Having done all it could against the Turkish reserve forces, which were constantly replaced, the Armenian army was forced to retreat to the old Russian-Ottoman border of 1914. 9
Meanwhile, on January 13, 1918, Lenin, in the name of the Soviet government, declared Western Armenia independent. The communist government had inherited the Armenian Question from the tsarist regime, and as all Russian revolutionary parties were in support, on January 27, 1918, the Pan Russian Soviet recognised the independence of Armenia and Finland.
However, at the negotiations at Brest-Litovsk, in March 1918, when Russia withdrew from the First Word War, Russia was forced to accept the terms dictated by Germany for Armenia. The terms guaranteed the rule of Turks, ally of Germany, over Western Armenia, and also over a part of Eastern Armenia, namely Kars and Ardahan.
Turkish forces continued their advance towards Transcaucasia and, following bloody battles in Sarighamish and Voroshan, entered Kars on April 25.
The independent government of Transcaucasia, on advice from the allies whose forces were too distant to offer assistance, was forced to hand over Kars, Ardahan and Batum to Turkey. When the peace negotiations in Batum started in May 1918, between Turkey, its allies, and the government of Transcaucasia, the Turks presented terms which were considerably tougher than the terms agreed to in the Brest-Litovsk Treaty. The terms included the disintegration of what remained of Eastern Armenia, and the Turkish advance to Baku.
The Armenians, abandoned by the Georgians and the Tatars, continued the battle to defend their ethnical existence. The supreme commander of Armenia, Genera Nazarbekian, in a speech to his soldiers, said: "After centuries of slavery under the oppression of the Turks we have decided to either live free or die. If we cannot defend our country, our freedom and our decency with the weapons in our hands, we do not any longer have the right to live as a nation. The decisive moment has now come for us to either ensure our future or die."
Over the following days, fighting for the first time since the 14th century under its national flag, the Armenian army bravely struggled for its fatherland. In the battles of Gharakilisa, which A. Aharonian called the "Second Avarayr", of Sardarabad (which saved Yerevan) and of Bash Aparan, the Armenians showed such stout resistance that the Turks failed to break the Armenian lines, ensuring the survival of the Armenian nation and government. 11
The first Republic of Armenia declared independence on May 28, 1918, following the disintegration of the Transcaucasian government. On June 4, 1918, Turkey, in accordance with the Batum Treaty, recognised the borders of Armenia. However, secret agreements between Turkey and the Tatars limited said borders to Yerevan and Sevan, while the rest of Eastern Armenia was divided between Turkey and the Tartar territory which later would be declared as Azerbaijan.
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