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Battle of Sardarabad
Part of the Caucasus Campaign
The memorial dedicated to the Armenian victory at the battle of Sardarabad near Araks, Armavir, Armenia
Date 21–29 May 1918 Location near Sardarabad (present-day Sardarapat, Armavir Province, Armenia) Result Decisive Armenian victory Ottoman invasion of Eastern Armenia repelled Establishment of the First Republic of Armenia Treaty of Batum: recognition of Armenia by the Ottoman Empire
Belligerents
Armenian National Council Armenian Army Corps	Ottoman Empire
Commanders and leaders
Daniel Bek-Pirumyan Movses Silikyan (commander of the Yerevan detachment) Tovmas Nazarbekian (commander of the Armenian Army Corps) Aram Manukian (dictator of Yerevan)	Wehib Pasha Kâzım Karabekir (commander of the I Caucasian Corps) Rüştü Bey (commander of the 9th Caucasian Division) Zihni Bey (commander of the Zihni Bey Detachment)
Strength
9,000	~10-13,000 Including Kurdish cavalry 1,500-3000
Casualties and losses
Unknown	3,500 dead (May 22–26 only)

The Battle of Sardarabad (Armenian: Սարդարապատի ճակատամարտ, Sardarapati č̣akatamart; Turkish: Serdarabad Muharebesi) was a battle of the Caucasus Campaign of World War I that took place near Sardarabad (modern-day Armavir), Armenia from May 21–29, 1918. Sardarabad was only 40 kilometers west of the city of Yerevan. The battle is currently seen as not only stopping the Ottoman advance into the rest of Armenia but also preventing the complete destruction of the Armenian nation.

Background

Main articles: Armenian Genocide and Caucasus Campaign

In January 1918, two months after the Bolshevik seizure of power in Russia, the Sovnarkom, the highest government authority under the Bolshevik system, issued a decree which called for the withdrawal of Russian troops from the Caucasus Front. This move threw the Armenian leadership in the Transcaucasia into a panic, since it removed from the region the only force capable of protecting the Armenian people from the Ottoman Empire, which had effectively exterminated its Armenian population through systematic massacres and deportations. The Armenians refused to recognize the authority of the Bolsheviks and attempted to form military units to defend the front as the Ottoman armies prepared to expand eastward.

The Armenians attempted to stall the Ottoman advance as they created a small Armenian army to take up the positions the Russians had abandoned. General Tovmas Nazarbekian was selected as its commanding officer and Drastamat Kanayan was appointed as civilian commissar. But in May 1918, just two months after the Brest-Litovsk Peace Treaty was concluded with the Russian SFSR, elements of the Ottoman Third Army crossed into Eastern Armenia and attacked Alexandropol (modern-day Gyumri). The Ottoman Army intended to crush Armenia and seize Russian Transcaucasia and the oil wells of Baku. The German government, the Ottoman Empire's ally, objected to this attack and refused to help the Ottoman Army in the operation.

At this 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 finally overwhelm and conquer the rest of Armenia. When Alexandropol fell, the Ottoman Army moved into the former territory of the Erivan Governorate – the heart of Eastern Armenia.

Battle

General Movses Silikyan, commander of the Armenian forces.

The Ottoman offensive was viewed by Armenians with foreboding. With nowhere else left to retreat, they decided to make their stand and prepare for the upcoming battle: Catholicos Gevorg V ordered that church bells peal for six days as Armenians from all walks of life – peasants, poets, blacksmiths, and even the clergymen – rallied to form organized military units. Civilians, including children, aided in the effort as well, as "Carts drawn by oxen, water buffalo, and cows jammed the roads bringing food, provisions, ammunition, and volunteers from the vicinity" of Yerevan.

Acting under Minister of War Enver Pasha's request, Miralay (Colonel) Kâzım Karabekir Bey's I Caucasian Corps and Mirliva Yakub Shevki Pasha's II Caucasian Corps put into action in the direction of Karakilisa (modern-day Vanadzor), Sardarabad, Tiflis (modern-day Tbilisi) and Yerevan on 20 May. While Karakilisa was selected as their main target, Tiflis and Yerevan were to be kept under pressure. The operations of the southern flank were given to the I Caucasian Corps and the task of capturing Karakilisa was given to the II Caucasian Corps.

