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Battle of Baku
Part of Armenian-Azerbaijani War & Caucasus Campaign
A British armoured vehicle seen in action during the battle.
Date 26 August, 1918 – 14 September, 1918 Location Baku, Azerbaijan Result Ottoman victory
Belligerents
Ottoman Empire Azerbaijani Irregulars Dagestani Irregulars	Baku Commune United Kingdom Australia Canada New Zealand Centrocaspian Dictatorship White Russians
Commanders and leaders
Nuri Pasha Mursal Pasha	Grigory Korganov Lionel Dunsterville General Dokuchaev Colonel Avetisov
Strength
Army of Islam 14,000 infantry 500 cavalry 40 guns	6,000 regulars Dunsterforce 1,000 infantry 1 artillery battery 1 machine gun section 3 armored cars 2 Martinsyde G.100 planes Baku Army 6,000 infantry 40 guns Bicherakhov detachment 600
Casualties and losses
Total: 2,000	British Empire 200 Baku Army ?

The Defense of Baku or 'Battle of Baku (Template:Lang-az, Template:Lang-ru) (September 1918) was between coalitions of Ottoman-Azerbaijani-Dagestan led by Nuri Pasha and Bolshevik-Dashnak Baku Soviet forces, later succeeded by British-Armenian-White Russian forces led by Lionel Dunsterville as part of the final battle of the Caucasus Campaign, but the beginning phase of Armenian-Azerbaijani War.

Background

Caucasus, 1917

Following the abdication of the Tsar in 1917 the Caucasus Front collapsed, and Russian troops evacuated Armenia. Consequently Batum and Van were captured by the Ottoman Empire.

A number of Russian troops left through Anzali, but two formations remained. General Nikolai Baratov remained in Hamadan with a substantial force, who could not evacuate before winter, so he waited for spring. At Kermanshah, a Russian colonel of Ossetian origin named Lazar Bicherakhov remained with 10,000 faithful troops. Both men were supplanted by British liaison officers.

As a result of this collapse, the roughly 800 miles between Mesopotamia and the Caucasus were open for an Ottoman force to pass through. The situation was especially dire in the Caucasus, where Enver Pasha had planned to place Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan under Turkish suzerainty as part of his Pan-Turanian plan. This would give the Central Powers numerous natural resources, including the oilfields of Baku. The control of the Caspian would open the way to further expansion in Central Asia, and possibly British India.

March massacres

Meanwhile the arrest of General Talyshinski, the commander of the Azerbaijani division, and some of its officers all of whom arrived in Baku on March 9, increased the anti-Soviet feelings among the city's Azeri population. On 30 March, based on the unfounded report that the Muslim crew of the ship Evelina was armed and ready to revolt against the Soviet, the Soviet disarmed the crew who tried to resist This led to three days of inter-ethnic warfare referred to as the March Days, which resulted in the massacre of up to 12,000 Azerbaijanis by the Bolsheviks and armed Armenian units in the city of Baku and other locations in the Baku Governorate.

Situation continues to deteriorate

The situation continued to deteriorate, and in June Turco-German forces occupied Batum, Tbilisi, Kars, Alexandropol. By May, a military mission under Nuri Pasha, brother of Enver Pasha, settled in Tabriz to organize the Army of Islam to fight not only Armenians but also the Bolsheviks. ⅓ of the newly-formed army consisted of Turkish soldiers, the rest being Azerbaijani forces and volunteers from Dagestan. . Nuri Pasha's army occupied large parts of the Azerbaijani Democratic Republic without much opposition, influencing the fragile structure of the newly-formed state. Ottoman interference led some elements of Azerbaijani society to oppose Turks.

However many of the troops Shahumian requested from Moscow for the protection of Baku did not arrive because they were held up on the orders of Stalin in Tsaristyn. Also on Stalin's order, the grain collected in Northern Caucasus to feed the starving people in Baku was directed to Tsaristyn. Shahumian protested to Lenin and to the Military Committee about Stalin's behavior and he often stated: "Stalin will not help us". Lack of troops and food would be decisive in the fate of the Baku Soviet.

