Talk:Armenian Revolutionary Federation
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Armenian Revolutionary Federation was one of the Social sciences and society good articles, but it has been removed from the list. There are suggestions below for improving the article to meet the good article criteria. Once these issues have been addressed, the article can be renominated. Editors may also seek a reassessment of the decision if they believe there was a mistake. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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Paragraph irrelevant to heading
editThe following is the first paragraph under the heading "Young Turk Revolution":
In the 1890s the party used terrorism against the Ottoman Empire and Russia with the goal of gaining an independent nation, more well known attacks occurred against Bedros Kapamciyan, the mayor of Van who was assassinated in December 1912, and the assassination of archbishop Leon Tourian in New York City on December 24, 1933.
Only the incident in 1912 is relevant to that segment and the source used is by a Turkish nationalist author. I would remove that short paragraph completely but I'd, if it has to stay, at least call for a better source and move it somewhere else in the article. AlenVaneci (talk) 11:17, 1 December 2023 (UTC)
Russophilia
editHello, The Armenian Revolutionary Federation cannot be characterized with "Russophilia" as done in the sidebar of the article. The party is far from that, in reality. The party has collaborated with the Russians due to geographic proximity and strategic interests. However, the ARF's main policy is Armenophilia, as the party is created by and for the Armenian people. Its goals are the liberation of lost Armenian lands and justice for the Armenian Genocide. The party has nothing to do with loving the Russians and obsessing with them. I cannot edit this article, but I request someone remove that term. ProtoCS (talk) 01:32, 25 June 2024 (UTC)
GA concerns
editAfter quickly skimming the article, I am concerened that it does not meet the good article criteria anymore. Some of my concerns are listed below:
- The lede, at 7 paragrphs, is far more than the 3-4 recommended at WP:LEDE.
- There are numerous uncited sections, including entire paragraphs.
- There are numerous paragraphs that are one line long. These should be merged and copyedited.
Is anyone interested in addressing these concerns, or should this article go to WP:GAR? Z1720 (talk) 20:20, 26 June 2024 (UTC)
- These problems are too extensive, I think, to be addressed in a short amount of time. It should probably go to WP:GAR. Best, Revolution Saga (talk) 21:19, 26 June 2024 (UTC)
Template
edit@Archives908 Hi. I don't think there is a credible reason to restore this template by the blocked user because if you read the article, nowhere does it say the whole ARF collaborated with Nazis, this is what the relevant sentence says: "During World War II, some Berlin-based ARF members saw an opportunity to remove Soviet control from Armenia by supporting the Nazis." So according to the article, only some ARF members collaborated, not the whole organization. Therefore the template should be removed, it doesn't belong to the ARF organization as a whole which this article is about. Vanezi (talk) 18:12, 29 June 2024 (UTC)
- Some ARF members collaborated with the Nazis, which means that the ARF, did, in some capacity, collaborate with the Nazis. Its sourced and therefore its inclusion is warranted. Archives908 (talk) 18:35, 3 July 2024 (UTC)
- Some doesn't represent the whole organization, that's not how it works. ARF has thousands of members, and if ARF organization itself hasn't collaborated in a formal manner, then the template has no place here. Vanezi (talk) 08:55, 4 July 2024 (UTC)
- Several high-ranking members did formally collaborate, and they did so with full acknowledgment/ permission of the ARF itself. Just because the ARF was not designated as an official "Nazi ally", it does not negate the collaboration between the party elite and the Nazi's. Collaboration does not always have to be "formalized". There is no inclusion criteria which states that only "formal allies" may be included. The Armenian Legion, commanded by Drastamat Kanayan (a high-ranking ARF politician) literally fought in allegiance with the Nazis. Therefore, its inclusion is warranted. Archives908 (talk) 00:20, 5 July 2024 (UTC)
- Hi @Archives908, can you provide a source for the claim that "they did so with full acknowledgment/ permission of the ARF itself"? Best, Revolution Saga (talk) 14:42, 5 July 2024 (UTC)
- Absolutely, (see [1]) which states: "the Berlin-based representatives of Tashnag (Armenian Revolutionary Federation—ARF) Armenians hastily signed an agreement with the Germans promising that Armenian volunteers would fight on the German side against the Soviets." Regardless if the central bureau accepted this or not, collaboration between the ARF and the Nazis (within some capacity) took place. Archives908 (talk) 19:09, 5 July 2024 (UTC)
- Keghart is an opinion piece. The Banality book doesn't use the term "collaborator" or phrase "supporting the Nazis", or any of the other intentionally vague and provocative language that the article currently uses. This is original research. Vanezi (talk) 16:42, 16 July 2024 (UTC)
- @Archives908 @Vanezi Astghik I agree that the Keghart piece is not an adequate citation for this claim. Yair Auron's book also does not mention the ARF at all. To my knowledge, Dro's actions were not sanctioned by the party leadership. Consult this passage from Christopher J. Walkers Armenia: The Survival of a Nation (London: Routledge, 1990, rev. 2nd ed., admittedly a somewhat old source by now): "Members of the Dashnak party living in the occupied areas, including a number of names famous from the period of the republic, adopted a pro-Nazi stance. The whole [emphasis original] Dashnak party did not take this stance; the section of the party in Cairo affirmed its loyalty to the Allies" (357). I can search for more sources later. Eduard Abramyan's Kavkaztsy v Abvere (Кавказцы в Абвере, Moscow 2006) may contain relevant information. Best, Revolution Saga (talk) 10:17, 24 July 2024 (UTC)
- The Armenian Revolutionary Federation was conquered by the Russian Bolsheviks in 1920, and ceased to exist. This time, the Dashnaks saw a good opportunity in the collaboration with the Nazis to regain those territories. To that end, on December 30, 1941 they formed a battalion of 8,000-strong known as the “812th Armenian Battalion of Wehrmacht” under the command of Dro (per [2]) and Armenian Revolutionary Federation leaders worked closely with German Military Intelligence. The Armenians did for Germany what they first did best for the Russians in World War I — spying. From mid 1941 until September 1944 the Armenians worked closely with Nazi intelligence offices in Turkey and throughout the Middle East. Armenian “secret” agents worked to spread German propaganda and helped the Nazis run down and locate Jews. During the early years of the war Armenian leaders thought Germany would win the war. They made every effort to cut a deal for the Germans to give them Russian and Turkish lands. (per [3]).
