Battle for Zangezur

Background

Soviet invasion of Armenia

Following the sovietization of Azerbaijan in April 1920, the 11th Red Army took up positions along the frontiers of the Armenian republic. The Soviet leadership in Moscow, while engaged in negotiations with the Armenian mission led by Levon Shant, authorized the Red Army to occupy the "disputed" territories of Karabagh, Zangezur, and Nakhichevan. For the Soviets, control of these regions was vital to opening a strategic land corridor to their ally, the Turkish Nationalist movement of Mustafa Kemal Pasha.

In June 1920, the Red Army's 32nd Rifle Division began its advance into Zangezur. Despite local Armenian protests, a Soviet scouting party entered the village of Tegh on June 29, and by July 5, the Red Army occupied Goris, the administrative center of the district.

The initial period of Soviet occupation was marked by political repression. The Cheka (extraordinary committee) carried out numerous arrests of Armenian nationalists and socialist opponents. In early August, the Red Army executed prominent Armenian figures, including Parliament members Arshak Shirinian and Vahan Khoreni, whose bodies were discovered with signs of torture.

On August 10, 1920, the Armenian government in Yerevan, pressured by the simultaneous Turkish invasion on its western front, signed a preliminary treaty in Tiflis. This accord gave the Armenian government's "temporary" consent to the Soviet occupation of Zangezur and Karabagh, hoping to stabilize relations with Moscow while focusing on the Turkish threat.

While regular Armenian army units under Dro withdrew to Daralagiaz following the August treaty, Garegin Nzhdeh refused to abandon the region. He retreated to his stronghold on Mount Khustup in the Ghapan district, vowing to resist the Bolshevik-Turkish alignment. On August 25, 1920, Nzhdeh was proclaimed Sparapet (Supreme Commander) by his partisans in the village of Kavart.

Exploiting the local population's resentment toward Bolshevik requisitions and the murder of their leaders, Nzhdeh launched a general rebellion on October 10. His irregulars utilized explosive-filled barrels rolled down mountain slopes and their intimate knowledge of the terrain to devastate Soviet columns.

Confrontation in Goris

General Nikifor Nesterovskii and later General Petr (Pyotr) Kuryshko led massive operations to liquidate the rebellion. However, in a series of engagements during November 1920, Nzhdeh's forces routed the Red Army’s 28th Division. By November 22, 1920, Nzhdeh’s forces triumphantly re-entered Goris, expelling the Red Army from Zangezur.

The sovietization of the central Armenian government in Yerevan occurred on December 2, 1920. Zangezur, however, remained independent under Nzhdeh's control, declaring itself "Autonomous Siunik." Following the failed February Uprising of 1921 in Yerevan, thousands of Armenian soldiers, intellectuals, and political leaders fled to Zangezur to continue the resistance.

Declaration of Mountainous Armenia

On April 26, 1921, at a congress held in Tatev, the Republic of Mountainous Armenia was proclaimed. Nzhdeh served as the supreme military commander, while Simon Vratsian headed the civil administration. The republic continued to demand that Zangezur remain an integral part of Armenia, citing the declaration made by Soviet Azerbaijan's leader, Nariman Narimanov, on November 30, 1920, which had briefly ceded the disputed regions to Armenia as a "fraternal gesture".

War

While negotiations between Bolshevik Armenia and the rebel forces in Zangezur were ongoing, the Red Army command, following a Kavburo decision, prepared an offensive set for June 25, 1921, choosing to rely primarily on Armenian units of the Red Army. The attempt to peacefully integrate Zangezur had stalled in May, and anti-Bolshevik resolve was further fueled when former representatives of Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Dagestan signed an agreement in Paris on June 10, 1921, pledging joint struggle against the Bolsheviks. On June 13, the Soviet Armenian government prepared an appeal signed by Myasnikian and members of the government to the "Authorities of Zangezur," which was printed as a leaflet for propaganda purposes.

