support her and her numerous Bolshevik undertakings throughout his life. In 1899 she became involved in the Moscow Society for Improving the Lot of Women, a philanthropic organization devoted to assisting prostitutes and other poor women. By 1900 she was president of the society and working hard to create a Sunday school for working women.
In 1903, disillusioned with philanthropic work, she joined the Social Democratic Party and became active in revolutionary propaganda work. In exile in Europe from 1909 to 1917, with a brief illegal return to Russia, she helped Vladimir Lenin establish a party school at Longjumeau, France, in 1911; she taught there herself. When Russian women workers gained the right to vote and be elected to factory committees in 1912, Armand, Nadezhda Krupskaya, and others persuaded Lenin to create a special journal Rabotnitsa (Woman Worker). Although Armand and other editors insisted that women workers were not making special demands separate from those of men, they did recognize the importance of writing about women’s health and safety issues in the factories.
During World War I Armand was one of Lenin’s and the party’s principal delegates to international socialist conferences, especially those of women protesting the war. In April 1917 Armand returned to Petrograd with Lenin and Krupskaya. Soon she was made a member of the Executive Committee of the Moscow Provincial Soviet and of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee (VtsIK), as well as chair of the Moscow Provincial economic council. Her crowning achievement, however, was her role in founding the women’s section of the Communist Party, the zhenotdel.
In that role she worked on problems as diverse as supporting legislation legalizing abortion, combating prostitution, creating special sections for the protection of mothers and infants in the Health Commissariat, working with the trade unions, and developing agitation methods for peasant women. In all of these, Armand advocated the creation of
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special methods for work among women, given women’s historical backwardness and the prejudices of many men towards women’s increased participation in the workforce and in society.
However, Armand’s tenure as director of the zhenotdel was short-lived. On September 24, 1920, while on leave in the Caucasus, she succumbed to cholera and died. See also: FEMINISM; KRUPSKAYA, NADEZHDA KONSTAN-TINOVNA; LENIN, VLADIMIR ILICH; ZHENOTDEL
Clements, Barbara Evans. (1997). Bolshevik Women. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Elwood, Ralph C. (1992). Inessa Armand: Revolutionary and Feminist. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. McNeal, Robert H. (1972). Bride of the Revolution: Krup-skaya and Lenin. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. Stites, Richard. (1975). “Kollontai, Inessa, and Krupskaia: A Review of Recent Literature.” Canadian-American Slavic Studies 9(1):84-92. Stites, Richard. (1978). The Women’s Liberation Movement in Russia: Feminism, Nihilism, and Bolshevism, 1860-1930. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. Wood, Elizabeth A. (1997). The Baba and the Comrade: Gender and Politics in Revolutionary Russia. Bloom-ington: Indiana University Press.
ELIZABETH A. WOOD
Armenia is a landlocked, mountainous plateau that rises to an average of 3,000 to 7,000 feet (914 to 2,134 meters) above sea level. It extends to the Anatolian plateau in the west, the Iranian plateau in the southwest, the plains of the South Caucasus in the north, and the Karadagh Mountains and the Moghan Steppe in the south and southeast. The Armenian highlands stretch roughly between longitudes 37° and 48.5° east, and 38° and 41° north latitudes, with a total area of some 150,000 square miles (388,500 square kilometers). In present-day terms, historic Armenia comprises most of eastern Turkey, the northeastern corner of Iran, parts of the Azerbaijan and Georgian Republics, as well as the entire territory of the Armenian Republic.
The Kur (Kura) and Arax (Araxes) Rivers separate the Armenian highlands in the east from the lowlands that adjoin the Caspian Sea. The Pontus Mountains, which connect to the Lesser Caucasus mountain chain, separate Armenia from the Black Sea and Georgia and form the region’s northern boundary. The Taurus Mountains, which join the upper Zagros Mountains and the Iranian Plateau, form the southern boundary of Armenia and separate it from Syria, Kurdistan, and Iran. The western boundary of Armenia has generally been between the western Euphrates River and the northern stretch of the Anti-Taurus Mountains. Armenians also established communities east of the Kur as far as the Caspian Sea, and states west of the Euphrates as far as Cilicia on the Mediterranean Sea.
Lying on the Anatolian fault, the Armenian plateau is subject to seismic tremors. Major earthquakes have been recorded there since the ninth century, some of which have destroyed entire cities. The most recent earthquake in the region, occurring on December 7, 1988, killed some 25,000 people and leveled numerous communities.
Some fifty million years ago, the geological structure of Armenia underwent many changes, creating great mountains and high, now-inactive, volcanic peaks throughout the plateau. The larger peaks of Mount Ararat (16,946 feet; 5,279 meters), Mount Sipan (14,540 feet; 4,432 meters), and Mount Aragats (13,410 feet; 4,087 meters), and the smaller peaks of Mount Ararat (12,839 feet; 3,913 meters), and Mount Bingol (10,770 feet; 3,283 meters), from which the Arax and the Euphrates Rivers originate, are some examples. Tufa, limestone, basalt, quartz, and obsidian form the main composition of the terrain. The mountains also contain abundant deposits of mineral ores, including copper, iron, zinc, lead, silver, and gold. There are also large deposits of salt, borax, and obsidian, as well as volcanic tufa stone, which is used for construction.
Armenia’s mountains give rise to numerous rivers, practically all unnavigable, which have created deep gorges, ravines, and waterfalls. The longest is the Arax River, which starts in the mountains of western Armenia, joins the Kur River, then empties into the Caspian Sea. The Arax flows through the plain of Ararat, which is the site of the major Armenian cities. Another important river is the Euphrates, which splits into western and
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eastern branches. Both branches flow westward, then turn south toward Mesopotamia. The Euphrates was the ancient boundary dividing what became Lesser and Greater Armenia. The Kur and the Tigris and their tributaries flow briefly through Armenia. Two other rivers, the Akhurian, a tributary of the Arax, and the Hrazdan, which flows from Lake Sevan, provide water to an otherwise parched and rocky landscape devoid of forests.
A number of lakes are situated in the Armenian highlands, the deepest and most important of which is Lake Van in present-day Turkey. Van’s waters are charged with borax, and hence un-drinkable. Lake Sevan is the highest in elevation, lying some 6,300 feet (1,917 meters) above sea level. It is found in the present-day Armenian Republic.
Armenia lies in the temperate zone and has a variety of climates. In general, winters are long and can be severe, while summers are usually short and very hot. Some of the plains, because of their lower altitudes, are better suited for agriculture, and have fostered population centers throughout the centuries. The variety of temperatures has enabled the land to support a great diversity of flora and fauna common to western Asia and Transcaucasia. The generally dry Armenian climate has necessitated artificial irrigation throughout history. The soil, which is volcanic, is quite fertile and, with sufficient water, is capable of intensive farming. Farming is prevalent in the lower altitudes, while sheep and goat herding dominates the highlands.
Although Armenians have been known as artisans and merchants, the majority of Armenians, until modern times, were engaged primarily in agriculture. In addition to cereal crops, Armenia grew vegetables, various oil seeds, and especially fruit. Armenian fruit has been famous from ancient times, with the pomegranate and apricot, referred to by the Romans as the Armenian plum, being the most renowned.
THE EARLIEST ARMENIANS
According to legend, the Armenians are the descendants of Japeth, a son of Noah, who settled in the Ararat valley. This legend places the Armenians in a prominent position within the Biblical tradition. In this tradition, the
