Turkish offensive in the Caucasus

The British chronology of the war states under 17 December 1914 that a Turkish offensive began in the Caucasus and that the Turks retook Köprüköy, a village on the Aras on the road to Erzurum. Studies do not confirm this. Köprüköy had remained in Ottoman hands since mid-November, when a counter-attack by the Third Army pushed the Russians back to the area of the village of Azap, and the report of the village being retaken by the Russians on 22 November finds no confirmation in the sources. In December there was therefore nothing to retake. The great Turkish offensive, which ended in disaster at Sarikamish, did not begin until 22 December.

Enver at the front

The date of 17 December nevertheless fell at a time when the offensive had already been decided upon. At the beginning of December the Minister of War, Enver Pasha, left Constantinople for the Caucasus together with the chief of the Ottoman General Staff, the German general Friedrich Bronsart von Schellendorf. According to Turkish studies, he reached Third Army headquarters at Köprüköy in the middle of the month, between 13 and 15 December. Some sources give later dates for his arrival at the front.

Enver was impressed by the November victory over the Russians and believed that the Russian Caucasus Army, weakened by the dispatch of its best corps to the German and Austrian fronts, would not withstand a powerful blow. He brought with him a plan for a great encirclement. One corps was to pin the Russians down in the Aras valley, while two more were to outflank them from the north, through the mountains, and emerge in their rear at Sarikamish, where the railway from Kars ended. Victory was to open the way to the lands Turkey had lost in 1878 and to kindle a Muslim rising in the Caucasus.

Hasan İzzet’s resignation

The commander of the Third Army, General Hasan İzzet Pasha, was sceptical of the plan. He pointed out that his soldiers had no winter uniforms, boots or food supplies, and that the mountain paths along which they were to march were buried in snow in winter. According to Turkish studies, he initially accepted the plan, but at a conference in mid-December he set out his objections, and when Enver would not give way, he resigned on the night of 18–19 December. Enver took command of the army himself and on 19 December issued the order to attack, fixing its start for 22 December.

It is not known exactly where the entry in the British chronology came from. It may be an echo of contemporary press reports of Turkish troop movements and of Enver’s arrival at the front. The Russians, at any rate, noticed the concentration of Ottoman forces, but did not expect the Turks to risk a march through the mountains in the middle of winter.