Battle of Sardarapat

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Battle of Sardarapat
Սարդարապատի ճակատամարտ
Sardarapat Savaşı

The memorial dedicated to the Armenian victory at the battle of Sardarapat in Armavir, Armenia.
Date May 24-26 1918
Location Sardarapat, Armenia
Result Armenian victory[1]
Belligerents
Ottoman flag Ottoman Empire Armenian National Council
Commanders
Yakub Shevki Pasha Colonel Daniel-Bek Pyrumyan
Colonel Poghos-Bek Pyrumyan
General Movses Silikian
Strength
36th Caucasus Division
Cavalry Regiment
1,500 Kurdish Cavalry
40 pieces of artillery		 2nd Infantry Division
2nd Cavalry Regiment
5th Karabakh Regiment
3rd Infantry Brigade[1]
Casualties and losses
3,500 dead alone from May 22 to May 26[1]
v • d • e
Caucasus Campaign

The Battle of Sardarabad (Armenian: Սարդարապատի ճակատամարտ; Turkish: Sardarapat Savaşı) was a battle of the Caucasus Campaign of World War I that took place near Sardarapat, Armenia from May 24 to May 26, 1918. Sardarapat was only 40 kilometers west of the city of Yerevan and the battle is currently seen as not only stopping the Turkish advance into the rest of Armenia but also preventing the complete destruction of the Armenian nation.[2]

Contents

[edit] Background

Just two months after the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was signed, the Ottoman Empire attacked into what had been Russian-Armenian territory.[1] In violation of the Brest-Litovsk Peace Treaty with the Russian SFSR, elements of the Fourth Army crossed the border in May 1918 and attacked Alexandropol (modern-day Gyumri). The Ottoman Army intended to crush the Armenia and seize Transcaucasia. The German government objected to this attack and refused to help the Ottoman Army in this operation.

At that time, only a small area of historical Armenian territory which used to be a part of the Russian Empire remained unconquered by the Ottoman Empire, and into that area hundreds of thousands of Armenian refugees had fled after the Armenian Genocide.

The Ottoman Forces began a three-pronged attack in an attempt to conquer Armenia. When Alexandropol fell, the Ottoman Army moved into the Ararat Valley – the heart of Armenia. However, Armenians under Movses Silikyan defeated the Ottoman troops in a three day battle at Sardarapat as well as Abaran and Karakilisa. The victories here were instrumental in allowing the Armenian National Council in Tiflis to establish the independence of the Democratic Republic of Armenia.[3][4]

[edit] Aftermath

Worried by the Ottoman invasion of Armenia, the Democratic Republic of Georgia to the north asked for, and gained, German protection. The Democratic Republic of Armenia was forced to sign the Treaty of Batum in June 4, 1918, since the Army of Islam held positions seven kilometers from Yerevan and only 10 kilometers from Etchmiadzin. Two days later, after the battle of Sardarapat on May 28, 1918 Armenian National Council in Tiflis proclaimed the independence of the Democratic Republic of Armenia, which existed until the Bolshevik takeover of Armenia in November 1920.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d (Armenian) Harutunyan, A. The Battle of Sardarapat (Սարդարապատի ճակատամարտ 1918). The Soviet Armenian Encyclopedia. Yerevan, Armenian SSR, 1984, vol. x, pp. 227-228
  2. ^ Balakian, Peter. The Burning Tigris: The Armenian Genocide and America's Response. New York: HarperCollins, 2003, p. 321 ISBN 0-0605-5870-9
  3. ^ Hovanissian, Richard G. (1997) The Armenian People From Ancient to Modern Times, Volume II: Foreign Dominion to Statehood: The Fifteenth Century to the Twentieth Century. New York. St. Martin's Press, p. 299. ISBN 0-3121-0168-6
  4. ^ Walker, Christopher (1980). Armenia The Survival of a Nation. New York: St. Martin's Press, p. 254. ISBN 0-7099-0210-7. 

[edit] Sources

  • Source: Armenian Highland "The Battle of sardarapat : ", chronicle 225 (1997-2006)
  • Source: Hrant Sarkisov "Shoulder to shoulder : (May 26, 1918)