He was promoted to the rank of Major General of the Armenian army during its fight for independence during and after World War I. Araratov participated in the 1918 battles of Sardarapat and Karakilisa against Turkish invaders.

Distinguishing himself at the battle of Sardarabad as commander of the 2nd Artillery Brigade of the Armenian Corps, Colonel Araratian quickly advanced to the rank of major general.

In March 1919 he was selected to replace Major General Hakhverdian as the nonpartisan military minister, a post he retained in the coalition, the interim, and [later] the regular cabinet of Alexandre Khatisian.For having fought to establish the independence of the First Republic of Armenia, in 1937 during the Great Purge of Joseph Stalin, Araratov was arrested and executed on charges of nationalism.

[2] Christophor Araratov was born in a noble family on June 18, 1876, in Tiflis (present day capital of Georgia).

Graduating from the academy in 1895,[3] he won recognition as one of the three best students, which earned him the rank of a second lieutenant and right to choose the location of service.

With the efforts of Armenian National Council of Tiflis it was set up to fight against the Ottoman Empire in late 1917 and early 1918.

Following the Russian Revolution, Araratov who had previously been serving in the Romanian front moved to Kars where the staff of the brigade was located.

Between March 14 – April 1918, the Trabzon peace conference was held between the Ottoman Empire and the delegation of the Transcaucasian Sejm.

[5] With the fall of Kars, Araratov realized that the government of Transcaucasian Seym was not interested in struggle against the invader: Caucasian Turks supported Turkey to gain an alliance in founding their own independent state.

[6] At this conference the Ottomans extended their demands to include Tiflis as well as Alexandropol and Echmiadzin; they intended to build a railroad to connect Kars and Julfa with Baku.

The attack we started two days ago in Bash-Aparan was not successful at first, because gyaurs [unfaithfuls] arranged significant forces there...

Moreover Armenians had brilliant artillery brigade of mountain weapons, I don't know who was the commander, but he hit without a miss.

[3] On September 2, 1937, during the Great Purge of Joseph Stalin, Araratov was arrested along with many other high-ranking military officers, who were accused of being "nationalists" and "anti-soviet activists" for their support of Armenian independence.

After about three months, together with other heroes of Sardarapat: Movses Silikyan, Dmitry Mirimanov, Aghasi Varosyan, Stepan Ohanesyan, Hakob Mkrtchyan, and Harutyun Hakobyan, Araratov was taken on December 10 to Nork gorge and executed by a firing squad of the NKVD.

The government later rehabilitated numerous people posthumously, as they did for Araratov and Silikyan: restoring their medals and their places in history.

Elena was a very talented dancer whose career was greatly undermined on the basis that her father was executed as an enemy of the Soviet Union.