Armenian-Georgian war

Ethnic composition of disputed territories

The majority of the population of the disputed counties were ethnic Armenians, and their Georgian population was only a small minority ^[2]

According to the results of the All-Russian census of 1897, in the south of Borchaly district and the Lori district, Armenians constituted the absolute majority of the population. Only in the west of the site Russian Molokans lived compactly, and in the Alaverdi region - the Greeks ^[2] .

The northern part of Borchaly district was ethnically more colorful: Armenians made up a little less than a third of the population, while being the most numerous ethnic group, besides them, many Azerbaijanis lived there, as well as a significant number of Germans and Georgians ^[2] .

In the Akhalkalaki district , the Armenian majority made up three-quarters of the population; the Caucasian Turks, Georgians, and Russians were equally tangible minority ^[2] .

First encounters

After the collapse of the Transcaucasian Federal Democratic Republic, territorial issues between the proclaimed Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia were not resolved ^[3] , which later became a source of acute inter-state contradictions ^[4]

Germany in the summer of 1918 sent its troops to Georgia, at the same time Turkish troops were introduced to Armenia. ^[5] Turkey on June 4, 1918 signed treaties "on peace and friendship", for which Turkey, except for the Kara, Ardahan and Batumi regions, Akhalkalaki district departed, part of Akhaltsikhe district , Surmalinsky district , parts of Alexandropol , Sharur , Echmiadzin and Erivan counties , which were held by Turkey until the end of the First World War .

After the evacuation of Turkish troops from the Akhalkalaki and Borchaly districts, the Turks proposed to occupy this territory of Armenia, and the Germans - to Georgia ^[6] First, on December 4-5, 1918, Georgian troops managed to invade the districts left by the Turks, ^{[6] [7]} Ignoring discontent ^[6] and rejecting the direct prescriptions of Turkey to Tbilisi, Georgian soldiers, with the support of German officers, took control of north Lori and established an outpost along the Dzoraget River. ^[8] These same territories, where Armenians were the main population, were also claimed by Armenia. Armenia and Georgia began to exchange notes of protest.

Armenia

During the occupation, the Turks disarmed parts of the Armenian army and provoked a famine, committing food robberies.

The government of Armenia argued that the borders of the former imperial provinces should not be taken into account, as they do not correspond to ethnic or historical borders. The Armenian side also reminded the Georgian that the Georgian socialists, who headed the government of independent Georgia a year later, promised the leadership of the Armenian nationalist parties to reconsider a number of administrative borders in 1917 during the Transcaucasian Zemsky Conference in Petrograd ^[9] On this basis The promises of the DRA government demanded that the GDR abandon a number of border areas in which the Armenian population constituted the majority.

Georgia

Considering them as their support, the Germans contributed to the formation of the Georgian armed forces ^[10]

Official Tiflis stood on the inviolability of the southern borders of the Tiflis province as the new frontiers of Georgia.

According to the official Tiflis in 1919, the agreements indicated by the Armenian side were not actually agreements, but merely a manifestation of a constructive initiative that concerned disengagement within a single federal state (reformed Russian Empire) solely for the convenience of economic activity and administration. Such statements, the representatives of the Georgian government argued, were made long before the declaration of state independence of Armenia and Georgia and could not be acceptable when defining state borders.

Georgia hijacked the entire rolling stock of the railway, blocked any food supplies from the north and stated that Armenia was not a viable state. In Armenia, due to the blockade (the only transport corridor of Armenia to Russia - the railway - passed through the controlled independent Georgia of Batumi), famine began ^{[9] [11]} , until 1918 a third of all the food Armenia received from Russia. Armenia, according to Richard Hovhannisyan , in 1918-1919 "became a country of death." ^[12]

In December 1918, German and Turkish troops left Transcaucasia, and English units, which remained in the region until July 1920, took their place. December 9, 1918 Armenian-Georgian war began .

Ekaterinenfeld operation

In the second half of December, simultaneously with the peace talks held in Tiflis and Karaklis, military operations continued in the areas of contact between the Armenian and Georgian troops. The most fierce fighting took place in the area of ​​the German colony of Ekaterinenfeld (now the city of Bolnisi). In Ekaterinenfeld itself there was a division of the Georgian National Guard. To the south - in the village of Bolnis-Khachen (the present-day village of Bolnisi) - the Armenian troops were stationed, which entered there after the capture of Vorontsovka, as well as the militia from among the local Armenians. To the north of Ekaterinenfeld, the villages of Beliy Klyuch, Samshvilde and Daget, which were densely populated by Armenians, also had their own armed detachments - the Armenian forces most close to Tiflis. And although this direction was not the main one, the free advance of Armenian units along the Ekaterinenfeld-Daget line represented an additional threat to the capital of Georgia.

Ekaterinenfeld became a strategically important point on the way of Armenian units towards Tiflis from the west .

On December 18, the very first day Georgia announced the mobilization, the commander of the units being sent to Ekaterinenfeld was the officer of the guard Valiko Dzhugeli, and the commander of all the newly formed troops was General Akhmetelashvili. At dawn on December 19, these units, including about 600 bayonets, arrived in Ekaterinenfeld .

