Russian-Turkish Warfare in the Eastern Black Sea in the First World War: The Occupation of Trabzon According to Russian Sources

During World War I, fierce clashes took place between the Ottomans and Russia on the Caucasus Front. The Ottoman state, whose army in the region was not fully prepared for the war, was heavily wounded in the Sarikamis Operation and then could not adequately defend against Russian attacks. Consequently, the conflicts in the east ended in defeat for the Ottomans. Especially after the Russians took control of Erzurum in 1916, they intensified their military operations directly to the west, south and east coast of the Black Sea. Having taken Erzurum, the Russian Caucasus Army command devised a plan to capture Trabzon, a strategically located city that played a key role in equipping the Ottoman III Army in the east. In fact, if the Russian army captured Trabzon, it would be able to supply its troops in the east with arms, ammunition and food more quickly. In this sense, Trabzon was very important for the Russians. Consequently, after the occupation of Erzurum, the Russian armies moved towards Bayburt and Gumushhane via Askale on the one hand, and towards Trabzon with both navy and land forces in the eastern Black Sea region on the other. In late March 1916, attacks on Trabzon intensified, culminating in the occupation of the city on April 18, 1916. In this study, the process of the occupation of Trabzon is written in the context of Russian sources. The main difference of this study from the previous ones is that it was prepared by analyzing the information provided in the Russian archival documents and press of the period, as well as in Russian-language sources in general. Therefore, the archival records of the correspondence of Russian commanders with their headquarters during the occupation of Trabzon and the day-to-day news of newspapers and magazines about the war constituted the basis of the originality of the article.