The city ofTabriz in the East Azerbaijan region ofIran changed hands several times duringWorld War I (1914–1918) between forces of theOttoman Empire and theRussian Empire.

At the start of the war Tabriz was already held by Russian forces and had been since theRussian occupation of 1911. On 31 June 1914, three days after the war began, the Iranian government declared neutrality. Despite this, once the Russians started their campaign in autumn, they sent additional forces to northwestern Iran, reinforcing the 10,000 men already there with an additional 60,000.

On 2 January 1915, at theBattle of Sarikamish in theCaucasus, Ottoman forces started their campaign inside Iran and forced Russian forces to retreat toJolfa. During this campaign, Ottoman forces occupied Tabriz.

With fresh forces, the Russians defeated Ottoman forces south of Jolfa and regained control of Tabriz in early February 1915. The Russians proceeded on toward the west, invadedUrmia and went up toVan Lake. At the same time the Russians entered central Iran and occupiedQazvin,Karaj, andTehran.

After theFebruary Revolution in 1917, front-line Russian forces dissolved and started to retreat from Iran. Ottoman forces quickly took action and occupied northwestern Iran and Tabriz.^[1] They stayed in Tabriz until 23 August 1918,^[2] despite two British efforts to dislodge them.

• Persian Campaign

• 1910s in Iran
• History of Tabriz
• Battles of World War I involving the Ottoman Empire
• Battles of World War I involving Russia
• Middle Eastern theatre of World War I
• World War I by city
• Iran in World War I