By April 1921, Soviet estimates placed the Armed Forces of Mountainous Armenia at around 9,170 total fighters (6,800 infantry and 2,370 cavalry), including 3,000 to 5,000 bayonets and sabers. They were equipped with 80 to 96 machine guns and 10 to 20 artillery guns or cannons, including a contingent of approximately 700 men stationed under Nzhdeh at Dortpi. Opposing them, the Red Army significantly outnumbered them, fielding roughly four rifle brigades alongside cavalry and auxiliary units. However, individual Soviet units were severely depleted; for instance, regiments of the 84th Rifle Brigade numbered only 150 to 250 bayonets each. Specifically, the 248th Regiment fielded 188 bayonets, 30 machine gunners, 9 cavalry, and 29 command staff, while the 249th Rifle Regiment consisted of 118 bayonets, 20 machine gunners, 16 telephone operators, and 14 command staff.

As the Soviet presence consolidated, the military situation grew increasingly volatile. Learning of Bolshevik preparations, rebel forces launched a pre-emptive attack on June 15, 1921, quickly pushing out Armenian Red Army troops and capturing the entire Daralagiaz District.

Soviet offensive

In response, Mikhail Velikanov, commander of the 11th Red Army, ordered the transfer of Russian Red Army troops to suppress the rebellion. Toward the end of June 1921, the Red Army launched a counter-offensive in four directions. The Separate Caucasus Army initiated a counterstrike toward Zangezur on June 20, with Velikanov's group advancing south from Novo-Bayazet toward the Selim Pass, while other units advanced from Vedi and Norashen toward Chinakhchi and Keshishkend. Its Yerevan division coordinated a three-pronged advance—moving from Vedi to Keshishkend, Nakhchivan to Angelaut (Sisian), and Ordubad to Meghri—reclaiming Daralagyaz by June 26, securing the Bichenek pass by June 28, and taking control of Sisian when Bolshevik forces entered on June 30 and began advancing toward Goris. Red Army intelligence reports from June 25 noted growing demoralization among Nzhdeh's forces, with local rebels increasingly refusing to fight.

At the same time, Red Army units of the 1st Caucasian Corps under Alexander Todorsky mobilized from Shusha in Nagorno-Karabakh on July 2, converging with the Yerevan units to enter Goris (Gerus) that same day. Trapped in a pincer movement, retreating rebel forces were systematically driven out of the strongholds of Tatev on July 4 and the Gafan (Katar/Kapan) copper mining district on July 7. Nzhdeh and his remaining fighters retreated to the southernmost corner of Zangezur around Meghri to prepare an escape across the border. During this retreat, Mountainous Armenia abandoned its artillery and equipment, which was captured during the Soviet advance on Goris and Meghri.

Soviet troops entered Meghri on July 13, and seeing the futility of further struggle, the government of Mountainous Armenia decided to cross into Iran on July 15, 1921. Ultimately, more than 1,000 fighters led by Nzhdeh successfully retreated across the border into Iran. The campaign exacted a toll on the Red Army as well, though primarily through high non-combat losses, with disease-related fatalities exceeding combat wounds.

Following this offensive, Mountainous Armenia capitulated on July 16.

Aftermath

The Soviet central government in Yerevan, now led by the more moderate Alexander Miasnikian, offered a general amnesty to the rebels and provided firm guarantees that Zangezur would remain part of the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic rather than being ceded to Azerbaijan.

The hostilities also took a severe toll on the region's civilian demographics. During the conflict, Zangezur's Azerbaijani minority was expelled and/or massacred by Nzhdeh's forces.

Armenian perspective

The Armenian view of the aftermath credits the resistance of Mountainous Armenia with ensuring Zangezur's incorporation into the Armenian state. While neighboring Karabakh and Nakhchivan were assigned to Soviet Azerbaijan, the prolonged conflict in Zangezur led Soviet authorities to guarantee the region's permanence within Soviet Armenia as a condition to end the rebellion.

Soviet perspective

Rather than yielding to a localized rebellion, Soviet authorities framed the transfer of Zangezur to Armenia officially as a “symbol of socialist friendship”.