Azerbaijan Democratic Republic

Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (ADR) was a short-lived (only 23 months) state that was established on May 28 1918 , when a group of nationalist politicians in Ganja proclaimed the independence of their country after the collapse of Transcaucasian Federation . ADR is considered to be the first Democratic Republic in the Muslim world, and its democratic standards were higher than in many western democracies (in Azerbaijan , women voted for the first time during the Russian Constituent Assembly Election on November 25 , 1917 . At the same time, in most of the western countries, women had no right to vote). ADR was officially recognized at the Versailles Peace Conference in February 1920, but its request to enter into the League Of Nations was rejected due to the conflict with Armenia over the contested territory of Nagorno-Karabakh .

POLITICS OF THE ADR

Political life in ADR was dominated by Musavat (Equality) Party, the local winner of the Constituent Assembly elections of 1917. First parliament of the republic opened on December 5, 1918. Musavat had 38 of its members in the parliament that consisted of 125 deputies. The republic was governed by five cabinets, all formed by a coalition of the Musavat and other parties including the Socialist Bloc, the Independents, the Liberals, the Social-Democratic Party Hummat (or Endeavor) Party and the Conservative Ittihad (Union) Party. The premier in the first three cabinets was Fatali Khan Khoyski ; in the last two, Nasib Yusufbayli . The president of the parliament, Alimardan Topchubashev , was recognized as the head of state. In this capacity he represented Azerbaijan at the Versailles Paris Peace Conference in 1919.

The first Prime Minister of ADR, Fatali Khan Khoyski established close ties with Turkey , Azerbaijan's traditional ally (during the period of the Trans-Caucasian Democratic Federative Republic , Ottoman Turkey supported Azerbaijan, Germany supported Georgia and Great Britain supported Armenia ).

The ADR governement always remained Neutral on the issue of Russian Civil War and never sided with the Red or White Army .

THE FIGHT FOR BAKU

The city of and Left Social Revolutionaries , 48 Bolsheviks , 36 Dashnaks , 18 Musavatists and 13 Mensheviks . Stepan Shaumyan , a Bolshevik, and A. P. Japaridze, a leftist SR, were elected Chairmen of the Council of People's Commissioners of the Commune of Baku.

In March 1918, ethnic and religious tension grew and the Armenian-Azeri conflict in Baku began. Musavat and Ittihad parties were accused of " Pan-Turkism " by Bolsheviks and their allies. Armenian and Muslim militia engaged in armed confrontation, with the formally neutral Bolsheviks tacitly supporting the Armenian side. According to Azeri sources, thousands of Muslims were killed by the Armenian Dashnaktsutyun members. Muslims were expelled from Baku, or went underground. At the same time the Baku Commune was involved in heavy fighting with the advancing Caucasian Ottoman Army in and around Ganja. Major battles occurred in Yevlakh and Agdash, where the Turks routed and defeated Dashnak and Russian forces.

In the summer of 1918, the Dashnaks, together with the SRs and the Mensheviks, expelled the Bolsheviks , who refused to ask for British support, and founded the Centro Caspian Dictatorship (1 Aug 1918 - 15 Sep 1918). The CCD was supported by the British who sent an expeditionary force to Baku to help the Armenians and the Mensheviks . Fleeing the coup, The 26 Baku Commissars of the Soviet Commune were captured by British troops in Turkmenistan and executed by a Firing Squad . The purpose of the British forces (led by Major General Lionel Dunsterville, who arrived from Persia 's Enzeli at the head of a 1,000-strong elite force) was to seize the oil fields in Baku ahead of Enver Pasha 's advancing Turkish troops ( Army Of Islam ) or the Kaiser 's German troops (who were in neighboring Georgia) and to block a Bolshevik consolidation in the Caucasus and Central Asia .

Unable to resist advancing Turkish troops, Dunsterville ordered the evacuation of the city on September 14 , after six weeks of occupation, and withdrew to Iran. Most of the Armenian population escaped with British forces. The Turks and their Azeri allies, led by Nuri Pasha , entered in Baku on September 15 , and many Armenians were killed. The capital of the ADR was finally moved from Ganja to Baku. However, after the armistice of Mudros between Great Britain and Turkey on October 30, Turkish troops were substituted by the Allies . Headed by British general W. Thomson, who had declared himself the military governor of Baku, 5,000 Commonwealth soldiers arrived in Baku on November 17 , 1918. By General Thomson's order, Martial Law was implemented in Baku.

FIGHT FOR SURVIVAL

The ADR found itself in a difficult position, hemmed in from the north by advancing Denikin forces, unfriendly Iran in the south; the British administration was not hostile but indifferent to the plight of Muslims. General Thomson initially did not recognize the Republic but tacitly cooperated with it. Qajar Iran objected to Azerbaijan's independence, and protested the chosen name for the republic. By mid-1919 the situation in Azerbaijan had more or less stabilized, and British forces left in August 19, 1919.

This made the ADR pursue a neutral policy with regards to the Russian Civil War. On June 16 , 1919 , the ADR and Georgia signed a defensive treaty against the White troops of General Anton Denikin 's Volunteer Army who were threatening to start an offensive on their borders. Denikin concluded a secret military pact with Armenia. The Republic of Armenia with its forces formed the 7th corps of Denikin's army and gained military support from the White Movement. This fact increased the tension between the ADR and Armenia. However, the war never materialized as by January 1920, Denikin's army was completely defeated by the XI Red Army, that later started to concentrate its troops on Azerbaijan's borders.

Armenia and Azerbaijan were engaged in fighting over Karabakh for some part of 1919. The fighting increased in intensity by February 1920 and martial law was introduced in Karabakh, which was enforced by the newly formed National Army, led by general Shikhlinski .

END OF ADR

By March 1920, it was obvious that Soviet Russia would attack the much-needed Baku. Vladimir Lenin said that the invasion was justified by the fact that Soviet Russia couldn't survive without Baku oil. According to prevailing opinion in Moscow, Russian Bolsheviks were to assist Baku Proletariat in overthrowing the "contr-revolutionary nationalists,

After major political crisis, the Fifth Cabinet of Ministers of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic gave its resignations on April 1 , 1920 . On April 25 , 1920, the Russia n XI Red Army crossed into Azerbaijan and entered Baku on April 27 . They demanded the dissolution of Azerbaijani Parliament (Majlis) and set up their own government headed by Nariman Narimanov . The deputies obliged to do so to avoid bloodshed, and on April 28 , 1920, the ADR officialy ceased to exist. The Red Army met very little resistance from Azeri forces in Baku.

In May 1920, there was a major uprising against the occupying Russian XI Army in Ganja , intent on restoring Musavatist s in power. The uprising was crushed by the Bolsheviks by May 31. Leaders of the ADR either fled to Menshevik Georgia , or were captured by Bolsheviks , like Mammed Amin Rasulzade .

EXTERNAL LINKS

Account of British Force in Baku

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Azerbaijan Democratic Republic