(Staged) Fallen Ottoman soldier who froze to death during the Battle of Sarikamish, 1914.

(Staged) Fallen Ottoman soldier who froze to death during the Battle of Sarikamish, 1914.

Today 109 years ago, on December 22, 1914, the Battle of Sarikamish (Sarıkamış) began, the bloodiest battle on the Caucasus Front, between the Ottomans and the Russians.

Having entered the war with the Central Powers in November 1914, Ottoman Minister of War Enver Pasha sought to recapture Ottoman territory lost to the Russians in the war of 1877 - 1878, most notable the cities of Kars and Sarikamish.

An offensive against the Russians would also help the Germans and Austro-Hungarians on the Eastern Front. A Russian defeat would have disastrous consequences, and the Germans supplied the Ottomans for this offensive.

The problem was the territory the Ottomans had to cross; cold, rocky mountains in the winter, with roads difficult for transporting resources and troops. Nevertheless, the offensive was carried out.

On December 22, 1914, the Ottoman 3rd Army of 118,000 soldiers, split into the 9th, 10th and 11th Army Corps, crossed the Caucasian mountains and headed for Sarikamish. The Russians at Sarikamish were 60,000 men strong.

Although the Ottoman soldiers did receive winter clothing, it wasn't sufficient to protect them from the cold conditions, and thousands of them suffered.

The 9th and 11th Corps pushed the Russians back from the mountains to Sarikamish itself, the Russians also suffering from the extreme cold. The 10th Corps was stuck in the cold mountains and thousands died in the cold.

On December 29, the 9th and 11th Corps attacked the Russians at Sarikamish itself, but were exhausted, starving, and short of ammunition too. The Ottoman assaults at Sarikamish completely failed, and they were pushed back by Russian counter-attacks, who were also being supplied with constant reinforcements. 

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By this time, the Russians began an encircling maneuver on the Ottoman 9th Army Corps, and the encirclement was complete on January 6, as they captured the remains of the 9th Army Corps. The surviving Ottomans withdrew, and the Battle of Sarikamish was over.

Ottoman casualties in the Battle of Sarikamish have been a controversial topic over the years. Some say that out of the 118,000 Ottoman troops who went in, as well as the attempted relief forces, the Ottomans had suffered about 100,000 casualties, with the Russians claiming they found 30,000 frozen Ottoman bodies after the battle.

Others, namely Turks, say that these statistics have been exaggerated over the years, and that the Ottomans suffered more around 60,000 - 70,000 total casualties with 43,000 killed,  mostly to the cold.

The Russians suffered some 16,000 battle casualties and 12,000 casualties to the cold.