The defense of Van (Armenian: Վանի հերոսամարտ, romanized: Vani herosamart) and in Russian Van operation (Russian: Ванская операция, romanized: Vanskaya operatsia) was the armed resistance of the Armenian population of Van and Russian army against the Ottoman Empire's attempts to massacre the Ottoman Armenian population of the Van Vilayet in the 1915 Armenian genocide. Several contemporaneous observers and later historians have concluded that the Ottoman government deliberately instigated an armed Armenian resistance in the city and then used this insurgency as the main pretext to justify beginning the deportation and slaughter of Armenians throughout the empire. Witness reports agree that the Armenian posture at Van was defensive and an act of resistance to massacre. The self-defense action is frequently cited in Armenian genocide denial literature; it has become "the alpha and omega of the plea of 'military necessity'" to excuse the genocide and portray the persecution of Armenians as justified.
Background
During the late Ottoman period, Van was an important center of Armenian cultural, social, and economic life. Khrimian Hayrik established a printing press in Van, and thereafter launched Vaspurakan Ardzvi (Eagle of Vaspourakan), which was the first periodical publication in Armenia. In 1885, the Armenakan party was established in the city of Van. Soon after, the Hnchak and Dashnak parties, whose missions were the overthrow of the Ottoman rule in Eastern Anatolia (Six Vilayets), established branches in the city.
Throughout 1895–96 Armenians in the Ottoman Empire suffered a wave of violence commonly known as the Hamidian massacres. While Van largely avoided the massacres in 1895, the Ottomans sent a military expedition in June 1896. The Armenians of Van were initially able to defend themselves, but upon agreeing to disarm in exchange for safety, massacres continued, ending in the deaths of over 20,000 Armenians.
The pre-war (World War I) demographic statistics of the Van Province, Ottoman Empire had different values based on different sources. In 1914, Armenians lived on the shores of Lake Van. The major Armenian inhabited localities were the city of Van (consisting of three sub-sections which were Havasor (Gürpınar), Timar (Gedikbulak) and Archak (Erçek)). Armenians also lived in the district of Erciş (Artchesh, Akants) which was in the northern part of the province, as well as the districts of Çatak (Shatakh), Başkale (Bashkaleh) and Bahçesaray (Moks) in the southern part of the province. In an 1890 census, there were 79,998 Armenians living in the province. That same census showed the percentage Armenian population located in the city of Van to be 35%, and the district Armenian populations to be 64% in Ercis, 37% in Catak, 18% in Bashkale, and 48% in Bahcesaray. The 1912 local Patriarch statistic stated that the Armenian population was 110,000. The original 1914 Ottoman census stated that Armenian population was 67,797 and Muslim population was 179,422. However, the 1914 official census was challenged both on Armenian and Muslim population sizes. It was found that the original 1914 Ottoman statistics claimed to be under-representative for the children, and the corrected values for the Van province were stated as 313,000 Muslim, 130,000 Armenian (25%), and approximately 65,000 Syrian, Chaldean, Nestorian and others. Population estimates for the city of Van proved more difficult to analyze. Extensive population movements in and around the city happened due to the deterioration of the economic and political situation before World War I. Ottoman population count at the time recorded 79,000 Muslims and 34,000 Armenians in the city of Van, including the immediate surrounding areas. The city of Van's Armenian population was estimated to be about 30,000 people in the fall of 1914.
Prelude: Caucasian campaign
On 30 October 1914, after an exchange of fire during the pursuit of Goeben and Breslau, the Ottoman Empire entered World War I. The province of Van was positioned between Persia and the Caucasus, and the most accessible routes that linked Persia, Russia, Mesopotamia and Anatolia lay through this province. giving Van high strategic value as a consequence of its location.
The first engagement of the Caucasus Campaign took place on 2 November 1914 with the Bergmann Offensive. The Russians collected victories along the Kara Kilise (renamed Karaköse in November 1919, present day Ağrı) – Beyazit (Doğubayazıt) line. Beyazit was located in the north of the Province of Van, and Armenian volunteers provided aid as auxiliary forces to Russian regiments while capturing these regions.
During December 1914, Nicholas II of Russia visited the Caucasian front. In the presence of the head of the Armenian Church and alongside Alexander Khatisyan president of the Armenian National Bureau in Tiflis, Nicholas II stated: "Armenians from all countries are hurrying to enter the ranks of the glorious Russian Army, and with their blood, to serve the victory of the Russian Army... Let the Russian flag wave freely over the Dardanelles and the Bosporus, let all the peoples (Christians) remaining under the Turkish yoke receive freedom through your will. Let the Armenian people of Turkey, who have suffered for the faith of Christ, receive resurrection for a new and free life...". Ottoman War Minister Enver Pasha wanted to encircle the Russian forces between Sarikamish and Ardahan. The Battle of Sarikamish (29 December 1914 – 4 January 1915) was a disastrous defeat for Enver Pasha. For their role in this success, the Armenian volunteers received credit as natives of the region, well adjusted to the climate, familiar with every road and mountain path, and motivated to wage fierce and resolute combat. The Armenian volunteers were small, mobile units, well adapted to semi-guerrilla warfare. They worked efficiently as scouts, though they also took active roles in many conventional engagements. Armenian volunteers challenged the Ottoman operations during critical times: "the delay they caused, enabled the Russian Caucasus Army to concentrate sufficient force around Sarikamish". After he returned to Constantinople, Enver blamed his defeat on Armenians living in the region, for actively siding with Russia.
