These Selected Works of Garegin Nzhdeh have been chosen for an English translation for the first time. The texts represent his thoughts as well as his political and philosophical approaches. They cover the period from the early 1920s till his prison writings, in a Soviet prison camp, in the mid-‘50s. They also include an interview (1943) with Nzhdeh by “Razmik” newspaper of Sofia and a testimony by Nzhdeh. A chronological survey of his life and work, bibliographical sources and a glossary of place names complete this volume. 

The selected writings reflect the evolution of his thoughts shaped by the turbulent political events and the intense ideological battles that characterized most of the 20th century in the Armenian and international political scene. The Armenian national liberation struggle of late 19th and early 20th centuries, the worldview of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutiun), the struggle for survival of the First Republic of Armenia, and subsequently, its forced partition and sovietization had their impact upon the development of his political thinking and philosophy. 

Nzhdeh witnessed the collapse of the Ottoman Turkish and Tsarist Russian Empires, faced the destruction and the dispossession of Western Armenians during the First World War. He participated in the struggle for the independence and territorial unity of the first Republic of Armenia, and saw its forced partition, sovietization and its incorporation into the Soviet Union. Finally, as part of the Diaspora, he joined the struggle for national survival, experienced the Second World War and always focused on Armenia’s preservation and territorial unity. 

His fame was kept alive in the popular memory of Armenia, despite the prohibition of his name during the Soviet era (1921-1990). Nzhdeh possessed a strong personality and embodied three prominent talents: that of an orator, military strategist and philosopher. These attributes made him one of the outstanding Armenian political and military leaders of the first half of the 20th century.