Great War in Transcaucasia: From Ottoman Occupation to the Treaty of Kars

Abstract

In October 1914 the Ottoman Empire declared war on the Entente joining the Central Powers. Now the Turks
threatened Russia’s Caucasian provinces and the communications within the British Empire via the Suez Canal but the main
campaign of the Ottoman army would extend from southern Caucasus to eastern Asia Minor. Between 1914 and 1917 the
situation on this front was quite difficult for the Turks, only the collapse of the Russian forces would change this situation. In
November 1917, a first government of an independent Transcaucasia was created in Tbilisi while the Ottomans aiming at
creating their own rule on southern Caucasus launched a new offensive toward Baku. The Russian Revolution and the
capitulation of the Central Powers, however, open the way to the rivalry between Caucasian nationalities which will be solved
only with the arrival of the Soviet forces. Notwithstanding, the conflict between Armenians and Azerbaijani can not find a
definitive solution even if the Treaty of Kars restored at list a stable border between Kemalist Turkey and Bolshevik Russia.