The Ottoman force reached Karakilisa on May 20 without resistance. Only a single combat action took place near the village of Karzakh. The detachment commanded by Zihni Bey, that advanced forward in Sardarabad area, reached the station of Alagöz (modern-day Aragats) and line of Mahtaka. On May 21, the detachment of Zihni Bey defeated an Armenian unit composed of 600 infantry and 250 cavalry, and then took Sardarabad. From there, their forces started advancing toward Yeghegnut.

Armenian general Movses Silikyan ordered elements of the 5th Armenian Regiment under Poghos Bek-Pirumyan, a reserve guerrilla unit, and a special cavalry regiment to check the advance of the Ottoman army. An offensive was launched on May 22 and the Armenian forces were successful in halting the Ottomans in their tracks and forcing Yakub Shevki Pasha's forces into a general rout (retreating nearly 15-20 kilometers in a westerly direction). The Ottoman command, however, was able to recuperate from its losses and reorganized its forces near the mountain heights on the north-west bank of the Araks river. Repeated attempts to cross the river were met with fierce resistance by the 5th Armenian Regiment.

On May 24, several more skirmishes took place between the Armenian and Ottoman forces. However, attempts to dislodge the Ottomans from their well-entrenched positions the following day by Poghos Bek-Pirumyan's and other commanders' forces were met with failure. On May 27, an Armenian force commanded by Colonel Karapet Hasan-Pashayan performed a flanking maneuver and struck the Ottoman positions from the rear while the rest of the Armenian forces pounded the main Ottoman positions. An Ottoman force based in Talin was sent to alleviate it by attacking the Armenian rear, but was unable to change the outcome of the battle. Suffering heavy losses, Ottoman commanders ordered a general retreat as the surviving elements of the Ottoman army were put to flight.

With the Ottoman forces in a full rout, General Silikyan wished to press on his advantage with the hope of dislodging the Ottomans from Alexandropol and Kars. But, almost immediately, he was informed of the ongoing negotiations between the Ottoman leadership and the Armenian National Council in Tiflis and was told by Corps Commander Tovmas Nazarbekian to cease military operations in the region. Though members of the National Council were widely criticized for issuing this order at the time, this decision was carried out because the ammunition stores had been all but been depleted and Ottoman commanders had received fresh reinforcements.

Aftermath and assessment

New York Times article headlines from May 15 and June 29, 1918

The Armenian victories at Sardarabad, Bash Abaran, and Karakilisa staved off the annihilation of the Armenian nation, and the victories here were instrumental in allowing the Armenian National Council to declare the independence of the First Republic of Armenia on May 30 (retroactive to May 28). Though the terms that Armenia agreed to in the Treaty of Batum (June 4, 1918) were excessively harsh, the little republic was able to hold out until the Ottomans were forced to withdraw from the region with the end of World War I in late 1918.

Legacy and memory

The battle of Sardarabad holds a special place in Armenian historical memory and is often compared to the 451 A.D. battle of Avarayr. Leaders of the First Republic frequently invoked the name of the battle, exhorting their people to aspire to the example of those who had fought and participated in it. The battle was seldom mentioned or given little significance in Soviet historiography until after the death of Joseph Stalin. In the mid-1960s, a number of Soviet historians began to highlight its importance, as well as that of Bash Abaran and Karakilisa. The Soviet military historian Evgenii F. Ludshuvet, for example, emphasized that these battles, fought by the "Armenian Dashnak forces", helped slow down the Turkish advance on Baku and helped relieve some pressure against that city. Notable Soviet Armenian literary figures such as Hovhannes Shiraz and Paruyr Sevak, whose work "Sardarapat" was turned into a popular song, composed songs and wrote poems that lionized the Armenian fighters. Ivan Bagramyan, a Marshal of the Soviet Union and himself a participant of the battle, described its importance in the following manner:

The significance of the battle of Sardarapat is great... If they [the Armenian forces] did not defeat the Ottomans there, they would have proceeded to Echmiadzin and Yerevan—nothing would have remained of Armenia, nothing would have been saved... The Armenians won and, thanks to them, our people preserved their physical existence within the current borders of Armenia.

After the commemoration of the Armenian Genocide's fiftieth anniversary in 1965, Soviet authorities agreed to the construction of a monument and park dedicated to the Armenian victory near the site of the battle. Architect Rafayel Israyelian was commissioned to design the monument, which was completed in 1968.

http://www.armeniaculture.am/am/Encyclopedia_hay_mshakuyti_hanragitaran_sardarapati_herosamarti_hushahamalir

http://www.rafaelisraelyan.com/node/24

Eduard Shevardnadze, Heydar Aliyev, Karen Demirchyan

The battles of Sardarabad, Bash Abaran and Karakilisa are collectively known as the "Heroic battles of May" in Armenian historiography (Մայիսյան հերոսամարտեր Mayisyan herosamarter).

