Treaty of Batum

The Treaty of Batum was signed in Batumi on 4 June 1918, between the Ottoman Empire and the three Transcaucasian states: the First Republic of Armenia, the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic and the Democratic Republic of Georgia.^[1]^[2] It was the first treaty of the First Republic of Armenia and the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic and had 14 articles.

Background

On 5 December 1917, the armistice of Erzincan was signed between the Russians and the Ottomans, ending the armed conflicts between Russia and the Ottoman Empire in the Persian Campaign and Caucasus Campaign of the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I.^[3] This was followed by Russia's exit from World War I on 3 March 1918 under the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. Between 14 March and April 1918, the Trabzon peace conference was held between the Ottoman Empire and the delegation of the Transcaucasian Sejm.

Enver Pasha offered to surrender all ambitions in the Caucasus in return for recognition of the Ottoman reacquisition of the east Anatolian provinces at Brest-Litovsk at the end of the negotiations.^[4] On 5 April, the head of the Transcaucasian delegation Akaki Chkhenkeli accepted the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk as a basis for more negotiations and wired the governing bodies urging them to accept that position.^[5] The mood prevailing in Tiflis was very different. The Armenians pressured the Commissariat to refuse and acknowledged the existence of a state of war between themselves and the Ottoman Empire.^[5] Hostilities resumed, and the Ottoman troops overran new lands to the east, reaching the prewar borders. Approximately 40,000 civilians perished during the retreat of Armenian-Georgian volunteers and the Ottoman advance.^[6] According to Clarence Ussher, an American doctor in eastern Anatolia, the number of Armenians killed during the Russian retreat numbered 7,000.^[7]

Treaty

On 11 May, a new peace conference opened at Batum.^[4] the Ottomans extended their demands to include Tiflis as well as Alexandropol and Echmiadzin; they also wanted a railroad to be built to connect Kars and Julfa with Baku. The new Armenian state, through which the transport corridor would run, was to give free right of passage. The Armenian and Georgian members of the Republic's delegation began to stall. Beginning on 21 May, the Ottoman army moved ahead once again into areas of Russian Armenia, leading to the Battle of Sardarapat (21–29 May), the Battle of Karakilisa (24–28 May), and the Battle of Bash Abaran (21–24 May).

The treaty was signed while the Third Army of the Ottoman Empire held positions 7 km from Yerevan and only 10 km from Echmiadzin. The treaty needed to be examined and confirmed by the Central Powers. Fifteen days after the treaty, delegates from Armenia were asked to come to Constantinople. In the surrendered territories the majority of the 1,250,000 pre-war inhabitants had been Armenians, with more than 400,000 in the ceded sector of Yerevan province alone.^[8]

The treaty left Armenians with less than one ninth of Eastern Armenia. German diplomat Bernstorff commented on the treaty, stating that "Turkey has left only lake Sevan for the Armenians, where they can swim, but they don’t have a place to come out and get dry".^[9]

Signatories

Ottoman side:

Halil Menteshe – Minister of Justice
Wehib Pasha – commander of the Third Army during the Caucasus Campaign

Armenian side:

Avetis Aharonian – Chairman of the National Council
Alexander Khatisian – Minister of Foreign Affairs
M. Babachanian
Ghorghanian

Azerbaijani side:

Mammad Amin Rasulzade – President of the National Council
Mammad Hasan Hajinski – Minister of Foreign Affairs

Georgian side:

Noe Ramishvili – Prime Minister
Ilia Odishelidze – Deputy Minister of Defense
Giorgi Gvazava – member of the presidium of the National Council
Grigol Rtskhiladze – member of the National Council

Statistics

References

↑Charlotte Mathilde Louise Hille (2010), State Building and Conflict Resolution in the Caucasus, BRILL, p. 71, ISBN 978-9-004-17901-1
↑Alexander Mikaberidze (2011), Conflict and Conquest in the Islamic World, ABC-CLIO, p. 201, ISBN 978-1-598-84337-8
↑Tadeusz Swietochowski (1985), Russian Azerbaijan, 1905-1920: The Shaping of a National Identity in a Muslim Community, Cambridge University Press, p. 119, ISBN 978-0-521-26310-8
1 2Ezel Kural Shaw (1977), Reform, revolution and republic : the rise of modern Turkey (1808-1975), History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey, vol. 2, Cambridge University Press, p. 326, OCLC 78646544 (Turkish Perspective)
1 2Richard Hovannisian, The Armenian people from ancient to modern times, pp. 292–293, ISBN 978-0-333-61974-2, OCLC 312951712 (Armenian Perspective)
↑Hovannisian, Richard G. (1967). Armenia on the road to independence, 1918. Berkeley: University of California Press. p. 277. ISBN 0-520-00574-0. OCLC 825110.
↑A-To. The Major Events in Vasburagan, 1914–1917. p. 480.
↑Richard G. Hovannisian (1997). The Armenian People from Ancient to Modern Times. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 301. ISBN 978-0-333-61974-2. OCLC 312951712.
↑Kirakosyan, J. (Jon) (1992). "The Armenian genocide : the Young Turks before the judgment of history". Madison, Conn. : Sphinx Press. p. 145.
↑Hovannisian, Richard G. (1967). Armenia on the road to independence, 1918. Berkeley: University of California Press. p. 199. ISBN 0-520-00574-0. OCLC 825110.
↑Hovannisian, Richard G. (1967). Armenia on the road to independence, 1918. Berkeley: University of California Press. p. 236. ISBN 0-520-00574-0. OCLC 825110.

[1] Charlotte Mathilde Louise Hille (2010), State Building and Conflict Resolution in the Caucasus, BRILL, p. 71, ISBN 978-9-004-17901-1

[2] Alexander Mikaberidze (2011), Conflict and Conquest in the Islamic World, ABC-CLIO, p. 201, ISBN 978-1-598-84337-8

[3] Tadeusz Swietochowski (1985), Russian Azerbaijan, 1905-1920: The Shaping of a National Identity in a Muslim Community, Cambridge University Press, p. 119, ISBN 978-0-521-26310-8

[ottoman1-4] 1 2Ezel Kural Shaw (1977), Reform, revolution and republic : the rise of modern Turkey (1808-1975), History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey, vol. 2, Cambridge University Press, p. 326, OCLC 78646544 (Turkish Perspective)

[ric-5] 1 2Richard Hovannisian, The Armenian people from ancient to modern times, pp. 292–293, ISBN 978-0-333-61974-2, OCLC 312951712 (Armenian Perspective)

[6] Hovannisian, Richard G. (1967). Armenia on the road to independence, 1918. Berkeley: University of California Press. p. 277. ISBN 0-520-00574-0. OCLC 825110.

[7] A-To. The Major Events in Vasburagan, 1914–1917. p. 480.

[Hovannisian-8] Richard G. Hovannisian (1997). The Armenian People from Ancient to Modern Times. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 301. ISBN 978-0-333-61974-2. OCLC 312951712.

[9] Kirakosyan, J. (Jon) (1992). "The Armenian genocide : the Young Turks before the judgment of history". Madison, Conn. : Sphinx Press. p. 145.

[:3-10] Hovannisian, Richard G. (1967). Armenia on the road to independence, 1918. Berkeley: University of California Press. p. 199. ISBN 0-520-00574-0. OCLC 825110.

[11] Hovannisian, Richard G. (1967). Armenia on the road to independence, 1918. Berkeley: University of California Press. p. 236. ISBN 0-520-00574-0. OCLC 825110.

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Background

Treaty

Signatories

Statistics

References

関連するトピック

Batumi

Ottoman Empire

First Republic of Armenia

Azerbaijan Democratic Republic