The Capture of Trabzon refers to the military operation carried out by the reorganized Ottoman Third Army, under the command of Wehip Pasha, which resulted in the seizure of

Trabzon Trabzon, historically known as Trebizond, is a city on the Black Sea coast of northeastern Turkey and the capital of Trabzon Province. The city was founded in 756 BC as "Trapezous" by colonists from Miletus. It was added into the Achaemenid E ...

from Russian control on February 24, 1918. This event took place during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

Seizure

In the context of the Ottoman front during

, the German government had initially opposed Turkish advances into the

Caucasus region The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, incl ...

. However, due to their growing frustration with the actions of Trotsky, the Germans abandoned their previous objections and agreed in the final version of the

Brest-Litovsk Treaty The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was a separate peace treaty signed on 3 March 1918 between Soviet Russia and the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and Bulgaria), by which Russia withdrew from World War I. The treaty, whi ...

to the clearance of Russian troops from the districts of

Ardahan Ardahan ( ka, არტაანი, tr; ; Russian: Ардаган) is a city in northeastern Turkey, near the Georgian border. It is the seat of Ardahan Province and Ardahan District.Kars Kars ( or ; ; ) is a city in northeast Turkey. It is the seat of Kars Province and Kars District.� ...

, and

Batum Batumi (; ka, ბათუმი ), historically Batum or Batoum, is the second-largest city of Georgia and the capital of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara, located on the coast of the Black Sea in Georgia's southwest, north of the border ...

. Taking advantage of this shift in German policy, the reorganized

Ottoman Third Army The Third Army was originally established in Skopje and later defended the northeastern provinces of the Ottoman Empire. Its initial headquarters was at Salonica, where it formed the core of the military forces that supported the Young Turk Rev ...

, which incorporated divisions from the disbanded Second Army, undertook an offensive to capture Trabzon. Vehip Pasha, the commander of the

, led this operation. On February 24, 1918,

was successfully seized by Ottoman forces. However, the capture of the city was not without bloodshed. Approximately 600 individuals lost their lives, and 700 others were wounded, primarily due to an explosion in an ammunitions depot. The circumstances surrounding the explosion remain uncertain, as it is unclear whether it was an accident or an intentional act. The casualties included 1,050

Russians Russians ( ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Eastern Europe. Their mother tongue is Russian language, Russian, the most spoken Slavic languages, Slavic language. The majority of Russians adhere to Eastern Orthodox Church ...

and 250

Greeks Greeks or Hellenes (; , ) are an ethnic group and nation native to Greece, Greek Cypriots, Cyprus, Greeks in Albania, southern Albania, Greeks in Turkey#History, Anatolia, parts of Greeks in Italy, Italy and Egyptian Greeks, Egypt, and to a l ...

, "The casualties included 1,050 Russians and 250 Greeks" highlighting the diverse ethnic composition of the region.

Notes and references

Books

* {{coord missing, Russia Conflicts in 1918 Battles of the Caucasus Campaign Battles of World War I involving the Ottoman Empire Battles of World War I involving Russia 1918 in Russia 1918 in the Ottoman Empire Military history of Trabzon