At night, the Armenian units seized Georgian artillery (8 guns) and, placing the machine guns in the high buildings of the village, at dawn opened fire on the Georgian units. The commander of the Georgian Guard, Dzhugeli, took the Armenian machine-gun points, and then seized control of the village and beat off the artillery. The retreating Armenian units were attacked by the Georgian cavalry.

On December 19-20, the Ekaterinenfeld group of Georgians received reinforcements and began to prepare an attack in the northern direction - on Daget and Samshvilde. The offensive began on the morning of December 21 and lasted until December 25, the village of Daget-Khachin was taken and control was established over the area north of Ekaterinenfeld.

After the capture of Daget-Khachen, Georgian troops began preparations for an attack on Bolnis-Khachen. The December 30 offensive was repelled by the Armenians. On the night of December 31, the Georgians received reinforcements, which included a mounted battery of mountain artillery, and on December 31, Bolnis-Khachen was taken in combat by Georgian troops. Armenians began to retreat south towards Vorontsovka

.

Shulaver operation

By December 22, on the main - Shulaversky - direction, the Armenians advanced as far as possible towards Tiflis, reaching the Temple River, and after the next day (December 23), parts of General Tsulukidze, breaking through the encirclement, withdrew from Sadakhlo, under the Armenian control virtually all the disputed the territory of Borchala district, excluding the colony of Ekaterinenfeld.

On December 24, the commander-in-chief of all Armenian troops on the Borchala front "General Dro" (Drastamat Kanayan) sent an ultimatum to the Georgian command, which demanded the immediate transfer of the Akhalkalaki district to Armenia. If the ultimatum was rejected, Dro threatened to immediately move the fighting north of the Temple River, which was tantamount to the threat of the seizure of the Georgian capital.

The Georgian government rejected the ultimatum, at the same time appointing General G. Mazniyev (Mazniashvili) the commander of all Georgian troops in the Shulaver sector. The Georgian command began preparations for the transition to more active hostilities.

On December 24th, in the morning, the Georgian cavalry, with fire support from an armored train, crossed the Temple and beat off the station Ashagi-Seral, and a few hours later, units of Georgian infantry following the tracks occupied the village of Maly Shulaver and the railway bridge in the village of Imir. ^[13]

On the same day, one battalion of the Georgian army occupied the height separating Ashaga-Saral from Shulaver. The headquarters of the Georgian group moved from the station Sandar to the station Ashagi-Seral - closer to the place of hostilities, where he stayed until the very end of the war. ^[14]

Armenians began to transfer almost all of the available forces to defend Shulaver. There, in and around Shulavera, the colonel of the Armenian army, Korolkov, declared the mobilization of the local Armenian population.

Meanwhile, echelons with reinforcements for the Georgian army began to approach the Sandari station: first battalions from Kakheti, and then from Western Georgia (with a total of up to a thousand bayonets). ^[15]

For the capture of Shulaver, Georgian troops carried out a flank round of Armenian positions, and by December 25 the Georgian guard battalion and artillery batteries were redeployed to the west, to the village of Sarachlo, in which the Azerbaijanis, who were at enmity with the Armenians, lived. It was around Sarachlo that Georgian artillery settled down, while the Guards battalion, meanwhile, took the dominant height north of Shulaver.

Following the occupation of this height, which allowed to control the approaches to the city, the Georgian artillery (14 howitzers) began a massive artillery preparation. These days, for the first time in the history of the Georgian armed forces (and in general the national armed forces of all Caucasian states), combat aviation was used: two Georgian airplanes dropped bombs on Armenian positions near Shulaver.

However, the Georgian command planned for December 26, the assault did not take place due to the desertion of the Georgian Guards division - it took the above-mentioned height to the north of Shulaver during the day and left its position at night and went down to the village of Saraclo: "not to freeze in the trenches and drink tea."

The next morning, the Armenian detachment, seeing that there was no one at the height, again occupied it. During the day, the Georgians again recaptured the height, but the next night again did not want to spend the night in the trenches. As a result, the Armenians seized the dominant position for the third time. General Chkhetiani requested that the command of the undisciplined contingent be removed from him; scheduled for December 26, the operation was disrupted.

The next day, December 27, the Georgians tried to take the city with a frontal blow, but this assault was repulsed by the Armenians.

In the northwest, the guards were replaced by units of the regular army. On December 28, Armenian artillery was fired south of Ashagi-Seral, but its fire at Ashagi-Seral station did not bring any tangible result. At the same time, the Armenian troops in the Shulaver direction were reinforced by a rifle regiment.

On December 28, at 12 o'clock in the afternoon, the decisive battle for the Shulavere began. After a two-hour artillery preparation, Georgian troops numbering about 3,500 men, deployed along a front 10 kilometers long, launched a general offensive. During the battle, the Armenians made several counterattacks, but by the evening of the same day the Georgians seized the heights to the east of Shulaver and “hung” over the city.

