Battle of Kara Killisse (1915)

Not to be confused with Battle of Karakilisa.

The Battle of Kara Killisse (Lit. Black church, Turkish: Karakilise Muharebesi), also known as the Battle of Malazgirt, was fought on the Caucasus front in July 1915 after the Battle of Manzikert. In Russian historical literature, this engagement is considered as a part of "Alashkert defensive operation" (9 July-3 August). Previously in the summer of 1915 the Russians attacked Turkish positions northeast of lake Van but they underestimated the size of their enemy. They were defeated at the Battle of Manzikert. This success encouraged the Turks under Abdul Kerim Pasha to advance towards the Russians in the Eleşkirt valley while the Turks were pursuing the remnants of Oganovki's army across the Ağrı mountains they spread out and Russian general Yudenich took the opportunity to counterattack from the west with some 20.000 reinforcements, which were mostly Cossack units, to encircle them. in the following battles between 5–8 August the Turks retreated south, but the Russians only partially succeeded. The Turks lost some guns, a large amount of provisions and 10.000 killed and wounded, while 6.000-10,000 became prisoners. Due to difficulties the Russians could not gain total advantage and retreated from the town of Van, and the Turks occupied it on 3 August.

Battle of Kara Killisse
Part of Caucasus Campaign
Caucasus Front 1916
Date 27–31 July 1915 Location Kara Killisse, Erzurum Vilayet, Ottoman Empire Result Russian victory
Belligerents
Russian Empire	Ottoman Empire
Commanders and leaders
Nikolai Yudenich	Abdul Kerim Pasha
Strength
Russian Caucasus Army 40,000	Third Army 60,000
Casualties and losses
Unknown	16,000–20,000 12 guns

Effect on Russian morale

While the battle was indecisive, and the ground situation changed little, the Russians perceived the battle as a victory, and it boosted national Russian morale. This minor victory provided some respite to the continuing losses on the Eastern Front.

References

Spencer Tucker,The Great War, 1914–1918, page 179

Bibliography

• Oleynikov, Alexei (2016). Россия-щит Антанты [Russia-Shield of Entente]. Foreword by Nikolai Starikov. St.Petersburg: Piter. ISBN 978-5-496-01795-4.
• Kernosovsky, Anton (1938). История русской армии: Борьба на Кавказе [History of the Russian army: Struggle in Caucasus].
• Borisyuk, Andrey (2024). Забытая война. Россия в 1914-1918 [The forgotten war. Russia in 1914-1918] (in Russian). Moscow: Вече. ISBN 978-5-4484-5078-5.