abstract
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This chapter examines the nadir in modern Russo-Armenian ties and the temporary abrogation of Armenian ecclesiastical independence in 1903. It details the subsequent restoration of the familiar political mutualism on the eve of the conflagration of World War I. With a brief comparative glance, the chapter points out the unique and representative aspects of the Armenian experience amid the evolution of Russian nationalities policies. It analyzes the disaster and the subsequent recovery of the more familiar imperial dynamic between the state and Armenians. It also discusses the meticulously constructed partnership of the nineteenth century that was sunk in the storm of Russification, nationalism, revolution, and imperial turmoil. The chapter provides a background of the bureaucratic meddling in Armenian life, especially its ecclesiastical dimension that was aggravated by the often-tyrannical agendas of individual tsarist agents and triggered the greatest crisis of Russo-Armenian ties in the modern era.