- For the third time, this isn't about how much involvement the central bureau had with the Nazi's, its about collaboration. The ARF did have some amount of collaboration with the Nazi's. May I remind folks, that there was quite literally an Armenian Legion (part of the Nazi German army) which was led by an ARF member. That, in it of itself, means there was some level of collaboration between high-ranking ARF member(s) and the Nazis. Archives908 (talk) 12:46, 24 July 2024 (UTC)
- I would strongly recommend against consulting Armenian genocide denialist sources like that for this issue, or any historical topics. If members of the party collaborated with the Nazis on an individual level, against the decisions of the party leadership, and not acting in their capacity as ARF members, then it may be somewhat misleading to include the entire party in this template. (I am not saying this is necessarily the case, but I think there should be WP:RS to assert that they were acting as representatives of the party.) In any case, I think we should focus on clarifying what the scholarship says in the main text of the article before deciding what to with this template. Revolution Saga (talk) 13:47, 24 July 2024 (UTC)
- Your edit summary didn't make sense [4] - what consensus are you talking about when you haven't replied to my comment even at the time you reverted me? Consensus is supposed to be reached between two parties (in this case at the time) or more, you can't just revert without yourself having disagreed with my comment or commented on talk. And your new source isn't WP:RS as noted already by Revolution Saga, we don't use denialist sources in general and even more so in sensitive topics.
- Let's get it straight: this template wasn't in the article, neither was this, both were added by a blocked user [5]. Even if we go by your logic, this user didn't have consensus to add such controversial material in the first place. Restoring it without consensus should be your concern, the burden for consensus is on you to include disputed content. Vanezi (talk) 05:49, 26 July 2024 (UTC)
- It's okay for you to reply to me after 12 days, yet you expect me to respond immediately? Unfortunately, Wikipedia does not work like that. Wikipedia is a WP:VOLUNTEER project and I am not expected to respond to you at your beck and call. I did not say anything to you after taking 2 weeks to respond. You should understand that most editors are WP:BUSY.
- As per WP:BRD, your "B"old edit was "R"everted (several times), and then editors should "D"iscuss to reach a consensus. That guideline doesn't work when editors persistently reinstate their preferred version without reaching a conclusive WP:CON. Not sure how my edit summary wasn't clear, but hopefully its crystal clear now!
- Revolution Saga simply suggested to avoid using that source regarding the genocide. But the genocide is not what we are discussing here and has nothing to do with this thread. Revolution Saga also said above that they aren't saying it was or wasn't the case in regards to proving ARF involvement with the Nazis.
- The lead of Garegin Nzhdeh quite literally states "During World War II, he cooperated with Nazi Germany, hoping to secure Soviet Armenia's existence in case of Germany's victory over USSR and a potential Turkish invasion of the Caucasus." It's well sourced. This alone confirms that there was some degree of collaboration between the Nazi's and high ranking ARF members. While Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy confirms that there were at least 9 Armenian battalions which fought alongside the Nazis as part of the Armenian Legion. The 812th Battalion was established in 1942 when a number of ARF members entered into negotiations with Berlin. These articles and passages are all academically sourced on their respective articles. Read them.
- If you are suggesting that there was absolutely zero collaboration with the ARF and the Nazis, please do present your WP:RS. Archives908 (talk) 13:38, 26 July 2024 (UTC)
- @Archives908 Just so you know, Nzhdeh was no longer a member of the ARF during WWII. He had left the party quite some time before then. As for the Turkish diaspora organizations' websites you linked, I don't think they should be used for any articles on Armenian history, as they are not scholarly sources and clearly have an aggressive anti-Armenian agenda. Anyway, without a clear criterion of what should and should not be included in the template under discussion, this discussion is unlikely to go anywhere. To clarify my position: at the very least, I think the inclusion of the ARF in the template is possibly misleading and definitely inconsistent, since, for example, the Azerbaijani Musavat Party and the Georgian Mensheviks, some members of which also helped the Nazis against the Soviet Union during the war (per Abramyan's Kavkaztsy v Abvere, p. 85ff), are not included. If the ARF is going to be included, then it's only fair that these parties be included as well. I'm going to edit the section in the article about WWII to correspond to the info in Walker's book and possibly also Abramyan if I have time to read more of it. Revolution Saga (talk) 21:31, 27 July 2024 (UTC)
- P. S., I also noticed that the section referenced in the Banality of Denial book by Yair Auron is not the author's own writing but a quoted passage from a denialist Israeli historian, so take that into consideration when using that source. Best, Revolution Saga (talk) 21:38, 27 July 2024 (UTC)
- I have no objection to their inclusion as well. They all did collaborate to a degree. Like you said, the lack of an established inclusion criteria leaves it open for interpretation. No matter how significant or insignificant, collaboration is collaboration. Therefore, I see no reason why they should be omitted. Archives908 (talk) 14:01, 28 July 2024 (UTC)
- You should reply before reverting someone: you had the time to "no consensus" revert me but not reply to my comment when you yourself don't have consensus for inclusion?
