Battle of Sardarabad ( , '' Sardarapati č̣akatamart '' ; ) was a battle of the Caucasus Campaign of World War I that took place near Sardarabad , Armenia from 21 to 29 May 1918 , between the regular Armenian military units and militia on one side and the Ottoman army that had invaded Eastern Armenia on the other . As Sardarabad is approximately west of the capital of Yerevan , the battle not only halted the Ottoman advance into the rest of Armenia , but also prevented the complete destruction of the Armenian nation . In the words of Christopher J. Walker , had the Armenians lost this battle , " I t is perfectly possible that the word Armenia would have henceforth denoted only an antique geographical term . " After the October Revolution of 1917 in Russia and the ceasefire signed between the Third Army of the Ottoman Empire and the Transcaucasian Commissariat in Erzincan , newly forming Armenian detachments came to replace Russian forces retreating from the Caucasian Front , particularly from the territory of Western Armenia . Taking advantage of the military-political situation of the time , the Ottoman government set its mind on regaining control of territories occupied by the Russian Army during World War I and invading Eastern Armenia and the South Caucasus afterwards . The German government , the Ottoman Empire 's ally , objected to this attack and refused to help the Ottoman Army in the operation . The Ottoman Army intended to crush Armenia and seize Russian Transcaucasia and the oil wells of Baku
destruction of the Armenian nation
Armenian Genocide
Battle of Sardarabad