The First World War created a crisis within the ranks of the Hunchak Party, rendering its central administration in Paris virtually non-functional. Under these conditions, a new party leadership emerged in Tiflis, where Tashir (Simon Hovvian) was elected. By that time, he was already a prominent publicist, Hunchak theorist, and was recognised for his pedagogical work at the Gevorgyan Seminary in Etchmiadzin. Between 1916 and 1917, he contributed to the newspaper “Gaghapar,” also serving as its editor. The pages of this publication reflected his socialist worldview. Tashir was sceptical of the Armenian volunteer movement and associated the resolution of the Armenian Question with the triumph of the international social democracy and principle of national self-determination. Following the 1917 February Revolution, Tashir actively participated in the establishment of new local government institutions in Armenia. Between 1917 and 1920, as the inclination to join the RSDLP grew among the Hunchaks of Transcaucasia, Tashir advocated for the independent existence of the Hunchak Party. In 1919, he edited the newspaper “Gortsavor.” In his writings, Tashir argued that the liberation of the Armenian people depended not on the policies of the European powers, but on those of Soviet Russia, and on the internal conditions within the Armenian society.

Բանալի բառերՏաշիր (Սիմոն Հովվյան) Հնչակյան կուսակցություն «Գաղափար» «Գործավոր» սոցիալ-դեմոկրատիա մենշևիկյան կուսակցություն բոլշևիկյան կուսակցություն։