The Erzurum offensive (Russian: Эрзурумское сражение, romanized: Erzurumskoe srazhenie; Turkish: Erzurum Taarruzu) or Battle of Erzurum (Turkish: Erzurum Muharebesi) was a major winter offensive by the Imperial Russian Army on the Caucasus Campaign, during the First World War that led to the capture of the strategic…
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Why it matteredThis was a significant Russian victory against the Ottoman Empire, securing strategic territory in the mountainous Caucasus region during the First World War.
Quick facts
- Date10 January – 16 February 1916
- LocationErzurum, eastern Anatolia (now Turkey)
- Russian commanderGeneral Nikolai Yudenich
- Ottoman forceThird Army
- OutcomeRussian victory; Erzurum captured
- Followed byCapture of Trabzon and Erzincan
- Part ofWorld War I, Caucasus Campaign
Editor's Take:
Erzurum is one of the forgotten great victories of the First World War. Yudenich took a fortress everyone thought was safe in winter, and did it with a bold march rather than a long siege. Yet the triumph came on land already emptied by the Armenian Genocide, and Russia's revolution soon threw the gains away. It is a victory that changed little in the long run, but tells us much about the war in the east.
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The Erzurum Offensive: Russia's Winter Victory
Eastern Anatolia, January–February 1916
Erzurum was the great fortress of eastern Anatolia, guarding the road into the heart of the Ottoman Empire. In the winter of 1915–16, few expected anyone to attack it through mountain passes deep in snow.
The Russian commander in the Caucasus, General Nikolai Yudenich, saw his chance. The Allied evacuation of Gallipoli meant Ottoman troops would soon be free to move east. He decided to strike first, before they arrived.
The offensive opened on 10 January 1916. After breaking Ottoman lines at Köprüköy, the Russians pushed through the mountains in bitter cold. In mid-February they stormed the ring of forts around the city, and on 16 February 1916 Erzurum fell.
The Ottoman Third Army lost a large part of its strength and retreated west. Yudenich followed up by taking the Black Sea port of Trabzon in April and Erzincan in July.
Timeline
- Dec 1914Battle of Sarikamish: Ottoman disaster in the snow
- 1915Armenian Genocide: Armenians of the region deported and killed
- Jan 1916Gallipoli evacuated: Ottoman troops freed
- 10 JanOffensive begins: Russian attack in deep winter
- JanKöprüköy: Ottoman line broken
- 16 FebErzurum captured: the fortress falls
- Apr 1916Trabzon taken: Black Sea port
- 1918Treaty of Brest-Litovsk: Russia gives up its gains
Did you know?Three years later, in 1919, Erzurum hosted the Erzurum Congress, where Mustafa Kemal (later Atatürk) helped launch the Turkish national movement.
Why Erzurum mattered
Erzurum sat at the meeting point of roads to the Black Sea, Persia and central Anatolia. Losing it opened the way for Russian armies into the Ottoman heartland.
The Ottomans had already suffered a catastrophe nearby at Sarikamish in the winter of 1914–15, when an offensive led by Enver Pasha ended with tens of thousands dead from fighting and cold.
How the Russians won
Yudenich kept his plans secret, even from many of his own officers, and attacked at a time of year when the Ottomans did not expect it.
Russian troops were well equipped for winter and moved across ridges thought to be impassable, outflanking the forts rather than only attacking them head-on.
The aftermath
The capture of Erzurum lifted Allied morale after the failure at Gallipoli. But after the Russian revolutions of 1917 the army in the Caucasus fell apart.
Under the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk in 1918, Soviet Russia gave up its claims, and Ottoman forces retook Erzurum that year.
The 111th anniversary falls on January 10, 2027.
