{{Short description|Treaty signed by the Democratic Republic of Armenia and the Ottoman Empire}} {{Infobox Treaty | name = Treaty of Batumi | long_name = | image = Batum Treaty.svg | image_width = | caption = | type = Peace treaty | date_drafted = | date_signed = 4 June 1918 | location_signed = [[Batumi]], [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]] | date_sealed = | date_effective = | condition_effective = [[Ratification]] | date_expiration = | signatories = * {{flag|Ottoman Empire}} * {{flag|First Republic of Armenia|name=Armenia}} * {{flag|Azerbaijan Democratic Republic|1918|name=Azerbaijan}} * {{flag|Democratic Republic of Georgia|name=Georgia}} | parties = | depositor = | languages = | wikisource = }} {{History of the Ottoman Empire}} {{History of Armenia}} {{History of Azerbaijan}} {{History of Georgia}} The '''Treaty of Batum''' was signed in [[Batumi]] on 4 June 1918, between the [[Ottoman Empire]] and the three Transcaucasian states: the [[First Republic of Armenia]], the [[Azerbaijan Democratic Republic]] and the [[Democratic Republic of Georgia]].<ref>{{citation|author=Charlotte Mathilde Louise Hille | title=State Building and Conflict Resolution in the Caucasus| publisher=BRILL| year=2010| isbn=978-9-004-17901-1| page=71}}</ref><ref>{{citation|author=Alexander Mikaberidze|author-link=Alexander Mikaberidze| title=Conflict and Conquest in the Islamic World| publisher=ABC-CLIO| year=2011| isbn=978-1-598-84337-8| page=201}}</ref> It was the first treaty of the First Republic of Armenia and the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic and had 14 articles.
==Background== {{See also|Caucasus Campaign}} On 5 December 1917, the [[armistice of Erzincan]] was signed between the Russians and the Ottomans, ending the armed conflicts between Russia and the Ottoman Empire in the [[Persian campaign (World War I)|Persian Campaign]] and [[Caucasus Campaign]] of the [[Middle Eastern theatre of World War I]].<ref>{{citation|author=Tadeusz Swietochowski| author-link = Tadeusz Swietochowski|title=Russian Azerbaijan, 1905-1920: The Shaping of a National Identity in a Muslim Community| publisher=Cambridge University Press| year=1985| isbn=978-0-521-26310-8| page=119}}</ref> This was followed by Russia's exit from [[World War I]] on 3 March 1918 under the [[Treaty of Brest-Litovsk]]. Between 14 March and April 1918, the [[Trabzon peace conference]] was held between the Ottoman Empire and the delegation of the [[Transcaucasian Sejm]].
[[Enver Pasha]] offered to surrender all ambitions in the Caucasus in return for recognition of the Ottoman reacquisition of the east Anatolian provinces at Brest-Litovsk at the end of the negotiations.<ref name="ottoman1">{{citation| author=Ezel Kural Shaw| title=Reform, revolution and republic : the rise of modern Turkey (1808-1975)| series=History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey| volume=2| year=1977| publisher=Cambridge University Press| oclc=78646544| page=326}} (Turkish Perspective)</ref> On 5 April, the head of the Transcaucasian delegation [[Akaki Chkhenkeli]] accepted the [[Treaty of Brest-Litovsk]] as a basis for more negotiations and wired the governing bodies{{Who|date=February 2025}} urging them to accept that position.<ref name="ric">{{citation| author=Richard Hovannisian| title=The Armenian people from ancient to modern times| pages=292–293| isbn=978-0-333-61974-2 | oclc=312951712}} (Armenian Perspective)</ref> The mood prevailing in Tiflis was very different. The Armenians pressured the [[Transcaucasian Commissariat|Commissariat]] to refuse and acknowledged the existence of a state of war between themselves and the Ottoman Empire.<ref name="ric" /> Hostilities resumed, and the Ottoman troops overran new lands to the east, reaching the prewar borders. Approximately 40,000 civilians perished during the retreat of Armenian-Georgian volunteers and the Ottoman advance.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Hovannisian|first=Richard G.|title=Armenia on the road to independence, 1918|date=1967|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=0-520-00574-0|location=Berkeley|pages=277|oclc=825110}}</ref> According to [[Clarence Ussher]], an American doctor in eastern Anatolia, the number of Armenians killed during the Russian retreat numbered 7,000.<ref>{{Cite book|last=A-To|title=The Major Events in Vasburagan, 1914–1917|pages=480}}</ref>
== Treaty == On 11 May, a new peace conference opened at [[Batumi|Batum]].<ref name="ottoman1"/> the Ottomans extended their demands to include [[Tbilisi|Tiflis]] as well as [[Alexandropol]] and [[Echmiadzin]]; they also wanted a railroad to be built to connect [[Kars]] and [[Jolfa, Iran|Julfa]] with [[Baku]]. The new Armenian state, through which the transport corridor would run, was to give free right of passage. The Armenian and Georgian members of the Republic's delegation began to stall. Beginning on 21 May, the Ottoman army moved ahead once again into areas of Russian Armenia, leading to the [[Battle of Sardarapat]] (21–29 May), the [[Battle of Karakilisa]] (24–28 May), and the [[Battle of Bash Abaran]] (21–24 May).
