siege, major, First World War
Siege of Van
Siege of Van was a siege conducted on 19 April 1915 at Van, in what is now Turkey. It was part of the Middle Eastern theater of World War I, which ran from 1914 to 1918. The recorded result: Russo-Armenian victory. Recorded strength: 5,000 against 1,300–6,000.
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Record
| Date | 19 April 1915 | |
|---|---|---|
| Place | Van, Turkey 38.494N, 43.380E | |
| Part of | Middle Eastern theater of World War I (1914 to 1918) | |
| Kind | Siege, First World War | |
| Result | Russo-Armenian victory | |
| Belligerents | Ottoman Empire | Armenian fedayi; Russian Empire |
| Commanders | Djevdet Bey; Halil Bey; Köprülü Kâzım Bey; Rafael de Nogales | Nikolai Yudenich; Pyotr Oganovsky; Aram Manukian |
| Strength | 5,000 | 1,300–6,000 |
| Casualties and losses | Unknown but heavy; 2,000 captured, 30 guns | Unknown; 55,000 Armenian civilians massacred |
Nearest engagements
- Siege of Van 1548, 3.3 km
- Defense of Van 1896, 3.4 km
- Battle of Qara Darra 1336, 75 km
- Battle of Manzikert 1071, 96 km
- Battle of Manzikert 1915, 103 km
In the same war
- Before: Battle of Shaiba 12 April 1915
- After: Landing at Cape Helles 25 April 1915
- All 70 engagements of Middle Eastern theater of World War I
Elsewhere in 1915
- Second Battle of Ypres Belgium
- Gorlice–Tarnów Offensive Poland
- Battles of the Isonzo Slovenia
- Battle of Dogger Bank
- Second Battle of the Masurian Lakes Russia
Siege of Van is one of 1,912 engagements of the 20th century in the atlas and one of 336 in present-day Turkey.
Sources
Identity, coordinates, dates and the war from Wikidata Q1018969, released under CC0. Result, belligerents, commanders, strength and casualties from the infobox of the English Wikipedia article Defense of Van (1915), revision 1371446088, read 2026-11-14, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; the article's text is not reproduced here. Present-day country and state from Natural Earth. Dates before 1582 follow the Julian calendar as recorded.