HOW A "GREAT" IDEA FAILED

While the Tatar cavalry regiment formed from Azerbaijani volunteers fearlessly fought the Aus-trians on the Western Front in the Russian army, Armenian voluntary squads sent to the theatre of war in the Caucasus against Turkey were engaged in solving their national issues - they exterminated Muslims with the aim of clearing Turkish land for a future state under the name of "Great Armenia". It is not for nothing that Armenian volunteers were sent to the Caucasus Front: the imperial circles were well aware of the hatred of the Armenians for the Turks and so they decided to take full advantage of this factor.

"Pleasing the Armenians"

One of the leaders of the Dashnaktsutyun party, D. H. Zavriyev, in his note about the need to increase the number of Armenian squads, suggested that the tsarist authorities grant these squads the right to "independently to solve problems in places where it will be inconvenient to send the army for political reasons".

In a report on 11 December 1915, the chief of staff of the Caucasus Army for management affairs, Major-General Bolkhovitinov, reminded the assistant governor of the Caucasus for military affairs and commander of the Caucasus Front, Count Vorontsov-Dashkov, that the main motive of the Armenians in forming voluntary squads was not only the desire "to fulfill a sacred duty before Russia". "The reality shows that along with distinguished noble impulses, considerations of a more material nature for the Armenians played a role in this cause, namely the desire to provide assistance to the Russian government in due time for the resolution of the long-standing dream of Armenian bosses - autonomy for Armenia," the general recorded.

A number of other facts also speak in favour of the strong interest of the tsarist authorities in Armenian squads. For example, all the Muslims both in the mountains and in the Transcaucasia were allowed to form a division of about 9,000 volunteers, and the same number of Armenians was involved in seven squads despite the fact that the Muslim population was much higher than the number of Armenians. On the other hand, the backbone of the Armenian squads, including the leadership, were members of the Dashnaktsutyun party with experience in terrorist activities gained from participation in riots, violence and terror in the Transcaucasia, Turkey and other countries. Quite a few of them were in prison or in exile at the time of the formation of the squads. But with the beginning of the war, they were rehabilitated. For example, the commander of the second Armenian squad, Dro or Drastamat Kanoyants, was accused of committing a series of terrorist attacks, hid from the investigation and trial and was put on the wanted list. The commander of the third squad, Hamazasp, was released from exile on 12 June 1914.

In February 1915, the Petrograd Telegraph Agency reported: "Seven convicts in the case of the Dashnaktsutyun party have been pardoned: Most of them are fighting as volunteers and have been nominated for awards." The Armenian newspaper Orizon published in Tiflis informed readers that "while in Culfa, Grand Duke Georgiy Mikhailovich personally awarded five Armenian vigilantes with Crosses of St. George in the 4th degree."

Summing up the past year, the pro-Armenian newspaper Baku wrote in the first issue for 1915: "The war with Turkey has caused deep national revival among the Armenian population of Baku. There is hope for the swift liberation of Armenia from the Turkish yoke. The influx of Armenian volunteers and the organization of guerrilla squads have begun." Orizon stated that "the purpose of the organization of Armenian volunteer units had already been formulated before the war: to defend the Armenian population in the theatre of war and to provide assistance to the Russian army." The Petrograd newspaper Rech published remarks by an Armenian catholicos, "Now I believe Russia will calm down Turkish Armenia. If not now, then when? We, Russian Armenians, as well as Turkish Armenians, have one wish: autonomy for Turkish Armenia under the protection of Russia."

Arming Armenians

It is interesting to note that one of members of Armenian volunteer squads was Anastas Mikoyan, who later "became a communist and an internationalist" and held high positions in the Soviet Union for many years. Wits said about him: "From Ilyich (Lenin - author) to Ilyich (Brezhnev - author) without a heart attack and stroke."

