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Armeno-Georgian War of 1918 and Armeno-Georgian Territorial Issue in the 20th
Century By Andrew Andersen and Georg Egge
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Escalation of the Conflict: Uprising in
Lori and Armenian Offensive On December 5, a Georgian soldier was
killed in the village of Uzunlar while the remaining soldiers of the Georgian
garrison were disarmed and taken prisoners. Four days later, General George
Tsulukidze sent a detachment to Uzunlar to “pacify” the village. However the
Georgian troops failed to accomplish their mission facing numerous armed
villagers enforced by professional Armenian soldiers who had crossed Kamenka
and entered the territory to the north of the demarcation line[1]. The skirmish near
Uzunlar that lasted over 9 hours, resulted in casualties, and the Georgians
had to retreat towards Sanain together with the armoured train that had been
sent to support them[2]. General Tsulukidze apparently believed that
the territory entrusted to him was an arena of some sort of a local conflict,
and the provocative activity of certain armed groups, but not of a
large-scale war against the regular army of a neighbouring state. That is confirmed
by the fact that he asked the command in Tiflis to reinforce the 200 Georgian
troops that he had under his command with just one company that was
immediately sent to him. Meanwhile, even before the reinforcement
arrived, Sanain was approached by regular Armenian units of the 4th
Infantry Regiment joined by armed local Armenians, and the area around the
railway station turned into a battlefield.
Armenian troops and rebels attempted to outflank the Georgian border
guards by taking over the outskirts of Alaverdi. in view of the
disadvantageous situation that got even worse after the sabotage on the
railway line between Alaverdi and Sanain, Tsulukidze sent the company that
arrived from Tiflis together with the second armoured train to Alaverdi. As a
result of that maneuver, the Georgian forces in the troubled area were split
into two isolated groups: one headed by General Tsulukidze remained in Sanain
and another one was deployed in Alaverdi[3]. While the armed clashes continued
throughout December 10 and 11 two more companies of the 5th
Infantry Battalion with two cannons were sent to the area of conflict.
However, the new reinforcement was ambushed by the Armenians, and facing the
new development General Tsulukidze decided to transfer his staff from Sanain
to Alaverdi. That relocation was covered by the batteries of the armed train
trapped in Sanain and a small detachment of infantry.
General George Tsulukidze On December 12, the reinforcements that
finally came from Tiflis managed to seize control of a few heights around
Alaverdi despite the heavy fire. Next day they attempted to break through the
enemy lines to the armoured train and the remnants of infantry detachment
still blocked in Sanain but had no success because the Armenians dismantled
the railway and blew up the railway bridge.
The armoured train moving at high speed failed to complete an
emergency brake and went off the rails. Thus the Georgian forces in Sanain-Alaverdi
area found themselves in a very difficult situation. The first group
consisting of the Sanain detachment of the Provincial Battalion (60
infantrymen) and an armoured train with the team – blocked in the village of
Sanain. The second group - three companies of the 5th Infantry
Regiment, one company of the 6th Infantry Regiment, an artillery
battery, two mortar platoons and the second armoured train (about 600 men, in
total) took defensive positions in Alaverdi, at the bottom of the Debed
(Borchala) River gorge surrounded by overwhelming numbers of Armenian troops
that included the 4th and the 6th regiments of the 2nd
Armenian Rifle Division, battalions of the 1st Regiment of the 1st
Armenian Rifle Division, three squadrons of the Mounted Brigade and unites of
local Armenian militia (at least 4.000 men altogether plus 20 artillery
pieces)[4]. On December 14
facing the above situation Tsulukidze ordered evacuation of both Sanain and
Alaverdi and break through enemy lines towards Sadakhlo station. By that time, the
Armeno-Georgian military conflict was not any longer limited to its main zone
in the Sanahin-Alaverdi area, and the hostilities spread into two more areas:
one – around the villages of Vorontsovka and Privolnoye, and another –
further westwards - in the county of Akhalkalaki. During the three days (December
12-14) Georgian forces under command of General Tsitsianov were involved in
heavy and bloody battles in the triangle formed by the villages of
Alexandrovka, Vorntsovka and Privolnoye, with the one company strong Armenian
formations that invaded Georgian territory across Kamenka from the villages of Jelal-Ogly and
Kotur-Bulag.
