German Caucasus Expedition

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German Caucasus Expedition

The German Caucasus Expedition was a military expedition sent by the German Empire

German Empire

The German Empire is the name commonly used in English to describe Germany from the unification of Germany and proclamation of William I, German Emperor as German Emperor on 18 January 1871, to 1918, when it became Weimar republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of William II, German Emperor ....
to the formerly Russian Transcaucasia during the World War I

World War I

World War I, or the First World War , was a global military conflict which involved the Great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War I and the Central Powers....
, its prime aim being securing oil supplies to Germany and stabilizing a nascent pro-German Democratic Republic of Georgia

Democratic Republic of Georgia

The Democratic Republic of Georgia , 1918?1921, was the first modern establishment of a Republic of Georgia .The DRG was created after the collapse of the Russian Empire that began with the Russian Revolution of 1917....
.

Some 3,000 strong and commanded by Major General

Major General

Major General or Major-General is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of Sergeant Major General. A Major General is a high-ranking officer, normally subordinate to the rank of Lieutenant General and senior to the ranks of Brigadier and Brigadier General....
Friedrich Freiherr Kress von Kressenstein, the expedition was composed almost exclusively of Bavarian

Kingdom of Bavaria

The Kingdom of Bavaria was a Germany state that existed from 1806–1918. Elector Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria of the House of Wittelsbach became the first King of Bavaria in 1806....
troops and included the 7th Bavarian Cavalry Brigade, reinforced by the 29th Bavarian Infantry Regiment (7th and 9th Jäger

Jäger (military)

J?ger Literally, J?ger is a German language word for "hunter". In English language it is often written with the plural J?gers, or as jaeger or incorrectly jager to avoid the Umlaut ....
Battalions), the 10th Sturm Battalion, 1 machine-gun detachment, and the 176th Mortar Company.

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Encyclopedia

The German Caucasus Expedition was a military expedition sent by the German Empire

German Empire

World War I

Democratic Republic of Georgia

Major General

Kingdom of Bavaria

Jäger (military)

Erich Ludendorff

Erich Friedrich Wilhelm Ludendorff was a Imperial Germany Army Officer , victor of Battle of Li?ge, and, with Paul von Hindenburg, one of the victors of the battle of Battle of Tannenberg ....
was also involved in supervision and organizing the expedition, he personally met Georgian representatives in Berlin accompanying them to see Kaiser Wilhelm II.

This force was transported by sea from the Crimea

Crimea

Crimea or the Autonomous Republic of Crimea is an autonomous republic of Ukraine located on the northern coast of the Black Sea, occupying a peninsula of the same name....
to the Georgian Black Sea

Black Sea

The Black Sea is an inland sea sea bounded by southeastern Europe, the Caucasus and the Anatolia and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean Sea and Aegean Seas and various straits....
port of Poti

Poti

Poti is a port city in Georgia , located on the eastern Black Sea coast in the mkhare of Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti in the west of the country. Built near the site of the Ancient Greece colony of Phasis , the city has become a major port city and industrial center since the early 20th century....
where it landed on June 8 1918, and was later reinforced by the German troops recalled from Syria

Syria

Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is an Arab-majority country in Southwest Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Israel to the southwest, Jordan to the south, Iraq to the east, and Turkey to the north....
and Ukraine

Ukraine

Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east; Belarus to the north; Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary to the west; Romania and Moldova to the southwest; and the Black Sea and Sea of Azov to the south....
for service in Georgia. On June 10, the German force arrived at Tiflis, the capital of Georgia, and held a joint German-Georgian military parade in the city’s main thoroughfare. The German expedition was soon joined by the former German prisoners of war in Russia and the mobilized Württemberg

Württemberg

W?rttemberg [], formerly known as Wirtemberg, is an area and a former state in southwestern Germany, including parts of the regions Swabia and Franconia....
colonists who had settled in Georgia in the mid-19th century. Combined German-Georgian garrisons were stationed in various regions of Georgia, including Poti

Poti

Ochamchire

Ochamchira, commonly referred to as Ochamchire; is a seaside city on the Black Sea coast of Abkhazia, and a centre of the Ochamchira .According to the 1978 population census, Ochamchira had 18,700 residents....
, Kutaisi

Kutaisi

Kutaisi is Georgia 's second largest city and the capital of the western region of Imereti. It is 221 km to the west of Tbilisi....
, and Borchalo

Marneuli

Marneuli , is a small city in the Kvemo Kartli region of southern Georgia and a surrounding district of the same name that borders neighboring Azerbaijan and Armenia....
. Georgia, which had signed the provisional Treaty of Poti

Treaty of Poti

The Treaty of Poti was a provisional agreement between the German Empire and the Democratic Republic of Georgia in which the latter accepted German protection and recognition....
with Germany on May 28, 1918, welcomed the expedition, seeing in the Germans protectors against the post-Russian Revolution

