Republic of Mountainous Armenia
Republic of Mountainous Armenia, also called Mountainous Armenia, was a short‑lived, unrecognized Armenian state in 1921. It covered parts of today’s Armenian provinces of Vayots Dzor and Syunik, and some of present‑day Azerbaijan (Nakhchivan). It was founded by military leader Garegin Nzhdeh and his allies with help from local guerrillas after the February Uprising was crushed. Its de facto capital was Goris, and it operated as a republic with Armenian as the main language. The army numbered about 15,000 soldiers.
The state lasted only a few months and was not recognized by any country. In battles against much larger Turkish nationalist forces and the Soviet Red Army, Nzhdeh and his men fought hard but were defeated. An anti‑Soviet rebellion in Yerevan began on 18 February 1921 and controlled the city for about six weeks before the Red Army defeated them in April. The leaders retreated to Syunik.
On 26 April 1921, at the 2nd Pan‑Zangezur congress in Tatev monastery, the self‑governing regions of Daralakyaz (Vayots Dzor), Zangezur, and Mountainous Artsakh declared independence as the Republic of Mountainous Armenia. On 1 June 1921 it was renamed the Republic of Armenia. The Mountainous Armenia state was disestablished on 13 July 1921.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 14:01 (CET).