Khanzadian, Zatik (Zadig) H. (1886-1980)

1919

Carte de Arménie

Délégation Nationale Arménienne

Paris

Paris

Wuhrer & Monrocq

Paris

Paris

Separate Map

54

76

1,800,000

Armenia

Carte de Arménie [Title on the Wrappers]. Arménie Dressée par le Capitaine de Corvette Z. Khanzadian [Title in the Carouche of the Map]

15368.002

2

Khanzadian, Zatik (Zadig) H. (1886-1980)

1919

Carte de Arménie [Title on the Wrappers]. Arménie Dressée par le Capitaine de Corvette Z. Khanzadian [Title in the Carouche of the Map]

Cf.: A selection of ancient and medieval historical maps from the cartographic heritage of Zatik Khanzadian (on line source: http://arar.sci.am/… pdf).

"A rare, large separately issued map of Armenia, made by a cartographer Zatik (Zadig). Khanzadian and presented by the Armenian National Delegation at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919. The map, showcasing the area of today’s Armenia with its ancient territories and marked borders of contemporary districts, provinces, historical border between Armenia and Turkey, church centers, railroad connections etc. was made by an Armenian cartographer and researched of old maps Zatik (Zadig) H. Khanzadian (1886-1980), who finished the study of cartography at the Military-Naval School in Izmir. At the beginning of WWI he moved to Bulgaria and then to Paris, where he attended High School of Navigation and the School of the General Headquarters of the Naval Forces of France gaining the title Commandant. In 1919, Khanzadian attended the Paris Peace Conference as a member of the National Armenian Delagation, for which he drafted the map. For the same event Khanzadian made two further maps of smaller format : République de l'Arménie - Les frontieres nordest Khrame and République de l'Arménie - Statgraphie des frontières naturelles. The map appeared at a critical time in the long history of the Armenian civilization, when it was enduring the unimaginable tragedy of the Armenian Genocide (1915-23), punctuated by the evanescent hope of regaining its first independent state in over 500 years. Most famous Khanzadian’s works on Armenia were Rapport sur l'unité géographique de l'Arménie. Atlas historique from 1920 and Atlas de cartographie historique de l'Arménie, published in 1960, both focusing on the historical maps of Armenia. He also authored several other maps and important, mostly statistical atlases. 170 171 172 173 The (Brief) Rise of an Independent Armenia The Armenian Civilization is one of the great cultures of the Near East, and it has occupied a variety of different territories during its long history. At its height, the ancient Kingdom of Armenia Major, which existed from 321 to 428 AD, occupied a vast swath of territory from the Levant to the Caspian Sea. Following that time, the Armenian territory was invaded and dissected into different parts. The independent Bagratid Kingdom of Armenia existed from 884 to 1045 in what is now modern day Armenia and Eastern Anatolia. From 1198 to 1375, the Armenian Cilician Kingdom (sometimes referred to as ‘New Armenia’) flourished in what is now the southeastern coastal region of Anatolia. From 1375 to 1918, the Armenian civilization was entirely occupied by foreign powers. The terms of occupation tended to be very oppressive, forcing a large portion of the Armenian population into exile, whereby many individuals achieved great success in intellectual and commercial pursuits. In the generations up to World War I, the majority of the traditional Armenian territories were under Turkish domination, as ‘Ottoman Armenia’, while the northeastern areas were under the rule of Russia, so-called ‘Russian Armenia’. During this same period, Paris became the most important intellectual centre of the Armenian diaspora, home to key figures such as Karapet Basmadjian. World War I and its immediate aftermath marked a period of unparalleled tragedy for the Armenian people. As the ailing Ottoman Empire began to collapse under the weight of the conflict, the Turkish leadership targeted the Armenian people as a scapegoat for their own frustrations. Beginning in 1915, and lasting until 1923, the Turkish imperial and post-imperial regimes murdered over 1.5 Armenians in what had become known as the Armenian Genocide. However, out of the tragedy and chaos appeared, albeit fleetingly, rays of hope that Armenia could regain its independence after almost 550 years. By late 1917, the Ottoman Empire was in a state of collapse, unable to control even its core territories in Anatolia. Meanwhile, the October Revolution in Russia caused the collapse of the Czarist Regime, and as the Bolsheviks were preoccupied with gaining control over Russia, a power vacuum developed in the former empire’s peripheral territories, such as Armenia. The Armenian independence movement on the ground was led by the Armenian Revolutionary Front (ARF or Dashnaktsutyun), which managed to gain control over most of the former Russian Armenia by the early months of 1918. The ARF civilian political command, the Armenian Council, declared the creation of the (First) Republic of Armenia in Yerevan on May 28, 1918. For the very first time since 1375, Armenians governed their own sovereign state. While the new nation only controlled 70,000 square kilometres of territory, a small fraction of the historical Armenian lands portrayed on the present map, it was hoped that this would be the basis for further territorial gains in the period following the end of World War I. Meanwhile, the leading members of the Armenian diaspora in France, Britain and the United States, stepped their efforts into high gear. Awareness and sympathy had developed in the West for the suffering of the Armenian people due to the genocide at the hands of the Turks. Many Armenian leaders believed that there was now a receptive audience for the Armenian cause, and so set about to educate Western policy makers on the historic claims of the Armenian people and their contemporary challenges. By the beginning of 1919, it was well known that the fate of Armenia’s territorial claims would be decided by the Western powers at a treaty conference, likely to be convened at some point in 1920. The Armenian exile leaders prepared numerous well-researched newspaper articles, essays and pamphlets, along with a handful of maps that advanced the Armenian position, all geared towards convincing the Western powers to grant the most favourable possible terms to Armenia. The present map was a key aspect of this public relations exercise, as it educated Westerners as to the extensive historical territory of the Armenian civilization. Even if it was conceded that there was no realistic way that the independent Armenian state would gain all, or even the majority, of the territory designated on the map, even the reward of a large minority of the land would represent a great leap forward. The Armenian public relations campaign proved to be a resounding success. At the long-awaited conference, which manifested itself as the Treaty of Sevres (August 10, 1920), Armenia was awarded 174,000 square kilometres of territory, expanding it holdings westward to include Lake Van, Erzerum and a lengthy coastline along the Black Sea, including the key port of Trabzon. While falling far short of Armenia’s maximal claims, it was more than enough territory to form the basis of viable nation. The support of U.S. President Woodrow Wilson caused the proposed treaty state to be referred to as ‘Wilsonian Armenia’. Unfortunately, the dream was not to be, as the terms of the Treaty of Sevres were never realized. Moreover, the First Armenian Republic was plagued by internal problems and external enemies, the consequences of living in ‘rough neighborhood’. The Turks managed to regroup from their earlier implosion and managed to regain control of eastern Anatolia, including the Armenian-designated lands extending from Lake Van up to Trabzon. Meanwhile, the Soviet Red Army successfully invaded the territory of the Republic. Thus, the first independent Armenian nation since 1375 lasted barely 2 years. The Soviets formally incorporated the northeastern Armenian lands into the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1922. The Armenian people would have to wait another 69 years, until 1991, to regain their own independent state (on roughly the same territory as held by the Frist Republic). Note on Rarity The map was probably only issued in limited numbers at the conference. We could not find any institutional examples of the map on Worldcat. We could only trace one example in the Library of Congress, listed on their web-page." (Alexander Johnson and Dasa Pahor, 2022)

15368.000

Separate Map

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15368002.jp2

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Khanzadian, Zatik (Zadig) H. (1886-1980)