- Anyway, I'll address your objections one by one:
As per WP:BRD, your "B"old edit was "R"everted (several times), and then editors should "D"iscuss to reach a consensus.
- The WP:BRD is an essay, not a policy. But even then: BOLD, REVERT, REVERT? Where was the discuss that you had to do? Why you didn't follow your own linked essay? I was the one who had to start a discussion myself.
- Btw, WP:BRD is a helpful essay, but essays do not overrule policies (which are standards on wiki) such as WP:ONUS, which explicitly says that: "The responsibility for achieving consensus for inclusion is on those seeking to include disputed content." — you're violating ONUS.
Revolution Saga simply suggested to avoid using that source regarding the genocide ... Revolution Saga also said above that they aren't saying it was or wasn't the case in regards to proving ARF involvement with the Nazis.
- Dear colleague, we don't need to speak for others. RevolutionSaga already made their position clear and that it's at the very least misleading to have this template here, and that we (rightfully) shouldn't use Armenian genocide denialist sources for Armenian history (especially when it's controversial), that's a no-brainer. Yet somehow you don't see it with this silly justification for your denialist sources:
But the genocide is not what we are discussing here and has nothing to do with this thread.
— Really? Would you be ok with using blatant holocaust denying sources for Israeli controversial history topics, or Israeli history in general? Did you even fully look at the Turkish diaspora organizations' websites you linked and the blatant anti-Armenian agenda they're pushing? If you think these subpar websites could be used for this article, go ahead, discuss them in WP:RSN if you want to. As it stands, those sources do not have consensus for using in this article. If you are suggesting that there was absolutely zero collaboration with the ARF and the Nazis, please do present your WP:RS
- Dear colleague, let's make it clear: per policy, the burden is on you to prove ARF organization collaborated with Nazis, the burden isn't on me or RevolutionSaga to prove the opposite because you're the one trying to include disputed content – but even then, in case you've not fully seen RevolutionSaga's comment, they were nice enough to provide an actual historian reliable source that verbatim states the whole ARF in fact did not adopt a pro-Nazi stance. In short, your denialist sources aren’t WP:RS for Armenian history, and I’ve already explained about the other two [6].
- My colleague, you literally don’t have WP:RS to state that ARF organisation collaborated with Nazis. Meanwhile, there is RS stating that ARF did not adopt a pro-Nazi stance. So this article which is about the ARF organisation and not some selective members (those have their own articles) therefore should not have a misleading template, per WP:RS and your failure to prove otherwise/gain consensus. Vanezi (talk) 06:38, 1 August 2024 (UTC)
- Dear colleague, read the sources on the linked articles I have provided. There are multiple WP:RS which proves there was collaboration between the ARF and the Nazis. WP:ONUS has already been met. And there is no overwhelming WP:CON to remove the template from this article, therefore I will restore it. If you wish to dispute the content and the validity of those scholarly sources on those articles, then you should start a talk page discussion on the respective article. You are also more than welcome to launch an RFC, where we can get 3rd party editors to chime in. Archives908 (talk) 12:58, 1 August 2024 (UTC)
- Dear Archives, your statements are simply not true:
read the sources on the linked articles I have provided. There are multiple WP:RS which proves there was collaboration between the ARF and the Nazis.
- What RS? Other than the denialist sources which ought not to be used in Armenian history and do not have consensus to be used, what actual RS state that the ARF organisation collaborated with Nazis? Only WP:RS that say even something close to that state that only for selective members, and even then with context that those members made the decision in order to protect Armenians living in the German-occupied areas and to protect Armenia from a potential Turkish invasion in the event of a German victory over the Soviet Union. [7]
- When it comes to the ARF organisation itself though, you still have not presented any WP:RS to state ARF organisation collaborated with Nazis, which this article is about, ARF's article. However, on the contrary, as RevolutionSaga already shown, there are sources that state the opposite such as:
- Christopher J. Walkers Armenia: The Survival of a Nation (London: Routledge, 1990, rev. 2nd ed.): "Members of the Dashnak party living in the occupied areas, including a number of names famous from the period of the republic, adopted a pro-Nazi stance. The whole [emphasis original] Dashnak party did not take this stance; the section of the party in Cairo affirmed its loyalty to the Allies" (357)
- So if you have WP:RS that state ARF organisation collaborated with Nazis, please quote them here with page numbers so all of us can WP:VERIFY it. If you don't let's just settle this discussion down dear Archives and follow the RS that I quoted above.
