The Armenian Church: a Support of Separatism or an Ally of the Christian Empire? Analysis of Russian Right-wing Conservative Journalism of the 2nd Half of the 19th — Early 20th Centuries

The article analyzes the most significant texts of Russian right-wing publicists of the second half of the 19th — early 20th centuries concerning the Armenian-Gregorian Church. Conservative authors, starting with Mikhail Katkov, expressed dissatisfaction with the independent position of the Armenian Catholicos. In right-wing journalism at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, the Armenian-Gregorian Church was characterized as the basis of Armenian separatism. The most prominent exponent of this view was Vasily Velichko. Another author, Mikhail Menshikov, made sharp attacks against the Armenian church and people, but in 1912 he suddenly declared Russia’s duty to support the Armenians referring to Christian solidarity. The change in the position of Menshikov and some other moderate rightwing authors could, in the author’s opinion, be explained by trying to be in line with the government policy that gradually became more loyal towards the Armenians in the early 1910s.