A "Sideshow" to the Great War The Forgotten Campaign in the Caucasus

The Caucasus Campaign was one of the main campaigns in the Middle Eastern theatre of the war. More than any other event, the Ottoman-Russian engagement in the Caucasus turned a continental conflict in Europe into a world war. The significance of this front was far greater than is generally imagined, given the proportion of troop strength operating on the front in the total mass of the armed forces of both coalitions that fought the war. At the time of warfare, however, most Entente war planners dismissed the fighting in the Caucasus as a “sideshow” to the main theatres in Europe. Modern views similarly regard the warfare in the Caucasus as “minor” compared to the core fighting on the Western Front. Yet the military campaign in the Caucasus had a critical impact not only on the course and outcome of the war, but on the postwar geopolitical configuration in Europe, Russia, and the Middle East.