# The War Of "Of" (which ends the tsarist Russia)



## wise (May 31, 2021)

This is one of the bloodiest and most legendary battles known in the world, based on information not written in history books, but can be found from archives, some of which can be learned by the people of the region. It was between the Turks and the Russians during WW1.

After the Russians declared war on the Ottomans, they occupied the entire eastern Black Sea. This is the North and east of Turkey.

History books write that the Turks fought the Greeks in the West, fought the British and French in Africa and Canakkale. But the wars with the Russians are little or no mentioned. But the bloodiest battles have been with the Russians. This is the result of the history written by the Western Turks so that the peoples living in the East do not gain self-confidence.

Yavuz Sultan Selim is the person who Turkified the Eastern Black Sea. At that time, there was a Greek Empire of Trabzon. The Sultan did not apply a bloody method to capture this place. He sent here the most faithful and at the same time the most fighting people of Anatolia to solve the pious Greek peoples from the inside. The people who come are from Konya, the city of Mevlana, a well-known historical man. Yavuz Sultan Selim commissioned these people by arming them. The purpose of these people was not to fight, but to introduce the religion of islam to the Greeks.But they were also well-armed and faithful enough to fight when necessary.

As a result, islam spread in this region, and the Greek Empire of Trabzon surrendered to the Ottoman Empire without difficulty. These people from Konya remained resident in this region of Turkey also after wars.

When the Russians arrived, they defeated all the Ottoman armies they encountered in this region. They took control of All Black Sea coastal cities including Samsun, Ordu, Giresun, Rize and Artvin.

The Russians could not maintain control in two places. 1- The *Of District* of Trabzon, 2-plateaus of Trabzon. In old time, the people that Yavuz Sultan Selim brought to this region were here, and the Russians did not expect anything like this.

The Russians did two things in order to take the Of City and win the guerrilla wars in the Highlands. They brought the Russian Navy from Sevastopol. The Navy shelled of, a coastal city, day and night for two months. So much so that the stone was not left on the stone.

They brought a Tatar Army from the Caucasus to capture the Highlands.

When the Of was completely destroyed, the people left the city. Some of them settled in Istanbul and the rest in different places in Trabzon. Some took part in guerrilla warfare in the Highlands. The Russians never fully captured Trabzon. A new unit had to come out of Moscow. And with this union, Moscow was defenseless. At this time, the Bolsheviks staged a coup and overthrew Tsarist Russia.

The ruling Bolsheviks called back the troops stationed in Turkey. However, fearing execution, the commanders did not return to Moscow. By abandoning their weapons to the Turks, they themselves went to the West and supported him by going to Atatürk's side.

No one knows why two Russian officers were present at the Atatürk monument in Taksim, Istanbul. Here is their story.


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## KeeperOfTheKnowledge (May 31, 2021)

wise said:


> This is one of the bloodiest and most legendary battles known in the world, based on information not written in history books, but can be found from archives, some of which can be learned by the people of the region. It was between the Turks and the Russians during WW1.


What archive is this information found in? When did this battle happen?  How long was it? How many soldiers were on each side? What are the casualties/deaths from this battle? Are there any pictures (before/during/after)?


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## wise (Jun 1, 2021)

KeeperOfTheKnowledge said:


> What archive is this information found in? When did this battle happen?  How long was it? How many soldiers were on each side? What are the casualties/deaths from this battle? Are there any pictures (before/during/after)?


I have summarized the events. Documents will be added. Thanks for your attention and support.
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Since 1914, the Russians started to bomb the coastal cities and to block maritime trade.

[1] [2] [3] [4] [5]

Sources:
[1] Kamusu / Alam , İstanbul (hicri) 1311: IV, 3005
[2] Prime Ministry Ottoman Archive, Internal Pass No 44/146, 46/155, 47/134, 48/122, 49/188, 49/190, 49/254, Beyoğlu (Istanbul) 1999
[3] British Press (The Attack Of Trebizond, The Yorkshire Post, November 20, 1914)
[4] Lermioğlu, 1949:194
[5] Prime Ministry Ottoman Archive, İdarei Umuniye Number E 5/77

The Russian occupation of the Black Sea of Turkey began in 1916.




