Islamic Army of the Caucasus

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Islamic Army of the Caucasus
Ottoman artillery bombarding Baku
Active	July 10, 1918[1] – October 27, 1918[2]
Country	Ottoman Empire Azerbaijan
Type	Corps (although named as an army)
Size	20,000 soldiers (Turks, Azerbaijanis, Dagestanis and Chechens)
Part of	Eastern Army Group
Garrison/HQ	Yelizavetpol, Baku
Engagements	World War I Battle of Baku Battle of Goychay Battle of Kurdamir
Commanders
Ceremonial chief	Enver Pasha
Notable commanders	Nuri Pasha (Killigil)

The Islamic Army of the Caucasus (

The exclusion of German officers from the Caucasian Army of Islam was deliberate. By the end of 1917, Enver Pasha concluded that the Germans and the Ottoman Empire did not have compatible goals after the Russian Empire had collapsed. This feeling was confirmed by the terms of the treaty of Treaty of Brest-Litovsk which was very favorable to the Germans and overlooked the goals of the Ottomans. Enver looked for victory where Russia left in the Caucasus. When Enver discussed his plans for taking over southern Russia, the Germans told him to keep out^{[citation needed]}.

On 22 April 1918, the

The purpose of the Caucasus Army of Islam was to mobilize Muslim supporters in Transcaspian and Caucasian regions.[1] Nuri Pasha came to Yelizavetpol (present day: Ganja) on May 25, 1918 and began to organize the Army of Islam.^[9]

Order of Battle, 1918

• Islamic Army of the Caucasus Headquarters (
  Yelizavetpol, Baku
  )
  • Commander: Mirliva and Fahri (honorary) Ferik Nuri Pasha
  • Chief of Staff:
    Kaymakam
    Edip Bey
  • Staff:
    First Lieutenant Asaf Efendi (Kılıç Ali
    )
  • Staff: First Lieutenant Muzaffer Efendi
  • Chief of the division of operations: Binbaşı Tevfik Bey
  • Staff: Binbaşı Naim Bey
  • Officer at HQ:
    Yüzbaşı Sami Bey
  • Artillery officer: Binbaşı Kemal Bey
  • Inspector: Kaymakam Şefik Bey
  • Adviser:
    Ağaoğlu Ahmet
• 5th Caucasian Infantry Division (commanded by Miralay Mürsel Bey, as reinforcement from II Corps of Third Army^[10])
  • 9th Caucasian Infantry Regiment
  • 10th Caucasian Infantry Regiment
  • 13th Caucasian Infantry Regiment
  • 56th Infantry Regiment
• Kaymakam Süleyman Izzet Bey^[11]
  )
  • 38th Infantry Regiment
  • 106th Caucasian Infantry Regiment

With the march of an Ottoman supported army to Baku, the Bolshevik soviet fled to Astrakhan which left Baku to be defended by SRs, Armenians, and, later, the British General Dunsterville's force of 1,000.^[3]

Chief of the British Military Mission to the Caucasus

The Islamic Army of the Caucasus began to attack Hill 905 on July 31 to the northwest of Baku, but failed to get the hill and halted their attack on August 2. Major General L.C. Dunsterville coordinated future combined operations with the Cossack forces commended by Colonel Lazar Bicherakhov, and sent about 300 British soldiers to Baku and they arrived there on August 5. The Islamic Army of the Caucasus launched second attack to Hill 905 on August 5. This attack failed again and they lost 547 officers and soldiers.^[12]

The last attack of the Islamic Army of the Caucasus on Baku began at 1:00 A.M. on September 14. The Ottoman 15th Division attacked from the north and the 5th Caucasian Division attacked from the west. British Major General Dunsterville decided to withdraw about 11:00 A.M. because of the failure of the defense. "Dunsterforce" loaded its personnel and equipment and set sail for Bandar-e Anzali by 10:00 P.M. on September 14.^[14]

The Army of Islam took Baku on September 15 and sent a telegraph announcing the capture of Baku to Enver Pasha on September 16.^[14]

North Caucasus

The Islamic Army of the Caucasus sent the 15th Division to North Caucasus after its reorganization. The 15th Division advanced northwards along the Caspian coast, encountered the local resistance in front of Derbent and spotted advance on October 7. The division restarted attack on Derbent on October 20 and occupied the city on October 26. The division continued to advance northwards and arrived at the gate of Petrovsk (present day: Makhachkala) on October 28 and occupied the city on November 8.^[14]

Aftermath

First, Enver Pasha's gambit of taking Baku's oilfields failed when

Second, the subsequent withdrawal of Austrian and German support from Southern Russia and the Caucasus along with the Turkish War of Independence placed the British and French at odds with their foreign policy toward both the Turks and the Russians. Because the British and French supported the Greeks and Armenians in their fight against the Turks, the Turks were kept from occupying the Baku oilfields during the Russian Civil War. This allowed the Bolsheviks to gain capital from the Baku oilfields which would be used in the destruction of the British and French supported anti-Bolshevik forces in the Russian Civil War.

Third, neither

Finally, prior to the summer of 1918, Germany had unabashed support for a Zionist state which would have allowed Germany to gain railroad and pipeline concessions between the Levant^[d] and the oil rich Persian Gulf. This was all part of its Drang nach Osten. Instead, Germany shifted its foreign policy support to Islamic forces in obtaining guarantees of oil supplies from Southern Russia and Persia via Batumi, Tiflis, and Baku, thus splitting its foreign policy goals from those of Turkey and removing German support for Zionism.^[3]

Notes