- Finally, please remember that as it stands, the WP:ONUS in fact IS NOT met, no Wikipedian or admin will look at this discussion and say "Archives908 has consensus and met ONUS", in fact you clearly don't have consensus. So, dear colleague, please do not engage in reverts and do not restore disputed content until you have consensus, as the burden for it is on you. Vanezi (talk) 06:34, 2 August 2024 (UTC)
- The Armenian Revolutionary Federation article literally states in the body: During World War II, some ARF members, specifically those living in areas under German occupation, collaborated with Nazi Germany. However, this was not the position of the entire party, and the party bureau in Cairo declared its loyalty to the Allies. The Armenian Legion, composed largely of former Soviet Red Army POWs, was led by Drastamat Kanayan. It participated in the occupation of the Crimean Peninsula and the North Caucasus.[1]
- Collaboration, to a degree, did exist. WP:RS has been provided.
- You, on the other hand, continue to remove sourced content and now I'm beginning to suspect a violation of WP:NPOV. Archives908 (talk) 13:42, 2 August 2024 (UTC) Archives908 (talk) 13:42, 2 August 2024 (UTC)
- You were asked for a SOURCE for ARF organisation collaborating with Nazis, you instead quote a PART of paragraph from this article (which is NOT A SOURCE) that is literally sourced by the same source I quoted above, only says "some members" and not ARF itself, and doesn't refer to ARF organisation.: if you read the source which you should per WP:V, literally next sentence after those "members", the source verbatim states that whole ARF did NOT adopt a Nazi stance and assured its loyalty to Allies in Cairo meeting:
- Christopher J. Walkers Armenia: The Survival of a Nation (London: Routledge, 1990, rev. 2nd ed.): "Members of the Dashnak party living in the occupied areas, including a number of names famous from the period of the republic, adopted a pro-Nazi stance. The whole [emphasis original] Dashnak party did not take this stance; the section of the party in Cairo affirmed its loyalty to the Allies" (357)
- How can you ignore WP:RS entirely and partially quote a paragraph as if it's a source, same paragraph fragment that is referenced by my source above which goes on to say, in the same sentence, that whole ARF did not adopt a pro-Nazi stance of some members. Do you understand how wrong this is? Please do not act in this way, you're violating WP:ONUS, WP:COMPETENCE, WP:OR and WP:SYNTH - and once again, you don't have consensus when you need one especially for continuing to revert and edit-war, please read carefully word by word, idk what else to say in order for you to NOT blatantly ignore policies:
- Vanezi (talk) 06:34, 9 August 2024 (UTC)
- I added the source already- please read it. Thanks, Archives908 (talk) 13:14, 9 August 2024 (UTC)
- I already said earlier that Keghart is an opinion piece. The Banality book doesn't use the term "collaborator" or phrase "supporting the Nazis". Turkish diaspora organizations' denialist websites aren't WP:RS for Armenian history as you've been told already by two different users. What is this reliable source you're talking about that you've "added"? And if you have a WP:RS, where does it dispute what RS such as Walkers says which I've repeatedly quoted above, that the whole ARF party did not in fact take a pro-Nazi stance like some members and that the section of ARF in Cairo explicitly affirmed its loyalty to the Allies? Do you have an issue with following WP:VERIFY and providing WP:RS with page numbers/quotes when required, especially when you keep going against WP:ONUS and restoring misleading controversial content that contradicts the actual Walkers WP:RS quoted here? Vanezi (talk) 18:49, 9 August 2024 (UTC)
- Here you go: [2], [3], [4], [5], [6], [7], [8], [9], [10]. Archives908 (talk) 14:01, 10 August 2024 (UTC) Archives908 (talk) 14:01, 10 August 2024 (UTC)
- I hope you understand that dumping sources here with no quotes isn't exactly providing quotes when asked especially for challenged contentious material that contradicts the quoted source here, see WP:VERIFY:
- direct quotations,
- material whose verifiability has been challenged,
- material whose verifiability is likely to be challenged, and
- contentious material about living and recently deceased persons.
- And there are several issues already even without having any quotes to confirm your claim of ARF organisation collaborating with Nazis:
- You cite Walker twice in your list, the same Walker who literally does not support your position (I quoted Walker already several times and he verbatim says that ARF did not take a pro-Nazi stance and affirmed loyalty to Allies in the Cairo meeting).
- One of the other sources you posted is a section from Auron Yair's book, which RevolutionSaga already explained isn't actually written by Yair himself but quoted from an Israeli denialist historian, which obviously shouldn't be used for Armenian history, as already told by two users here for other denialist sources.
- That leaves us with 7 sources; could you be kind enough and provide quotations from these sources, per WP:VERIFY, that confirm ARF organisation collaboration with Nazis? Something tells me you didn't actually read the sources and just mass posted them here from some article; otherwise you wouldn't have posted Walker twice who not only doesn't support but contradicts your position. Vanezi (talk) 11:22, 14 August 2024 (UTC)
- Firstly, I took many hours to review various sources per your request. You making assumptions is not conducive nor productive to this conversation, and quite frankly is rude. It's also ironic that you are assuming that I haven't read these sources, yet you openly admit to not reviewing them yourself. So please, as a gentile reminder, stay focused on the topic at hand, and avoid making assumptions about editors per WP:TPG#YES.
- Secondly, I may have listed the same source twice by mistake. Please WP:CALM down the language, as you are making it seem that I have committed the most egregious offence on Wikipedia -_- I am not a machine, dearest colleague.
