The First World War

The Ottoman Empire entered the war on 31 October 1914. The Russian invasion of eastern Anatolia also started the same year.
After the Adana rebellion, the Party of Union and Progress which was the governing party made an agreement with the Istanbul delegation of the Dashnak Committee" in order to ensure the independence of the country, to protect till the end its integrity and policy, to eradicate the evil thoughts appearing in various individuals, and to establish good relations between Ottoman subjects."

" Considering the Adana disaster as a warning, total agreement has been reached between the Committee of Union and Progress and the Armenian Dashnaktsutiun Committee on sparing the sacred Ottoman country from any partition and separation, and making attempts to eradicate the rumors that Armenians are leaning towards independence, among others." (34)

Nevertheless, the Dashnak Committee, at its Congress held in Erzurum in June 1914, decided to remain in opposition to the Government of the Union and Progress.

Papazian writes as follows on this subject:
"When the world war broke out in Europe, the Turks began feverish preparations for joining hands with the Germans. In August 1914 the young Turks asked the Dashnag Convention, then in session in Erzurum, to carry out their old agreement of 1907, and start an uprising among the Armenians of the Caucasus against the Russian government. The Dashnagtzoutune refused to do this, and gave assurance that in the event of war between Russia and Turkey, they would support Turkey as loyal citizens. On the other hand, they could not be held responsible for the Russian Armenians ... The fact remains, however, that the leaders of the Turkish-Armenian section of the Dashnagtzoutune did not carry out promise of loyalty to the Turkish cause when the Turks entered the war. The Dashnagtzoutune in the Caucasus had the upper hand. They were swayed in their actions by the interests of the Russian government, and disregarded, entirely, the political dangers that the war had created for the Armenians in Turkey. Prudence was thrown to the winds: even the decision of their own convention of Erzurum was forgotten, and a call was sent for Armenian volunteers to fight the Turks on the Caucasian front."(35)

Kachaznouni, the Prime Minister of the independent Armenian Republic shares the same views with Papazian:

"In the beginning of fall 1914, when Turkey had not yet entered the war, but was preparing to, Armenian volunteer groups began to be organized with great zeal and pomp in Trans-Caucasia. In spite of the decision taken a few weeks before at the General Committee in Erzurum, the Dashnagtzoutune actively helped the organization of the aforementioned groups, and especially arming them, against Turkey ... There is no point in asking today whether our volunteers should have been in the foreground. Historical events have a logic of their own. In the fall of 1914 Armenian volunteer groups were formed and fought against the Turks. The opposite could not have happened, because for approximately twenty years the Armenian community was fed a certain and inevitable psychology. This state of mind had to manifest itself, and it happened." (36)

Hovannisianjoins the above Armenian writers:

"Although most Armenians maintained a correct attitude vis-a-vis the Ottoman government, it can be asserted with some substantiation that the manifestations of loyalty were insincere, for the sympathy of most Armenians throughout the world was with the Entente, not with the Central Powers. By autumn 1914, several prominent Ottoman Armenians, including a former member of parliament, had slipped away to the Caucasus to collaborate with Russian military officials. "(37)

(34) Tanin, 3 September 1909
(35) K.S. Papazian, Patriotism PerveJied (Boston 1934), p.37
(36) Hovhannes Kachaznouni, The Dashnaks Have Nothing More to Do, p.1
(37) Richard Hovannisian, Armenia on the Road to Independence, (Califomia 1967), p.42

When the mobilization started, the Catholicos of Etchmiadzin sent a letter to Vorontsov-Dachkov, the Governor General of the Caucasus, on 5 August 1914. He writes:

"Based on the information I have receivedfrom the Istanbul Patriarchate and the Armenian Assembly, I am convinced that any reform to be implemented by the Government ... will not survive long. . .I request from Your Highness that you present to His Majesty the Emperor, the devotion of his faithful subjects on my behalf and on behalf of my congregation in Russia, the sincere loyalty and attachment of the Armenians of Turkey, and at the same time that you defend to the Czar the hopes of the Armenians of Turkey ... "

Governor General Vorontsov-Dashkov replies on September 2, 1914:

"I wish that the actions of the Armenians here, as well as those on the other side of the border, be now in accordance with my instructions. I request that you use your authority over your congregation, and ensure that our Armenians and those who reside in the border regions implement the duties and services which I will ask them to carry out in the future, in the event of a Russo-Turkish war, as in the situation of Turkey today." (38)

"Having agreed to the proposal of Vorontsov (to create volunteer corps) the National Bureau selected a special committee to supervise the operations of the volunteer corps. Functioning from Tiflis, Alexandropol, and Erivan, the committee began its activities by assigning enlistees to the four authorized units, all of which where immediately filled to capacity ... The first group over 1,000 men, was led by Andranik, an experienced revolutionary who had participated in the Balkan wars as commander of an Armenian contingent in the Bulgarian army. Andranik's unit joined the Russian forces in North Persia, while the other three advanced toward the Turkish border. Dro, assisted by the former Ottoman parliament member Armen Garo, directed the second group, which, moving over Igdir in the Erivan province, poised for an offensive in Van. The third and fourth units, commanded by Hamazaps and Keri, took advance positions along the western border of the Kars oblast,from Sarzkamzsh to Olti." (39)

