Batumi treaty

On December 5 (18), 1917, the Chief of Staff of the Russian Caucasus Army, Major General Vyshinsky and the Chief of Staff of the Turkish 3rd Army , signed the Erzincan Armistice . This was preceded by the conclusion on December 2 (15) of a general armistice at the peace talks in Brest-Litovsk between the delegations of the Central Powers ( Germany , Turkey , Austria-Hungary , Bulgaria ) and Soviet Russia ^[1] .

The Erzincan truce completed the hostilities between Russian and Turkish troops in the Caucasus and Persia as part of the First World War ^[2] .

On January 30 ( February 12 ), 1918, Turkish troops, taking advantage of the collapse of the Caucasus Front and violating the terms of the armistice, launched a large-scale offensive on the Erzurum, Van and Primorsky directions. Erzincan was almost immediately occupied by them, and Trebesund on February 11 (24) . On March 12, the retreat of Armenian troops and refugees from Erzurum began. With the fall of Erzurum, the Turks actually regained control of all of Western Armenia .

March 3, 1918 Soviet Russia signed the Brest Peace Treaty , which meant Russia's exit from the First World War.

In March - April 1918, a peaceful conference of delegations of the Ottoman Empire and the Transcaucasian Seim took place in Trabzon . The balance of forces in the region had a decisive influence on the course of negotiations: Turkey, which had just signed a peace treaty with Russia on favorable terms and had already actually returned to the borders of 1914, demanded that the Transcaucasian delegation recognize the conditions of the Brest Peace. The Transcaucasian delegation, claiming independence and rejecting the Brest Treaty, hoped to conclude a separate peace with Turkey on more favorable conditions - the restoration of the state borders of 1914 and self-determination for Eastern Anatolia within the framework of Turkish statehood. Based on military superiority, the Turkish side refused to even discuss these requirements.

The Sejm interrupted negotiations and recalled the delegation from Trebizond, having officially entered the war with Turkey ^[3] . After that, hostilities resumed, and the Ottoman forces continued their offensive to the east.

On April 9 (22), at a meeting of the Transcaucasian Sejm, despite the opposition of the Armenian delegation, it was decided to proclaim Transcaucasia as an independent democratic federal republic . At the same meeting, the resignation of the government of E.P. Gegechkori was adopted. The new government was entrusted with the formation of A.I. Chkhenkeli .

The new government sent the Transcaucasian (Armenian) troops occupying positions in the Kars region an order for a truce. The commander of the Turkish troops, at the request of the Armenian side for a ceasefire, demanded before the start of negotiations that the Armenian troops be withdrawn to a considerable distance from the fortress and allow Turkish troops to freely enter the city. On April 12 (25), Armenian troops left Kars. Despite the fact that the Transcaucasian government complied with all the requirements of the Turkish side, the Turks continued the offensive.

Despite the sharp protests of the Armenian National Council and the resignation of Armenian representatives in the government of Chkhenkeli in connection with the surrender of Kars, Chkhenkeli remained at his post and began to prepare for new negotiations with Turkey. The peace conference opened in Batum on May 11 . The negotiations, which lasted from May 11 to 26, revealed sharp foreign policy differences between the Armenian, Georgian and Muslim national councils, which ultimately led to the creation of separate nation-states.

At the negotiations, Turkey presented even more difficult conditions than the Brest-Litovsk Treaty provided for: Transcaucasia was supposed to cede Batumi region, two thirds of the territory of Erivan province , Akhaltsikhe and Akhalkalaki counties of Tiflis province , as well as control over the Transcaucasian railway (Kars - railways Alexandropol and Alexandropol - Julfa).

On the night of May 14-15, Turkey presented an ultimatum on the surrender of Alexandropol and the withdrawal of Armenian troops from the city. Armenian troops left Alexandropol and retreated in two directions - to Sardarapat and Jalaloglu .

Panic reigned in Tiflis , meanwhile. Hundreds of thousands of refugees from Western Armenia , fearing for their lives if Turkish troops occupy Tiflis, continued their flight to the north, towards Vladikavkaz . On May 24, the Terek-Dagestan government closed the border in front of them as a result of a massive influx of refugees.

