Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Bogdan MORAR
Author-Email: bmorar2012@gmail.com
Title: STRATEGIA CÂȘTIGĂTOARE A ARMATEI CAUCAZIENE PENTRU CUCERIREA CETĂȚII ERZURUM (FEBRUARIE 1916)
Abstract: In the summer of 1914, the two great military-political camps - the West and the 
Central Powers – unleashed the First World War. In early November 1914, the Ottoman 
Empire chose to side with the Central Powers. This led to the opening of a secondary front 
in the Caucasus where Turkish troops were to clash with Russian troops. The Battle of 
Sarikamis (22 December 1914-17 January 1915) ended in a great Russian victory, but 
both sides remained on the sidelines unprepared to strike the decisive blow. 
In 1915 the allies in Anatolia, notably Britain and France but without Russian 
participation, attempted to defeat Turkey by attacking the Dardanelles. The attack failed 
because the Ottomans concentrated significant troops near Constantinople. These troops 
were able to be withdrawn and redeployed after the Anglo-French withdrawal from the 
Turkish Straits. Intelligence warned Russia that the bulk of the Turkish troops were about 
to leave for the Caucasus. For this reason, the commander of the Caucasian Army, N.N. 
Yudenich was very anxious because he assumed that a resistance against them was very 
difficult. So he implemented a very bold plan. This article presents this plan and its results. 
To write the article I used written testimonies found in the RGVIA – Российский 
Государственный Военно-Исторический Архив (Russian State Historical-Military 
Archive) archive, including notes and positions sent by N.N. Yudenich to his superior, the 
viceroy of the Caucasus Nicholas Nikolaevich. 
The conclusions of the article highlight the winning strategy devised by N.N. 
Yudenich argues the author's personal opinion that this strategy (which included the 
conquest of Erzurum) was one of the greatest military victories of Tsarist Russia in the 
First World War.
Classification-JEL: N44, F51
Keywords: Caucasus, Russian Empire, Ottoman Empire, World War I, N.N.
Yudenich
Journal: Intelligence și Cultura de Securitate
Pages: 5-19
Volume: 2
Issue: 1
Year: 2023
Month: December
File-URL: https://www.animv.ro/RePEc/mvn/incsec/ICS_1_2023_2_5-19.pdf
File-Format: Application/pdf
Handle: RePEc:mvn:incsec:v:2:y:2023:i:1:p:5-19