- You requested specific pages numbers in your comment above, and I have taken much time to curate the list, read through the information, and provide you with the precise page numbers which discusses ARF collaboration with the Nazis. It is quite impractical to copy and paste paragraphs upon paragraphs upon paragraphs of information onto this talk page. In some cases, there is pertinent information spread across large bodies of text, making it difficult to copy here. Furthermore, I do not wish to break any WP:COPYVIOs as I have made a few mistakes with that in the past and have been warned.
- Instead, you must now take the time to review the sources I have provided as per your request. You will notice specific page numbers provided for your convenience. If it is a matter of you having difficulty accessing any of these sources, please see WP:WRE for assistance. I have asked members of the Resource Exchange for help, and they are truly amazing folks! Enjoy :) Archives908 (talk) 14:25, 14 August 2024 (UTC)
- I hope you understand that dumping sources here with no quotes isn't exactly providing quotes when asked especially for challenged contentious material that contradicts the quoted source here, see WP:VERIFY:
- Here you go: [2], [3], [4], [5], [6], [7], [8], [9], [10]. Archives908 (talk) 14:01, 10 August 2024 (UTC) Archives908 (talk) 14:01, 10 August 2024 (UTC)
- I already said earlier that Keghart is an opinion piece. The Banality book doesn't use the term "collaborator" or phrase "supporting the Nazis". Turkish diaspora organizations' denialist websites aren't WP:RS for Armenian history as you've been told already by two different users. What is this reliable source you're talking about that you've "added"? And if you have a WP:RS, where does it dispute what RS such as Walkers says which I've repeatedly quoted above, that the whole ARF party did not in fact take a pro-Nazi stance like some members and that the section of ARF in Cairo explicitly affirmed its loyalty to the Allies? Do you have an issue with following WP:VERIFY and providing WP:RS with page numbers/quotes when required, especially when you keep going against WP:ONUS and restoring misleading controversial content that contradicts the actual Walkers WP:RS quoted here? Vanezi (talk) 18:49, 9 August 2024 (UTC)
- I added the source already- please read it. Thanks, Archives908 (talk) 13:14, 9 August 2024 (UTC)
- You were asked for a SOURCE for ARF organisation collaborating with Nazis, you instead quote a PART of paragraph from this article (which is NOT A SOURCE) that is literally sourced by the same source I quoted above, only says "some members" and not ARF itself, and doesn't refer to ARF organisation.: if you read the source which you should per WP:V, literally next sentence after those "members", the source verbatim states that whole ARF did NOT adopt a Nazi stance and assured its loyalty to Allies in Cairo meeting:
- Dear colleague, read the sources on the linked articles I have provided. There are multiple WP:RS which proves there was collaboration between the ARF and the Nazis. WP:ONUS has already been met. And there is no overwhelming WP:CON to remove the template from this article, therefore I will restore it. If you wish to dispute the content and the validity of those scholarly sources on those articles, then you should start a talk page discussion on the respective article. You are also more than welcome to launch an RFC, where we can get 3rd party editors to chime in. Archives908 (talk) 12:58, 1 August 2024 (UTC)
- @Archives908 Just so you know, Nzhdeh was no longer a member of the ARF during WWII. He had left the party quite some time before then. As for the Turkish diaspora organizations' websites you linked, I don't think they should be used for any articles on Armenian history, as they are not scholarly sources and clearly have an aggressive anti-Armenian agenda. Anyway, without a clear criterion of what should and should not be included in the template under discussion, this discussion is unlikely to go anywhere. To clarify my position: at the very least, I think the inclusion of the ARF in the template is possibly misleading and definitely inconsistent, since, for example, the Azerbaijani Musavat Party and the Georgian Mensheviks, some members of which also helped the Nazis against the Soviet Union during the war (per Abramyan's Kavkaztsy v Abvere, p. 85ff), are not included. If the ARF is going to be included, then it's only fair that these parties be included as well. I'm going to edit the section in the article about WWII to correspond to the info in Walker's book and possibly also Abramyan if I have time to read more of it. Revolution Saga (talk) 21:31, 27 July 2024 (UTC)
- @Archives908 @Vanezi Astghik I agree that the Keghart piece is not an adequate citation for this claim. Yair Auron's book also does not mention the ARF at all. To my knowledge, Dro's actions were not sanctioned by the party leadership. Consult this passage from Christopher J. Walkers Armenia: The Survival of a Nation (London: Routledge, 1990, rev. 2nd ed., admittedly a somewhat old source by now): "Members of the Dashnak party living in the occupied areas, including a number of names famous from the period of the republic, adopted a pro-Nazi stance. The whole [emphasis original] Dashnak party did not take this stance; the section of the party in Cairo affirmed its loyalty to the Allies" (357). I can search for more sources later. Eduard Abramyan's Kavkaztsy v Abvere (Кавказцы в Абвере, Moscow 2006) may contain relevant information. Best, Revolution Saga (talk) 10:17, 24 July 2024 (UTC)
