Karakilisa and the people of the Pambak valleyMay 1918

Begin with three points on your map. Alexandropol, now Gyumri, lies to the west. Hamamlu, now Spitak, stands on the approach from that direction. Dilijan is beyond Karakilisa to the east. The road towards Dilijan mattered to soldiers falling back and to families seeking safety. If a caption simply says the army withdrew, ask the writer to add the direction of withdrawal. Those two extra words change how the story looks from the road.

The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk in March 1918 changed the diplomatic setting. Ottoman forces advanced, Kars fell, and on 15 May they entered Alexandropol, now Gyumri. The loss was more than the removal of a name from a map. Junctions, roads, depots, and routes for withdrawing troops and displaced civilians now became exposed. The danger was especially acute for survivors of the Armenian genocide who had already been driven from their homes. For them, the question of whether another road remained open was immediately personal, not an abstract matter of frontiers.

Try reading one sentence about a retreat from two positions. An observer looking west might see an enemy unit pull back in one sector. A person farther east might see Armenian reinforcements arriving and know little about that local success. Both can report honestly and still give a different impression of the day. To connect those reports, a historian needs their locations, times and directions of observation. A ridge on a map explains why two witnesses might not share the same horizon.

Garegin Nzhdeh is remembered for encouraging resistance and fighting with his detachment. The commander associated with the Karakilisa front was Colonel Bey-Mamikonyan. Colonel Nikolai Ghorghanyan also led troops in the fighting. The artillerymen associated with Gurgen Ter-Movsisyan have a distinct place in accounts of the battle. For a class display, separate rallying participants, commanding the front and directing a unit. You can then show how initiative at one level supported decisions at another without assigning the whole battle to one celebrated name.

These statements describe different stages. A local counterattack that drives back a unit can be a real success even when the town is later lost. To see the distinction, make three cards labeled position, town and wider campaign. Put a report that the opposing troops withdrew on the first card. Put the later occupation on the second. Leave the third for a question about what several days of fighting cost each side.

Ter-Movsisyan died in the fighting. Remembering his artillerymen is more informative when the reader can understand their work. In the gallery, a modern artist’s reconstruction places a crew above a wooded valley. Use it to point out the difference between observing a route and transporting equipment along it. The image cannot establish the model or location of a particular gun used by Ter-Movsisyan. That question would require a contemporary record tied to his unit.

In a school account, give these events a paragraph of their own. A military casualty figure might include soldiers killed, wounded or taken prisoner. A study of civilians might count named victims or affected villages. Adding such figures together without checking definitions can create an unreliable total. Children can learn the gravity of what happened from an accurate description of the people affected, without graphic detail or an unsupported number.

Compare the three May fronts using a different verb for each. At Sardarapat the defenders recovered a station and forced an opposing line to withdraw. At Bash Aparan they blocked a northern approach towards Yerevan. At Karakilisa they resisted and eventually withdrew. The shared remembrance of these battles honors a collective effort while allowing the residents of each place their own history.

The collection of participants’ memories of the May battles includes material selected and edited for publication. A printed recollection therefore has at least two histories, the history of what the witness experienced and the history of how the text was preserved. For a source label, identify both when possible. Separate the words of the witness from the title or note added by the editor.

Simon Vratsian’s history records that, in discussions arising from the treaty, Armenian representatives sought the evacuation and return of Karakilisa, the exchange of prisoners and arrangements affecting refugees. The request to return the town is important evidence of the gap between a hoped-for outcome and possession on the ground. When reading a list of diplomatic demands, keep the verbs ask, agree and carry out in separate columns.

Write two sentences beneath one image. In the first describe a detail you can actually see. In the second connect it to a documented circumstance in the valley, such as the withdrawal towards Dilijan or the danger to civilians under occupation. A reader will be able to distinguish a drawn object from the historical claim you are using it to discuss.

At the final stop, place a military report, a family recollection and a later research study on three imaginary shelves. Write one question you would ask of each source and one detail you would still need to check elsewhere. Finish with a caption that a younger pupil can understand. It should say who held the town at the end, why the resistance is remembered and who faced danger after organized troops had gone.