The First World War, which began in July 1914, was completed in 1918. The inevitable end of war at the beginning of 1918 have begun to consider and implement alternative plans for salvation. War minister Enver Pasha also predicted that the war was about to end in March 1918. Despite several reactions, he established Caucasian İslam army, consisted of about 20 thousand soldiers and entirely Muslims depending on eastern army group.
Enver Pasha noticed the salvation in the East against the possibility of losing the First World War and in order to provide rescue of country through this army, he constituted a distinguished troop by putting his brother Nuri Pasha in charge. Enver Pasha wanted to rescue Azerbaijan and Dagestan from Russian occupation and to opened the way for their connection with Central Asia. The Caucasian Islamic Army which was established for this purpose won Baku Battle and entered Baku on 15 September 1918. After the capture of Baku, the Ottoman army also provided military support to the North Caucasus Republic, which was established in Daghestan.
The course of the war justified Enver Pasha and the Ottoman State had to ask for a truce because it could not stop the English on the Syrian-Palestinian side. According to the Mondros Armistice, which was signed after the request of the Ottoman State, The Ottoman Army was asked to withdraw from its borders before the war. On this request, most of the soldiers in the Caucasian Islamic Army withdrew to the Eastern Anatolia and joined the 15th Corps.
In this study; We will aim to bring light, what exactly was Enver Pasha’s purpose in establishing the Caucasian Islamic Army, how responded the government dignitaries the effect of the Caucasus Islamic Army in the recovery of Baku; and on the Caucasus front, the Ottoman Empire which the issues were conflicted with the its allies Germany, it was reflection the Ottoman public opinion through the periodicals such as Ikdam, Sabah, Tasvir-i Efkar, Vakit, Zaman, and making use of archival documents.
Primary Language | Turkish |
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Journal Section | Makaleler |
Authors | |
Publication Date | January 31, 2019 |
Published in Issue | Year 2019 Issue: 64 |