THE WAR OF’ 93

This war, fought in 1877-1878, is known to Turks as the War of 93 as, according to the Hicri calendar which the Ottomans were using, it took place in 1293. It had devastating effects for the empire, as Russians attacked both on the western and eastern fronts and the Ottoman Empire suffered great losses.

Russia continued its ambition to expand at the expense of the Ottomans, and started creating secure areas in the Caucasian region. Starting from the 1860s, the Muslim population of the Caucasus, especially around Dagistan and Ossetia, was forced to migrate.

The Ottoman Empire opened its doors for the settlement of these immigrants. Sarikamis and the slopes of the Soganli Mountains were filled with Circassians from Dagistan. Russia was displeased at this settlement around the borders, and gave an ultimatum to the Ottoman state which had to oblige, and Circassian families in Sarikamis were moved to cities such as Erzurum, Van, Hatay, Antep, Maras and Sivas. Only 47 families remained in Sarikamis.

Migration and Ottoman settlement policy affected a vast area including also the Balkans, where hostility rose between the Christian population and Muslim immigrants. The rebellions in the Balkans against the empire were put down violently with the help of Muslim immigrants. These incidents turned European public opinion against the Ottoman Empire, which eventually resulted in European countries forcing the empire to give more autonomy to the Christian provinces in the Balkans. The Ottoman Empire rejected this but declared a constitutional monarchy in 1876 to ease the tension. Russia meanwhile, benefited from this conflict among allies against its expansionism, and declared that it would no longer recognize the conditions of the Paris agreement, since the Ottomans were reluctant to comply with the new conditions. War was moving closer. England’s attempts to stop Russia from attacking the Ottomans with a last-minute protocol, which heavily interfered with Ottoman domestic policies and was thus rejected by the Sultan, bore no fruit except to increase the Russian urge to attack. The war finally broke out in 1877 and ended in a year, costing the Ottomans much land and resulting in an economic depression caused by over one million migrants flowing from the Caucasus and the Balkans. It also resulted in the denunciation of constitutional monarchy by Abdulhamit II, who held the assembly responsible for the defeat. The War of ’93 and its aftermath are considered to be the beginning of the disintegration period of the Ottoman Empire.

Kars finally fell into Russian hands after this war; they also obtained Ardahan and Batum. The Congress of Berlin was convened under these circumstances by the main European powers, which were unhappy with Russia’s gains, to ease this harsh conclusion. The Ottoman state was deemed defeated at the conference and was made to pay 1.1 million gold roubles as compensation. When the Ottomans failed to pay this in the allotted time, Kars was given to the Russians instead.

KARS UNDER RUSSIAN RULE

Russia opened Kars for settlement as its own territory, and under the 1856 land law declared the city an ‘oblast’, or garrison town. A military governor was appointed, new reconstruction regulations came into effect and all the exterior city walls were knocked down.

Until then the city of Kars was surrounded by walls with three entrances at the Sukapi, Ortakapi and Behrampasa (Bayrampasa) gates. Under the Russians it was reconstructed in Baltic architectural style with wide streets and pavements, and buildings built with meter-thick stones. Gumru, which was occupied earlier and renamedAleksandrapol, was also rebuilt in the same style.

The population of Kars, which was already altered after the War of 93 when the locals fled and were replaced by refugees from Caucasus, changed again. Another major emigration reduced the population considerably. Russians filled the city with minority groups from their sovereign areas who opposed the Russian system, such as Germans from Estonia, Molokans from Stavropol, Doukhobors, Poles from Minsk and Khalkhols.

This settlement process increased during the years of the railway construction. Armenians from Gumru-Revan and Tiflis, Yezidi Kurds from north Iran, Greeks from Batum and the northeastern Black Sea and Kazhaks from the Don region came to Kars. Besides them there were a considerable number of Russian traders with their families and military contractors in the region

The region suddenly gained an ethnic and cultural richness. Many temples and sanctuaries were built. Orthodox churches such as the Aleksandr Nevsky Church and Gregorian churches for Armenians were built. Many Yezidi temples were built in the Digor region. Synagogues, although few, were built for Jewish traders traveling back and forth from Russia. Sabranyas were also made for Molokans in the nearby villages.

Kars was linked to the Caucasus by railway at the beginning of the 1900s. The workers were mostly from the local population, and trees from the Sarikamis and Soganli mountains were used in the construction of roads, railways, buildings, schools, hospitals and military fortifications. The forests were badly damaged during these years of massive reconstruction.

The Sarikamis-Kars railway was completed in 1908. Roads were also built from stone between Kars and Sarikamis, Gole, Ardahan, Zarusat and Cildir. A secondary railway was also built to Gole so that logs could be brought from the Gole forests.

The ‘Oblast’ regulation nationalized all the land around the region. The population, both locals and migrants, were given the subject status of Kulak . Only Russian families were given privileges. This situation continued until the 1905 revolution in Russia, the first step to democratization of Russian society. After that, Russia gave the right to representation in the Duma (the Russian parliament) to all people living within Tsarist boundaries. The privileges of Russians were restricted and the Kulak status was ended. People gained the right to own land, and this right was extended to Kars.

The city plan of Kars during the Russian period (1910). Photograph: Yildirim Ozturkkan Archive