Trebizond Campaign

Trebizond Campaign
Date February 5- April 15, 1916
Location Trabzon, Ottoman Empire
Result Russian victory
Belligerents
 Ottoman Empire  Russian Empire
Commanders and leaders
Vehip Pasha Yudenich
Strength
Third Army Russian Caucasus Army

The Trebizond Campaign, also known as the Battle of Trebizond was a series of brilliant Russian naval and land operations that resulted in the capture of Trebizond. It was the logistical step after the Erzerum Campaign. Operations began on February 5 and concluded when the Ottoman troops abandoned Trebizond on the night of April 15, 1916. [1]

Effect on Armenians

Prior to World War I, the vibrant Armenian community of Trebizond numbered 30,000.[2] In 1915, during the Armenian Genocide, they were massacred and deported.[2] After the Russian capture of Trebizond, some 500 surviving Armenians were able to return[2], as well as Armenian monks of the Kaymakli Monastery.[3]

References

  1. ^ Walton, Robert (1984). The Capture of Trabzon. Marshall Cavendish Illustrated Encyclopedia of World War I, vol iv. New York: Marshall Cavendish Corporation. pp. 1306–1313. ISBN 0-86307-181-3. 
  2. ^ a b c (Armenian) Soviet Armenian Encyclopedia, Trapizon, Vol. 12, Yerevan 1986. p. 87
  3. ^ The Byzantine Churches of Trebizond, Selina Ballance, Anatolian Studies, volume 10, page 169.