their religion and the distrust Abdul Hamid II had for them. Frequently, Armenian villages were pillaged and its citizens murdered by criminals, Kurds and Hamidian guards. Image File history File links Armeniansoldier. ... Image File history File links Armeniansoldier. ... Contemporary political cartoon portraying Hamid as a butcher of the Armenians During the long reign of Sultan Hamid, unrest and rebellion occurred in many areas of the Ottoman Empire. ... Motto: دولت ابد مدت Devlet-i Ebed-müddet (The Eternal State) Anthem: Ottoman imperial anthem Borders in 1680, see: list of territories Capital Söğüt (1299-1326) Bursa (1326-1365) Edirne (1365-1453) Constantinople (Istanbul) (1453-1922) Language(s) Ottoman Turkish Government Monarchy Sultans  - 1281–1326 Osman I  - 1918–1922 Mehmed VI... Fedayeen (from Arabic fidāī, plural fidāīyÄ«n فدائيون, one who is ready to sacrifice his life for the cause) describes several distinct, primarily Arab groups at different times in history. ... It has been suggested that Assyrian people be merged into this article or section. ... Abdülhamid II (Ottoman Turkish: عبد الحميد ثانی , Turkish: Ä°kinci Abdülhamid) (September 21, 1842 – February 10, 1918) was the 34th sultan of the Ottoman Empire. ... Kurds are one of the Iranian peoples and speak Kurdish, a north-Western Iranian language related to Persian. ...

These conditions, and the fact that Armenia was still under Ottoman Empire control prompted Armenians in the Ottoman Empire to form guerrilla organizations and bands. These guerrillas were called Fedayee.

Sepasdatsi Murat's group of fedayees, with him in the centre

Their main goal was to defend Armenian villagers from persecution and at the same time, disrupt the Ottoman Empire's activities in Armenian populated regions. However, their ultimate goal was always to gain Armenian autonomy (Armenakans) or independence (Dashnaks, Hunchaks) depending on their ideology and degree of oppression received on Armenians. This can be seen in the Dashnak slogan "Azadoutioun gam Mah", which literally translates as "Liberty or Death". These bands committed sabotage activities like cutting telegraph lines and raiding army supplies. They also committed assassinations and counter-attacks on Muslim villages. They helped Armenians defend themselves during village purges by Ottoman officials. They were supported by Armenians and quickly gained fame, support and trust by them. Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1141x568, 265 KB) Sepasdatsi Murats group. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1141x568, 265 KB) Sepasdatsi Murats group. ... Defenders of Van in front of ARF flag Armenian militia (Armenian irregular units, Armenian partisans, or Armenian Cethes, Armenian: ), better known by Armenians as Fedayee, is a term referring to Armenian guerrillas who voluntarily leave their families in order to fight for Armenians. ... Armenakan is an Armenian organization, also referred as Armenakan party. ... This page is a candidate for speedy deletion, because: it is patent nonsense. ... The Social Democrat Hunchakian Party is the oldest political party in Armenia. ... This page is a candidate for speedy deletion, because: it is patent nonsense. ...

Second Constitutional Era and Iran

Their activities in the Ottoman Empire dissipated after the Second Constitutional Era of the Ottoman Empire, Committee of Union and Progress came into power, and for a time granted Armenians the same rights as Turkish and Kurdish citizens of the empire. Most fedayee groups disbanded, returning to their families while others left to help Iran and its revolution. Public Demonstration The Second Constitutional Era in the Ottoman Empire began with the 1908 Young Turk Revolution, shortly after which Sultan Abdul Hamid II restored the 1876 Constitution suspended since 1878. ... Foundation: 1890 Dissolved: 1918, Court Martialed Head: Committee of Union and Progress (CUP) (Turkish: Ä°ttihad ve Terakki Cemiyeti) was a political organization during the dissolution period of the Ottoman Empire which came to power between 1908 and 1918. ... A Revolution in Iran against the despotic rule of the last Qajar Shah. ...