Opposing forces

There were roughly 14,000 Ottoman troops with 500 cavalrymen and 40 pieces of artillery.

Inside Baku the local commander was the former Tsarist General Dokuchaev, with his Armenian Chief of Staff, Colonel Avetisov. Under their command were about 6,000 Centrocaspian Dictatorship troops of the Baku Army or Baku Battalions. The vast majority of the troops in this force were Armenians, though there were some Russians among them. Their artillery comprised some 40 field guns.

Threatened by the possibility, the British sent a mission of officers and instructors to the region to counter the Turks. The belief behind the mission was that the three republics would fight the Turks to avoid massacre. It was hoped that his would keep the Caucasus-Tabriz front intact and put a stop to Enver’s Pan-Turanian plans. The British mission was headed by Major-General Lionel Dunsterville, who arrived to take command of the mission force in Baghdad on January 18, 1918 - the first few members of the force were already assembling. The British troops in battle under Dunsterville numbered roughly 1,000. They were supported by a field artillery battery, machine gun section, three armoured cars, and also two airplanes. He was to proceed from Mesopotamia through Persia to the port of Anzali, then board ship to Baku and onwards. Dunsterville set out from Baghdad on January 27, 1918, with four NCOs and batmen in 41 Ford vans and cars. However, the countryside along their roadway was overrun by the anti-British Jangalis under Mirza Kuchak Khan, a force about 5,000 strong. On February 17, he arrived at Anzali. Here, he was denied passage to Baku by local Bolsheviks, who cited the change in the political situation.

• Opposing forces
• Dunsterville (far left) with Dunsterforce staff.
• Members of Dunsterforce training troops of the local Baku Army.
• Armenian units drilling in Baku.
• Murad of Sebastia lead his volunteers and died at the Battle of Baku
• Azerbaijani troops in Baku Azerbaijani troops in Baku

Battle of Baku

Outside city of Baku

On 28 May 1918, Azerbaijan declared independence. The government of Azerbaijan moved from Tiflis to Ganja. On 4 June 1918, Azerbaijan and the Ottoman empire signed a treaty of friendship and cooperation, clause 4 of which held that the Ottoman empire would provide military assistance to Azerbaijan, if such assistance was required for maintaining peace and security in the country.

On 6 June 1918, Grigory Korganov, People's Commissar of Military and Naval Affairs of the Baku Soviet, issued an order to the Red Army to begin offensive operatons against Ganja. Being unable to defend the independence of the country on their own, the government of Azerbaijan asked the Ottoman empire for military support in accordance with clause 4 of the treaty between the two countries. The Army of Islam under the command of Nuri pasha was formed in Ganja. It included the Turkish 5th Caucasian and 15th Chanakkale divisions, and the Azerbaijani Muslim Corps under general Ali-Agha Shikhlinski.

Most of the Baku Soviet troops and practically all their officers were Armenians of Dashnak leanings, and often outright Dashnaks. One of the Red Army commanders was the notorious Amazasp, who had fought as a guerrilla leader against the Turks, and for whom any Muslim was an enemy simply because he was a Muslim. The Baku Soviet troops looted and killed Muslim populations as they moved towards Ganja.

On 27 June - 1 July, in the battle near Goychay, the Army of Islam defeated the Red Army and started advancing towards Baku. At this point, earlier in June, Bicherakhov was in the vicinity of Qazvin, trying to go north. After defeating some Jangalis, he proceeded to check the situation in Baku. Returning on June 22, he planned to save the situation by blocking the Army of Islam at Alyaty Pristan'. However, he arrived too late, and instead went farther north to Derbent, planning to attack the invading Army of Islam from the north. At Baku, he left only a small Cossack contingent. Beside the Russians, the Jangalis also harassed elements of the Dunsterforce going to Anzali on their way to Baku. Once defeated, the Jangalis dispersed. On reaching Anzali in late July, Dunsterville also arrested the local Bolsheviks who had sided with the Jangalis.