April 18, 1916

The Russians invaded Trabzon in 1916 and appointed Sergey Mintslov as their ruler. Mintslov first researched the demographic structure of the region. According to the notes he took, the population composition of Trabzon in 1916 is as follows.

42.233 Turks,
20.301 Greeks,
165 Armenians.





[6] Memories of Mintslov, 1991: 49-54

*1916 Of City Wars:*

This resistance lasted about a month. With the occupation of Of, a resistance occurred in Solaklı Valley. The Russians were thinking of breaking this resistance and descending to Bayburt through the Soğanlı and Demirkapı passages. This proposal of the Russians was not very useful at the first stage. Because the Turks, who are the real owners of the region, inflicted great losses on the Russian forces. But the Russians began to occupy the lower villages of Çaykara after a while.
Since the local people were far from the coast, they had to retreat to the mountains and inland areas. They continued their resistance during this withdrawal. A line of defense against the Russians was formed on the western side of Baltacı Creek, with the retreating soldiers, volunteers gathered from all the villages of Of and the nearby towns, and the prisoners in Trabzon Prison, who, after obtaining permission, voluntarily joined in platoons.
The most violent days of the war:

March 07, 1916: The enemy started the first attack. The enemy was thrown back from the Axeman Creek. We gave 26 martyrs.
March 08, 1916: It lasted for two days. The enemy was repulsed.
March 10-11, 1916: The enemy attacked from land and sea, burned everywhere. We gave 200 commanders and 380 martyrs.
12 March 1916: The 11th Regiment was transferred to Sürmene. The struggle on the Kelali hills was unsuccessful. Migration has begun.
March 13, 1916: The Russian navy entered the war.
March 14, 1916: The enemy gave 600 dead and 800 wounded. Baltacı stream was covered in blood.
March 15, 1916: The Russians continued to land troops thanks to the navy.
            The Russian army was loaded on the civilian population and entered Of on March 15, 1916. While the people of Oflu struggled while the Russians were going up the Solaklı valley; With the landing of troops in İspir, Of was occupied. On April 20, 1916, the Russians advanced to the south of Madur Mountain as far as Leman Suyu and Öküzlü Plateau. Our 3rd Army in Bayburt was planning to counterattack and reach the sea in the direction of Sürmene-Of, destroy the Russian army and liberate Trabzon.
            Having completed his preparations, he took action in June 1916. On 22 June, night raids were carried out at a distance of 60 km between Sultan Murat and Pistoklu Hans. On June 23, 1916, our unit under the command of Miralay Kazım, most of whom returned from Çanakkale, put the Russian reconnaissance arm through the bayonet in Yurt Plateau. The second big offensive started on Sultan Murat Hill. With the support of artillery fire, all the Russian trenches were captured. Here the Russians suffered great casualties. The losses of the Russians amounted to more than 1000 dead and a large number of prisoners. Seyfeddin Bey and our heroic Mehmetçik, who dreamed that he would be martyred here with his unit, took the Şüheda Hill from the Russians. But we lost one officer, one non-commissioned officer and 70 privates. On the 27th of June, in the struggle that continued for 36 hours on the Harmantepe-Kabanbaşı line, our 60th Regiment repulsed the Russians by giving 7 minutes and 150 soldiers.

[7] Local source: 1916 OF SAVAŞLARI | Yarlı Köyü ve Derneğinin Resmi Sitesi  (A web page of a village in Of)

*Ottoman-Russian War in Trabzon Sultan Murat Plateau : 10 June 1916*

...

On the morning of June 22, 1916, Turkish forces, attacking Sultan Murat plateau south of Çaykara and Madur Mountain south of Köprübaşı, defeated the Russian forces in the region. While the Russian forces dispersed and retreated to the coast, the Turkish forces were preparing to annihilate the Russians, who would retreat when they landed in Trabzon from the Maçka region, in the Sürmene-Of region.

