Battle of Sarikamish
The Battle of Sarikamish was an engagement between the Russian and Ottoman empires during World War I. It took place from December 22, 1914, to January 17, 1915, as part of the Caucasus campaign.
| Battle of Sarikamish Сражение при Сарыкамыше-Srazhenie pri Sarykamyshe Sarıkamış Muharebesi Սարիկամիշի Ճակատամարտ | |||||||||
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| Part of the Caucasus campaign of the Middle Eastern theatre in World War I | |||||||||
Russian trenches in the forests of Sarikamish. | |||||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
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Russian Empire |
Ottoman Empire Supported by: German Empire | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
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Vorontsov-Dashkov Nikolai Yudenich General Bergmann Myshlayevsky |
Enver Pasha Hafiz Hakki Pasha Bronsart Pasha Ali İhsan Pasha (POW) Feldmann Bey Yusuf Izzet Pasha Galip Pasha Şerif Bey (POW) Ziya Bey (POW) Arif Bey (POW) | ||||||||
| Units involved | |||||||||
| 3rd Army | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| 78,000 |
Turkish estimate: 100,000 Russian estimate: 90,000+ people and 244 guns in battle 190,000 people and 300 guns in total | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
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Russo-English sources: 20,000–28,000 killed, wounded, and frostbitten |
Turkish-German sources: 60,000–78,000 killed, wounded, frostbitten, and captured Russian sources: 90,000 casualties including: 28,000 KIA and 3,500 POWs | ||||||||
The battle resulted in a Russian victory. The Ottomans employed a strategy which demanded highly mobile troops, capable of arriving at specified objectives at precise times. This approach was based both on German and Napoleonic tactics. The Ottoman troops, ill-prepared for winter conditions, suffered major casualties in the Allahuekber Mountains. Around 25,000 Ottoman soldiers froze to death before the start of the battle.
After the battle, Ottoman Minister of War Enver Pasha, who had planned the Ottoman strategy in Sarikamish, blamed his defeat on the Armenians and the battle served as a prelude to the Armenian genocide.