Battle of Van

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Battle of Van
Part of Caucasus Campaign in the Middle Eastern Theatre (World War I)

Local defense line
Date August 19-??, 1915
Location Van, Turkey
Result Qualified Ottoman Victory[citation needed]
Combatants
Ottoman Empire Russian Empire
Commanders
 ?  ?
Strength
 ?  ?
Casualties
 ? 12,000 ?
Caucasus Campaign
Sarikamis – Malazgirt – Van – Koprukoy – Erzurum – Erzincan – Bitlis – Kara Killisse – Sardarapat – Bash Abaran – Baku

The Battle of Van was a battle of the Caucasus Campaign of World War I that took place in the city of Van, in August 1915.

Contents

In April 1915, the local population in and around Van rebelled[citation needed] against the Ottoman Empire and took control of the city. They built their own governing structure. In May, the Russian Army advanced up to the city and took control. In August 1915, the Russians were defeated at the Battle of Malazgirt (1915) and started retreating north and east. The Ottoman Army soon arrived in front of the city of Van, the centre of what had turned into a large-scale rebellion.

On August 13 the Russian garrison in the city of Van issued a call for all Armenians between the ages of 18 and 25 to come to the city with any weapons they had[citation needed]. By the time the Ottoman forces arrived outside Van on the 15th, thousands of locals had come to the city from the surrounding countryside. On the 16th the Ottoman Army began a bombardment of the town. On August 19, they entered the city of Van, and were met by resistance forces firing rifles from every window and door. The city was captured after some days of intense fighting.

“ The whole Armenian fighting force consisted of only 1,500 men; they had only 300 rifles and a most inadequate supply of ammunition... the Armenians fought with the utmost heroism and skill; they had little chance of holding off their enemies indefinitely, but they knew that a Russian army was fighting its way to Van and their utmost hope was that they would be able to defy the besiegers until these Russians arrive.[1] ”

Less than a month later, as a result of the Russian victory at the Battle of Kara Killisse, the Ottoman Army retreated out of Van. The Russian Army occupied Van for the second time in September 1915.

  1. ^ Morgenthau, Ambassador Morgenthau's story [n.30], p. 299
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