28 May: Day of the First Republic of Armenia

28 May is the Day of the First Republic of Armenia. On 28 May 1918, after the victories over the Ottoman Empire in the battles of Sardarapat, Bash-Aparan (Aparan) and Karakilisa (Vanadzor), the First Republic of Armenia was proclaimed and the independence of the Armenian people, lost 9 centuries earlier, was restored. The whole people defended the remaining lands of the homeland, including the elderly, women and children. On 28 May in Tiflis (Tbilisi), after the collapse of the Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic, the Armenian National Council proclaimed the Republic of Armenia.

In the photograph, soldiers with rifles stand in rows along a path; facing them are clergymen in black hoods holding staffs, and behind them are a church with a carved entrance and a crowd.