The Story of Armenia: Survival Through Empires and Genocide — Fexingo History

Before 1915, Constantinople boasted a vibrant Armenian community of over 150,000. This episode explores the rise of the Armenian amira class—bankers, architects, and diplomats who shaped Ottoman policy and culture. We discuss the Armenian Patriarchate's role as a mediator, the construction of iconic buildings like the Dolmabahçe Palace by the Balyan family, and the tensions between the amira elite...

Beyond the well-known story of Armenian merchants in New Julfa, this episode explores the vast trade networks that Armenians built across the Ottoman Empire from the 16th to 18th centuries. Lucas and Luna trace the routes of the 'milets' from Constantinople to Smyrna and Aleppo, examining how Armenians leveraged their diaspora into a commercial empire. They discuss the role of the Armenian millet...

Long before the Soviet era, the Georgian capital Tbilisi was a thriving center of Armenian culture, commerce, and political life. By the 19th century, Armenians made up a large part of the city's population, dominating trade along the Silk Road and building grand churches, schools, and printing presses. This episode explores the rise and fall of the Armenian community in Tbilisi — from the merchan...

In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the history of the Armenian community in Iran, from its origins in the 11th century to its role in the Safavid Empire under Shah Abbas I. They discuss the forced relocation of Armenians to New Julfa in Isfahan in 1604-1605, the community's flourishing as merchants and artisans, and its contributions to Persian culture and diplomacy. The episode also covers t...

In the 1890s, long before the genocide of 1915, Armenian fedayee guerrilla bands launched a desperate armed resistance against Sultan Abdul Hamid II's massacres and Kurdish irregulars. This episode zeroes in on the fedayee movement — their origins in the mountainous regions of Sasun and Zeitun, their legendary leaders like Serob Aghbiur, Aghbiur Serob, Andranik Ozanian, and the secret supply netwo...

Ani, the once-glorious capital of the Bagratid Armenian kingdom, was a city of a hundred churches and a bustling Silk Road hub. But by the 14th century, it was abandoned. How did a city with 100,000 inhabitants crumble into ghostly ruins? In this episode, Lucas and Luna trace the final decades of Ani under Byzantine, Seljuk, and Mongol rule, focusing on the 1064 Seljuk siege, the 1319 earthquake,...

This episode traces Armenia's deep history before the classical period, focusing on the kingdom of Urartu (Biainili), its rivalries with Assyria, and the controversial Behistun Inscription that first mentions 'Armina.' Lucas and Luna explore how Urartian fortresses like Erebuni (Yerevan's founding), water systems, and cuneiform records shaped Armenian identity. They discuss the debate over continu...

In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the often-overlooked Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia, a Crusader-era state that flourished on the Mediterranean coast from 1080 to 1375. They discuss how the Rubenid dynasty carved out a principality after the Seljuk conquest of Greater Armenia, and how Cilicia became a key ally of the Crusaders, with Armenian kings like Levon I the Magnificent receiving crowns...

In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore a little-known story of resistance during the Armenian Genocide: physician Vahan Malezian, who used his medical post in Ottoman Syria to secretly document the massacres, forge identity papers, and smuggle orphans to safety. We trace Malezian's journey from his upbringing in Sivas to his medical training in Constantinople and his harrowing assignment at the R...

In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the persecution of the Armenian Apostolic Church under Soviet rule. From the Bolsheviks' anti-religious campaigns to the Great Purge targeting priests and believers, they trace how the Church became a symbol of national resistance. They discuss the role of Catholicos Khoren I, who was assassinated in 1938, and the survival of secret worship in basements and...

In May 1918, as the Ottoman army advanced on Yerevan, the fate of the Armenian nation hung in the balance. Just weeks after the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk ceded territory to the Ottomans, Armenian forces—mostly untrained peasants and refugees—gathered at Sardarapat, a dusty plain west of Yerevan. Against all odds, they halted the Turkish offensive, saving what would become the First Republic of Armen...

In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the remarkable story of the Bagratid Kingdom of Armenia, a period of cultural and political revival under Arab suzerainty. They focus on the rise of Ashot I, the construction of the majestic city of Ani, and the patronage of learning that produced historians like Hovhannes Draskhanakerttsi and Stepanos Taronetsi. The conversation delves into the delicate bal...