Highest ranking officials (including the president and the prime minister), as well as the Catholicos of the Armenian Apostolic Church visit the memorial on May 28, which is celebrated as Republic Day.

sources

The Battle of Sardarabad in May 1918 might rank as little more than a skirmish in the general history of warfare, but for the Armenian people the victory marked the difference between final devastation and continued national existence.

culminated in May 1968 in the dedication of an expansive memorial monument and park on the site of the battle. Sardarabad has evolved into the symbol of Armenian survival and revival, popularized through memoirs and histories, dramatic prose and verse, song and dance.

The focus is sharply military and the underlying conclusion is that credit for victory belonged not to the political, revolutionary leaders or to a fictive popular rising but rather to the strategum of a few seasoned officers and the disciplined regulars. This interpretation may well elicit strong counterargument but in the process it is likely to prompt fresh investigation and further evaluation.

the crucial victory of Sardarabad, fought by Armenian troops only a day's march from Erivan, acquired a claim to historical significance

• de Waal, Thomas (2012). "A Broken Region: The Persistent Failure of Integration Projects in the South Caucasus". Europe-Asia Studies. 64 (9): 1713. doi:10.1080/09668136.2012.718416. S2CID 217503516. The Armenians had just managed to avoid complete destruction by the Ottoman Army by their actions at the Battle of Sardarapat.

Walker: "[Had Armenians failed to halt the Turkish advance] it is perfectly possible that the word Armenia would have henceforth denoted only an antique geographical term (like Cappadocia)."

• Walker, Christopher J. (1990) [1980]. Armenia: The Survival of a Nation (2nd ed.). New York: St. Martin's Press. pp. 254-255. ISBN 978-0-312-04230-1.

Hovhannisyan, Sona (2014). "Myths and Politics: "Old" Beliefs and "New" Aspirations in Independent Armenia". In Agadjanian, Alexander; Jödicke, Ansgar; van der Zweerde, Evert (eds.). Religion, Nation and Democracy in the South Caucasus. Routledge. p. 195. ISBN 9781317691570. For Armenians the victory of Sardarapat, a battle which took place on May 21–28, 1918, during the World War I, is the culmination of their best qualities: unity, courage and the ability to survive in critical situations. It is a symbol of the current Armenian state.

German Major General Otto von Lossow who was German representative at the Batum Conference in May 1918 stated that

• May 23, 1918: "Turkish policy is, as I have always reiterated, the taking of possession of Armenian districts and the extermination of the Armenians."
• June 3, 1918: "Talat's government party wants to destroy all Armenians, not only in Turkey, but also outside Turkey."

Vazken I it was the Church which had declared the anniversary of the 1918 battle of Sardarabad (in which the Armenians repulsed the Turks) a national holiday. 'With this I would like to show once again that not only myself individually, but our Church in its entirety has remained the bearer of the flag of the national spirit, also during the last decades, both here and in the diaspora.'

Walker, Christopher J. (1988). "Between Turkey and Russia: Armenia's Predicament". The World Today. 44 (8–9). Chatham House: 142. JSTOR 40396038. Following the death of Stalin in 1953, considerable concessions were made to national sentiment within Soviet Armenia. Memorials were built to the memory of those who had died in 1915, and to the battle of Sardarabad in 1918, when Armenian forces had held off the Ottoman army from the heartland of eastern Armenia.

Yet another monument was opened in Armenia in 1968. This memorial was to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Sardarapat battle of 1918. The battle between Armenian troops and the advancing Turkish army saved Armenia’s capital by diverting the Turkish advance. The first secretary A. Kochinian again attended the ceremony to highlight the importance and significance of the event. Again, the date was carefully selected -- May 26th -- the day the Sardarapat battle began, rather than May 28th -- the day of victory and of the declaration of Armenian independence.