- Keghart is an opinion piece. The Banality book doesn't use the term "collaborator" or phrase "supporting the Nazis", or any of the other intentionally vague and provocative language that the article currently uses. This is original research. Vanezi (talk) 16:42, 16 July 2024 (UTC)
- Absolutely, (see [1]) which states: "the Berlin-based representatives of Tashnag (Armenian Revolutionary Federation—ARF) Armenians hastily signed an agreement with the Germans promising that Armenian volunteers would fight on the German side against the Soviets." Regardless if the central bureau accepted this or not, collaboration between the ARF and the Nazis (within some capacity) took place. Archives908 (talk) 19:09, 5 July 2024 (UTC)
- Hi @Archives908, can you provide a source for the claim that "they did so with full acknowledgment/ permission of the ARF itself"? Best, Revolution Saga (talk) 14:42, 5 July 2024 (UTC)
- Several high-ranking members did formally collaborate, and they did so with full acknowledgment/ permission of the ARF itself. Just because the ARF was not designated as an official "Nazi ally", it does not negate the collaboration between the party elite and the Nazi's. Collaboration does not always have to be "formalized". There is no inclusion criteria which states that only "formal allies" may be included. The Armenian Legion, commanded by Drastamat Kanayan (a high-ranking ARF politician) literally fought in allegiance with the Nazis. Therefore, its inclusion is warranted. Archives908 (talk) 00:20, 5 July 2024 (UTC)
- Some doesn't represent the whole organization, that's not how it works. ARF has thousands of members, and if ARF organization itself hasn't collaborated in a formal manner, then the template has no place here. Vanezi (talk) 08:55, 4 July 2024 (UTC)
I have looked through all of Archives908's sources, and none of them claim the ARF ever had a Nazi collaborator position, just a few members (some former) did. Sahakyan points out that Carlson refrained from outright making this accusation (p. 293). Berberian specifics only "a few ARF members in Paris and Berlin" (p. 72) had any contact with Nazi Germany. Thomas does not even mention the ARF directly. KhndzorUtogh (talk) 21:25, 22 August 2024 (UTC)
- None of them claim collaboration, yet, at the same time, a few ARF members did collaborate. Hmm seems quite contradictory to me. Per WP:WEIGHT, pages must fairly represent all significant viewpoints in proportion to the prominence of each viewpoint in those sources. Collaboration, despite it being minimal with just a handful of ARF members, did exist. I'm not saying we need to write paragraphs upon paragraphs about this (as that would violate WP:UNDUE), but it does merit inclusion on the template. A fair WP:BALANCE should be maintained. Prominence isn't given on this topic, since it is minimal, but it should still be included because there was indeed a degree of collaboration. Furthermore, there is no established inclusion criteria for the template itself. The metric for what level of collaboration must be met to warrant inclusion or exclusion has yet to be discussed or determined. If we are going to say that the ARF's collaboration was so minimal that it does not warrant inclusion, then a complete review of all the other collaborationists on that template is necessary and a WP:CON would be needed. This is a totally different discussion to be had on that template, not here. Archives908 (talk) 22:33, 22 August 2024 (UTC)
- Is there any other organization in the Collaboration template that is only listed because of a few members, and not an official stance by the organization? There doesn't appear to be. KhndzorUtogh (talk) 21:26, 23 August 2024 (UTC)
- It's not about whether there was an "official stance" or not, it's about what degree of collaboration merits inclusion on the template. Collaboration need not be formalized for it to still be considered collaboration. And this is exactly my point. ARF members (albeit a minority) did actively collaborate with the Nazis. They even led the Armenian Legion (a force established to fight alongside the Nazis, led by one of the most well known ARF members Drastamat Kanayan). Why should this example of collaboration be considered any less significant then the other organizations with official stances? It's still the same thing. Archives908 (talk) 21:50, 23 August 2024 (UTC)
- Is there any other organization in the Collaboration template that is only listed because of a few members, and not an official stance by the organization? There doesn't appear to be. KhndzorUtogh (talk) 21:26, 23 August 2024 (UTC)
- According to Walker, the ARF party did not have a collaboration stance and was even pro-Allies. According to Suny, the ARF had no affiliation with the Armenian Legion and even dissociated with it. Based on these sources, the degree of collaboration is too small, contradictory, and unofficial to merit including the template. KhndzorUtogh (talk) 21:25, 29 August 2024 (UTC)