World War I

Main article: Armenian resistance

See also: Middle Eastern theatre of World War I

Fedayee group fighting under the ARF banner. Text in Armenian reads "Azadoutioun gam mah" (Liberty or Death)

Some fedayee groups joined the Ottoman army after the Ottoman government passed a new law to support the war effort that required all enabled adult males up to the age of forty-five to either be recruited in the Ottoman army or to pay special fees (which would be used in the war effort) in order to be excluded from service. As a result of this law, most able-bodied men were removed from their homes, leaving only the women, children, and elderly by themselves. Most of the Armenian recruits were later turned into road laborers, and many were executed prior to the beginning of the Armenian Genocide. Combatants Ottoman Empire Armenian Militia of Armenakans (Ramkavars), Hnchakians (Social Democrat Hunchakian Party), and Dashnaktsutiun (Armenian Revolutionary Federation) Armenian resistance is the military and political activities of the Armenian militia or (Social Democrat Hunchakian Party, Armenakan, Armenian Revolutionary Federation) against the Ottoman Empire during the World War One. ... Combatants Ottoman Empire Triple Entente Strength 2,850,000 2 Casualties 550,000 KIA 3 891,000 WIA 240,000 Sickness 103,731 MIO 250,000 POW 1 1 Ottoman casualties are from Republic of Turkey gov. ... Image File history File links Fedayees. ... Image File history File links Fedayees. ... The Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) (Armenian: Hay Heghapokhakan Dashnaktsutiun Dashnaktsutiun, Dashnak, or Tashnak) is an Armenian political party founded in Georgia in 1890 by Christapor Mikaelian, Stepan Zorian, and Simon Zavarian. ... This article details the military of the Ottoman Empire. ... Armenian Genocide photo. ...

The genocide gave way to the return of the fedayees. Apart from thousands of Armenians who were drafted or volunteered in several different armies fighting against the Ottoman empire, and apart from those who were drafted in the Ottoman army prior to World War I ^[1], the fedayees fought inside Ottoman borders. Combatants Allied Powers: Russian Empire France British Empire Italy United States Central Powers: Austria-Hungary German Empire Ottoman Empire Bulgaria Commanders Nicholas II Aleksei Brusilov Georges Clemenceau Joseph Joffre Ferdinand Foch Herbert Henry Asquith Douglas Haig John Jellicoe Victor Emmanuel III Luigi Cadorna Armando Diaz Woodrow Wilson John Pershing Franz...

During the first year of the new republic, Armenians were flooding from Anatolia to safe havens. Roads were clogged with refugees. Further southeast, in Van, the fedayees helped the local Armenians resist the Turkish army until April, 1918, but eventually were forced to evacuate it and withdraw to Persia. The fedayees soon merged with the Armenian army. General Tovmas Nazarbekian took command of the Caucasus front and another fedayee, Andranik Toros Ozanian took the command of Armenia within the Ottoman Empire. They fought in numerous successful battles such as the Battle of Kara Killisse, the Battle of Bash Abaran and the Battle of Sardarapat. Meanwhile, Drasdamat Kanayan, another well-known fedayee, led the battle in the Georgian-Armenian War. National motto: n/a Language Armenian (official) Capital Yerevan Independence From Imperial Russia, 1918 Currency Armenian dram National anthem Mer Hayrenik The Democratic Republic of Armenia (DRA; Armenian: Ô´Õ¥Õ´Õ¸Õ¯Ö€Õ¡Õ¿Õ¡Õ¯Õ¡Õ¶ Õ€Õ¡ÕµÕ¡Õ½Õ¿Õ¡Õ¶Õ« Õ€Õ¡Õ¶Ö€Õ¡ÕºÕ¥Õ¿Õ¸Ö‚Õ©ÕµÕ¸Ö‚Õ¶, Demokratakan Hayastani Hanrapetutyun; also known as the First Republic of Armenia), 1918–1922, was the first modern establishment of a Republic of... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... A van is a vehicle used for transporting goods or groups of people. ... For other uses of this term see: Persia (disambiguation) The Persian Empire is the name used to refer to a number of historic dynasties that have ruled the country of Persia (Iran). ... Tovmas Nazarbekian (Nazarbekov) (1855 - 1928) armenian, general in the Russain Army who was the governor of Free Vaspurakan. ... Andranik Toros Ozanian, or Zoravar Andranik, (Armenian: or Ô¶Õ¸Ö€Õ¡Õ¾Õ¡Ö€ Ô±Õ¶Õ¤Ö€Õ¡Õ¶Õ«Õ¯) (February 25, 1865 – August 31, 1927) was an Armenian general and freedom fighter who was a national hero with big admiration. ... The Battle of Kara Killisse was a battle of World War 1 Which took place in the town of Kara Killisse in 1915. ... Combatants Ottoman Empire Democratic Republic of Armenia Commanders  ? Drastamat Kanayan Strength Third Army  ? Casualties  ?  ? The Battle of Bash Abaran was a battle of Caucasus Campaign of World War I that took place in the vicinity of Bash Abaran, in 1918. ... In violation of the Brest-Litovsk Peace Treaty with the Soviet Union, Turkish Nationalist troops under the command of Kemal Atatürk crossed the border in 1918 and attacked Alexandropol (Leninakan). ... General Drastamat Kanayan (known as General Dro), 1884-1956, was an Armenian general and nationalist leader. ... The factual accuracy of this article is disputed. ...