In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the creation of the Armenian alphabet by Mesrop Mashtots in the early 5th century. They discuss the political and religious context under King Vramshapuh, the role of Sahak Partev the Catholicos, and the legendary journey that led to the invention of 36 letters. The episode covers how the alphabet unified Armenian identity, enabled the translation of the Bib...

In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the rise of the Bagratid dynasty, which restored Armenian sovereignty after centuries of foreign domination. They focus on Ashot I, who in 885 AD was crowned king by both the Abbasid Caliph and the Byzantine Emperor — a remarkable diplomatic feat. The episode delves into the construction of the cathedral of Ani, known as the 'city of 1001 churches,' and the...

In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore Armenia's traumatic but transformative encounter with the Seljuk Turks in the 11th century. They focus on the catastrophic Seljuk conquest of Ani, the Bagratid capital, in 1064, a pivotal moment that reshaped Armenian political and cultural life. The conversation delves into the Battle of Manzikert in 1071, where Byzantine defeat opened Anatolia to Turkic se...

In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the Karabakh movement of 1988, a pivotal chapter in Armenia's modern history. They trace the origins of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict from the Soviet-era decision to place the predominantly Armenian enclave under Azerbaijani jurisdiction, through the peaceful demonstrations in Yerevan and Stepanakert, to the rise of the Karabakh Committee and the Sumgait pog...

In August 1896, a small group of Armenian revolutionaries from the Dashnaktsutyun party seized the Ottoman Bank in Constantinople, the financial heart of the empire. For 14 hours, they held 140 bank employees hostage, demanding reforms and European intervention for the Armenian vilayets. The raid was a desperate response to the Hamidian massacres that had killed an estimated 200,000 Armenians betw...

During World War I, while the Ottoman Empire was enacting the Armenian Genocide, thousands of Armenian volunteers and later conscripts fought alongside the Allied powers, hoping to secure an independent Armenian state. This episode explores the formation of the Armenian Legion (Légion arménienne) under French command, its role in the Palestine and Syria campaigns, and the tragic aftermath when All...

Before the Seljuks, before the Mongols, even before Rome and Parthia carved up the Near East, a small but dazzling Armenian kingdom flourished in the shadow of Mount Nemrut. Commagene was a Hellenistic-Armenian hybrid state whose kings claimed descent from both Darius the Great and Alexander the Great. This episode focuses on Antiochus I Theos of Commagene, who built the colossal limestone colossi...

In the shadow of the Armenian Genocide, one woman risked everything to document the truth. Zabel Yessayan was a novelist, journalist, and activist who traveled to the Ottoman interior in 1915 to bear witness to the deportations and massacres. Her book 'In the Ruins' remains one of the most harrowing firsthand accounts of the genocide. But Yessayan's story doesn't end there: she fled to Paris, was...

In 1915, the Ottoman Empire began a systematic campaign to exterminate its Armenian population. This episode explores the planning behind the genocide, the key architects like Talat Pasha and Enver Pasha, the role of the Special Organization (Teşkilat-ı Mahsusa), and the implementation through deportations, massacres, and death marches. We discuss the concept of 'genocide' as defined by Raphael Le...

In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore a complex and often overlooked era of Armenian history: the period of Mongol domination from the 13th to 14th centuries. After the fall of the Bagratid Kingdom, Armenian lords faced the terrifying advance of Genghis Khan's horde. Lucas explains how the Mongol Empire's policy of religious tolerance allowed the Armenian Church to survive, and how princes like...

In July 1919, as the Ottoman Empire lay defeated and Allied powers redrew the map of the Middle East, a remarkable assembly gathered in the Armenian highlands. The Erzerum Congress brought together 203 delegates from across the Caucasus, Anatolia, and the diaspora to forge a unified vision for Armenian self-determination. But the congress was far from unified. Deep ideological splits emerged betwe...

In Episode 101 of The Story of Armenia, Lucas and Luna explore a chapter often left in shadow: Armenia's decades under Soviet domination. From the brutal purges of the 1930s that decimated the intelligentsia to the forced collectivization that shattered rural life, this episode traces how Moscow's policies reshaped — and nearly erased — Armenian identity. We examine the Armenian Soviet Socialist R...

Long before the 20th century's cataclysms, Armenian merchants, scholars, and artisans had already built a worldwide network stretching from India to Amsterdam. This episode traces the earlier Armenian diaspora — the Julfan traders who dominated the Silk Road under Shah Abbas, the Mkhitarist monks in Venice who preserved manuscripts and printed books, and the merchant colonies in Madras, Calcutta,...