Andranik Toros Ozanian

Infobox Officeholder
name = Andranik Ozanian Անդրանիկ Օզանյան
nationality = Armenian

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birth_date = February 25, 1865
birth_place = Şebinkarahisar, Ottoman Empire
death_date = August 31, 1927
death_place = Chico, California, USA


party =
spouse =
order = Governor of Western Armenia
term_start = March 1918
term_end = April 1918
successor =
vicepresident = Drastamat Kanayan

Andranik Toros Ozanian, Zoravar Andranik, (Lang-hy| Անդրանիկ Թորոսի Օզանյան , Զորավար Անդրանիկ) (February 25, 1865 – August 31, 1927) was an Armenian general, political and public activist and freedom fighter, greatly admired as a national hero.

Early Age

Andranik Ozanian was born in the church quarter of Şebinkarahisar, Ottoman Armenia (present-day Giresun Province, Turkey). His mother died when he was one year old, so his elder sister Nazeli took care of him. Andranik finished the local Musheghian school and became an apprentice in his father's carpentry shop.

Revolutionary activities

After losing his wife and son at an early age, Andranik joined the Armenian freedom movement in the Ottoman Empire, and participated in various political parties, including Armenian Revolutionary Federation. He met the military commander Aghpyur Serob and joined his fedayeen. After the death of Serob (1899) he became the common leader of Armenian fedayee groups of Vaspurakan and Sassoun [General Andranik and the Armenian Revolutionary Movement, by Dr Antranig Chalabian, Michigan, 1988 ISBN 0962274119] (Western Armenia). All of Andranik's lieutenants accepted that their leader possessed undisputed authority and superiority in military matters and that he was "primus inter pares" (the first among equals) [M. Varandian, Murad: Sebastatsi razmikin kyankn u gordze, "Hayrenik", 1931, p. 96 (English version: Mikayel Varandian, Murad of Sebastia, Translated and edited with an Introduction by Ara Ghazarians, Armenian Cultural Foundation, Arlington, MA, 2006)] . Such was the popularity Andranik earned among the men he led that they came to refer to him always by his first name - even formally, when he later held a general's rank in the Imperial Russian Army [Bold and fiercely determined, Andranik Ozanian spent most of his life as a revolutionary for his fellow Armenians, by Antranig Chalabian // Military History, June 1995, p. 10] .

The most famous battles of Andranik and his fedayees in that period were the guerrilla battles of Arakelots (St Apostols) Monastery of Mush (1901) and the Second Sasun Resistance (1904). Then he went to Europe and published his "Military instructions" book in Geneva in 1906.

Balkan Wars

Andranik participated in the Balkan Wars of 1912-1913, within the Bulgarian army, alongside general Garegin Njdeh as a commander of Armenian auxiliary troops of 1912-1913. Bulgarian authorities honored him by the "Cross of Bravery" [(in Russian) Андраник Озанян: Документы и материалы, Ереван, 1991.] .

Leon Trotsky in his correspondence from a Balkan battlefield wrote about Andranik:

"At the head of the Armenian volunteer troop formed in Sofia stood Andranik, a hero of song and legend. He is of middle height, wears a peaked cap and high boots, is lean, with greying hair and wrinkles, fierce moustaches and a shaved chin, and has the air of a man who, after an over-long historical interval has found himself once more." [ [http://www.1917.com/Marxism/Trotsky/CW/Trotsky-VI/VI-02-05-03.html (in Russian) Л.Д.Троцкий Балканы и балканская война: Андраник и его отряд // "Киевская Мысль" N 197, 19 июля 1913 г.] ]

World War I

During World War I, he participated in the Caucasus Campaign and was appointed as general of the Armenian volunteer units of the Russian army. He participated in 20 different offensives where he gained fame due to his courage and the tactics he employed to defeat the opposing forces.