On July 26, a coup d'état overthrew the Bolsheviks in Baku. The new body, the Central Caspian Dictatorship, wanted to arrest Stepan Shahumian, but he and his 1,200 Red Army troops seized the local arsenal and 13 ships, and began heading to Astrakhan. The Caspian fleet, loyal to the new government, turned them back.

By July 30, the advance parties of the Army of Islam had reached the heights above Baku. Therefore, Dunsterville, immediately started sending contingents of his troops to Baku. On August 16, British troops were in Baku.

On August 17 Dokuchaev started an offensive at Diga. He planned for 600 Armenians under Colonel Stepanov to attack to the north of Baku. He would further be reinforced by some Warwicks and North Staffords, eventually taking Novkhani. By doing this, they planned to close the gap to the sea, and control a strongly defensible line from one end of the Apsheron Peninsula to the other. The attack failed without artillery support, as the “Inspector of Artillery” had not been given warning. As a result of the failure, the remnants of the force retired to a line slightly north of Diga.

City of Baku

While Baku and its environs had been the site of clashes since June and into mid-August, the term Battle of Baku refers to the operations of August 26 - September 14. On August 26, the Army of Islam launched its main attack against positions at the Wolf's Gate. Despite a shortage of artillery, British and Baku troops held the positions against the Army of Islam. Following the main assault, the Turks also attacked Binagadi hill farther north, but also failed. After these attacks, reinforcements were sent to the Balajari station, from where they held the heights to the north. However, faced with increased artillery fire from Turks, they retired to the railway line.

On August 28 and 29, the Turks shelled the city heavily, and attacked the Binagadi Hill position. 500 Turks in close order charged up the hill, but were repulsed with the help of artillery. However, the under-strength British troops were forced to retire to positions farther south.

Between August 29 and September 1, the Turks managed to capture the positions of Binagadi Hill and Diga, several coalition units were overrun, and losses were heavy. By this point, allied troops were pushed back to a saucer-like position that made up the heights surrounding Baku. However, Ottoman losses were so heavy that Mursal Pasha was not immediately able to continue his offensive. This gave the Baku Army invaluable time to reorganize. Faced with an ever worsening situation, Dunsterville organized a meeting with the Centrocaspian Dictators on September 1. He said that he was not willing to risk more British lives and hinted at his withdrawal. However, the dictators protested that they would fight to the bitter end, and the British should leave only when troops of the Baku Army did. Dunsterville decided to stay until the situation became hopeless, and Bicherakhov had captured Petrovsk, allowing him to send help to Baku. The reinforcement of 600 men from his force, including Cossacks raised hope.

Between September 1 and 13, the Turks did not attack. During this period, the Baku force prepared itself and sent out airplane patrols constantly. In his diary, Dunsterville reported the atrocities against the Muslim population perpetrated by Armenian militants. On September 12, an Arab officer from the Turkish 10th division deserted, giving information suggesting the main assault would take place on the 14th.

On the night of the September 13/14, the Turks began their attacks. The Turks nearly overran the strategic Wolf's Gate (Template:Lang-az) west of Baku, from where the whole battlefield could be seen. However, a counterattack stopped them. The fighting continued for the rest of the day, and the situation eventually became hopeless. By the night of the 14th, the remnants of the Baku Army and Dunsterforce evacuated the city for Anzali.

Atrocities

A terrible panic in Baku ensued when the Turks began to enter the city. Armenians crowded the harbour in a frantic effort to escape.. Regular Ottoman troops were not allowed to enter the city for two days, so that the local irregulars would take their revenge. The violence with which they turned on the Armenians as a revenge for massacre of Azeris knew no bounds. It was the last major massacre of World War I.

