Resistance of the Western Armenians against Turkish oppression and the attempt to annihilate the Armenian nation culminated in the defences in Van, Shatakh, Sasoun, Sarighamish, Ourfa and Musa Dagh which might be some of the most heroic episodes of the First World War. 20 A notorious Turkish officer, by the name of Nojlus, praised the courage of the Armenians during the Armenian defence of Van: "I have never, during my whole military career, seen such hateful battles as the ones which took place in Van against the Armenians. The few buildings which we managed to take from them were set on fire in the fear that the Armenians would recapture them during the night and fortify themselves there… On April 26, 1915, after careful preparations for an artillery attack, we attempted to take their main position in Great Ghonagh. They defended each house as if it were a strong fortress and we had to surround each house separately. We destroyed all of the buildings with shots from our artillery. To our surprise, when we started the offensive, we saw Armenians who appeared from among the ruins and began to shoot at us with unbelievable courage." 21
These heroic deeds were even included in the memoirs of ranked German and Austrian officers in the Turkish army. 22
In 1917, the French government confirmed the rights of the Armenian nation by creating an Armenian legion, which, like the Polish and the Czechoslovakian legions, consisted of refugees in France. The legion consisted of Armenians from other foreign units, Armenian volunteers from Europe and the USA, survivors from the battles in Musa Dagh and some of the survivors from the genocide who had reached the allied forces in Mesopotamia and Palestine. The Armenian legion participated under the French flag in the battles of September 1918, which resulted in the desecration of the Turkish front in Palestine and Syria. During battle to penetrate the Palestinian front, on September 19, 1918, the Armenian legion came face to face with the German regiment in the Turkish army and, following a strong offensive, took their position. 23
Some days later, the British supreme commander, Marshal Alenhy, sent the following telegraph to the Armenian international delegation in Paris: "I am proud of having an Armenian unit under my command. This unit fought very bravely and had a major part in our victory."
In southern Persia, the Armenians constituted the core of the "Southern Musketeers of Persia", a unit organised by the British for the defence of the important area against German and Turkish attacks.
Thus by the end of the First World War, Western Armenia, emptied of its 1,800,000 Armenian inhabitants , had fallen victim to the policy of Pan Turanism . Armenian armies were forming at every front, however, the first sign of the future Armenian government, willing to continue the battle under the banners of the allies and re-establish the place of Armenia in the geographical books as a free and independent nation.
From this moment on, the future of the Armenian people was entwined in the threads of the allied banners. 24
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