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 |
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32) Edvard Choburian, "Metz paterazme yev hai zhoghovourde" [The Great War and the Armenian People] (Constantinople, 1920), pp. 90-91; G. Sasouni, "Tajkahayastane rousakan tirapetoutian tak (1914-1918)" [Turkish Armenia under Russian Domination, (1914-1918)] (Boston, 1927), pp. 146-151; Vahan Papazian, "Im houshere" [My Memoirs], II (Beirut, 1952), 452-455.
33) Vardges Aharonian, "Andranik, marde yev razmike" [Andranik, the Man and the Warrior] (Boston, 1957), p. 147.
34) Archives of the Republic of Armenia Delegation to the Paris Peace Conference [now integrated into the archives of Dashnaktsoutyoun, Boston, Massachusetts], File 1/1; General G. Korganoff, "La participation des Arméniens à la guerre mondiale sur le front du Caucase, 1914-1918" (Paris, 1927), pp. 77-78.
35) Nazarbekov was born in Tbilisi in 1855, attended military academy in Moscow, participated in the 1877-1878 Russo-Turkish War. During the Russo-Japanese War, he was decorated with the medal of St. George, and, during World War I, with one of the two French military medals awarded to Russian officers. For an unfavourable appraisal of his leadership qualities, consult W. E. D. Allen and Paul Muratoff, "Caucasian Battlefields: A History of the Wars on the Turco-Caucasian Border, 1828-1921" (Cambridge, 1953).
36) General G. Korganoff, "La participation des Arméniens à la guerre mondiale sur le front du Caucase, 1914-1918" (Paris, 1927), p. 78; Archives of the Republic of Armenia Delegation to the Paris Peace Conference [now integrated into the archives of Dashnaktsoutyoun, Boston, Massachusetts], File 1/1.
37) Silikov was soon promoted to the rank of general. Many Armenian officers in tsarist service had substituted the suffix "ov" or "ev" for the "ian" used in Armenian family names. Returning to Transcaucasia and entering Armenian service, officers such as Nazarbekov and Silikov reverted again to Nazarbekian, Silikian, and so forth.
38) Archives of the Republic of Armenia Delegation to the Paris Peace Conference [now integrated into the archives of Dashnaktsoutyoun, Boston, Massachusetts], File 1/1; W. E. D. Allen and Paul Muratoff, "Caucasian Battlefields: A History of the Wars on the Turco-Caucasian Border, 1828-1921" (Cambridge, 1953), p. 458; E. K. Sargsian, "Ekspansionistskaia politika Osmanskoi imperii v Zakavkaz'e nakanune i v gody pervoi mirovoi voiny" (Yerevan, 1962), p. 337. Serving in the Armenian Corps was a company composed of three hundred Russian officers who had refused to retreat with their regular units.
39) General G. Korganoff, "La participation des Arméniens à la guerre mondiale sur le front du Caucase, 1914-1918" (Paris, 1927), pp. 80-83.
40) A. Poidebard, "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), 150-151; W. E. D. Allen and Paul Muratoff, "Caucasian Battlefields: A History of the Wars on the Turco-Caucasian Border, 1828-1921" (Cambridge, 1953), p. 462: Corps headquarters were first in Tbilisi, then Alexandropol. The 1st Division's headquarters were in Alexandropol, and the 2nd Division's, in Yerevan.
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