Third Army (Ottoman Empire)

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Third Army
Active	? - October 1918
Country	Ottoman Empire
Type	Field Army
Commanders
Notable commanders	Hasan İzzet Pasha (October–December 1914) Enver Pasha (December 1914–January 1915) Hafiz Hakkı Pasha (January 12- February 1915) Mahmut Kamil Paşa (February 1915–February 1916) Vehip KaçıPaşa (February 1916–June 1918) Esat Bülkat Paşa (June–October 1918)

v • d • e Caucasus Campaign

Bergmann Offensive – Sarikamis – Persian Campaign– Van – Manzikert – Kara Killisse – Erzerum Campaign – Trebizond – Bitlis – Erzinjan – Sardarapat – Abaran – Karakilisa – Baku

The Ottoman Third Army was originally established in the Balkans, and had its headquarters at Salonica. It formed the core of the military forces that supported the Young Turk Revolution of 1908, and many of its officers (including Enver Pasha and Mustafa Kemal Atatürk) later rose to fame and power in Turkey. During the First World War, it fought in the northern and eastern parts of the Ottoman Empire. It participated in the Battle of Sarikamish, where it suffered a crushing defeated.

[edit] Order of Battle, December 1914

Prior to Sarikamish, the Army consisted of 95,000 troops in the following units and commanders^[1]:

IX Corps - Achmet Fevzi Pasha
- 17th division
- 19th division
- 29th division
X Corps - Hafiz Hakki Pasha
- 30th division
- 31st division
XI Corps - Abdul Kerim

Following the battle of Sarikamish, it was reduced to some 20,000 men with loss of all guns and heavy equipment.^[1]

[edit] References

^ ^a ^b Hinterhoff, Eugene (1984). The Campaign in Armenia. Marshall Cavendish Illustrated Encyclopedia of World War I, vol ii. New York: Marshall Cavendish Corporation, p.500. ISBN 0-86307-181-3.