[8] Trabzon Governorate (wordpress source)

*From this date, I mean 10 June 1916, to September 1917, there is a gap in the history.*

25 September 1917, bolshevik revolution.

With the Treaty of Erzincan on 18 December 1917, it became certain that the Russians had withdrawn from the region.

According to the wordpress page citing the Trabzon governorship and environmental sources, Turkish gangs won the wars in the highlands and repulsed the Russian army, and moreover, they started preparations for destruct them all.

Interestingly there is no mention of a major event here in Ottoman sources after that date. However, according to local sources, rumors and the history known by the public, first the Caucasian army and then reinforcements from Moscow came. And then there was the Bolshevik revolution.

Here, there are topics about wars between Greek and Armenian gangs and Turkish guerrillas, and the Russians looting some places, but there are not many details.

The hidden part of this issue here, namely what happened between June 10, 1016 and September 25, 1917, needs to be studied from the Russian archives. This issue is beyond me as I do not know Russian.
For me, who trusts more reliable people than historical sources, what they tell, these are sufficient documents. That's all I can do for you for now.
During the Russian occupation, a newspaper was started to be published by Mindslov, who was the manager of the region. This newspaper was first issued on November 1, 1916, and a total of 331 issues were published until December 2, 1917. The name of the newspaper is "Трапезондский Военный Листок/ Trapezondskiy Voenniy Listok [Trabzon Military Newspaper]" (The Military Newspaper of Trabzon). There are thesis studies on this subject. I think this newspaper is the best source that appears. If I can find it, I'll pass on information about them.
Yeah I found it! source of a thesis about that newspaper
Yes! I finally found out why there are missing parts in this part in history:

2.2. Censorship Law in Russia and Its Implementation in Trapezondskiy Voenniy Listok Russia aimed to benefit from the information mechanism during the war as a means of obtaining maximum benefit from each member of its people.87 With this in mind, the Russian military press extensively covered the theme of patriotism. In addition to such directions, a strict censorship policy was also followed. Immediately after Germany declared war on Russia on August 1, 1914, general censorship was declared in Russia with a law named "Provisional Regulation on Military Censorship" approved by Tsar Nicholas II. This censorship was implemented in two ways as “full” and “reduced”. Complete censorship included the reading of all letters, without exception, in areas close to the front line. The rest of the country was subject to reduced censorship, which entailed checking the letters that went to the front, to newspaper editorials, to the captives in Russia's hands, and to Russian soldiers who were captured by the enemy. controlled by this law. The Russian press began to be guided by laws, decrees and direct orders. The decree containing an 18-point list of prohibited topics that should not be mentioned in public meetings and reports in order to prevent the leak of information about Russia's foreign security, armed forces and the country's defense facilities was published on August 2, 1914, with the signature of Interior Minister Nikolay Alexeyevich Maklakov. .89
25A short time later, a new list was published that included topics such as the personnel situation of the military units, the combat readiness of the army and the navy, *the loss of soldiers and supplies of the army and the navy*, the situation of the prisoners in Russia, the unrest among the people and the restlessness of the inhabitants of the places occupied by the Russian army90.
This censorship was decisive in the content of Trapezondskiy Voenny Listok, and the above-mentioned prohibited topics were not included in the newspaper. In the lower left corner of the last page of the newspaper, there is the phrase “Дозволено Военной Цензурной / Dozvoleno Voennoy Tsenzurnoy *[Permitted by Military Censorship]*”.
Speeches at the plenary sessions of the State Duma were also broadcast in Trapezondskiy Voenny Listok. Therefore, some serious issues such as the food issue in Russia were included in the newspaper to the extent that they were mentioned in the speeches, and the speeches censored by the President of the State Duma (Mihail Vladimirovich Rodzyanko) (these are the speeches of Bolshevik and Menshevik-minded members, as there is no exception in the examined issues of the newspaper). Duma sessions, which were not censored in the capital and distributed to the agencies, were published exactly in Trapezondskiy Voenny Listok.