Russian Revolution of 1917

The Russian Revolution is the series of revolutions in Russia in 1917, which destroyed the Tsarist autocracy and led to the creation of the Soviet Union....
havoc and the Ottoman

Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman Empire , also known by its contemporaries as the Turkish Empire or Turkey , was an empire that lasted from 1299?1923. It was Treaty of Lausanne by the Republic of Turkey, which was officially proclaimed on October 29, 1923....
military advances

Caucasus Campaign

The Caucasus Campaign comprised armed conflicts between the Ottoman Empire and the Russian Empire, later including the Democratic Republic of Armenia, Central Caspian Dictatorship, and the British Empire as part of the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I or alternatively part of the Caucasian Front during World War I....
.

Many officers and soldiers of the German expeditionary force were awarded by the Georgian Order of Queen Tamar

Order of Queen Tamar

The Order of Queen Tamar was a Georgia military decoration which was introduced for issue, late in 1915, to personnel who distinguished themselves on behalf of the independence of Georgia in the World War I and its immediate aftermath....
issued specifically for the German military personnel and for those Georgians

Georgians

The Georgians are a nation and ethnic group originating in the Caucasus, the oldest group of the South Caucasian peoples people mainly centered in Georgia , but also living in Turkey, Russia, the United States, Iran, and other countries....
who served in the Georgian Legion

Georgian Legion

The Georgian Legion was a name of a Georgia military formation within the Nazi Germany army during World War II. Their established aim was the restoration of Georgia?s independence from the Soviet Union....
of the German Imperial Army.

The arrival of the German troops in Georgia coincided with the growing German-Turkish rivalry for Caucasian influence and resources, notably the oilfields at Baku

Baku

Baku , sometimes known as Baqy, Baky, Baki or Bak?, is the capital, the largest city, and the largest port of Azerbaijan....
, Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan, on the Caspian

Caspian Sea

The Caspian Sea is the largest enclosed body of water on Earth by area, variously classed as the List of lakes by area or a full-fledged sea. It has a surface area of 371,000 square kilometers and a volume of 78,200 cubic kilometers ....
and the associated rail and pipeline connection to Batumi

Batumi

Batumi is a seaside city on the Black Sea coast and Capital of Adjara, an autonomous republic in southwest Georgia . It has a population of 121,806 ....
on the Black Sea (Baku-Batumi pipeline

Baku-Batumi pipeline

The Baku-Batumi pipeline is the name given to several Pipeline transport and pipeline projects to transport kerosene and crude oil from the Caspian region to the Georgia Batumi oil terminal at the Black Sea....
). Early in June 1918, the Ottoman army under Vehip Pasha renewed its offensive on the main road to Tiflis, and confronted a joint German-Georgian force. On June 10, the Turks attacked and took many prisoners, leading to an official threat from Berlin

Berlin

Berlin is the Capital of Germany city and one of sixteen States of Germany of Germany. With a population of 3.4 million within its city limits, Berlin is the country's largest city....
to withdraw its troops and support from Turkey. The Ottoman government had to concede to German pressure and to halt, for the moment, a further advance into Georgia, reorientating its strategic direction towards Azerbaijan and Iran

Iran

Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran and formerly known internationally as Persian Empire until 1935, is a country in Central Eurasia, located on the northeastern shore of the Persian Gulf and the southern shore of the Caspian Sea....
.

Simultaneously, two additional German divisions were moved from the Balkans

Balkans

The Balkans is the historical name of a geographic subregion of southeastern Europe. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains, which run through the centre of Bulgaria into eastern Serbia....
and Ukraine to advance on Baku. At the same time, Germany turned to Soviet Russia

Russian SFSR

The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic , also called the Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic, the Russian SFSR and the RSFSR for short, was the largest and most populous of the fifteen Republics of the Soviet Union of the Soviet Union and became the Russian Federation after the collapse of the Soviet Union....
and offered to stop the Turks in return for guaranteed access to Baku's oil. According to the August 27 agreement between Russia and Germany, the latter was to receive a quarter of Baku’s oil production. The German government requested from Turkey to stall an offensive into Azerbaijan, but the request was ignored, and the Ottoman army entered Baku

Battle of Baku

The Defense of Baku or Battle of Baku...
on the heels of the evacuating British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
forces on September 15, 1918. Next day, they were joined by a sizeable German military mission led by Colonel Friedrich von der Holtz. However, a severe political crisis in Germany, that started later that month, rendered the Caucasus expedition abortive. On October 21, the German government ordered the withdrawal of all troops from the region. The last ship with German soldiers aboard departed from Poti, Georgia, on December 1918. Thus, it was the last German military formation to return home, in April 1919, from active service in the World War I.