Coruh and Kop Battles in the Caucasus Front in the First World War

The first facade was the Caucasus Front that was the result of Ottoman Empire's took the fiel in the First World War. In the Caucasian Front, which was opened with great hopes, the desired result could not be achieved and the Ottoman Empire suffered a severe defeat. After the Sarikamis incident, Russian forces moved towards the Anatolia and Black Sea coasts. The Russian forces have moved both from sea and land, aiming to capture especially the Eastern Anatolia and the eastern part of the Black Sea. After the Sarikamis incident, the Russians invaded Erzurum and then moved to Trabzon and its vicinity, aiming to capture the Erzurum - Trabzon line as soon as possible. According to the plans of the Russian staff, when Erzurum was occupied, it was thought that there was no significant Turkish force to resist the Russian forces until Trabzon. So, the Erzurum-Trabzon line would be captured as soon as possible. As the Russian forces progressed, the Turkish Forces made preparations against the Russians with a small force on the Kop Mountain which crossing between Erzurum and Bayburt. The Turkish forces established a crafted defensive line with simple weapons against the superior and equipped Russian army that they did not give passage to the Russians in the vicinity of Kop and Çoruh for four and a half months. Turkish forces inflicted heavy casualties to the Russians. Although many studies have been carried out on the wars within the Caucasian front, there has not been a lot of research in the vicinity of Kop and Çoruh where important events occurred in terms of the war. The master's thesis named as 'Kop (Bayburt) Defense' which was written by Ayhan Doğan in 1992 about the wars on Kop Mountain was the only study about the topic. His thesis focused mainly on the wars in Kop Mountain and the effects of these wars on the people of Bayburt. While preparing current thesis, the work called 'Kop (Bayburt) Defense' was used as one of the sources, but the events in the other fronts of the same time with the battles of Kop Mountain were discussed as well. When the Russian forces invaded occupation of Erzurum, they made their preparations for another attack which was planned over the Black Sea. With the stop of the Russians on the Kop Mountain and the prevention of the transfer to the Black Sea from here, an operation from the Black Sea has become even more important. On the one hand, Russian forces tried to cross the defensive line on Kop Mountain and seized the coastline. The invasion of Rize and Trabzon by the Russians made Kop and Çoruh more important. After the occupation of Trabzon, the Russians seized this region, which was in the midst of their troops, to take over the entire line from Erzurum to Trabzon. The failure of the Russians to take Bayburt between Erzurum and Trabzon was an advantage for the Turkish forces. In addition, the division of Russian forces is also important for Turkish forces. This situation has made Kop and Coruh facades in Bayburt and its vicinity important in both sides. In the study of 'Coruh and Kop Battles in the Caucasus Front in the First World War' the relationship between the region and the events in the region was discussed and the role of the Kop and Çoruh front in the war was explained. ATASE archives were used to obtain necessary information and documents related to the period. In addition, the studies prepared by Bayburt University and local resources were used for the study.