I was watching a new episode from the Youtube The Great War series, which led me to this scenario.
The Battle of Baku, right at the end of World War I's Caucasian Campaign, was a rather fierce engagement between the forces of the Ottoman Empire's Army of Islam on one side, and a coalition comprising the british Dunsterforce, communists fighting under the Baku Soviet, and some russian White Army soldiers (a bit of a ragtag team). IOTL, the turks ended up winning the battle and capturing the Baku oilfields. However, the oil could not reach Europe in time to prevent the defeat of the Central Powers in late 1918, which meant that the turkish victory at the Battle of Baku was strategically futile. The turkish victory in the battle could be attributed to Josef Stalin refusing to send supplies of grain and rations from Tsaritsyn to the anti-turkish forces in Baku.
So, I ask: what if Stalin had somehow decided that the turks were a bigger threat than the Baku Soviet and believed that the british and whites would leave after the siege, and decided to send food to Baku, improving the situation of the defenders?
What would happen next if the turks had lost the battle? How does this affect the last periods of the Caucasus Front of World War I, and, right after, the Caucasus Front of the Russian Civil War?
The Battle of Baku, right at the end of World War I's Caucasian Campaign, was a rather fierce engagement between the forces of the Ottoman Empire's Army of Islam on one side, and a coalition comprising the british Dunsterforce, communists fighting under the Baku Soviet, and some russian White Army soldiers (a bit of a ragtag team). IOTL, the turks ended up winning the battle and capturing the Baku oilfields. However, the oil could not reach Europe in time to prevent the defeat of the Central Powers in late 1918, which meant that the turkish victory at the Battle of Baku was strategically futile. The turkish victory in the battle could be attributed to Josef Stalin refusing to send supplies of grain and rations from Tsaritsyn to the anti-turkish forces in Baku.
So, I ask: what if Stalin had somehow decided that the turks were a bigger threat than the Baku Soviet and believed that the british and whites would leave after the siege, and decided to send food to Baku, improving the situation of the defenders?
What would happen next if the turks had lost the battle? How does this affect the last periods of the Caucasus Front of World War I, and, right after, the Caucasus Front of the Russian Civil War?
