Armed conflicts between the Russian and Ottoman Empires during WWI
This article is about the World War I military campaign. For the World War II military campaign, see Battle of the Caucasus. For the 19th-century Russian invasion, see Caucasian War. For the Turco-Persian war, see Caucasus Campaign (1735).
Caucasus campaign
Part of the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I and the Russo-Turkish Wars
Clockwise, from top left: The Battle of Sarikamish, The Erzurum Offensive, The Battle of Bitlis, The Battle of Erzincan
Date
October 29, 1914 – October 30, 1918 (4 years and 1 day)
Location
Armenian Highlands, South Caucasus
Result
See aftermath
Territorial changes
Independence of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia
Belligerents
1914–1917: Russian Empire 1917–1918: Transcaucasian DFR 1918: Armenia United Kingdom Centrocaspian Dictatorship Baku Commune 1917: Russian Provisional Government Russian Republic Russian SFSR
Nicholas II I. Vorontsov-Dashkov Grand Duke Nicholas Kakutsa Cholokashvili Nikolai Yudenich Sergei Kirov Stepan Shaumian Tovmas Nazarbekian Andranik Ozanian Drastamat Kanayan Lionel Dunsterville
Mustafa Kemal Pasha Enver Pasha Wehib Pasha Abdul Kerim Pasha Ahmed Izzet Pasha Nuri Pasha Faik Pasha † Ali-Agha Shikhlinski F. K. von Kressenstein Giorgi Kvinitadze
Units involved
Caucasus Army
Armenian Corps
Armenian Army Dunsterforce
Greek Caucasus Division
3rd Army 2nd Army Army of Islam Circassian volunteers[1] Caucasus Expedition
Strength
Russian Empire: 1914: 160,000[2] 1916: 702,000[2]
Total: 1,000,000[3]
308,660 men1918: 3,000
Casualties and losses
140,000+ casualties (up to September 1916)[4][5] 200+[6] 5,000
300,000+[7] 83,083 killed 170,000 died of disease[8] 113,570 wounded 39,080 captured
Total dead: 253,000[9]
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Caucasus campaign
Bergmann Offensive
Sarikamish
Ardahan
Van
Manzikert
Kara Killisse
Erzurum
Koprukoy
1st Trebizond
1st Bitlis
Muş
Erzincan
2nd Trebizond
Choloki
German expedition
Sardarabad
Abaran
Karakilisa
Goychay
Aghsu
Kurdamir
Binagadi
Baku
Associated articles
Dunsterforce
Norperforce
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Theaters of World War I
Europe
Western Front
Eastern Front
Italy
Balkans
Middle East
Caucasus
Persia
Gallipoli
Mesopotamia
Sinai & Palestine
Hejaz & Levant
South Arabia
Central Arabia
Africa
South West Africa
Togoland
Cameroon
East Africa
North Africa
Somaliland
Asia-Pacific
Tsingtao
Samoa
New Guinea
Central Asia
Naval theatres
U-boat
Atlantic
Mediterranean
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Russo-Ottoman wars
1568–70
1676–81
1686–1700
1710–11
1735–39
1768–74
1787–92
1806–12
1828–29
1853–56
1877–78
1914–1918
1916–1917
Turco-Mongol raids
The Caucasus campaign comprised armed conflicts between the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire, later including Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, the Mountainous Republic of the Northern Caucasus, the German Empire, the Central Caspian Dictatorship, and the British Empire, as part of the Middle Eastern theatre during World War I. The Caucasus campaign extended from the South Caucasus to the Armenian Highlands region, reaching as far as Trabzon, Bitlis, Mush and Van. The land warfare was accompanied by naval engagements in the Black Sea.
The Russian military campaign started on 1 November 1914 with the Russian invasion of Turkish Armenia.[10]
In February 1917, the Russian advance was halted following the Russian Revolution. The Russian Caucasus Army soon disintegrated and was replaced by the forces of the newly established Transcaucasian state, comprising partly of Armenian volunteer units and irregular units which had previously been part of the Russian Army. During 1918 the region also saw the establishment of the Central Caspian Dictatorship, the Republic of Mountainous Armenia and an Allied intervention force, nicknamed Dunsterforce, composed of troops drawn from the Mesopotamian and Western Fronts.
On March 3, 1918, the campaign had terminated between the Ottoman Empire and Russia with the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, and on June 4, 1918, the Ottomans signed the Treaty of Batum with Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia gaining independence. However, conflict continued as the Ottoman Empire was still engaged with the Central Caspian Dictatorship, the Republic of Mountainous Armenia, and the Dunsterforce of the British Empire until the Armistice of Mudros was signed on October 30, 1918.
The Turkish genocide of the Armenians began in April 1915 when 250 Armenians were arrested. The official reason was that the Armenians were in league with the Russians and could serve as a potential fifth column.[11] The genocide continued until 1923.
^Sönmez, Orhan. Kuzey Kafkas Direnişi, Kafkas İslam Ordusu ve hazin son
^ abFleet, Kate; Faroqhi, Suraiya; Kasaba, Reşat (2006). Turkey in the Modern World. The Cambridge History of Turkey. Vol. 4. Cambridge University Press. p. 94. ISBN 0-521-62096-1.
^Erickson, Edward J. (2007). Ottoman Army Effectiveness in World War I: a comparative study. Taylor & Francis. p. 154. ISBN 978-0-415-77099-6.
^Allen, W. E. D.; Muratoff, Paul (1999). Caucasian Battlefields: A History of Wars on the Turco-Caucasian Border, 1828–1921. Nashville: Battery Press. p. 439. "Losses" for the Caucasus Army for June–September 1916 are given as 50,000, including Baratov's, which were mostly from sickness.
^See cited numbers on the following pages for battles outside of the specific June–September 1916 period: Bergmann Offensive (7,000), Battle of Sarikamish (28,000), Battle of Manzikert (1915) (7,000–10,000), Battle of Kara Killisse (1915) (8,000), Erzurum Offensive (21,000+), and Battle of Erzincan (~17,000).
^"Statistics of the Military Effort of the British Empire" (London: HMSO, 1920). Page 778. Note: British Indian Army only. Details for British Indian Army personnel in Dunsterforce: unknown officers, 158 other ranks, and 23 followers dead from all causes. Unknown followers and officers and 15 other ranks wounded.
^Allen, W. E. D.; Muratoff, Paul (1999). Caucasian Battlefields: A History of Wars on the Turco-Caucasian Border, 1828–1921. Nashville: Battery Press. p. 439. Includes losses from sickness and desertion.
^Erickson 2001, p. 241
^Erickson 2001, p. 241
^Ath, Altay (2003). "Caucasus". Turkey in the First World War. Retrieved November 10, 2022.
^"Holocaust and Genocide studies: Armenia". University of Minnesota. Retrieved November 10, 2022.
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