- You're only focusing on the information you want to focus on. There are other sources I included which do highlight ARF collaboration with the Nazis. Even this academic article (from an Armenian source) states: "Their distraction could take them too far. Garegin Nzhdeh, a hero of World War I and the First Republic of Armenia, collaborated with the Nazis before and during World War II." Or perhaps this [8] which discusses the foundation of the Armenian Legion and ARF's Drastamat Kanayan's role in it. It states, "At the beginning, General Drastamat Kanayan (Drone) comes to Berlin, and local influential Armenians, in particular Heinz Guderian, an Armenian of the Wehrmacht, organize a meeting with Reichsführer Himmler of the SS." and "And the guarantee of this will be the creation of the Armenian Legion. In my opinion, that organization can protect its homeland from all enemies, of course. With our help, Dro visits the military camp that prepares future Armenian legionnaires, as well as the prisoner of war camp, where he convinced captured Armenians to join the Armenian Legion. For many, joining the Armenian Legion meant getting a new homeland." Or maybe this one and this (registration needed) where we learn that Garegin Nzhdeh, Hayk Asatryan, and Hayk Asatryan (all very prominent ARF members) actively tried to persuade Armenians to fight for Nazi Germany. "Nationalist Armenian figures and exiled officers, along with German high-ranking officials and officers, visited prisoner-of-war camps, where they met captured Armenian soldiers and officers of the Red Army, did explanatory work with them, trying to save them from inevitable death. Purposeful propaganda work was carried out among the prisoners of war, convincing the Armenian soldiers that the enemy of Armenia and them is not Germany and Hitler, but Stalin and Bolshevism. Many Armenian soldiers and officers, listening to the outstanding national figures and national heroes, among whom were Garegin Nzhdeh, DrastamatKanayan /Dro/, Hayk Asatryan, Alfred Muradyan and others, voluntarily joined the national liberation struggle and joined the battalions of the national legion." Or maybe here, when official cooperation was seemingly pledged, during a ceremony where "First the German flag of the armed forces was raised on the flagstaff and then the three-color flag of the Armenian Republic of 1918-1920 was raised on the other flagstaff" and high ranking Kanayan proceeded to state, "Germany and not the USSR was the ally of Armenians." Or maybe this which mentions Armenian troops (led by ARF Nzhdeh) engaging in battles from the North Caucasus to Crimea to Southern France and the Netherlands in loyalty to the Nazis. Or perhaps this, which states, "The Armenian publication, ‘Dro’ Drastamat Kanayan: Armenia’s First Defence Minister of the Modern Era‘ by Antranig Chalabian reveals that Dr Paul Rohrbach and Artashes Abeghian published a book in 1934 called ‘Armenian-Aryan’ in collaboration with a number of Nazi intellectuals which “strove to prove that Armenians belong to the Aryan race and the Armenian language to the Indo-European family of languages.” (p.234) The year before, in 1933, “Goebbels had formally declared that the Armenians were Aryan.” (p.248). These decisions provided the ideological cover for General Dro and other Dashnak leaders, along with the large Armenian Legion, to fight alongside the Nazis on the Eastern Front." Let's also not forget the Armenians who joined the 58th Panzer Corps and the 19th Army (part of the German army's Eastern Legion of Wehrmacht/ see Wehrmacht foreign volunteers and conscripts) at the command of ARF officials, which estimates vary between 20,000 and 100,000 people. What about this highly organized, planned, and significant level of collaboration seems "too small"? Archives908 (talk) 22:51, 29 August 2024 (UTC)
- According to Walker, the ARF party did not have a collaboration stance and was even pro-Allies. According to Suny, the ARF had no affiliation with the Armenian Legion and even dissociated with it. Based on these sources, the degree of collaboration is too small, contradictory, and unofficial to merit including the template. KhndzorUtogh (talk) 21:25, 29 August 2024 (UTC)
References
- ^ Walker, Christopher J. (1990) [First published 1980]. Armenia: The Survival of a Nation (Rev. 2nd ed.). London: Routledge. pp. 356–358. ISBN 0-415-04684-X.
- ^ Kurt Mehner, Germany. Oberkommando der Wehrmacht, Bundesarchiv (Germany). Militärarchiv, Arbeitskreis für Wehrforschung. Die Geheimen Tagesberichte der Deutschen Wehrmachtführung im Zweiten Weltkrieg, 1939–1945: 1. Dezember 1943–29. Februar 1944. p. 51 (in German).
- ^ Sahakyan, Vahe (2015). Between Host-Countries and Homeland: Institutions, Politics and Identities in the Post-Genocide Armenian Diaspora (1920s to 1980s) (Ph.D. dissertation). University of Michigan. hdl:2027.42/113641. Retrieved 10 August 2024.
- ^ Berberian, Houri (2020). "From Nationalist-Socialist to National Socialist? The Shifting Politics of Abraham Giulkhandanian". In Der Matossian, Bedross (ed.). The First Republic of Armenia (1918-1920) on Its Centenary: Politics, Gender, and Diplomacy. Fresno: The Press at California State University, Fresno. pp. 53–88. ISBN 9780912201672.
- ^ Auron, Yair (2003). The Banality of Denial: Israel and the Armenian Genocide. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers. p. 262. ISBN 0-7658-0834-X.
- ^ Ailsby, Christopher (2004). Hitler's Renegades: Foreign Nationals in the Service of the Third Reich. Staplehurst, Kent: Spellmount. pp. 123–124. ISBN 1-57488-838-2.
- ^ Thomas, Nigel (2000). The German Army 1939-45 (5). Stephen Andrew. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. pp. 43–44. ISBN 1-85532-797-X.
- ^ Walker, Christopher J. (1990) [First published 1980]. Armenia: The Survival of a Nation (Rev. 2nd ed.). London: Routledge. pp. 356–358. ISBN 0-415-04684-X.
- ^ Berberian, Houri (2020). "From Nationalist-Socialist to National Socialist? The Shifting Politics of Abraham Giulkhandanian". In Der Matossian, Bedross (ed.). The First Republic of Armenia (1918-1920) on Its Centenary: Politics, Gender, and Diplomacy. Fresno: The Press at California State University, Fresno. p. 54. ISBN 9780912201672.
- ^ De Waal, Thomas (2015). Great Catastrophe: Armenians and Turks in the Shadow of Genocide. Oxford University Press. p. 112.