The total number of guerrillas in these irregular bands was 40-50,000, according to Boghos Nubar, the president of the "Armenian National Delegation": Guerrilla (also called a partisan) is a term borrowed from Spanish (from guerra meaning war) used to describe small combat groups. ...

Note that Boghos Nubar, as a part of the Armenian Delegation, had the intention to expand the borders of the independent Democratic Republic of Armenia. Thus, he might have elevated the number of Armenian fedayees who were able to fight in order to show that the Armenians are capable of defending an eventually large Ottoman-Armenian border. In reality, their numbers at that time were much less, considering the fact that there were no more than a few handful of fedayees in most of the confrontations between them and Kurdish irregulars or Turkish soldiers, even according to foreign accounts. Moreover, many of the fedayees were the same and reappeared in various places and battles. One should also note that a lot of Armenian irregular fighters died defending regions of Western Armenia during the genocide. National motto: n/a Language Armenian (official) Capital Yerevan Independence From Imperial Russia, 1918 Currency Armenian dram National anthem Mer Hayrenik The Democratic Republic of Armenia (DRA; Armenian: Դեմոկրատական Հայաստանի Հանրապետություն, Demokratakan Hayastani Hanrapetutyun; also known as the First Republic of Armenia), 1918–1922, was the first modern establishment of a Republic of... now. ... Armenian Genocide photo. ...

The fedayee bands soon disbanded or left the new Soviet Armenia as Armenia lost its independence to the USSR mostly to Europe and North America. State motto: Armenian: ÕŠÖ€Õ¸Õ¬Õ¥Õ¿Õ¡Ö€Õ¶Õ¥Ö€ Õ¢Õ¸Õ¬Õ¸Ö€ Õ¥Ö€Õ¯Ö€Õ¶Õ¥Ö€Õ«, միացեք! Translation: Workers of the world, unite! Capital Yerevan Official language Armenian and Russian Established In the USSR:  - Since  - Until November 29, 1920 December 30, 1922 September 21, 1991 Area  - Total  - Water (%) Ranked 15th in the USSR 29,800 km² 4. ... World map exhibiting the location of Europe. ... World map showing North America A satellite composite image of North America. ...

Fedayees elsewhere

The term fedayee was later used by Armenian insurgents around 1990 when the dispute with Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh was turning into the Nagorno-Karabakh War. 1990 (MCMXC) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Nagorno-Karabakh (Azerbaijani: Dağlıq Qarabağ or Yuxarı Qarabağ, literally mountainous black garden or upper black garden; Russian: Нагорный Карабах, translit. ... Combatants Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh1 Republic of Armenia 2 CIS mercenaries Republic of Azerbaijan Afghan Mujahideen 3 Chechen Volunteers 4 CIS mercenaries Commanders Samvel Babayan, Hemayag Haroyan, Monte Melkonian, Vazgen Sargsyan, Arkady Ter-Tatevosyan Ä°sgandar Hamidov, Suret Huseynov, Rahim Gaziev, Shamil Basayev Casualties 6,000 dead, 25,000 wounded 17...

Notes

References

• Vartanian, H.K. The Western Armenian Liberation Struggle Yerevan, 1967
• Translated and NPOVed from the Armenian: Mihran Kurdoghlian, Badmoutioun Hayots, C. hador [Armenian History, volume III], Athens, Greece, 1996, pg. 59-62.

See also

• Abdul Hamid II
• Armenian Genocide
• French Armenian Legion
• Democratic Republic of Armenia
• Fedayeen
• List of Armenian national heroes
• Nagorno-Karabakh War
• Van Resistance