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Index

Armenia

The Urartu Civilisation

Victory for Independence

Artashisian Dynasty on the Armenian Throne

Armenia caught between Rome and the Arsacids

The Acceptance of Christianity

Defending Christianity

Armenia Under the Bagratouni Dynasty

Cilicia - the New Armenia

Armenia Under Turanian Rule

The Renaissance or the Resurrection of Armenia

The Eastern Question

Russia in the Caucasus

The Armenian Question

Battle on Two Fronts

Tsarist Russia Against the Armenians

The Revolution of the Young Turks and the Armenian People on the Eve of World War I

The First World War

The Resurrection of Armenia

Armenia on the Road to Independence, 1918

- Armenia on the Road to Independence, 1918

Eastern Armenia

Western Armenia

"The Fateful Years" (1914-1917)

"Hopes and Emotions" (March-October, 1917)

The Bolshevik Revolution and Armenia

Transcaucasia Adrift (November, 1917

Dilemmas (March-April, 1918)

War and Independence (April-May, 1918)

The Republics of Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Armenia

The Suppliants (June-October, 1918)

In conclusion

Soviet Armenia

The Second Independent Republic of Armenia

Epilogue

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Formation of National Corps in Transcaucasia

Turkism was an abhorrent spectre to both Ottoman and Eastern Armenians. Though the Turkish armies had been decimated during the three years of warfare, Enver Pasha had not forsaken the hallowed image of a united Turan. Crimea, the Volga, Turkestan awaited liberation by the armies advancing under the green banner of Islam. Disintegration of the Russian military potential beckoned Enver eastward. Armenians were not oblivious to this. Even before the November Revolution, a Western (Turkish) Armenian militia, headed by seasoned revolutionaries, attempted to fill the ever widening gaps along the front. But several hundred men were insufficient to hold the territory that had been occupied by nearly two hundred thousand Russian troops. To consider emergency measures, the Western Armenian Bureau in December, 1917, sponsored a conference which, after receiving Entente promises of limited financial support, adopted plans to form a twenty-thousand-man militia. The Defence Council selected by a conference was charged with drumming up public enthusiasm and conscripting and equipping Western Armenians ensued over the designation of a commander. Despite the objection of several Eastern Armenian leaders, Andranik was chosen. Already, trough Zavriev's efforts, he had been promoted to Major General by Russian Caucasus Army Command. 32 The First Brigade of his Western Armenian Division was composed of the Erzinjan and Erzurum regiments; the Second, of the Khnus and Gharakilisa (Alashkert) regiments; and the Third, of the Van and mounted Zeytoun regiments. 33

Also during December, 1917, General Przhevalsky authorised the formation of the Armenian Corps. The Caucasus Army Command was not convinced that only motivated national units could save the situation. 34 General Tovmas Nazarbekian (Nazarbekov), highly decorated for his services during the Russo-Japanese War and the 1914-1917 North Persian-Van operations, was commissioned to lead the Corps. 35 Dro (Drastamat Kanayan), assassin of several high-ranking tsarist officials and commander of one of the volunteer units in 1914-1195, served as the civilian commissar. 36 The Corps comprised the First Division of General Areshian (Areshov) and the Second of Colonel Silikian (Silikov), 37 each with four rifle regiments, the Third of Andranik with its three brigades, and a single cavalry brigade under Colonel Korganov. A few auxiliary, quartermaster, medical, and garrison units completed the structure of the Armenian "army." 38 With approximately twenty thousand men, the Corps never attained full wartime strength.

In response to urgent requests from Russian commanders who warned that the troops on the Erzinjan area were thoroughly undependable, several regiments of the Armenian Corps were immediately hustled off to the front. 39 They created a spectacle en route, for, to the amazement of the homeward-bound Russian soldiers, they were moving toward, not away from, the forward lines. By the end of January, 1918, Nazarbekian's divisions occupied the major posts from Yerevan to Van and Erzinjan. Their dispositions was as follows: 40


First Division – General Areshian
1st Regiment Erzurum-Erzinjan
2nd Regiment Khnus
3rd Regiment Yerevan
4th Regiment Erzinjan and Yerevan
Second Division – Colonel Silikian
5th Regiment Van
6th Regiment Yerevan
7th Regiment Alexandropol
8th Regiment Alexandropol
Third Division – General Andranik (Ozanian)
1st Brigade Erzinjan-Erzurum
2nd Brigade Khnus
3rd Brigade Van