Tsitsianov also reported to Tiflis the spread of the rebellion to Akarak,
Ovnagar and other ethnic Armenian villages[5].
Georgian troops in this area were even fewer in number than in Sanain being
limited to the 4th company of the Provincial Battalion, an element
of National Guard Artillery Battalion and border guard (less than 300 men,
in total). Paradoxically, on the 12th of December,
already after the commencement of active hostilities, the Guard detachment in
Vorontsovka was revoked to Tiflis to take part in a military parade, arranged
in connection with the first anniversary of the National Guard. The main striking force of the
Armenians in the direction of Vorontsovka and Privolnoye was the 5th Infantry
Regiment under command of Colonel Ter-Nikogosov reinforced with the bands of
local Armenian rebels (between 500 and 600 men in total). The general attack
on Vorontsovka started early in the morning on December 14 from two
directions. After a few hours of heavy fighting Armenians were reinforced
with a cavalry unit, and, despite the devastating fire of Georgian artillery
using shrapnel shells, the village of Vorontsovka fell by the middle of the
same day. The Georgian casualties reached one hundred men killed in action
with 3 officers among them. By the end of December 19, the decimated Georgian
retreated towards Ekaterinenfeld (Ekaterinovka) while the Armenian vanguard
reached the river Mashavera[6]. In the county of
Akhalkalaki the situation was radically different from Lori, largely because the
local Armenian population did not seem to object to being under Georgian
jurisdiction, and refrained from rebelling against Georgian troops. Also
ethnic Russian Dukhobors who inhabited
the southern part of the disputed county, were not only loyal to the Georgian
government, but preferred Georgian adminstration to the Armenian one[7]. One could also
assume that the county enjoyed relative stability due to the presence of
quite significant Georgian forces (more than 6 000 men) under
command of General Ilia Makashvili.
General Ilia Makashvili The significant
Georgian militarty presence in the county could be explained by the fact that
it had just been evacuated by the Turks, but there still remained the danger
of anew conflict with pro-Turkish elements who were very active in the nearby
county of Ahaltsykh and the district of Ardahan. But
despite all the above factors, the county of Akhalkalaki was on December 6
invaded by Armenian troops, who occupied several villages (Troitskoe,
Efremovka, Gorelovka and Bogdanovka) inhabited by the Russian Dukhobors. Two days later, Gen. Makashvili
sent an ultimatum to the Armenian commanders demanding the immediate
evacuation of the occupied part of the county. The Georgian officers, who
delivered the ultimatum, were accompanied by Mr. Abelian who represented
local Armenian Refugee Committee. The ultimatum was followed by a series of
maneuvers (mainly with cavalry units) between December 8 and 14. After that
the Armenian troops left the county without fighting[8].
Nevertheless, on December 16, Armenian cavalry attacked Georgian positions
near the village of Troitskoe and forced the Georgians to retreat towards
Efremovka. By the end of the same day, the Georgians received reinforcement,
launched a counterattack and recaptured Troitskoe. Georgian casualties were
60 killed in action and missing or taken prisoner. Four days later, on
December 20, the Armenian units stationed in the village Kazanchi resumed
hostilities by attacking a Georgian detachment on the highway near the
village of Troitskoe. The attack was unsuccessful: due to the snowstorm with
strong wind combined with heavy Georgian machinegun fire, Armenian troops
were repelled and suffered heavy casualties (about 100 killed, including 3
officers). However, the Georgians, in turn, were unable to counterattack
because of the strong head wind and snow. That was the end of all combat
operations in Akhalkalaki zone of the Armeno-Georgian war of 1918. Meanwhile, the new
Armenian offensive began in the eastern zone of the conflict. In the early
morning of December 14, the units of the 4th, 5th and 6th Armenian Regiments
under the command of Colonels Levon Ter-Nikogosov, Nesterovsky and Korolkov,
advanced in three columns towards the line Vorontsovka – Privolnoye – Opreti
- Ayrum. The total strength of attacking force, including reserves, was about
6000 infantry and 640 cavalry with 26 machine-guns and 7 mountain guns, not
including several thousand armed rebels[9]. In
face of the Armenian attack, Georgian defenders of the area left Alaverdi, in
accordance with the above mentioned order issued by General Tsulukidze and by
December 15, reached the station Sadakhlo, moving in two directions: the
infantry walked along the country road through Shamlug plant, while the
armored train covering fire was to retreat by rail. However, the train
crashed between the stations of Aghpat and Akhtala, and its crew had to fight
their way through Armenian lines to Akhtala on foot. In Akhtala, where this
detachment kept the defense for three days, it was joined by civilian
refugees – mostly the staff of railway stations of Alaverdi, Sanain and
Aghpat together with their families. On December 17, the defenders of Akhtala
and the refugees managed to break through towards Sadakhlo with the help of
one more armored train (the third one) that came to the rescue from Tiflis.
