The AGBU’s Armenian School System
The AGBU's Nubar School in Teheran in the 1950s (Arch. Bibl. Nubar/Paris).
THE POLITICIZATION OF THE DIASPORA: THE SCHOO: ISSUE DURING THE FRENCH MANDATE OVER SYRIA AND LEBANON
After the Republic of Armenia was sovietized in 1921, there began, against the backdrop of the anti-Soviet struggle, a battle for influence over the Armenian diasporan communities between the Tashnagtsutyun and the other Armenian political organizations, which, like the AGBU, were far from sharing the Tash¬nagtsutyun’s radical position on Soviet Armenia.
The harmony and cooperation between the various Armenian organizations observable in the aftermath of World War I gave way to undisguised hostility and competition thereafter. Scattered throughout the countries of the Near East and Europe, and lacking a national home in which they might come together, tens of thousands of Armenian refugees were searching for political direction and a common project that would enable them to overcome their disarray and the sense of insecurity haunting them. In this peculiar climate, the debate about the future of these thousands of refugees inevitably enflamed passions and gave rise to deep divisions in the Armenian communities of the diaspora. Did the Soviet Armenian regime’s efforts to rebuild the country deserve support? Or should the regime be combated ... Read all