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| Republic of Armenia Հայաստանի Հանրապետություն (Armenia) Timeline: Mere Men
OTL equivalent: Armenia | ||||
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| Motto: Mek Azg, Mek Mshakouyt |
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| Anthem: Mer Hayrenik |
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 Controlled (dark green) and claimed (light green) territory of Armenia
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| Capital (and largest city) | Yerevan | |||
| Official languages | Armenia | |||
| Religion | Armenian Church | |||
| Demonym | Armenian | |||
| Government | Unitary parliamentary republic | |||
| - | President | |||
| - | Prime Minister | |||
| Legislature | National Assembly | |||
| Independence from the Soviet Union | ||||
| Area | ||||
| - | Total | 17,337 km2 6,694 sq mi |
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| Currency | Armenian dram | |||
| Time zone | AMT | |||
Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia (Armenian: Հայաստանի Հանրապետություն) is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands region of the Caucasus. Modern Armenia controls only the northwestern portion of the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic, while the southeastern portion of the former Soviet Republic were annexed by Azerbaijan. Armenia also borders Turkey to the west and Georgia to the north. The capital and largest city of Armenia is Yerevan.
The first Armenian state was formed in the 9th century BC and at the start of the 4th century AD Armenia was the first state to officially adopt Christianty. Over the next centuries, Armenia was conquered by neighbouring empires and reestablished as an independent state at various times until the region was divided between the Ottoman and Persian empires, with the eastern part of the region being conquered by Russia by the 19th century. During the First World War, over a million of Armenians were exterminated by the Ottoman Empire in the Armenian genocide. The Russian portion of Armenia declared independence as the First Republic of Armenia in 1918, but was reconquered by the Soviet Union again by 1920. After being incorporated into Georgia for a few years, Eastern Armenia ultimately regained independence after the fall of the Soviet Union. After numerous clashes, the eastern and southern regions of Armenia were lost to Azerbaijan.
History[]
Soviet Armenia[]
Armenia had long been a republic of the Soviet Union by the time of the Second World War and had faced many repressions under Joseph Stalin. During the war, some of the harsh Stalinist measures were lifted in part to encourage Armenian support for the war and were not reinstated after the war. After the war, during the Straits crises the Soviet government pressed territorial claims against Turkey that would incorporate most of Western Armenia into the Soviet republic, but these claims were dropped after the Soviet Union received concessions in the Turkish Straits.
After the war, the Soviet government encouraged the Armenian diaspora to immigrate into the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic to revitalize the republic's population, but many were immediately deported to Siberia instead. After Stalin's death in 1953 and during the subsequent Beriashchina, Armenia achieved more autonomy from the central government, but harsh policies would make a return after the death of Grigory Arutinov, one of Beria's close associates. The historic election of Gregorio Pietro Agagianian, an ethnic Armenian, as the Catholic Pope was used as an excuse by Beria's government to "stamp out nationalism", although only a minority of Armenians were Roman Catholics. Deportations of Armenians to Central Asia and Siberia were resumed and Armenia was demoted to an autonomous soviet socialist republic within Georgia. These changes, however, did not survive Beria and, after Georgy Malenkov consolidated power over the Soviet Union, the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic was restored and many Armenians repatriated thanks to the urging of the new Interior Minister Anastas Mikoyan.