AN ARMY BORN IN COMBAT

We went a long way to this parade, and we deserved it. On 26 June, the world witnessed the ceremonial passage of troops and military equipment through Freedom Square. The armed forces of Azerbaijan turned 95. But this is not just a festivity. A parade is a kind of army report to the public. The unresolved status of the Karabakh conflict imposes a special meaning on this day.

The battle for sovereignty

The government of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic decided to create a separate corps - the first regular army unit of independent Azerbaijan on 26 June 1918. This day was declared the Day of the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan by President Heydar Aliyev's decree of 22 May 1998.

The issue of creating national military forces was raised by prominent Azerbaijani politicians immediately after the October Revolution of 1917. And the events of March 1918, the breakup of the Transcaucasian Sejm and the proclamation of the independence of Azerbaijan made the issue of forming national military units a priority.

The work was conducted under extremely difficult conditions. The leading countries of the world - the USA, Britain, France and others - refused to recognize the sovereignty of Azerbaijan. They strongly supported White Guard units that threatened the independence of Azerbaijan and aimed to recreate the Russian empire. Territorial claims were put forward by neighbouring Armenia, at the instigation of which certain forces demanded that Zangazur and Karabakh, artificially populated by Armenians, be separated from Azerbaijan. Relations with Georgia were uneasy at first. If we add difficulties of domestic nature to these problems - the lack of clothing and weapons and poor diet - it becomes clear in what kind of difficult atmosphere the national armed forces were being created.

Originally, the basis of the future Azerbaijani army was formed by soldiers who served in the Tatar (i.e. Azeri) cavalry regiment of the Caucasian Native Cavalry Division, better known as the Wild Division. The overall command of the volunteers, who numbered about 600 people, was carried out by Lt-Gen Sixlinski. After the national government of Azerbaijan moved from Tbilisi to Ganca, the Bolshevik-Dashnak commune (Baku Council), which had seized power in Baku, decided to attack the city. It is clear that a small contingent of Azerbaijani soldiers could not resist this force. The only country that could help Azerbaijan in this situation was Turkey. To this end, the chairman of the ADR Council of Ministers, Fatali Khan Xoyski, appealed to the government of Turkey for military assistance, which was immediately granted.

Already on 10 July 1918, the Azerbaijani and Turkish soldiers of the Caucasian Islamic Army under the command of Nuri Pasha clashed with Bolshevik troops in Kurdamir and gained their first victory. The southern group of army troops was led by Colonel Habib bay Salimov. The triumphal procession ended with the entry of troops into Baku on 15 September. The city was liberated from the Bolsheviks and Dashnaks, and the British military detachment, which had arrived to help the day before at the request of the Armenians, hastily withdrew the day before the capture of Baku by the Caucasus Islamic Army. The government of independent Azerbaijan moved to Baku, and a new stage began in the formation of the national armed forces.

On 1 November 1918, the War Ministry was established. The portfolio of the minister was given to Fatali Khan Xoyski, and his deputy was Lt-Gen Samadbay Mehmandarov. The post of war minister in the second government was entrusted to Dr Xosrov bay Sultanov, who later became governor-general of Karabakh. On 25 December 1918, Samadbay Mehmandarov became defence minister in the third cabinet, while Lt-Gen Ali Aga Sixlinski was appointed his deputy. The post of army chief of staff was taken by Maj-Gen Habib bay Salimov.

During 1918-1920, infantry and cavalry units, artillery brigades and divisions and other military-technical units were formed. The basis of the ADR army was one cavalry and two infantry divisions. The Tatar cavalry regiment was deployed in two cavalry regiments - the 1st Tatar and 2nd Karabakh regiments - in December 1918. Later, the 3rd Saki regiment was included in the division. The commander of the Cavalry Division headquartered in Ganca was General Teymur bay Novruzov. By early 1920, the Azerbaijani army had 40,000 personnel members. By that time, the Caspian fleet was formed as well, which had two gunboats Ardahan and Kars, which the Bolsheviks tried to hijack while fleeing Baku, and several support vessels.

The formation of the national armed forces took place in the fight against Dashnaks, who often managed to set the Armenian populated villages of Zangazur, Karabakh and Ganca County against the ADR authorities. The active fight against separatists was hampered by the presence in the Caucasus of a British military mission headed by General Thomson. Attaching great importance to the establishment of ADR power in the south-west of the country, the government of Azerbaijan established the Karabakh Governor-General's Office in the Zangazur, Susa, Cabrayil and Cavansir counties on 15 January 1919 and appointed Xosrov bay Sultanov governor-general of Karabakh.

Susa

The situation in the region is clearly shown by the telegrams that Xosrov Sultanov periodically sent to Baku. The Armenians did not intend to give up their claims to the territory of Azerbaijan. Units of the Armenian army and militia under the command of General Dro and others killed and robbed Azerbaijani civilians and set fire to their villages.

In early October 1919, a detachment under the command of General Cavad bay Sixlinski was sent to Zangazur. The campaign lasted for about two months. It turned out that the Armenian population was well-armed, trained and ready to fight. Reinforcements from Susa were sent for Sixlinski's detachment. The Armenians panicked and urged Britain and Russia to stop the movement of ADR troops. The war minister issued an order to stop the offensive. The detachment returned to its places of deployment.

The first parade and the fate of the generals

On 20 March 1920, ADR troops staged a military parade for the first time in Baku. On the same night, taking advantage of the festive atmosphere and the small size of the Susa and Xankandi garrisons, the Armenian rebels attacked them and seized the Asgaran passage connecting Karabakh with the rest of Azerbaijan. The rebels were led by General Dro. The situation was alarming and required urgent action. The first measure was the appointment of Lt-Col Camsid Khan Naxcivani as commander of the 2nd Karabakh Cavalry Regiment. The new commander arrived in Xankandi and began preparing troops for an offensive on Karabakh.

The storming of the Asgaran passage and the adjacent eastern height began on the morning of 3 April and lasted until the evening. Unable to withstand the onslaught of the troops, the enemy took flight. At dawn on 4 April, the pursuit of the enemy began. Xankandi was occupied without a fight in the evening. The attack continued as far as Susa. The city was taken. Soon reinforcements arrived here - the 1st Cavansir Infantry and 2nd Karabakh Cavalry Regiments. After a short respite, an attack was launched on the village of Kesiskand. The detachment was led by Gen Salimov. By noon, the rebels were defeated.

Meanwhile, the Bolsheviks diligently worked on a new plan to capture Baku. And they implemented it on 28 April 1920.

Azerbaijani military leaders, who managed to defend the country's independence for almost two years, had different fates. Nariman Narimanov managed to rescue Samad bay Mehmandarov and Ali Aga Sixlinski from prison and send them to Moscow, where they began to serve the new government. Some were able to flee abroad. But the majority was executed by the Soviets.

You can kill and shoot anyone, even a general. But you cannot kill and shoot the traditions of a people and its memory. Today, tens of thousands of young men are serving in the army of Azerbaijan, which once again became an independent, and they remember the glorious deeds and human dignity of outstanding ADR commanders. They are ready to go the path of their ancestors to the very end - to free their homeland from enemy attacks.