Armenia

After years of Turkish tyranny, Armenia welcomed the entrance of Russia in the 19th century. The Russians in took control of part of the region in 1828-1829 at which point most Armenians moved into the Russian controlled area.

Between january and August 1916, the Russians conquered most of Turkish controlled Armenia, but a revolution in 1917 forced their withdrawl. The Turks went on a rampage inducing the US government to send a formal note of protest on February 17, 1916. During the war period, approximately 800,000 Armenians died as a result of Turkish massacres and famine. On May 26, 1918, Armenia declared its independence from its czarist rule, establishing the Armenian Autonomous Republic which was recognized by the Allies on 1920.

In 1922, Armenia joined with Georgia and Azerbaijan to form the Transcaucasian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic which became one of the four original republics of the USSR. In 1990, the Supreme Soviet of Armenia declared the country a sovereign republic and elected Levon A. Ter-Petrosyan as the president. Armenia's citizens approved a declaration of independence from the USSR in a referrendum on September 21, 1991. Armenia became a founding member of the commonwealth of Independent States two months later.