"The Fateful Years" (1914-1917)
Russian and Turkish entanglement in World War I emerged as a key factor in the establishment if the Armenian Republic. It was from the ruins of these two empires and from the remnants of their own people that the Armenian leaders created a new political entity. The hopes based on the February, 1914, accord for reforms in the eastern provinces of the Ottoman Empire were shattered by the surprise Turkish attack on Russia in October of the same year. That blow not only annulled the reform plan but also initiated the most devastating calamity in the turbulent history of the Armenian people. The experiences of Western and Eastern Armenians from the outbreak of war to the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II in 1917 constitute a vital chapter in the saga leading to independence.
The Turkish Decision for War
Secret German-Turkish negotiations were concluded on August 2, 1914, by a pact signed at Constantinople by Ambassador von Wangenheim and Grand Vizier Said Halim in the presence of War Minister Enver and Interior Minster Talaat. It was agreed that, if German assistance to Austria in the Serbian crisis led to war with Russia, Turkey would enter the conflict. In return, Germany pledged to protect any Ottoman territories threatened by Russia. 1 Moreover, contact between the Moslems of Turkey and of Russia was to be secured through certain frontier rectifications. 2 Since the agreement was signed a day after the German declaration of war against Russia, Ottoman involvement was a fait accompli. Led by Enver Pasha, militant faction of Ittihad ve Terakki triumphed. Mobilisation was ordered immediately, and two months later, on October 22, Enver relayed the following instructions to Admiral Wilhelm Souchon, a German in command of the Ottoman Black Sea Fleet: "The Turkish fleet will gain naval supremacy in the Black Sea. Seek the Russian fleet and strike it without a declaration of war, wherever you find it." 3 A week later Turkish Navy bombarded the Russian installations at Sevastopol, Odessa, Theodosia, and Novorossiysk, and returned victoriously to Constantinople. 4 On November 4, Russia responded with the anticipated declaration of war. 5 Enver's expectations were great. His Pan-Turanic views were expressed through circulars distributed on November 12 by Ittihad ve Terakki, calling for destruction of Russia, expansion of the natural frontiers, and unification with all Turkic peoples in the Moslem world's struggle form liberation from the infidel oppressors. 6 Aware that the realisation of his aspirations was dependent on a powerful military force on the eastern front, Enver added a third division each to the IX, X, and XI corps of the Third Army, based at Erzurum. With jurisdiction extending from Van and Kharpout northward to the Black Sea coast, the army, by the end of 1914, consisted of over two hundred thousand regulars and fifteen to twenty thousand Kurdish tribesmen, "ashirets". 7 The Armenian Plateau was fortified.
|