In this situation, the Georgian National Council turned to Germany for help and patronage. German representatives advised the Georgian National Council to immediately declare independence and formally ask Germany for patronage in order to avoid the Turkish invasion and death.

With the fall of Kars and Alexandropol, Armenia was completely cut off from the outside world. The escape routes from the advancing Turkish forces were blocked. In this situation, it was only possible to choose between death and the incredible stress of all the forces of society for victory.

On May 21, the Turks from the west reached the approaches to Sardarapat , on May 22 in the north-west they captured Amamlu station, from where the road to Erivan opened to them.

In the period from May 21 to May 28, the Armenian regular troops and militias managed to stop the Turks near Karaklis and Bash-Abaran , and in the battle of Sardarapat, the Turkish troops were defeated and were forced to retreat to Alexandropol. At the same time, north of Batum, the Turks were stopped with heavy losses by Georgian troops on the Cholok River.

On May 24 - 25, at a meeting of the executive committee of the Georgian National Council, the German proposal for patronage was adopted. On May 25, German troops landed in Georgia.

On May 26, the Transcaucasian Sejm announced self-dissolution. The Seimas decision stated:

In view of the fact that on the issue of war and peace, fundamental differences were found between the peoples who created the Transcaucasian Independent Republic, and therefore it became impossible for one authoritative government to speak on behalf of Transcaucasia, the Sejm notes the fact of the collapse of Transcaucasia and resigns.

On the same day, Khalil Bey, the head of the Turkish delegation at the Batumi talks, presented his latest ultimatum to the Georgian, Armenian and Azerbaijani delegations - each individually.

On May 26, Georgia ( Georgian Democratic Republic ) declared its independence, on May 28 - Azerbaijan ( Azerbaijan Democratic Republic ). On the same day, the Armenian National Council in Tiflis declared itself the “supreme and sole authority of the Armenian counties” and sent a delegation to Batum to sign a peace treaty with Turkey.

The victories won by the Armenian army near Sardarapat, Bash-Abaran and Karaklis allowed for some time to suspend the advance of the Turks, however, in the conditions when the Turkish troops were in close proximity to Yerevan and occupied a significant part of the Armenian territory, Armenia was forced to sign a peace agreement with the Turks . On May 30, negotiations between the Armenian and Turkish delegations began in Batum, which ended on June 4 with the conclusion of the Peace and Friendship Treaty between the Ottoman imperial government and the Republic of Armenia. Turkey recognized the independence of Armenia within the territory that by that time the government of the Republic of Armenia controlled - it was limited to Erivan and Echmiadzin counties , which amounted to 12 thousand km² with a population of approx. 1 million people (including refugees). Apart from Kars and Ardagan, also Surmalinsky , Sharursky , Nakhichevan counties , most of the Echmiadzin and Alexandropol counties departed to Turkey. About 1,250,000 Armenians lived in the territories that were withdrawing from the Ottoman Empire ^[4] .

The delegations of Azerbaijan and Georgia also signed the agreement without discussing the terms, since Azerbaijan was already completely dependent on Turkey by that time, and Georgia was under the German protectorate in accordance with the Poti Treaty , which it signed on May 28.

The Armenian military leader Andranik , not recognizing the signed agreement, relocated his armed formation, numbering 3-5 thousand people, to Zangezur. Together with this detachment, several thousand refugees from Turkish Armenia went there. Armenian formations in Zangezur, Nakhichevan and Karabakh started ethnic cleansing, killing and driving out the Azerbaijani population ^[5] .

On October 30, 1918, Great Britain and Turkey signed the so-called Mudros Armistice , which marked the defeat of Turkey in World War I. It, in particular, provided for the withdrawal of Turkish troops from Transcaucasia. In connection with the defeat of Turkey in the war, the Government of the Republic of Armenia annulled the Batumi Treaty.

In November, Turkey notified Armenia that its troops were leaving territories located outside the borders designated by the Brest Peace Treaty. In November, Armenian troops entered Karaklis , and in early December they entered Alexandropol . In April - May 1919, the Armenian government established control over Kars , Olty , Kagizman . In May, Sharur and Nakhichevan were annexed to Armenia. Thus, the Russian-Turkish border of 1914 was almost completely restored.