agreed to return territory gained during the Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878), which gave little care to the fact that the territory was under the effective control of Armenian and Georgian forces. The Trebizond Peace Conference, between the Ottoman Empire and the Sejm, began on 4 March and continued until April. The Ottomans offered to surrender all of their ambitions in the Caucasus in return for recognition of the re-acquisition of the eastern Anatolian provinces awarded at Brest-Litovsk. By then, leading Georgian politicians viewed an alliance with Germany as the only way to prevent Georgia from being occupied by the Ottoman Empire. Consequently, the National Council of Georgia declared the independence of the Democratic Republic of Georgia on 24 May and, two days later, signed the Treaty of Poti with Germany to place itself under German protection. The following day, the Muslim National Council announced the establishment of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic. Having been largely abandoned by its allies, the Armenian National Council declared independence on May 28. On 4 June, the Ottoman Empire signed the Treaty of Batum with each of the three Transcaucasus states, which brought the conflict with the Ottoman Empire to an end. The treaty awarded the southern half of the ethnically-Armenia Lori Province and Akhalkalaki district to the Ottomans, but it did not firmly delineate the borders between the new Transcaucasus states. In response and to deny the Ottomans a direct route to Tbilisi, Georgian units, supported by German officers, took possession of northern Lori and established outposts along the Dzoraget River. In the final months of World War I, the Ottoman Empire was poised to invaded both Armenia and Georgia. After the Georgians had signed the Treaty of Poti with Germany for protection, the Ottomans focused solely on Armenia, which defeated the Ottoman invasion at the Battles of Sardarabad and Karakilisa. After the Armistice of Mudros, the Ottomans retreated from the Lori Province, which Georgia laid claimed to and occupied in October 1918. Lori had a population that was 75% Armenian. In November and early December, the Armenians of Lori protested that Georgian troops, under the guise of "conducting investigations", robbed food and supplies from the homes of Armenian peasants and molested women. Similar crimes were committed by Georgian troops against Armenians behind the Georgian border at Akhalkalaki, which had a population that was over 90% Armenian. Initial clashes In early October 1918, the Ottomans pulled