A Subject Between Russian, Ottoman and Iranian Rivalry: The Situation of Armenians in the Caucasus in the First Half of the XIXth Century (1801-1849)

This paper emphasises geography and demography as important components of geopolitics. The willingness and ability of the three imperial powers-Russia, the Ottoman Empire and Iran-to manage the post-war demographic fluctuations in the Caucasus provinces revealed their strategic strengths and weaknesses. The mass immigration of Armenians from the borders of Iran and the Ottoman Empire into Russia's newly captured territories in the Caucasus followingthe Russo-Iranian War of 1826-1828 and the Russo-Ottoman War of 1828-1829 was an important turning point in Russia's colonisation policy and the consolidation of Russian dominance in the region. The Treaties of Turkmenchay and Adrianople resulted in the immigration of approximately 150,000 Armenians to the territory of the Russian Empire. This can be taken as an example of the extent to which periods of great crisis can have demographic consequences on local populations. This mass movement of the Armenian population, which was the closest precursor to the large-scale immigration events, also referred to as 'demographic warfare', especially in the aftermath of the Crimean War, is also a reflection of the changing paradigms that had been handled by the empires in previous centuries. The financial, economic and commercial influence and importance of Armenians in the centre and provinces of the empires began to change with the Russian Empire's southward advance and growing military prestige in the Caucasus. While this process caused the Ottoman and Iranian administrative centres to reconsider their attitude towards the Armenian community, it also brought with it Russia's concern to reduce security concerns in the border regions and to build a more manageable demographic structure.