exploited and were moved

Can anyone help me about the following passage?

The impact of these changes becomes discernible upon further exploration of the ways in which Armenian activists exploited and were moved – literally and figuratively – by the turn-of-the-century's time–space compression, as they spread and disseminated revolutionary activity into the neighboring empires.

The text is about the Armenian revolutionaries in 19 and 20 centuries who were active in Russia, Iran, and Ottoman Empire. The text is clear but the words in bold are somehow problematic.

Many thanks in advance.

If you move by in front of the first em dash, the grammar will be in order:

The impact of these changes becomes discernible upon further exploration of the ways in which Armenian activists exploited and were moved by – literally and figuratively – the turn-of-the-century's time–space compression, as they spread and disseminated revolutionary activity into the neighboring empires.

We have a compound predicate here—two verbs, one subject:

Armenian activists exploited time–space compression

Armenian activists were moved by time–space compression

The whole thing could stand to be edited for clarity though.

The impact of these changes becomes discernible upon further exploration of the ways in which Armenian activists exploited and were moved – literally and figuratively – by the turn-of-the-century's time–space compression, as they spread and disseminated revolutionary activity into the neighboring empires.

Let's take out the clauses that are irrelevant (to the part you're looking at) and replace them with [], which leaves:

The impact [] becomes discernible upon further exploration of the ways in which Armenian activists exploited and were moved [] by the turn-of-the-century's time–space compression [].

The words "exploited and were moved" are the verb of the following clause:

... the ways in which Armenian activists exploited and were moved [] by the turn-of-the-century's time–space compression [].

The meaning becomes clearer if we add some commas:

... the ways in which Armenian activists exploited, and were moved [] by, the turn-of-the-century's time–space compression [].