Battle of Erzincan
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Battle of Erzincan | |||||||
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Part of Caucasus Campaign in the Middle Eastern Theatre (World War I) | |||||||
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Combatants | |||||||
Russian Empire | Ottoman Empire | ||||||
Commanders | |||||||
Nikolai Yudenich | Vehip Pasha | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
Russian Caucasus Army | Third Army | ||||||
Casualties | |||||||
? | 34,000[citation needed] |
Caucasus Campaign |
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Sarikamis – Malazgirt – Van – Koprukoy – Erzurum – Erzincan – Bitlis – Kara Killisse – Sardarapat – Bash Abaran – Baku |
The Battle of Erzincan was a Russian victory over the Ottoman Empire during the First World War.
The Turkish commander, Enver Pasha launched an offensive in May, 1916 intending to recapture the ground lost to Nikolai Yudenich earlier that year. In February, Yudenich had taken the cities of Erzurum and Trebizond. Trebizond had provided the Russians with a port to receive reinforcements in the Caucasus. Enver, ordered the Third Army, now under Vehip Pasha to retake Trebizond. Vehip's attack failed and General Yudenich counterattacked on July 2. The Russian attack hit the Turkish communications center of Erzincan forcing Vehip's troops to retreat as well as losing many POWs. As a result the Third Army was rendered ineffective for the rest of the year.
[edit] Sources
- Tucker, Spencer The Great War: 1914-18 (1998)
- Erzurum-Erzincan
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