On 11 December 1914 Ottoman preparations for their Persian Campaign began with Enver Pasha's order to form a provisional force that would be channeled into the planned theatre using the roads in Van Province. Whilst Turkish preparations were underway, the Russians transferred Armenian General Tovmas Nazarbekian to the Russian-occupied Persian Azerbaijan. Theodore G. Chernozubov's Persian Cossack Brigade had been operationally deployed in Persia since 1906. During this period, the Ottoman authorities distributed 24,000 rifles to Kurds in Persia and the Van province.
The Ottoman 1st Expeditionary Force was assigned to Chief of Intelligence of the Ottoman General Headquarters, Staff Lieutenant Colonel Kâzim Karabekir Bey. The 5th Expeditionary Force was assigned to Staff Lieutenant Colonel Halil Bey, who was the uncle of Enver Pasha and would defeat the British at Kut al Amara on 29 April 1916.
The 1st Expeditionary Force was structurally self-sufficient, capable of independent operations, supplemented with the 7th and 9th Infantry Regiments, a cavalry detachment, a field hospital, a transportation unit, an intelligence section, a mountain howitzer battalion with two batteries, a telegraph section, a field battery, an equipment repair battalion, a replacement depot and transportation assets. On 10 January 1915, while the 1st Expeditionary Force was on its way to Persian Azerbaijan, the original plan was scrapped. Due to Turkish losses suffered at the disastrous battle of Sarikamish, the 1st Expeditionary Force found itself assigned to the 3rd Army. On 11 January 1915 the 5th Expeditionary Force was ordered north to Erzurum and eleven days later the 1st Expeditionary Force was ordered there as well. The Van Gendarmerie Regiment (police force) under the command of Staff Major Köprülü Kâzım Bey (Özalp), who would become the Minister of National Defence and Speaker of Grand National Assembly of Turkey, was the only force available to the Persian frontier. Earlier, on 14 December 1914, Van Mobile Gendarmerie Division had assumed the role of securing the road to Persia through the Qotur valley (Qotur Pass). This paramilitary formation was lightly equipped with artillery and machine guns, being primarily suited for internal security functions rather than for the invasion of a neighboring country.
In addition to these military activities, during the period of 1914–1915 American and German missionaries present in the area reported occurrences of massacres of the Armenian population. Such massacres intensified immediately prior to the uprising. According to one source, all of the 52 Armenian villages near Beyazit and Eleşkirt were raided, pillaged and destroyed by the Hamidiye cavalry regiments.
Forces
After the disastrous depletion of the 3rd Army in the Battle of Sarikamish, the gendarmerie, originally charged with police duties among civilian populations, was transferred to the 3rd Army in an attempt to restore combat effectiveness of the Ottoman Army's operational military forces. On 24 February 1915, the Ottomans were forced to send the Harput, Diyarbakir, and Bitlis gendarmerie units to the city of Van. There were 52,000 Ottoman troops in the Caucasus war zone during this period, with 75% located at the northern war zone, beyond the province of Van. The Ottoman units in the Van province consisted of Van Gendarmerie subdivisions that remained under the control of the Governor. The Van Gendarmerie Division also contained the artillery unit under Rafael de Nogale. The 36th Infantry Division was assembled from Mesopotamia under orders to control the southern part, near Lake Van. The 1st Expeditory Force held the front to the south of Lake Van.
One battalion, dubbed "the butcher battalion (Turkish: kasab taburu)" numbered some 5,000 men.
The Armenian population in the city had taken measures as well. The city management had established a unified authority ("The Military Defense Authority") consisting of Armenak Ekarian, Aram Manukian, Kaytsak Arakel, Bulgaratsi Gregory, Gabriel Semerjian, Hrant Galikian and Panos Terlemezian. Support services were set up and distribution of food, medical aid, and arms shop (an established manufacture of gunpowder and arms that was capable of casting two guns), were organized. The Women's Union was founded at this time, mainly engaged in manufacturing clothing for combatants. In the face of imminent danger, representatives of various Armenian political parties (Ramkavar, Dashnaks) rallied together. The Van defenders numbered no more than 1500 combatants, who had only 505 rifles and 750 Mauser pistols and a small supply of ammunition. The Military Defense Authority issued orders to use ammunition with extra caution. The Aykesdan neighborhood was divided into 7 sectors of defense, with 79 distinct positions. Researcher Thomas De Waal states that "it has been called both a rebellion and a heroic act of resistance by Armenians against a government that intended to kill them" and "it had elements of both".
Timeline
The most important change during the defense of Van was the transfer of Governor Hasan Tahsin Pasha to Erzurum and his replacement with Djevdet Bey. Djevdet Bey was the brother-in-law of Enver Pasha, and was accompanied by Rafael de Nogales Méndez. De Nogales was assigned with the permission of the 3rd Army's commanding German officer to oversee the Ottoman Gendarmerie units under the new governor. The Armenian leaders were Aram Manukian, the regional party leader of Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF), Armenak Yekarian from the ranks of Armenakans, Nikoghayos Poghos Mikaelian (Ishkhan), a member of the ARF, and Arshak Vramian, he deputy of the Ottoman Parliament from Van. Vramian was also an old classmate of Djevdet's.
Tahsin wrote to Talat Pasha on 13 May 1915:
There would have been no revolt at Van if we had not ourselves created [it], with our own hands, by using force, this impossible situation from which we are incapable of extricating ourselves, and also the difficult position in which we have put the army on the eastern front.