Armenia
an indefinite region east of Asia Minor. Armenia was at one time an independent kingdom of fifteen provinces, and was a factor in the trade between the East and West, but it has been overrun for centuries by contending armies. Southeastern Armenia now belongs to Persia, and northeastern Armenia belongs to Russia; but the greater part is under Turkish rule. The boundaries between the three powers meet in Mount Ararat. Magnificent ruins speak of former wealth and power, but the Armenians are now a distressed people, oppressed both on account of race and religion.
In race the Armenians are essentially a European people that either lagged behind in some great western migration and never reached Europe or else they have wandered eastward from the Mediterranean. Armenians of today bear a resemblance to the inhabitants of modern Greece. When the Roman Church and the Greek Church were formed, the Armenians remained independent under their own patriarchs, and still remain so. Owing to Turkish oppression and plundering, not to say frequent massacres by bandit neighbors, permitted if not encouraged by the Turks, the villages of Armenia are in a distressing condition. The country is naturally fertile, producing grain, cotton, tobacco, and grapes, but the villages are in squalid poverty. Tax gatherers are so shameless, and murderous plundering raids so frequent, that it is useless to try to get ahead. The Armenians are naturally an intellectual, prosperous people, with local pride and a fine literature of their own. They are naturally skilled in agriculture, but, like the Jews, many have been forced to become wanderers. With no little shrewdness as traders, Armenian merchants are found throughout western Asia, southern Europe, and on our own Atlantic coast. One hundred twenty-five thousand Armenians live in Constantinople. Under a decent form of government, it is not too much to expect that a people who have persisted in retaining a national religion, the language of their forefathers, and the spirit of patriotism under oppression and territorial dismemberment would, if permitted, reestablish an Armenian civilization in their own productive and romantic land. Under similar conditions we should expect them to be much like modern Greeks. The changes in the government of Turkey that took place in 1908 are expected to afford relief to the Armenians.
Amidst these natural fastnesses, in a country of lofty ridges, deep and narrow valleys, numerous and copious streams, and occasional broad plains--a country of rich pasture grounds, productive orchards, and abundant harvests--this interesting people has maintained itself almost unchanged from the time of the early Persian kings to the present day. Armenia was one of the most valuable portions of the Persian empire, furnishing, as it did, besides stone and timber, and several most important minerals, an annual supply of 20,000 excellent horses to the stud of the Persian king.--G. Rawlinson, Five Great Monarchies.