Casulties

The British losses in the battle totaled about 200 men and officers killed, missing or wounded. Mursal Pasha admitted Ottoman losses of around 2,000.

Among the civilians the casualties of Baku's 80,000 person Armenian community were between 9,000 and 10,000, roughly equal to the number of Azeris massacred by Armenians and Bolsheviks during the March Days. Altogether up to 20,000 Armenians were killed or deported.

Aftermath

No oil from Baku’s oilfields got beyond Tbilisi before the Turks and Germans signed the armistice. By November 16, Nuri and Mursal Pasha were ejected from Baku and a British general sailed into the city, headed by one of the ships that had evacuated on the night of September 14.

Cultural references

A memorial in Baku was established to the Turkish soldiers who were killed in combat. There is a memorial to the British soldiers in Baku.

References

1. ^ Missen, Leslie (1984). Dunsterforce. Marshall Cavendish Illustrated Encyclopedia of WWI, vol ix. Marshall Cavendish Corporation. pp. 2766–2772. ISBN 0-86307-181-3. {{cite book}}: More than one of |author= and |last= specified (help)
2. The Diaries of General Lionel Dunsterville: 1911-1922
3. Yale, William (1968) Near East: A Modern History p. 247
4. Dadyan, Khatchatur(2006) Armenians and Baku, p. 118
5. Документы об истории гражданской войны в С.С.С.Р., Vol. 1, pp. 282–283.
6. ^ Firuz Kazemzadeh. Struggle For Transcaucasia (1917—1921), New York Philosophical Library, 1951
7. "New Republics in the Caucasus", The New York Times Current History, v. 11 no. 2 (March 1920), p. 492
8. Michael Smith. "Anatomy of Rumor: Murder Scandal, the Musavat Party and Narrative of the Russian Revolution in Baku, 1917-1920", Journal of Contemporary History, Vol 36, No. 2, (April 2001), p. 228
9. Template:Ru icon Michael Smith. "Azerbaijan and Russia: Society and State: Traumatic Loss and Azerbaijani National Memory"
10. ^ Swietochowski, Tadeusz (1985). Russian Azerbaijan, 1905-1920: The Shaping of National Identity in a Muslim Community. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. {{cite book}}: More than one of |author= and |last= specified (help)
11. Kun, Miklós (2003). Stalin: An Unknown Portrait. Central European University Press. {{cite book}}: More than one of |author= and |last= specified (help)
12. Template:Ru icon Довольно вредное ископаемое by Alexander Goryanin
13. (Pasdermadjian 1918, pp. 22)
14. Comtois, Pierre. "World War I: Battle for Baku". HistoryNet. Retrieved 2007-07-19.
15. Dunsterville, Lionel. "The Diaries of General Lionel Dunsterville, 1918". Great War Documentary Archive. Retrieved 2009-01-10.
16. ^ Christopher, Armenia,page = 260
17. Andreopoulos, George(1997) Genocide: Conceptual and Historical Dimensions University of Pennsylvania Press, ISBN 0812216164 p. 236
18. Coppieters, Bruno (1998). Commonwealth and Independence in Post-Soviet Eurasia. Routlege. p. 82. ISBN 0714644803. {{cite book}}: More than one of |author= and |last= specified (help)

Bibliography

• Walker, Christopher (1980). ARMENIA: The Survuval of a Nation. New York: St. Martin's Press. p. 260. ISBN 0709902107. {{cite book}}: More than one of |author= and |last= specified (help)
• Pasdermadjian, Garegin (1918). Why Armenia Should be Free: Armenia's Role in the Present War. Hairenik Pub. Co. p. 45. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link)

External links

• Dunsterville, Lionel. "The Diaries of General Lionel Dunsterville, 1918". Great War Documentary Archive. Retrieved 2007-07-24.
• Judge, Cecil. "With General Dunsterville in Persia and Transcaucasus". Russia-Australia Historical Military Connections. Retrieved 2007-07-24.

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