Erzurum offensive

Erzurum offensive
Part of the Caucasus campaign of the First World War
ALT=painting of wounded soldiers in retreat
Le Petit Journal Feb. 27, 1916
Retreat of the Turks after the taking of Erzurum by the Russians
Date10 January 1916 – 16 February 1916
Location
Result Russian victory
Full results
  • Destruction of the Third Turkish Army[1]
  • Russians are gaining support among Muslims in the Caucasus[2]
Territorial
changes
Russians successfully break into Anatolia
Belligerents
Russian Empire Ottoman Empire
Commanders and leaders
Nikolai Yudenich Abdul Kerim Pasha
Strength
Russian Caucasus Army
130,000 infantry
338 guns[3]
Third Army
78,000
450 guns[3]
Casualties and losses
2,339 killed 14,796 wounded[4][5] 66,000[6][7]
20,000 POWs including 300 officers
450 cannons[8]

The Erzurum offensive (Russian: Эрзурумское сражение, romanizedErzurumskoe srazhenie; Turkish: Erzurum Taarruzu) or Battle of Erzurum (Turkish: Erzurum Muharebesi) was a major winter offensive by the Imperial Russian Army on the Caucasus Campaign, during the First World War that led to the capture of the strategic city of Erzurum. The Ottoman forces, in winter quarters, suffered a series of unexpected reverses, which led to a Russian victory.

  1. ^ Borisyuk 2024, p. 174.
  2. ^ Oleynikov 2016, p. 175.
  3. ^ a b "Эрзурум. Большая Российская энциклопедия". Archived from the original on 2022-04-09. Retrieved 2021-01-22.
  4. ^ Эрзурум. Большая Российская энциклопедия
  5. ^ Oleynikov 2024, p. 428.
  6. ^ Miltatuli 2017, p. 134.
  7. ^ Эрзурумская операция 1916. // Soviet Historical Encyclopedia / под ред. Е. М. Жукова. – М. : Советская энциклопедия, 1961–1976
  8. ^ Oleynikov 2016, p. 259.