On the morning of December 29, the Georgian unit entered Shulaveri. Armenians retreated to the south - partly through the village of Sioni, partly - leaving the gorge to the railway line, where they were attacked by the Georgian cavalry and scattered.

The Georgian attack on the south along the Ashakh-Seral-Sadakhlo railroad leg continued for a day until Sadakhlo station was seized by Georgians on the morning of December 30 at the same time as the Lambalo village by two columns advancing on both sides of the Debed river.

The Georgian command was not timely informed by its government about the upcoming cease-fire at 24 hours on December 31 and planned to strike the first of January. The Armenian command, knowing exactly the timeframe for the conduct of hostilities, began on December 30 to concentrate the units retreating from Sadakhlo and the reserves arriving from the rear near Ayrum station, towards the Lambalo ridge.

Meanwhile, the Georgians began to divert the main forces from Sadakhlo to the west, near Zioni-Opreti, in order to subsequently cross the Lok ridge, and the Armenian command, knowing that December 31 was the last day of possible military operations, was preparing to take Sadakhlo. The attack began on December 31 in the morning. Armenian units attacked from Ayrum in two columns - on both sides of Debed. The left column stormed the village and Sadakhlo station, and the right column - the village of Lambalo and the mountain Tana-Dag. After many hours of battle, the left pillar failed to take Sadakhlo, the right pillar acted more successfully and occupied the village of Lambalo.

By the end of the day, the disposition of the opposing units can be determined quite accurately from the existing document signed by the commanders of the troops on both sides:

“On December 31, by 24 o'clock, the Georgian units are busy: der. Shut up, der. Khodzhorni, der. Gully-Bag, der. Sadakhlo, Art. Sadakhlo, der. Lambalo, a ridge to the north of st. Sadakhlo from the top of 1554 north-east to the top of 2660, and then to the inscription "source", which the inscription is located north of Kachi-Kala.

Original signature: General Mazniyev.

Remark: Lambalo village and height 2660, by 24 o'clock on December 31 were occupied by me and only on the basis of letter number 139 of General Mazniev from January 1, 1919 were left by 8 o'clock on January 1 to prevent direct contact of our units with Georgian units and to avoid it unintended consequences. I agree with the rest of the points.

Draw.

That's right: Colonel Natsvalov " .

At the insistence of England, a peace agreement was signed in the village of Sadakhlo on the night of December 31 . On January 1, 1919, hostilities ceased and negotiations began. Already on January 9, a conference began in Tiflis with the participation of Georgia, Armenia and Britain. And on January 17, a decision was made: a neutral zone was created (there were Alaverdi copper mines in it), administratively subordinated to the British Governor-General, whose front line became the northern border, and the southern border of the neutral zone of Borchaly district -Turkish demarcation line at the beginning of July 1918. Finally, all controversial issues were to be resolved at the Paris Conference .

None of the parties to the conflict that signed the agreement on December 17 remained satisfied with its terms. This war became a cause for mutual insults. ^[sixteen]

However, other events had much more significance than the internecine war: in October 1920 the Turkish offensive began and Armenia temporarily transferred the disputed territories of Georgia .

The line of confrontation practically coincides with today's state border between Georgia and Armenia in this sector. .

War consequences for Armenia

Правительство Армении согласилось снять претензии на Ахалкалакский уезд при условии, что уезд будет находиться под наблюдением союзников и участие армян в местном самоуправлении будет гарантировано. Южная часть Борчалинского уезда переходит к Армении .

Последствия войны для Грузии

Ахалкалаки и северный Борчалы были оставлены под контролем Грузии .

• Ноябрь — Занятие армянскими войсками Ахалкалакского (население: 76 446 армян против 6 578 грузин) и Борчалинского (население: против 63 148 армян проживало всего 7 533 грузин) уездов Тифлисской губернии.
• 6 декабря 1918 года — Завершение эвакуации турецких войск из Азербайджана и Армении.
• 9 декабря 1918 года — Начало боевых столкновений армянских и грузинских войск в Ахалкалакском и Борчалинском уездах, продолжившихся до 31 декабря 1918 года.
• 12-14 декабря 1918 года — Грузино-армянско-английские трёхсторонние переговоры в Тифлисе. Соглашение о высадке в Грузии английских войск. Нападение армянских формирований на грузинские части в городе Санаин Борчалинского уезда Тифлисской губернии.
• 15 декабря 1918 года — Высадка английских войск в Поти.
• 25 декабря 1918 года — Английские войска в Тифлисе.
• 26 декабря 1918 года — Завершение эвакуации германских войск из Грузии.
• 31 декабря 1918 года — Заключение перемирия между Арменией и Грузией в Тифлисе, при посредничестве англичан.
• 1 января 1919 года — Соглашение между Грузией и Арменией на мирной конференции в Тифлисе, по которому до решения Верховным советом Антанты вопроса о границах между Грузией и Арменией северная часть Борчалинского уезда передавалась Грузии, южная Армении, а средняя (в ней находились Алавердские медные рудники) объявлялась «нейтральной зоной» и административно подчинялась английскому генерал-губернатору.