The treaty was signed while the [[Third Army (Ottoman Empire)|Third Army]] of the Ottoman Empire held positions 7 km from [[Yerevan]] and only 10 km from [[Echmiadzin]]. The treaty needed to be examined and confirmed by the [[Central Powers]]. Fifteen days after the treaty, delegates from [[First Republic of Armenia|Armenia]] were asked to come to [[Constantinople]]. In the surrendered territories the majority of the 1,250,000 pre-war inhabitants had been [[Armenians]], with more than 400,000 in the ceded sector of [[Yerevan]] province alone.<ref name= Hovannisian >{{cite book | title = The Armenian People from Ancient to Modern Times | author = Richard G. Hovannisian | publisher = Palgrave Macmillan | year = 1997 | page = 301 |isbn = 978-0-333-61974-2 |oclc=312951712}}</ref>
The treaty left Armenians with less than one ninth of Eastern Armenia. German diplomat Bernstorff commented on the treaty, stating that "Turkey has left only lake Sevan for the Armenians, where they can swim, but they don’t have a place to come out and get dry".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Kirakosyan |first1=J. (Jon) |title=The Armenian genocide : the Young Turks before the judgment of history |url=https://archive.org/details/armeniangenocide0000kira |publisher=Madison, Conn. : Sphinx Press |page=145 |date=1992}}</ref>
==Signatories== '''Ottoman side:''' * [[:tr:Halil Menteşe|Halil Menteshe]] – Minister of Justice * [[Wehib Pasha]] – commander of the [[Third Army (Ottoman Empire)|Third Army]] during the [[Caucasus Campaign]] '''Armenian side:''' * [[Avetis Aharonian]] – Chairman of the [[Armenian National Council (1917–18)|National Council]] * [[Alexander Khatisian]] – Minister of Foreign Affairs * M. Babachanian * Ghorghanian '''Azerbaijani side:''' * [[Mammad Amin Rasulzade]] – President of the [[Azerbaijani National Council|National Council]] * [[Mammad Hasan Hajinski]] – Minister of Foreign Affairs '''Georgian side:''' * [[Noe Ramishvili]] – Prime Minister * [[Ilia Odishelidze]] – Deputy Minister of Defense * [[Giorgi Gvazava]] – member of the presidium of the [[National Council of Georgia|National Council]] * [[Grigol Rtskhiladze]] – member of the National Council
==Statistics== {| class="wikitable sortable" |+Ethnoreligious composition of territories ceded in the Treaty of Batum<ref name=":3">{{Cite book |last=Hovannisian |first=Richard G. |title=Armenia on the road to independence, 1918 |date=1967 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=0-520-00574-0 |location=Berkeley |pages=199 |oclc=825110}}</ref> !Area !Territory occupied ![[Armenians]] ![[Muslims]] ![[Georgians]] ![[Russians]] |- | colspan="6" |'''[[Tiflis Governorate]]''' |- |↳ [[Akhalkalaki uezd]] |{{Convert|1150|mi2|km2|lk=on|abbr=on}} |64,000 |8,000 |8,000 |8,000 |- |↳ [[Akhaltsikhe uezd]] |{{Convert|1100|mi2|km2|lk=on|abbr=on}} |27,000 |18,000 |25,000 |540 |- | colspan="6" |'''[[Erivan Governorate]]''' |- |↳ [[Alexandropol uezd]] |{{Convert|750|mi2|km2|lk=on|abbr=on}} |173,000 |3,000 |420 |2,000 |- |↳ [[Nakhichevan uezd]] |{{Convert|1500|mi2|km2|lk=on|abbr=on}} | | | | |- |↳ [[Surmalu uezd]] |{{Convert|1400|mi2|km2|lk=on|abbr=on}} |30,000 |66,000 | | |- |↳ [[Sharur-Daralayaz uezd]] |{{Convert|600|mi2|km2|lk=on|abbr=on}} |500 |12,000 | |60 |- |↳ [[Erivan uezd]] |{{Convert|700|mi2|km2|lk=on|abbr=on}} |30,000 |48,000 | |1,000 |- |↳ [[Etchmiadzin uezd]] |{{Convert|900|mi2|km2|lk=on|abbr=on}} |76,000 |42,000 | |400 |- !Treaty of Batum !{{Convert|8100|mi2|km2|lk=on|abbr=on}} !400,500 !197,000 !33,420 !12,000 |} {| class="wikitable sortable" |+Ethnoreligious composition of the South Caucasus in 1918<ref>{{Cite book|last=Hovannisian|first=Richard G.|title=Armenia on the road to independence, 1918|date=1967|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=0-520-00574-0|location=Berkeley|pages=236|oclc=825110}}</ref> |- !Nation !Area ('''sq{{Nbsp}}mi)''' !Share of Transcaucasia !Armenians !Muslims !Georgians !Other |- |{{flagicon|Armenia|1918}} Armenia |4,000 |8% |470,000 |168,000 | |41,000 |- |{{flagicon|Georgia|1918}} Georgia |29,000 |41% |535,000 |200,000 |1,607,000 |510,000 |- |{{flagicon|Azerbaijan|1918}} Azerbaijan |36,000 |51% |653,000 |2,138,900 | |304,000 |}
== References == {{Reflist}}
{{First World War treaties}} {{Ottoman treaties}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Treaty Of Batum}} [[Category:Treaties of the Ottoman Empire|Batum]] [[Category:World War I treaties|Batum]] [[Category:1918 in Armenia]] [[Category:1918 in Azerbaijan]] [[Category:Treaties concluded in 1918|Batum]] [[Category:Treaties of the First Republic of Armenia|Batum]] [[Category:Treaties of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic|Batum]] [[Category:Armenia–Turkey relations]] [[Category:1918 in the Ottoman Empire]] [[Category:Treaties of the Democratic Republic of Georgia|Batum]] [[Category:1918 in Georgia (country)]] [[Category:History of Adjara]] [[Category:Ottoman period in Georgia (country)]]