This article is taken from
Figaro Histoire
“Armenia, tragedy and hope”.
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a special file on the history of a country.
Le Figaro Histoire, “Armenia, tragedy and hope”.
Le Figaro History
It was in historic Armenia that at the beginning of 1915, the Ottomans suffered the first of their great defeats.
The Russian Empire then overflowed into two regions taken from the Turks in 1877-1878, Kars and Ardahan, an area populated mainly by Armenians.
However, from December 22, 1914 to January 17, 1915, the Ottomans attempted to retake Kars;
they failed miserably and suffered appalling losses (78,000 dead) during the battle of Sarıkamış.
The Turkish generalissimo, Enver Pasha, was wounded there and rescued by a captain of the Ottoman army who was Armenian: this detail would weigh ironically.
Read alsoArmenia: tragedy and hope
In this clash, however, the Russians had difficulty advancing against the Turks.
Admittedly, during the spring of 1915, the Tsar's troops were able to go as far as Van, where a very large Armenian minority lived and where they had taken refuge...
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