By the end of the second day of the offensive, the Armenians captured
Vorontsovka, Privolnoye, Sanain, Mikhailovka and Alaverdi, as well as the
heights dominating the village of Aghpat[10]. During the retreat,
Georgian forces suffered heavy losses in manpower and equipment: the advancing
Armenians took prisoner hundreds of Georgian soldiers, a significant number
of horses, one locomotive, some fifty railcars and a few machine guns and
light cannons The Georgians also lost two of their armoured trains: the one -
blocked in Sanain – was blown up and the one that went off the rails near
Alaverdi – was disabled by its crew due to impossibility of its evacuation[11]. It was only on December 16, when the
Government of Georgia finally qualified the events in the counties of
Borchalo and Akhalkalaki as a war with Armenia, and handed a note to Armenian
representative in Tiflis. It took two more days for the approval
of a mobilization order that was issued on
December 18. By that time Armenian left flank under the command of Ter-Nikogosov advanced in the direction of Bolnis-Khachen and Ekaterinenfeld (Ekaterinovka), and on the right flank the troops of Korolkov by a surprise maneuver took over the Ayrum station. As a result of the two-day long Ayrum operation, Georgian units of the 5th and 6th Regiments almost miraculously managed to escape from the encirclement, losing more than 500 men killed, wounded and taken prisoner and leaving behind 25 machine guns and 2 cannons[12]. On December 18, the forces of Tsulukidze
(about 200 men strong, not including sick and wounded) entrenched in the foothills
around the village and station of Sadakhlo. Due to the small number of
troops, the Georgian commander found it impossible to mount some of the
dominant heights (such as, for example, Tana-Dagh Mountain located north-east
of Lambalo) and had his men dispersed as follows: in the east – on the
north-western slope of Tan Dagh Mountain, in the south – the positions just
south of Sadakhlo railway station, in the south-west – on the “Height
324"[13], in the west – on
the “Height 436” (Katykh-Dagh Mountain) and on the height over the village of
Damia. The same day the station was attacked by Armenian forces, but to no
avail. After the first unsuccessful attack on Sadakhlo, the Armenian forces
outflanked the Georgian defenders and in the morning on December 19 entered
Shulavery. Simultaneously, Korolkov ordered mobilization of all men of
military age in Shulavery and the surrounding Armenian-inhabited villages to
resume the offensive. On December 20, after artillery preparation, the
Armenians launched a new attack on Georgian positions, this time taking over
the train station of Ashagi-Seral, thereby cutting off the defenders of
Sadakhlo from Tiflis. On December 22, after one more attack, the Armenians
entered Sadakhlo, but were repulsed by Georgian infantry and the armored
train[14]. Next day (
December 23), Tsulukidze ordered the remnants of his troops to fight their
way north. With the help of artillery, and the armored train, the Georgians
succeeded in breaking through the Armenian ring and retreat to the line
Baytalu - Ulashlo - Kachagani. On the same day, General Tsulukidze departed
for Tiflis to the report to the government, while the command over his forces
is taken by General Sumbatashvili. By that moment, the Armenian forces in
Borchalo reached the Khrami river, which the Bureau-government in Erevan
claimed to be the border of Armenia. As for the county of Akhalkalaki, the
troops of the conflicting parties were located along the demarcation line on
which the Government of Georgia insisted before the outbreak of the
hostilities (that is along the administrative border between the provinces of
Tiflis and Erevan). |
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