(38) Gn. Tcha1kouchian, the Red Book (Paris 1919).
(39) Hovannisian, op. cit., P.44

"What the National Bureau did not know was that representatives of the Romanov sovereign were earnestly negotiating the partition of Turkey with the other members of the Entent. Moreover, Russian designs to annex the eastern vilayets included no provisions for Armenian autonomy." (40)

Prof. Stanford 1. Shaw, expert on Ottoman History, elucidates this period:

"The Armenian leaders told Enver (leader of the Union and Progress Party) that they only wanted to remain neutral, but their sympathy for the Russians was evident, and in fact, soon after the meeting several prominent Ottoman Armenians, including former member of parliament, slipped away to the Caucasus to collaborate with Russian military officials, making it clear that the Armenians would do everything they could to frustrate Ottoman military action ... Meanwhile, Czar Nicholas II himself came to the Caucasus to make final plans for cooperation with the Armenian National Bureau in Tiflis, declaring in response:

"From all countries Armenians are hurrying to enter the ranks of the glorious Russian Army, with their blood to serve the victory of Russian arms ... Let the Russian flag wave freely over the Dardanelles and the Bosphorus. Let, with Your will, great Majesty, the peoples remaining under the Turkish yoke receive freedom. Let the Armenian people of Turkey who have suffered for the faith of Christ receive resurrection for a new free life under the protection of Russia ..."

''Armenians again flooded into the Czarist armies. Preparations were made to strike the Ottomans from the rear, and the Czar returned to St. Petersburg confident that the day finally had come for him to reach Istanbul."

"In April 1915 ... Dashnaks from Russian Armenia organized a revolt in the city of Van, whose 33,789 Armenians comprised 42.3 percent of the population, closest to an Armenian majority of any city in the Empire ... The Russian army of the Caucasus also began an offensive toward Van with the help of a large force of Armenian volunteers recruited from among refugees from Anatolia as well as local Caucasian residents. Leaving Erivan on April 28, 1915 they reached Van on May 14 and organized and carried out a general slaughter of the local Muslim population during the next two days while the small Ottoman garrison had to retreat to the southern side of the lake." (41)

The Armenian support given to the invading Russian army in the Eastern provinces of the Ottoman Empire is depicted by W.E.D.Allen and Paul Vfuratoff. They write:

"The Armenian nationalist movement (Dashnaksutzion) rose in revolt, and after fierce street fighting took possession of the ancient city by the lake Van) (l3-14 April) ... (1915)

Well informed by Armenian agents of the situation at Van, Yudenich determined to take advantage of it. Since March four of the Armenian lruzhiny (batallion) had been concentrated at Bayazit. Yudenich added to this force of sturdy nationalist volunteers the 2nd Transbaikal Cossack Brigade of 'Jeneral Trukhin, and ordered this officer to cross the Teperiz Pass over the Ala­lag and advance on Begrikale and Van ...

Trukhin and his Armenians and Cossacks were engaged during June in clearing the Turks from the southern shores of Lake Van. The Armenian druzhiny, under such popular leaders as Antranik, Hamazaps and Dro, fought vith great elan, and drove the Turkish gendarmerie units from Vastan on the lake and from the two villages of Catak and Mukus on the road to Siirt. On 20 June 1915) the Armenians took Sevan, on the 25th, Sorp-both villages on the shore of he lake ...
Pomiankowski (Zusammenbruch, p. 147) states that the Armenian rising in Van vilayet influenced decisively the failure of Halil Pasa's offensive in Azerbaijan. The rising held the Turkish gendarmerie division round Van at the Titical moment when Halil was checked at Dilman ... The insurrection of the Armenians and Nestorians of the Van vilayet; the presence of strong Russian cavalry formations in the country between the two lakes; and the maneuvers of Gereneral Oganovski's troops in the Murat valley-all these factors tended to make Turkish general headquarters anxious for the Bitlis - Mus region, the successful occupation of which by the enemy might outflank the stronghold of Erzurum and open the way into the interior of Anatolia." (42)

During the campaigns of 1914-1916 offensives and counter-offensives between the sides in the eastern provinces continued.
" ... the irregular bands operating on either side had begun the work which famine and epidemics had completed. The remnants of the Armenian population had fled into Russian territory or had been deported by the Young Turk administration,' the Moslems, scarcely more fortunate, had suffered equally from famine, epidemics and irregular slaughter, and the survivors had dispersed with what remained of their livestock into the interior of Asia Minor." (43)

"The months March through October 1917 were permeated with Armenian hopes and emotions ... For Western Armenia, autonomy, or perhaps unification with the Armenian region of Transcaucasia was the envisaged solution. The March Revolution eliminated the czarist restrictions and gave the Armenians the opportunity to gain valuable experience in the administration of occupied Turkish Armenia." (44)

In 1917 while the Russian Revolution penetrated more deeply into the morale of the troops "the Russian general headquarters was compelled to rely only on the national formations" in the defense of the Caucasian front against the Ottomans.(45)

"The divergent tendencies and interests of the three national groups (Armenians, Georgians and the Azeris) constituting the federation (The Caucasian federation set up in response to the transfer of power in Russia to the government of soviets) immediately became evident,· ... The Armenians remained strongly pro-Ally-and fundamentally pro-Russian and they tried to develop a national army with the help of Russian general headquarters on the Caucasian front and in the eventual hope of securing support from the British."


