From The Great War magazine, Part 34: Map of the Turkish invasion of Russia in the Caucasus at the end of 1914, ending in defeat at the Battle of Sarikamish.
The Turkish invasion of the CaucasusKey map of the passes by which the Turkish forces invaded Russian territory. They suffered utter rout at Sarykamysch (or Sarykamish), and at Ardahan.
"Sunday, January 30, 1916The army of the Grand Duke Nicholas Nicolaïevitch is doing wonders in Northern Armenia. Across a chaos of rugged and icebound mountains it is driving the Turks before it, and swiftly approaching Erzerum."
Entry for January 30, 1916 from the memoirs of Maurice Paléologue, French Ambassador to Russia. Grand Duke Nicholas had been commander in chief of the Russian Army until its 1915 collapse and Great Retreat before the German-Austro-Hungarian Gorlice-Tarnow Offensive. Tsar Nicholas had taken command command of the army in the summer and dispatched the Grand Duke to the Caucusus Front, where General Nikolai Yudenich led the fight against the Turks. Throughout the day on January 31, the Russians bombarded the outer forts that protected Erzerum. The Turkish defenders poured water down the slopes to turn their strongholds into mountains of ice.
An Ambassador's Memoirs Vol. II by Maurice Paléologue, page 162, publisher: George H. Doran Company
1916-01-30, 1916, January, Erzerum, Armenia, Yudenitch, Grand Duke Nicholas, Caucasus
