Draft:Battle of Mountainous Armenia

Battle of Mountainous Armenia(1921)
Part of February Uprising, Red Army invasion of Armenia and Russian Civil War
Date 26 April - 13 July 1921 Location Syunik,Armenia Result Armenian Victory Goal of Syunik's incorporation into the SSR Armenia instead of SSR Azerbaijan achieved Peaceful withdrawal of Nzhdeh's Army
Belligerents
Mountainous Armenia	Soviet Russian . Azerbaijan SSR Turkish nationalism Revolutionary committeeof Armenia
Commanders and leaders
Garegin Nzhdeh	Anatoly Gekker . Pyotr Kuryshko Veysel Bey
Strength
15,000	150,000 100,000
Casualties and losses
Light	46,000 25,000

The Battle of Mountainous Armenia (Armenian: Լեռնահայաստանի ճակատամարտը) was a military conflict which was fought by the Republic of Mountainous Armenia, the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, the Azerbaijani Socialist Soviet Republic and the Turkish Nationalists. It was initiated due to a February Uprising in Yerevan against it's Communist government, and lasted from 26 April 1921 until 13 July 1921.

Background

The origins of the conflict began on September 24, 1920, following a Soviet invasion of the First Republic of Armenia<. This invasion resulted in an February Uprising in Yerevan which happened between February - April 1921, it had resulted in a defeat. However, this coup greatly motivated the Armenian people, especially Garegin Nzhdeh who was in Syunik at the time, Garegin Nzhdeh began an armed uprising against the Soviets on April 26, 1921, with his army which composed primarily of armed citizens and Fedayis due to Soviet plans for the incorporation of Syunik into the newly formed Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic.

The First Soviet-Turkic Offensive

Fighting broke out on 26 April, following an offensive by the Soviets which pushed Nzhdeh's forces from their positions in Ghapan-Meghri back to Katar mines in Ghapan. Nzhdeh faced great threats from the much larger Soviet army, due to this General Drastamat Kanayan had ordered Nzhdeh to withdraw from Syunik and disarm his troops, this struck Nzhdeh with disbelief, as he wrote to Kanayan:

What was to happen to Ghapan, Arevik (Meghri), and Goghtan? Was not the war ministry suspicious that the enemy would take advantage of Nzhdeh's departure to crush the courageous, insurgent people of the historic Kapargoght district? And could the Erevan government adhere to a truce at a time when the Bolsheviks were plundering the whole of Syunik? Nzhdeh concluded with what was to be the first of many similar, futile appeals for assistance: "The people are awaiting the arrival of Armenian forces to drive out the enemy."Later, he wrote again that he did not know where Armenian-Soviet relations were headed, but he did know that if he gave up his strong positions on the heights of Kapargoght, it would be impossible to protect Geghvadzor and Goghtan, and Azerbaijan would finally grasp its long-coveted prize of Syunik

Map showcasing the conflict area

The Soviets had begun their second offensive against Nzhdeh, this time at the Ghapan mines, the Soviet offensive used two collumns to attack the Armenians, however the Armenians resisted strongly, and the Soviet collumns faced heavy casualties and their attack was delayed. This strong resistance allowed the Armenians to retreat to the Zalingeol pass

Nzhdeh's withdrawal

Following the decisive Armenian victory, Nzhdeh made an agreement with the Soviets, in which Syunik was to be incorporated into Armenia in return for Nzhdeh's withdrawal from the region. The Soviets were forced to accept Nzhdeh's demand, as it seemed impossible to defeat his highly moralised army in the mountains of Syunik, and on 13 July 1921 Nzhdeh and his troops including leaders of the Republic of Armenia and many intellectuals withdrew from Syunik, crossing the border into the neighbouring city of Tabriz.

See also

• Red Army invasion of Armenia
• May Uprising
• February Uprising