(40) Ibid, p.57
(41) Stanford Shaw, History of the Ottoman Empire and the Modem Turkey, London, Cambridge University Press pp.314-316
(42) W.E.D.Allen and Paul Muratoff, Caucasian Battlefields (Cambridge 1953), pp.299,30l and 302
(43) Ibid, p.368
(44) Hovannisian, op. cit., P.93
(45) Allen and Paul Muratoff, op. cit., P.457

"By 1 January 1918 the Armenian Corps consisted of two divisions of Armenian rifles, three brigades of Armenian volunteers, a cavalry brigade and some battalions of militia ... the volunteer brigades were made up of four battalions each and the cavalry brigade was composed of two regiments each four squadrons strong. The rifle divisions were made up of men from the Armenian rifle druzhiny (battalions) which had seen hard and honorable fighting during the campaigns of 1914-1916. Their numbers were increased by Armenians from different units of Yudenich's army who decided to join their compatriots. The volunteers were natives of Turkish Armenia who joined the national army on the spot-in Erzincan, Erzurum, Van and the Eleskirt valley.

"The feelings of the Moslems towards the Armenian national army became clear even before the Turks began their (counter) advance ... Local encounters between Armenians and Kurds immediately broke out and there were killed and wounded on both sides almost every day." (46)

"The frenzied troops and bands retreating from Erzurum killed any Moslems falling into their hands and burned the Turkish villages that lay in their path." (47)

"The Ottoman forces, having encountered victims of Armenian atrocities all the way from Erzincan, feared for the safety of Moslems in Kars. When smoke was seen rising from the city, they marched to the rescue of the populace. " (48)

"Vehip Pasa had initiated military action against the Armenian detachments who were holding the front line following the withdrawal of Russian troops. Vehip began by sending repeated protests against the action of disbanded Russian soldiers and the massacres of Moslems committed by Armenian bands." (49)

Hratch Dasnabedian gives the following information about the formation of the volunteer movement and the volunteer battalions:
"At first, the volunteer movement that developed in the last months of 1914 was the result of the initiative taken by the Armenian National Bureau ill Tiflis, with the encouragement of the Viceroy Vorontsov- Das hnov ... Around mid­1916, by decision of the Russian command, the Armenian volunteer battalions were integrated into regular units of the Caucasian army, thus losing all independence of movement and initiative ... The volunteer battalions were not the only form of assistance the Armenians brought to the Allied war effort. More than 250,000 Armenians fought against the Central Powers, about 200,000 of them in the Russian army on the European front."


(46) Ibid, pp 458-459
(47) Hovannisian, op. cit., P.135
(48) Hovannisian, op. cit., P.166
(49) Allen and Paul Muratoff, op. cit., p.460

Dasnabedian continues to confirm:
"Near the end of October, 1917 (on November 7 of the new calendar), the Bolshevik Revolution shook the entire Russian Empire. Headed by Lenin, the new government (the Sovnarkom) not only adopted the principle of the free self-determination of nations but also issued, in January 1918, a decree on 'Turkish Armenia', which granted military, administrative, and political freedoms of 'Turkish Armenia ' and its people.
Nevertheless, on March 13 of the same year, communist Russia signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, Article 4 of which not only returned all the conquered 'Turkish Armenia' to Turkey but also gave up regions of Kars, Ardahan, and Batum ...
“In the meantime Armenians continued their back stabbing against the Ottoman forces.

"The ARF militias, which had been organized secretly and sometimes semi-officially after the dissolution of the Armenian volunteer battalions, were insufficient for the task. Apprehensive, The Western Armenian Bureau formed a Security Council, which issued a call to arms. With the assistance of the Caucasian high command and the National Council of Eastern Armenians, the Security Council succeeded in forming the Armenian Corps, which was placed under the overall command of General Nazarbegian. The number of Armenian fighters was nearly 30,000 ... "

"While Armenia fought for its life, Transcaucasia fell apart as a political unit. On May 26, with the blessings of the Germans, Georgia declared independence. On the very next day, Azerbaijan followed Georgia's example.

Finally, on May 28, 1918, sanctioning a situation already extant since January, when the Armenians were forced to fight alone against Turkey, the Armenian National Council in Tiflis drafted a declaration of Armenian independence and sent its representatives to Batum to sign a separate truce with Turkey.

On June 4, 1918, Turkey became the first nation to officially recognize the Republic of Armenia."(50)



(50) Dasnabedian, History of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation 1890/1924 (Milan, 1989), p.123