Armenian volunteer units

Armenian volunteer units
Armenian volunteers
Active	1914–1917
Country	Russian Empire
Allegiance	Armenians
Role	Detachment
Size	150,000 troops
Commanders
Notable commanders	Andranik Ozanian

The Armenian volunteer units (Armenian: Հայ կամավորական ջոկատներ Hay kamavorakan jokatner) were units composed of Armenians within the Imperial Russian Army during World War I. Composed of several groups at battalion strength, its ranks were primarily made up of Armenians from the Russian Empire, though there were also a number of Armenians from the Ottoman Empire. The Russian-Armenian volunteer units took part in military activities in the Middle Eastern theater of World War I.

In August 1914, following Germany's declaration of war against Russia, Count Illarion Vorontsov-Dashkov, the Russian viceroy of the Caucasus, approached Armenian leaders in the Russian city of Tiflis to broach the idea of a formation of a separate fighting corps inside the Russian army made up of the Russian Empire's Armenian subjects. Armenians were already being enrolled in the regular Russian army and being sent to the Eastern front but Vorontsov-Dashkov was offering to furnish weapons and supplies to outfit four detachments that were envisioned to take part in fighting against the Ottoman Empire (the Ottomans would not enter the war until October of that year). His offer was received warmly and within a few weeks Armenian volunteers all throughout the Caucasus began to enlist. Responsibility for its formation was given to a special committee created by the Armenian Congress of Eastern Armenians, which coordinated its activities from Tiflis, Yerevan and Alexandrapol.

The establishment of Armenian volunteer units in the Russian army dates back to the summer of 1914. Count Illarion Ivanovich Vorontsov-Dashkov consulted with the Mayor of Tbilisi Alexandre Khatsian, the primate of Tbilisi, Bishop Mesrop, and the prominent civic leader Dr. Hakob Zavriev about the creation of Armenian volunteer detachments. These units would be employed on the Caucasus front in World War I.