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Concept
Battle of Sardarabad
Summary
The Battle of Sardarabad (Սարդարապատի ճակատամարտ; Serdarabad Muharebesi) was a battle of the Caucasus campaign of World War I that took place near Sardarabad, Armenia, from 21 to 29 May 1918, between the regular Armenian military units and militia on one side and the Ottoman army that had invaded Eastern Armenia on the other. As Sardarabad is approximately west of the capital of Yerevan, the battle not only halted the Ottoman advance into the rest of Armenia, but also prevented the complete destruction of the Armenian nation. In the words of Christopher J. Walker, had the Armenians lost this battle, "it is perfectly possible that the word Armenia would have henceforth denoted only an antique geographical term".
Armenian genocide and Caucasus campaign
After the October Revolution of 1917 in Russia and the ceasefire signed between the Third Army of the Ottoman Empire and the Transcaucasian Commissariat in Erzincan, newly forming Armenian detachments came to replace Russian forces retreating from the Caucasian Front, particularly from the territory of Western Armenia. Taking advantage of the military-political situation of the time, the Ottoman government set its mind on regaining control of territories occupied by the Russian Army during World War I and invading Eastern Armenia and the South Caucasus afterwards. The German government, the Ottoman Empire's ally, objected to this attack and refused to help the Ottoman Army in the operation. The Ottoman Army intended to crush Armenia and seize Russian Transcaucasia and the oil wells of Baku.
Launching an assault in February 1918, the Third Army of the Ottoman Empire occupied Western Armenian settlements one after another. Following the failure of Trabzon peace talks in April, Third Army commander Mehmed Wehib Pasha moved his forces towards Transcaucasia. Taking advantage of the conciliatory policy of the leadership of the newly-proclaimed Transcaucasian Federative Republic, the Turkish military units captured the heavily fortified Castle of Kars on 25 April, thus creating a direct threat to Alexandrapol.
Official source
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