- More than half the sources you are posting up here are outright Armenian Genocide denialists who have a clear agenda to minimize the suffering of the genocide by exaggerating the extent of Armenian collaboration with the Nazis during the war while the rest are just websites with dubious credentials. So far the other editors have effectively demonstrated how much caution must be exercised when approaching this topic while the above paragraph is just a mishmash of disinformation strung up together, bordering on original research. I mean, even the Armenian Legion was made up mainly of former Soviet army POWs, not members of the ARF party. Everything else you've posted is derivative and a reflection of the activities of a literal handful of ARF party members (which were otherwise repudiated by other party leaders at the time). This argument is threadbare and is being made in bad-faith. Marshal Bagramyan (talk) 13:08, 30 August 2024 (UTC)
- Read my above comment, posted yesterday. Almost all of these sources are Armenian. Archives908 (talk) 13:35, 30 August 2024 (UTC)
- And my observation still stands. You've compiled a massive nothing-burger. The talk page is about whether the template belongs on the page, which, it doesn't, because, as a number of editors have already pointed out, the ARF did not make a party-wide decision to side with the Axis. Some individual leaders deciding to do so does not condemn the entire party. Marshal Bagramyan (talk) 17:30, 30 August 2024 (UTC)
- Have you even read this thread? If you did, surely you would have noticed that we have already discussed this. The template does not just include formal allies of the Nazis, but of all collaborationists. Just because there wasn't a formalized relationship, collaboration between the ARF (in a limited non-formal capacity) still existed. These were high-ranking members of the ARF, leaders of the organization which directly engaged and orchestrated plans with the Nazis. Unfortunately, the template does not cover individual persons, but rather various entities/countries. The ARF is the entity to which these collaborators were members of. So yes, this does, by extension, if not by default, link the party to it. Let's not whitewash this. Archives908 (talk) 13:57, 31 August 2024 (UTC)
- And my observation still stands. You've compiled a massive nothing-burger. The talk page is about whether the template belongs on the page, which, it doesn't, because, as a number of editors have already pointed out, the ARF did not make a party-wide decision to side with the Axis. Some individual leaders deciding to do so does not condemn the entire party. Marshal Bagramyan (talk) 17:30, 30 August 2024 (UTC)
- lol, no, it doesn't. As someone else mentioned, Nzdeh quit the party, Dro was acting on his own initiative, and most everyone else made decisions based on local circumstances rather than party directives. If we were to use your logic, we might as well indict the Democrats and Republicans just because some among their number shared Nazi sympathies or supported them in one way or another during the war. Marshal Bagramyan (talk) 16:59, 31 August 2024 (UTC)
- Lol Nzdeh quit after the initial collaboration. That does not negate his role. Also, "sympathy" is vastly different compared to ARF members persuading tens of thousands of Armenians to fight in the Nazi Wehrmacht. Archives908 (talk) 17:32, 31 August 2024 (UTC)
- lol, no, it doesn't. As someone else mentioned, Nzdeh quit the party, Dro was acting on his own initiative, and most everyone else made decisions based on local circumstances rather than party directives. If we were to use your logic, we might as well indict the Democrats and Republicans just because some among their number shared Nazi sympathies or supported them in one way or another during the war. Marshal Bagramyan (talk) 16:59, 31 August 2024 (UTC)
- Those rank-and-file soldiers were virtually all from the Soviet Union, fully brought up in the Soviet milieu and with scarcely a soldier who would have known much about the ARF at the time of their conscription. Marshal Bagramyan (talk) 20:00, 31 August 2024 (UTC)
- You're deflecting. What thousands of soldiers may or may not have thought about is WP:CRYSTAL. The focus here is who were they conscripted by? The answer is high-ranking ARF elites. The next question is why? The answer is to fight alongside the Nazis. And what does this entail? Collaboration. Archives908 (talk) 20:29, 31 August 2024 (UTC)
- Those rank-and-file soldiers were virtually all from the Soviet Union, fully brought up in the Soviet milieu and with scarcely a soldier who would have known much about the ARF at the time of their conscription. Marshal Bagramyan (talk) 20:00, 31 August 2024 (UTC)
- Gosh. You really come off like a novice in this field. You're reducing what was a very complex issue into a very one-dimensional matter. Please read up more on this subject, and then come back here in a couple months if you really want to make a meaningful contribution rather than score cheap political points. Marshal Bagramyan (talk) 14:27, 4 September 2024 (UTC)
- @MarshallBagramyan as you noticed from the discussion, it's evidently clear per this talk that the consensus is near unanimously in favor of removing the misleading template from the article. If Archives908 continues edit-warring and restoring the template against the clear talk consensus, it is likely to be grounds for a more serious discussion involving administrators. Vanezi (talk) 14:04, 10 November 2024 (UTC)
- Gosh. You really come off like a novice in this field. You're reducing what was a very complex issue into a very one-dimensional matter. Please read up more on this subject, and then come back here in a couple months if you really want to make a meaningful contribution rather than score cheap political points. Marshal Bagramyan (talk) 14:27, 4 September 2024 (UTC)
GA Reassessment
editThe following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.
- Article (edit | visual edit | history) · Article talk (edit | history) · Watch • • GAN review not found
- Result: Delisted. Hog Farm Talk 22:28, 12 July 2024 (UTC)
Bloated, seven-paragraph lede, numerous uncited statements and paragraphs, and numerous one-line paragraphs. Z1720 (talk) 19:00, 5 July 2024 (UTC)
- Delist per nom; Media section is also unsourced and suffers from MOS:PSUEDOHEAD. Queen of Hearts talk 08:14, 9 July 2024 (UTC)