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2022-11-02 Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
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1920 Situation in Transcaucasia and Sovietization of Azerbaijan
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Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
by Oleg Airapetov
[REGNUM] In Transcaucasia there was a war of all against all, and such a situation could not continue indefinitely.
Continued from Page 5
It should be taken into account that there were significant disagreements between Ankara and Moscow regarding the Caucasus and Transcaucasia, since both the RSFSR and Kemalist Turkey claimed control over these territories. On the other hand, both countries were interested in restoring order in this region, which was torn apart by interethnic conflicts of warring nationalist governments. The policy of Tiflis, where the Mensheviks came to power, had to take into account the need to fight the "internal enemy", that is, the national minorities.
However, if we believe the statements of the head of the government of Georgia, Noy Zhordania, he was not afraid of the internal enemy, since he relied on the enthusiasm of the united free masses. Perhaps this was so, if we consider the Georgian population as free masses. As for other nationalities, the practice of the Jordanian government does not in any way testify in favor of the correctness of his words. Here another contemporary testimony is more appropriate. L.P. Beria recalled:
“The Mensheviks are the organizers of the policy of national chauvinism and inciting the peoples of Transcaucasia against each other. It was they - the Georgian Purishkeviches - who organized a bloody campaign against the national minorities of Georgia - Ossetians, Abkhazians, Adzharians.
Interestingly, in emigration, Jordania again spoke of the fact that “the principle of equality of peoples is the principle of consistent democracy, and since only socialist democracy is such today, this doctrine also constitutes its monopoly, one of the characteristic features that distinguish it from other parties."
The best description of the Georgian regime was given by Zurab Avalov, a leading official of the then Georgian Foreign Ministry:
"The government of Georgia was conceived by its leaders as democratic, in contrast to the Soviet system. In fact, Georgia, of course, did not at all satisfy the requirements of the representatives of democracy. The external forms of the latter covered here the dictatorship of the Georgian Social Democracy."
The "self-determined" and "independent" republics of Transcaucasia, - read the Appeal of the Regional Committee of the Bolsheviks in the summer of 1919, - headed, on the one hand, by the nationalist intelligentsia, and on the other, by the tops of the peoples, being thoroughly saturated with narrow-nationalist egoism and extreme chauvinism, they cultivate in relation to each other national hatred and national antagonism in the interests of the ruling classes.
Already in the short time of the existence of these republics, their lands have been irrigated more than once with the blood of fraternal peoples, and at present relations between Tatars and Armenians on the one hand, between Armenians and Georgians on the other, between Georgians and Ossetians on the third side, are strained to such an extent, that at any moment bloody clashes on this ground can be expected.
As for the national minorities within the newly formed republics of Transcaucasia—Armenians, Ossetians, Abkhazians, and so on. within Georgia, Muslims within Armenia and, conversely, Armenians within Azerbaijan due to the chauvinist policy and imperialist encroachments of each of the three ruling parties of Transcaucasia (Mensheviks, Dashnaks and Musavatists), then their situation is extremely abnormal and deplorable.
Indeed, in Transcaucasia there was a war of all against all, and such a situation could not continue indefinitely. The neighboring powers were determined to end this, but each had its own vision of pacifying the region. Moscow needed peace to be able to focus on other areas. The government of Mustafa Kemal needed support in the struggle that it led, while having neither a military industry nor a gold reserve.
Ultimately, in the spring of 1920, the parties decided to agree, which led to the relatively painless nature of the Sovietization of Azerbaijan. At first, Lenin hesitated about the need to divert forces from the Polish and Finnish directions, but these hesitations were soon overcome.
The situation on the Polish front required Moscow to concentrate forces in another direction. On March 21, Trotsky proposed to do this. On the same day, Stalin informed the chairman of the Revolutionary Military Council of the Republic:
"The Kavfront has at least 25 rifle and 10 cavalry divisions, in my opinion, 6 divisions can be taken from there against the Poles according to your assumption. The rest of the forces can safely hold the Baku region. Georgians are not dangerous if we promise neutrality."
Already on April 28, the order of the Commander-in-Chief S.S. Kamenev followed on the transfer of troops from the Caucasian front to the Western and South-Western. On the other hand, Georgia began to mobilize immediately after the Sovietization of Azerbaijan.
The occupation of the Baku oil hub was considered an absolutely necessary condition for the normalization of the economy of the RSFSR.
"It is highly desirable for us to take Baku,” Lenin instructed the leadership of the Caucasian Front. - Direct all your efforts towards this, and be sure to be purely diplomatic in your statements and make sure as much as possible in the preparation of a firm local Soviet government. The same applies to Georgia, although I advise you to treat it even more carefully."