The writer, intellectual and ARF leader Mikayel Varandian wrote about Andranik: "Not less courageous and not less capable than Serob Aghbiur, Andranik had both intelligence and instinct. A born strategist, with a thorough knowledge of the mountains and valleys of the motherland, he was a unique and unparalleled leader and commander. He was audacious and courageous, also cautious and farsighted" [Dr. A. Chalabian, Gen. Andranik and the Armenian Revolutionary Movement, USA, 1988, p. 110] .

He was the commanding officer of the Armenian volunteer units, which helped the Van Resistance take control of the Van on May 6, 1915. He helped re-capture the city from Ottoman forces during the Battle of Van. He was also the commander of the battalion that took the city of Bitlis (see: Battle of Bitlis) from the Ottoman forces that was under control of Mustafa Kemal. Between March 1918 - April 1918, he was the governor of the Administration for Western Armenia (The Armenian provisional government [ [http://www.worldstatesmen.org/Turkey.html#Western Western Armenia at WorldStatesmen.org] ] of a progressive autonomous region [The Armenian People from Ancient to Modern Times: Foreign Dominion to Statehood: edited by Richard G Hovannisian] that initially set up around Lake Van).

His military leadership was instrumental in allowing the Armenian population of Van to escape the Ottoman Army and flee to Eastern Armenia, then controlled by Russia. The territory later became the Democratic Republic of Armenia.

After the formation of the Democratic Republic of Armenia (DRA), he organized and fought alongside volunteer units to combat the Ottoman army. Andranik was leading his army in combat against the Ottomans during the signing of the Treaty of Batum, and refused to accept the borders stated by the treaty. His activities were concentrated at the link between the Ottoman Empire and the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic at Karabakh, Zanghezur and Nakhichevan. Ozanian struck back at the Ottoman Fronts, Army of Islam.Andranik tried several times to seize Shusha. Just before the Armistice of Mudros was signed, Andranik was on the way from Zangezur to Shushi, to control the main city of Karabakh. In January 1919 Armenian troops advancing, the British forces (Lionel Dunsterville) ordered Andranik back to Zangezur, and gave him assurances that a favorable treaty would be reached at the Paris Peace Conference, of 1919.

Aftermath of World War I

In 1919 he left Armenia amid political turmoil and power struggles and went into exile in Fresno, California, United States.

"When Antranik visited America, all the Armenians, from the Atlantic to the Pacific coast, gave him an enthusiastic reception. Americans were amazed and they asked: "Who is this man?". "He is the George Washington of Armenians", was the answer everywhere, and the Americans honored him by letting him sit on George Washington's chair, which was an unprecedented honor. In Paris the president of the French Republic, Poincaré' also paid him tribute by giving a reception in honor of him". "Dr. Hermine Varjabedian" [The Great 4: Mesrob, Komidas, Antranik, Toramanian, by Dr. Hermine Varjabedian, Beirut, 1969, p. 53]

Andranik Ozanian lived in Fresno for 5 years [http://www.haydjampa.org/Dossiers/Antranig/Antranigiguiank/p1.htm Andranik's Biography in Haydjampa.org (in Armenian)] until his death on August 31, 1927 at the age of 62. His remains were originally to be buried in Armenia but Communist officials refused entry. His remains were then moved to the Père Lachaise cemetery in Paris in 1928, and eventually returned to Armenia in 2000, where he was buried at the Yerablur military cemetery. In 1995 Zoravar Andranik's Museum was founded near the Komitas Pantheon in Yerevan [ [http://www.armeniainfo.am/news/view.php?archive=yes&month=5&year=2006&end_day=31 Zoravar Andranik's Museum to Re-open in Yerevan on May 27] // Aravot Daily, Yerevan, May 20, 2006] .

Documentary films

* General Andranik (Zoravar Andranik), (1989 18min. 35 mm.Director Levon Mkrtchyan .

See also

*Andranikological Review

Links

* [http://www.geocities.com/andranikpasha General Andranik Ozanian]
* [http://groups.yahoo.com/group/andranikyouthclub Andranik Youth Club]

References