Rus Basınına Göre Birinci Dünya Savaşı’nda Erzincan’ın İşgali
Fatih Mehmet EşkiDoğu Karadeniz ve Doğu Anadolu’da birçok şehir, 1916 yılının ortalarına kadar Rus Kafkas Ordusu tarafından işgal edildi. 1916 yılının şubat ayında Erzurum’u; nisan ayında ise Trabzon’u ele geçiren Rus ordusu, yönünü Erzincan’a çevirdi. Mamahatun ve Bayburt’ta gerçekleşen muharebelerin ardından 25 Temmuz 1916 tarihinde Erzincan işgal edildi. Rus basını, Erzincan bölgesinde yaşanan askerî gelişmeleri günü gününe gazete sayfalarına taşırken siyasi yorumlara da yer veriyordu. Rus basınının ilgisi, sadece askerî ve siyasi gelişmelerle sınırlı kalmadı. Erzincan’ın nüfusu, mimarisi, sosyal yapısı ve tarihi gibi birçok konu gazetelerde yer aldı. Bu çalışma, yukarda kısaca değinilen Erzincan’ın işgal sürecini basın üzerinden incelemeyi amaçlamaktadır. Çalışmada temel kaynak olarak Petrograd ve Kafkasya’da yayımlanan gazeteler kullanılmış, Kafkas Cephesi’nde görev yapmış Rus subay ve askerlerinin hatıratlarından da yararlanılmıştır.
According to the Russian Press, the Occupation of Erzincan During the First World War
Fatih Mehmet EşkiMany cities in the Eastern Black Sea and Eastern Anatolia were occupied by the Russian Caucasian Army until the middle of 1916. The Russian army had occupied Erzurum in February 1916, and then Trabzon in April 1916. Afterwards, they turned their direction to Erzincan. After the battles in Mamahatun and Bayburt, Erzincan was captured and occupied on July 25, 1916. The Russian press, which reported on the military developments around Erzincan on daily basis, also included political comments. The interest of the Russian press was, however, not limited to military and political developments. Topics published in the Russian newspapers were about population, architecture, social structure, and history of Erzincan. This study aims to analyze the occupation process of Erzincan using findings from the press. The Russian newspapers published in Petrograd and Caucasia were used as the main sources and the memoirs of Russian officers and soldiers who served on the Caucasian front were also evaluated.
After the Ottoman Empire’s navy bombed the Russian cities in the Black Sea on October 29, 1914, Russian forces crossed the Turkish border on November 1, 1914. Despite the success of the Turkish Army in the first battles in 1914, no significant victory was gained over the Russian army due to their more advanced strategies. Terrain and climatic conditions blocked the plans of the Turkish Army to defeat the Russian Caucasian Army with a siege operation in Sarıkamış. Encouraged by the defeat of the Turkish Army in Sarıkamış, the Russian Caucasian Army began to advance on the Anatolian lands.
From the first months of 1915, the Russian Caucasian Army advanced from the Black Sea coast and the Coruh valley, occupying Borcka on February 22, Hopa on February 28, Arhavi on March 13, and Artvin on March 28. Taking advantage of the Armenian revolt in Van, the Russian Caucasian Army captured Malazgirt on May 11 and Van on May 16. From the second half of 1915, no important developments occurred on the Caucasian front.
At the beginning of 1916, the Russian Caucasian Army proceeded to capture Erzurum on February 16, 1916. In this study, the developments in the region after the occupation of Erzurum were explained.
The Russian press was closely following the military developments on the Caucasus front and informing the Russian public with comments and analyses. İn this study, Birjeviya Vedomosti, Den, Pravitelstvennıy Vestnik, and Russkiy Invalid newspapers, which are prominent newspapers of the capital city, Petrograd, and Tbilisiy Listok, Kavkazskoe Slovo, Kavkazskaya Kopeyka, Batumskiya Vesti newspapers published in the Caucasus were used. In addition, the military periodicals Vestnik X Armii, Voennaya Letopis, and Listok Voyni, and Kubanskiy Kazachiy Vestnik magazines were used as sources. Furthermore, the memories and observations of Russian officers and soldiers who participated in the Erzincan operation were also included in the study.
The Russian Caucasian Army captured Erzurum on February 16, 1916, and Trabzon, which was the gateway to Anatolia from the Black Sea, on April 18, 1916. The Russian Caucasian Army were determined to advance to the west and south as their new target. Meanwhile, the newspapers of the period were quick to announcing Russia’s achievements, reporting that the next targets of the Russian Caucasian Army were Erzincan and Bayburt.
On May 30, 1916, the Turkish Army liberated Mamahatun from the Russian occupation. After the ongoing battles in the region, the Russian Caucasian Army recaptured Mamahatun on July 11, 1916, and occupied Bayburt on July 16, 1916, surpassing the forces of Fevzi Pasha, who had a strong defense in the Kop Mountains for a long time. After the occupation of Mamahatun and Bayburt, the Russian press announced to the public that the new target of the Russian army was Erzincan.
The Russian Caucasian Army captured Erzincan on July 25, 1916. This success of the army became a current issue in Russian newspapers. Newspapers were following the occupation process of Erzincan closely, announcing any update to the public. The Russian press was also reporting on the military events that took place before the occupation of Erzincan and the battles that determined the fate of the city. Noting that the occupation of Erzincan had an impact in the European press, the Russian press also broadcast congratulatory messages sent to the Russian tsar and his commanders, giving the message that Russia’s success was known and supported by the allies. In the following days, the Russian press reported a wide variety of information about the city’s location, history, population, architecture, economy, strategic importance, nature, and climate. This information in the Russian press was remarkable and showed that Russia had a lot of information about the Ottoman Empire.
While the Russian press reported that the Russian Caucasian Army completed the occupation process in Eastern Anatolia after the occupation of Erzincan, they sustained the agenda that advancing into Anatolia was the new target of the army. Some newspapers even began writing that the target was Istanbul. As a matter of fact, the thought of the command center of the Russian Caucasian Army was in this direction.
However, the post-invasion events did not take place as reported by the Russian press, and the developments in both armies brought the end of the war closer than initially planned or anticipated. The Russian army started to withdraw as a result of the Bolshevik revolutions in Russia, and the war ended with the Erzincan Armistice signed on December 18, 1917.
With the withdrawal of the Russian troops, the extermination activities of the Armenian military units against the Muslim people living in the Erzincan began. With the forward attack of the Turkish Army, Erzincan was liberated from the enemy occupation on February 13, 1918.
