Democratic Republic of Armenia - Military

Military

Thanks to the efforts of Armenian National Council of Tiflis, an Armenian military corps was established to fight against the Ottoman offensive of late 1917 and early 1918. Units of this corps formed the basis of the DRA's army. In accordance with the harsh terms of the Treaty of Batum signed on June 14, 1918 the Ottoman Empire permitted the Armenian army to maintain just a single infantry division.

Ministers of Defense
Minister of Defense Date
Hovhannes Hakhverdyan June 1918 – March 1919
Christophor Araratov 1919 – April 1920
Ruben Ter-Minasian April – November 1920
Drastamat Kanayan (Dro) November – December 1920
Total number of military personnel
Date Number of Troops
After the Mudros Armistice in 1918 16,000 men
1919 20,000 men
November 1920 40,000 men
Military units

At first DRA had:

  • 8 infantry regiments
  • 2 cavalry regiments
  • 1 artillery regiment
  • 3 divisions

In 1918, after the defeat of the Ottoman forces attacking Yerevan, and after the Armenian–Georgian War, the DRA captured many weapons, which enabled the Armenian army to grow to:

  • 4 infantry brigades
  • 2 cavalry regiments
  • 2 frontier brigades
  • 4 artillery battalions
  • 2 armored trains
  • 1 aviation detachment
  • 1 Engineer battalion
  • A few telegraph detachments
Brigade Commander Headquarters
I Daniel Bek-Pirumyan Yerevan
II A. Hovsepyan Vagharshapat
III B. Baghdasaryan Stepanavan

IV brigade mainly consisted of volunteers, whose primary task was to keep order inside the country. The brigade's commander was Sepuh.

Military equipments
Weapon Number
Machine-gun 170
Cannon 36
48mm Howitzer
Airplane 8
Row-ship 1
Battleship 1

Read more about this topic:  Democratic Republic Of Armenia

Famous quotes containing the word military:

    Who are we? And for what are we going to fight? Are we the titled slaves of George the Third? The military conscripts of Napoleon the Great? Or the frozen peasants of the Russian Czar? No—we are the free born sons of America; the citizens of the only republic now existing in the world; and the only people on earth who possess rights, liberties, and property which they dare call their own.
    Andrew Jackson (1767–1845)

    Personal prudence, even when dictated by quite other than selfish considerations, surely is no special virtue in a military man; while an excessive love of glory, impassioning a less burning impulse, the honest sense of duty, is the first.
    Herman Melville (1819–1891)

    There was somewhat military in his nature, not to be subdued, always manly and able, but rarely tender, as if he did not feel himself except in opposition. He wanted a fallacy to expose, a blunder to pillory, I may say required a little sense of victory, a roll of the drum, to call his powers into full exercise.
    Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)