Latest / The Story of Armenia: Survival Through Empires and Genocide — Fexingo History / The Battle of Sardarabad: Armenia's Last Stand for Independence
Transcript
- Lucas: So we've talked before about the First Republic — how it emerged after the Russian Empire collapsed and the Ottomans were still very much a threat. But I think the key moment, the one that actually made that republic possible, is a battle that's almost mythical in Armenian memory: Sardarabad. Luna: Sardarabad — that's the one where they stopped the Ottoman advance just outside Yerevan? Lucas: Exactly. May 1918. The Ottoman Third Army was pushing east after the Russians withdrew from the Caucasus front. They'd already taken Alexandropol, modern-day Gyumri. Yerevan was next. And the Armenian forces — they were a mix of former imperial soldiers, volunteer units, even peasants with hunting rifles — they had maybe 10,000 men, poorly equipped, against a well-supplied Ottoman force of maybe 15,000 to 20,000. Lucas: The commander on the ground was Movses Silikyan, a former Russian general. He had two other key officers: Daniel Bek-Pirumyan and Aram Manukian, who you might remember from episode 139 as the leader of the Armenian National Council. Luna: So Aram Manukian was both a political leader and on the battlefield? Lucas: He was. He'd been the de facto dictator of Yerevan during the chaotic winter of 1917–18, organizing food supplies and defense. When the Ottoman offensive came, he went to the front lines to rally the troops. There's a famous story — probably embellished, but telling — that he told the soldiers, 'We have no reserves, no retreat. We either win here or we die.' Lucas: The battle itself lasted from May 21 to May 24. The Armenians managed to flank the Ottoman forces and break their lines. It was a stunning victory — they pushed the Ottomans back, captured thousands of rifles and machine guns, and saved what would become the capital of the First Republic. Luna: But it didn't last, did it? The republic only survived a couple of years. Lucas: That's right. Even as they were celebrating at Sardarabad, the Ottomans had already negotiated a separate peace with the Transcaucasian Federation — a short-lived union of Armenia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan. The Treaty of Batum, signed on June 4, 1918, forced the Armenian Republic to cede huge territories and accept Ottoman suzerainty. So Sardarabad bought time, but at a terrible cost. Lucas: Still, without that victory, there would have been no Armenian state at all. The Ottoman plan was to wipe out the Armenian population entirely — they'd already deported and killed over a million people during the genocide. Sardarabad was literally a last stand. Luna: It sounds like a miracle that they managed to organize any resistance at all, given the circumstances. Lucas: If today was actually useful to you, the way these stay ad-free is listener support — buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. Luna: Yeah, it's a small way to keep history accessible. Lucas: And it means a lot. So back to Sardarabad — the victory wasn't just military. It created a psychological turning point. The Armenian National Council declared independence on May 28, just days after the battle. That date is still celebrated as Republic Day in Armenia. Luna: And what about the other battles at Bash Abaran and Gharakilisa? Lucas: Those happened simultaneously. While the main fight was at Sardarabad, a smaller Armenian force under Dro — Drastamat Kanayan, a famous fedayee — held off the Ottomans at Bash Abaran, about 40 kilometers north of Yerevan. And further north, at Gharakilisa, another battle prevented the Ottomans from cutting the railway to Georgia. Together, these three battles formed a defensive triangle that saved Eastern Armenia. Lucas: The cost was high. An estimated 3,000 Armenian soldiers died at Sardarabad alone. But they inflicted similar casualties on the Ottomans. And the strategic result was clear: the Ottoman advance was stopped short of Yerevan. Luna: Was there any international support at the time? Lucas: Almost none. The Allies were preoccupied with the Western Front. The US had not yet entered the war decisively. Germany, interestingly, was allied with the Ottomans but had its own interests in the Caucasus — they actually brokered the Treaty of Batum to keep the Ottomans from going too far and disrupting oil supplies from Baku. But no one was helping the Armenians. They were completely on their own. Lucas: The commander Movses Silikyan later became a general in the First Republic's army, but after the Soviet takeover in 1920, he was arrested and executed by the Bolsheviks. Daniel Bek-Pirumyan also died in exile. Aram Manukian died of typhus in January 1919, just months after the republic was established. He was only 39. Luna: So the heroes of Sardarabad didn't get to see the long-term survival of their country. Lucas: No, they didn't. But the memory of the battle became a rallying symbol. In the 1960s, a memorial complex was built on the battlefield, featuring a bell tower and a monument with a large stone cross. Every year on May 28, Armenians gather there to commemorate the victory and the republic. It's one of the most sacred sites in modern Armenia. Lucas: There's even a famous quote from the historian and writer Hovhannes Tumanyan, who said after the battle: 'The entire Armenian people surged forward, and in three days at Sardarabad, they wrote a new chapter in their history.' Luna: And that chapter, though short, proved that Armenia could still fight for itself. Lucas: Exactly. The First Republic only lasted until 1920, when it was sovietized, but it established the idea of an independent Armenian state. And when independence came again in 1991, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the legacy of Sardarabad was very much in the air. It's a reminder that survival often comes down to a single, desperate moment. Luna: And that's what makes it such a powerful story — the odds were impossible, but they won anyway. Lucas: Right. And I think that's what stays with you about Sardarabad. It's not just a battle. It's a testament to what a people can do when they have no other choice.