The Armenian Social Democrat Hnchakian Party

Rezensionen / Stimmen

This first-ever edited collection on the Hnchakian Party is a very welcome intervention in a historiography that includes few scholarly contributions on the party. Especially noteworthy and compelling is the volume's reexamination of the party's history in light of new sources in multiple languages and approaches that-just to name a few examples-consider the party's local and regional operations in the eastern Ottoman provinces, its relationships with non-Armenian neighbors, and its exclusion from the collective memory of Turkish socialism. * Houri Berberian, Professor, University of California Irvine, USA * This unique collection of articles is not only a major contribution to Armenian studies, adding to our knowledge of one of the most dedicated revolutionary parties in the Armenian world, but also a work that fills a lacuna in late Ottoman history and the history of the international Left. Bringing together Armenian, Turkish, Kurdish, and other scholars, the editor Bedross Der Matossian's volume illuminates the activities, ideologies, achievements, and frustrations of Marxist revolutionaries in the Ottoman world. Working within the legal limits after the Young Turk revolution of 1908, the Hnchaks were unable to deliver to Armenians the promises of equality and protection for which they were prepared to sacrifice their lives. While they were doomed to witness the annihilation of their people in the genocide of 1915, their experience deserves to be remembered and woven into the fabric of Ottoman history. This volume is the first important attempt to achieve that long-denied recognition. * Ronald Grigor Suny, Professor, The University of Michigan, USA * For quite a while the Ottoman Empire was considered as a preliminary stage in the history of nation-states that followed it. However, the communities consisted of people with different class positions and did not live in isolation from each other. The Hnchakian Party was not only a political party but also a social movement that cannot, therefore, be reduced to just one stage in the history of a nation. Thus, analyzing different aspects of this movement, this outstanding book offers a unique treasure to understand not only the Hnchaks but also the last decades of the Empire as a whole. * Y. Dogan Cetinkaya, Professor, Istanbul University, Turkey *