The 11th Red Army began to concentrate on the border of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic in Dagestan. On April 18, it was based on three rifle divisions and auxiliary units - a total of 20 thousand bayonets and 6-7 thousand cavalry. Two more rifle divisions and a cavalry corps came to their aid.
The forces of the Azerbaijani army were estimated at approximately one division of five regiments (12,000 bayonets) and one cavalry brigade (two thousand sabers). Together with the police and various volunteer units, it numbered up to 30,000 people, 20,000 of them were on the front line with Armenia in the Zangezur region. These troops were poorly armed and poorly trained and were not ready for serious military action.
According to intelligence data, out of 30,000 Musavatist army, there were about 5,000 near the border with Dagestan, the same number in the Baku region and about 20,000 at the front with Armenia. Some of the bridges and railroad tracks were mined. Speed became an important component of success.
On April 27, 1920, an uprising prepared by the Bolsheviks began in Baku. It was supported by the workers, the crews of the gunboats "Kars" and "Ardagan", part of the garrison. The created Azrevkom addressed the RSFSR Council of People's Commissars with a request for recognition and support. The troops of the Red Army crossed the border. At the forefront of the offensive were four armored trains with troops. There was almost no resistance.
The soldiers of the Musavat army scattered, throwing artillery, machine guns, carts. Twice attempts were made to damage the tracks, the advanced armored train was fired upon several times (only the armored train under the command of Captain Prince Sepe Lordkipanidze offered resistance), and that was it. Already at 5:00 on April 27, the III International armored train arrived at the Baku railway station. Turkish soldiers and officers who were in Baku went over to the side of the Bolsheviks on the orders of their command.
"The troops of Azerbaijan," Ordzhonikidze and Kirov reported to Lenin, "Completely went over to our side. A very active role in favor of the revolution in Baku was played by Turkish askers and officers, a detachment of which prevented the government from fleeing Baku. The enthusiasm of the population, especially Muslims and workers, defies any description, can only be compared with the October in St. Petersburg, with the difference that there were no clashes. Everything is in order."
"We appeared in Baku," A. I. Mikoyan recalled, "When the old, bourgeois power was no longer there, and the new, Soviet power had not yet been established. Therefore, on the streets we met policemen who continued to carry out their service, not yet knowing that the power in the city had changed. At dawn, shops opened, it seemed that life was going on as usual."
A Provisional Revolutionary Committee headed by N. N. Narimanov was formed in the city. The committee immediately turned to the RSFSR for help in the fight against counter-revolution and formed the Council of People's Commissars of the new Soviet republic, which was also headed by Narimanov. The first units of the 11th Army approached the city two days later, and until April 30, the "III International" with its landing force was the only armed force that came to the city from the RSFSR. This was followed by a holiday.
"The first of May in Baku gave an incomparable picture," Ordzhonikidze and Kirov reported. "Tens of thousands of workers and almost the entire population were on the streets. Our army caused rejoicing."
On May 5, the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR welcomed the "liberation of the working masses of the independent Azerbaijan Republic."
There were about 300 million poods of oil in Baku, the monthly production was 20 million poods. This made it possible to quickly resolve the problem of the fuel crisis in the RSFSR. But the oil had to be brought to Astrakhan.
At the end of the Civil War in southern Russia, the remnants of the White Guards on the ships of the Caspian Flotilla destroyed property in Petrovsk-Port and first went to Baku, where the Musavatist government offered them to raise the flag of the ADR. The teams refused to accept this offer and went to the Persian port of Anzali. They took their merchant-passenger and oil tankers, partially converted into auxiliary cruisers.
For the Caspian, these were dangerous ships. Long-range naval guns were installed on large-capacity tankers, side tanks were poured with concrete. There were 10 auxiliary cruisers, in addition, the base of torpedo boats and air transport with four hydroplanes were taken there. The technical part of the ships fell into decay, their teams, according to Soviet intelligence, were in a depressed state. The white command replaced the ship's staff with officers who were determined to fight to the last.
There was a British garrison in Anzali. The British began to enter northern Persia in January 1918, as Russian troops, decomposed after the revolution, left it. The reason for this was to prevent Turkish and German troops from entering the former Russian zone of occupation. Already in February 1918, the British occupied Anzeli, which then turned into one of the most important bases for their operations in the Caspian region. Already in November 1918, the troops of General. L. Dunsterville returned to Baku, which they left in August. The British military were in this city until January 1919, after which they left for Anzeli, which, of course, did not mean leaving the region.
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