Under various pretexts, Armenians tried to arm as many people as possible. The formation of volunteer squads was one of the ways of arming the population. Attempts were made to arm people who were not involved in the squads. For example, the issue of arming Armenians in Yelizavetpol Province (Ganca) was raised in order for them to protect themselves from raids by Sahsevan and other tribes of Persia. In this regard, Kaspiy newspaper noted that the villages along the Persian border are entirely Muslim and it is the inhabitants of these villages that suffer from attacks, not Armenians who live deep in the heart of the province. "Why is this fact overlooked? Pick up any newspaper Caucasian newspaper and follow reports from our border commissioner: the names of the villages affected by the Sahsevan raids are Muslim, those killed in shootouts with Sahsevans are Muslims, looted property belongs to Muslims and stolen herds belong to Muslims. Armenian villages have still not suffered from Sahsevan raids. If the question of arming the Christian border population is resolved by higher authorities in the affirmative, then justice and expediency require the same measure to be applied to the Muslim population of these regions," the newspaper wrote.

It is necessary to draw attention to the treatment by the Turkish troops of the Armenians who were clearly sympathetic to Russians. Armenian politicians still like to talk about violence against the civilian population by the Turks. However, such statements are far from reality. For example, in January 1915, Kiyevskaya Mysl newspaper noted that during the Turkish invasion of the Kars region, "the Armenian population almost everywhere had time to escape. The Turkish army did not allow looting. In the sectarian village, where a decision was made not to leave, the Turks invited the village elder as they arrived and told him that they require carts for a certain amount of money. The requirement was fulfilled, and the carts served the Turks for several days. All the days were paid in full. The Turks behaved with the same restraint in Ardahan."

Asked how the Turks are fighting, an officer who returned from the front said in an interview with Tiflisskiy Listok: "The regular Turkish troops are an honest enemy, not like the Germans. On our front, for example, in the Bayazit area, there was no case where they took advantage of the Red Crescent or the parliamentary flag. Not do they commit atrocities among the civilian population."

Hostilities on the fronts, including the Caucasus, continued between the warring sides with varying degrees of success. Although Russian newspapers continued to publish cheerful articles about the successes of the army, troops often left previously taken posts and retreated with heavy losses. Things reached such a point that in March 1915, Tsar Nicholas II was forced to issue a decree on the early call-up of 585,000 conscripts of 1916. During this period, a period of retreat, those who welcomed the arrival of Russian troops yesterday and did everything possible to help them in the fight against the Turks - Armenians - found themselves in a delicate situation. Fearing retaliation, the Armenian population of Turkey and Persia began to leave their homes by the tens of thousands.

Unworthy behaviour and desertion

In April 1915, the Catholicos of All Armenians appealed to Russian Foreign Minister Sazonov and the governor of the Caucasus, Vorontsov-Dashkov, to take all available measures to protect Christians in Turkey from possible massacres, but did not get the expected response. Sazonov replied to the catholicos evasively: "In answer to your telegram of 7 April, I hasten to inform Your Holiness that I have requested our ambassadors in Italy and the United States to protect your appeal."

At the beginning of 1915, Dashnaktsutyun's euphoria about the imminent Russian victory in the war, the defeat of Turkey and the establishment of an Armenian state gradually began to fade away. According to the commander of the 2nd Erzurum Artillery Regiment, Lieutenant-Colonel Tverdokhlebov, at the beginning of the war mass desertion and a lot of artificial wounds were observed among the Armenian volunteer squads. This is confirmed by Major-General Bolkhovitinov in the aforementioned report: "From Tiflis, local party activists began to spread rumours that the autonomy of Armenia should not be expected. These rumours began to spread rapidly among conscripts and conscripted low-ranking Armenian officials, which resulted in the desertion of Armenians from the army, feigning of illness, self-injury and even defections to the ranks of the Turkish army ... In total, the behaviour of squad members, which often did not match the honour of the military rank they had assumed, gave rise to a more critical attitude towards them among military commanders and officers of the Caucasian Army. Almost every officer had to witness violations of military discipline not only by squads, but also by their chiefs, strife and intrigue that exist between them, boasting, individual cases of cowardice, theft and robbery, and finally violence against the peaceful Muslim population in the Turkish regions we had occupied."