Military Wiki
Battle of Bitlis
Битлисское сражение
Ataturk-1916-Bitlis
DateJuly 1915-August 1916
LocationBitlis Vilayet, Ottoman Empire
Result Russo-Armenian victory[1][2][3][4]
Belligerents
Russian Empire 1914 17 Russian Empire Ottoman Flag Ottoman Empire
Commanders and leaders
Nikolai Yudenich
Andranik Ozanian
Tovmas Nazarbekian
Ahmed Izzet Pasha
Mustafa Kemal Pasha
Faik Pasha
Strength
Russian Caucasus Army
Armenian fedayi
Second Army
Kurdish tribesmen


The Battle of Bitlis refers to a series of engagements in the summer of 1916 for the city of Bitlis and to a lesser extent nearby Moush, between the Russian Imperial forces and their Ottoman counterparts.

The first military confrontation at Bitlis occurred in July 1915, when Russian troops launched an unsuccessful assault on the fortified city. The second confrontation began in February 1916 and ended with the capture of Bitlis by new Russian corps, which largely consisted of the 1st Battalion of the Armenian volunteer units under the command of Andranik Ozanian. The city was the last stronghold of the Ottoman Empire to prevent the Russians from entering in Anatolia and Mesopotamia. After their defeat, the Ottoman Army gave Mustafa Kemal the organization of the defense of the region. The Ottomans, however, were quickly overwhelmed, and after a vain resistance from 1–9 August 1916, the entire region fell to the Russian Empire and Armenian volunteers.

References[]

  • The Berlin-Baghdad Express: the Ottoman Empire and Germany's bid for world power, Sean McMeekin, page 243
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