General Movses Silikian defended the road to Sardarabad. As Turkish forces were driven back on all three fronts, Armenians insisted on marching to Alexandropol and on to Kars. Yet the National Council, calculating that the limited supplies of ammunition could not sustain a prolonged conflict, ordered the Armenian forces to halt the advance. The Batum delegation had secured a peace agreement. 19

herculean military success at Sardarabad in 1918

Keshishian, Flora; Harutyunyan, Lilit (2013). "Culture and Post-Soviet Transitions: A Pilot Study in the Republic of Armenia". International Journal of Politics, Culture, and Society. 26 (4): 371. doi:10.1007/s10767-013-9162-7. S2CID 144002447. Following the Bolshevik revolution of 1917, the new Soviet authorities of Russia declared Russia out of the First World War and the Russian troops were withdrawn from the Caucasian front. The withdrawal put Armenia in a dangerous situation vis-à-vis the Turks who took advantage of the situation and in 1918 attacked Armenia once again, aiming to invade not only the provinces of Western Armenia conquered by Russia, but also Eastern Armenia. Due to the Sardarapat Victory, however, Eastern Armenia was rescued from Turkish conquest and Armenia was proclaimed a free, independent country in 1918...

• Omarkhali, Khanna (2008). "On the Structure of the Yezidi Clan and Tribal System and its Terminology among the Yezidis of the Caucasus". Journal of Kurdish Studies. 6. Peeters: 111. doi:10.2143/JKS.6.0.2038092. The most famous leaders of the Zuqirî were Simoyê Cheto and Jangîr-agha (Jehangîr-agha). Jangîr-agha was a son of Khetîb-agha, and was born in 1874 in Chîbûghlî village, Bêrgirî district, and was from the Mendikî clan of the murid caste. He played a key role in the battle of Sardarapat (May 1918), when Yezidi forces under his command helped to secure victory for the Armenians in this decisive battle. He and his soldiers also protected Yezidis and Armenian refugees, enabling them to cross the river Araks (in Kurdish Eres ) during their forced migration into what became Soviet Armenia.

Armenia's Struggle for Independence

WDP Bliss - Current History and Forum, 1920 - search.proquest.com

... republic of Azer- baidjan, and the same day, May 28,1918, Russian Armenia declared herself as an independent Armenian Republic, with Erivan as its capital. But the Armenians alone had to fight for their republic and did so with mar- velous success. At Sardarabad

http://echmiadzin.asj-oa.am/9971/

http://lraber.asj-oa.am/5985/

http://hpj.asj-oa.am/3016/

Երևան քաղաքում այդ օրերին ոչ պակաս, քան 150—200 հազար հայու- թյուն էր կուտակված։

The Republic of Armenia: A Memorandum on the Recognition ...

https://books.google.am/books?id...

Armenia. Special Mission to the United States, ‎Hovhannēs Kʻajaznuni - 1919 - ‎Snippet view

The Armenian forces and the Armenian people, men and women, stubbornly resisted the advance of the Turks. In Ma ,1918, two severe battles were fought, at Karaklissa (Bambak) an Sardarabad(Ararat) in which the advance of the Turkish

Current History and Forum ... - Volume 11 - Page 142

https://books.google.am/books?id...

1920 - ‎Snippet view - ‎More editions

On May 26, 1918, Georgia, depending on aid from Germany, declared herself an independent republic. ... At Sardarabadand Kara- kilissa, in two fierce battles, one of them lasting four days, they routed the Turks, who, it is said, lost 6,000.

http://thisweekinarmenianhistory.blogspot.am/2015/05/opening-of-monument-of-sardarabad-may.html?m=1

Սարդարապատ 80 - Էջմիածին Էջմիածին. Պաշտօնական ամսագիր Հայրապետական Աթոռոյ Ս. Էջմիածնի, ԾԴ (Ե). pp. 114-119. echmiadzin.asj-oa.am

References

Notes

References

Bibliography

• Payaslian, Simon (2007). The History of Armenia. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-1-4039-7467-9.
• Hovannisian, Richard G. (1967). Armenia on the Road to Independence, 1918. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 978-0520005747.

Further reading

• (in French) Afanasyan, Serge. La victoire de Sardarabad: Arménie, mai 1918. Paris: L'Harmattan, 1985.
• Allen, William E.D. and Paul Muratoff. Caucasian Battlefields. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1953.
• (in Armenian) Aghayan, Tsatur P. Հոկտեմբերը և Հայ Ժողովրդի Ազատագրական Պայքարը (October and the Liberation Struggle of the Armenian People). Yerevan: Yerevan State University Press, 1982.
• Kayaloff, Jacques. The Battle of Sardarabad. The Hague: Mouton, 1973.

• (in French) Poidebard, Antoine. "Rôle militaire des Arméniens sur le front du Caucase après la defection de l'armée russe (décembre 1917-novembre 1918)." Revue des Études Arméniennes, I, pt. 2, 1920.