In the 47th issue of the newspaper dated 24 December 1916, “Petrograd, 19 December. In the morning, the washed up body of Grigori Rasputin was found near the Petrograd Bridge. Rasputin's death was reported as an investigation is being carried out by the judicial authorities. In the 112th issue, dated March 9, 1917, it is stated that the Minister of Justice ordered to end the Rasputin murder case. (wowowow) 
...
Meeting of the Council of Ministers of Russia 10 January 1917 In the Council of Ministers convened under the chairmanship of Prince Golitsyn, the decision on very urgent food aid to the families of the lower ranks was discussed. Secondly, it was approved to approve the allocation of 51,866,605 rubles to the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the police expenses of 1917 and to submit this amount immediately to the Ministry of Interior. The decision on strengthening the funds of governors and regional governors, general governorships and rural governorships was discussed and 150000 rubles were allocated from the treasury for this need. The Council of Ministers discussed the issue of granting an extraordinary loan for the expenses of establishing a Ministerial Committee for the relocation of state employees to provinces whose areas were evacuated as their regions were cleared of the enemy, which was discussed at the Private Inter-Agency Commission of the Ministry of Finance, and decided to establish such a committee within the Ministry of Interior. Hearing the issue regarding the Caucasus General Governorship, which envisages the Caucasus region to be governed by its own councils, the Council of Ministers made the following decision on the entry into force of Zemstvo administrations in Transcaucasia: A special inter-institutional commission will be established under the chairmanship of a deputy for the evaluation of this bill. The Caucasus General Governorship Senator Milyutin will bring the bill to the Council of Ministers for approval after its proofreading is completed. The Cabinet of Ministers of the Special Commission to Combat German Influence, the provision of Article 87 of the Basic Laws on the ownership and use of land by Austrian, Hungarian and Turkish citizens in the Russian State covers all provinces and some rural areas of the empire - Saratov, Samarra, Orenburg excluding the Sarept colony. , the Ufa and Akmola regions and Semipalatinsk, as well as the Orenburg and Siberian Cossack military districts
...
The events that started in Russia in February 1917 also had an important place in the content of Trapezondskiy Voenny Listok, mostly due to its results. The issues of the newspaper corresponding to these days are also important in terms of expressing its identity change. In February, when there was a serious crisis in Russia, there was no publication of the events due to the “Temporary Regulation on Military Censorship” in the newspaper. We order an adjournment of the State Duma on the basis of Article 99 of the State laws, and that, from February 26, we order the sessions of the State Duma to be suspended no later than April 1917, except in extraordinary circumstances," published in the 105th issue of March 2, 1917. decrees can be seen as the first reflection of the turmoil in the newspaper. In the next day's issue, it was reported that no telegram was received from the General Staff regarding the front reports that were published continuously.
...
Following this, in the issue of March 4, 1917, the outbreak of the crisis was announced with the following news: “Petrograd, February 26. The head of the State Duma sent the following telegram to His Majesty: 'The situation in the capital is serious, the government is paralyzed, the fuel transport has been a complete disappointment, you urgently need to appoint someone you trust to form a new government, it cannot be delayed.' the day he sent it to all the front-line commanders and demanded support for his message to His Majesty. "
...

Although the name of the newspaper is "military newspaper", there is no record of the wars we mentioned. In general, he did not write details about the wars in the Trabzon region. This is due to the censorship laws mentioned above. However, we narrowed the range of events quite a bit from the newspaper issues and the above date information. Accordingly, the events in Moscow began in February. Therefore, the lost time was narrowed between June 2016 and February 1917. There is no record of these events in this newspaper. There is no mention of the war of Of, of the occupation of Of, of the wars in the highlands. May be due to military censorship. It is an interesting contrast that a newspaper that wrote about the war in Baghdad did not write about the war in Trabzon. Perhaps it is because the Russian media, who are sensitive to their own military issues, are not so sensitive when it comes to the British. 

This is a subject open to research.


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