The First Republic of Armenia, officially known at the time of its existence as the Republic of Armenia (Armenian: Հայաստանի Հանրապետություն, romanized: Hayastani Hanrapetut'yun), was an independent Armenian state that existed from May (28th de jure, 30th de facto) 1918 to December 2 1920 in the Armenian-populated territories of the former Russian Empire known as Eastern or Russian Armenia. The republic was established in May 1918, with its capital in the city of Yerevan, after the dissolution of the short-lived Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic. It was the first Armenian state since the Middle Ages.
In its first year of independence, Armenia was confined to a small territory around Lake Sevan after its invasion by the Ottoman Empire during the Caucasus campaign. Following the Armistice of Mudros, Armenia expanded its borders in the wake of the Ottoman withdrawal, leading to a short border war with neighbouring Georgia. During its first winter, hundreds of thousands of refugees in the country who had fled the Armenian genocide died from starvation or exposure. In the spring of 1919, Armenia, with British support, incorporated the formerly occupied regions of Kars and Nakhchivan, thus more than tripling in size since independence; however, Armenian control of these regions collapsed during the Muslim uprisings that erupted in the summer of 1919.
In late 1919, the isolated Armenian region of Zangezur came under attack by neighbouring Azerbaijan. However, the fighting subsided until an Armenian uprising was launched in March of the following year in the Azerbaijani-controlled region of Nagorno-Karabakh, ending with the latter's sovietisation in April. In August 1920, Armenian representatives signed the Treaty of Sèvres, which awarded the country an additional 40,000 square miles (100,000 square kilometres) of territory in Western Armenia, although the treaty was never implemented. In late 1920, the republic was invaded by Turkish forces, ending with its partition and sovietisation by the Russian SFSR, with the latter founding the superseding Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic. Shortly thereafter, an anti-Bolshevik revolt resisted Soviet authority from February–July 1921.
In the two and a half years of its existence, Armenia formed diplomatic relations with 40 countries, gained de jure recognition, underwent parliamentary elections, and founded its first university. The nation's parliament and government were dominated by the broad Dashnak party (ARF), however, the cabinet posts were initially shared with the "bourgeois" Armenian Populist Party and later Social Revolutionaries.
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