29 March 2024

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LANDMARK MEASURES

After the October Revolution in 1917, Azerbaijani political forces joined to ensure regional sovereignty

Author:

15.03.2018

The year of 1917 was remarkable in terms of the ongoing process of autonomization rapidly developing along the national borders of the former Russian Empire amidst the tremendous upheavals. The peoples of the South Caucasus, whose political leaders took crucial steps towards their future independence, were also involved in this process. In a whirlpool of these simultaneously significant and dramatic events, Azerbaijan was also experiencing a historical moment of truth.

 

Leading party

By the end of summer 1917, the situation in Russia, suffering from the outcome of the First World War, has worsened. In this situation, the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, General Lavr Kornilov, made an attempt to overthrow the Provisional Government. On August 29, 1917, the Executive Committee of the Baku Muslim National Council issued a decisive condemnation of the counter-revolutionary insurgency and fully supported the Provisional Government. Azerbaijani political leaders understood that Kornilov’s adventurism would put an end to the aspirations of the Muslim peoples for autonomy. The Musavat party organized protest rallies in the Muslim districts of Baku, and at the party conference held on September 1, called for taking all necessary measures to protect the revolution.

However, even such a resolute position of Musavat could not change the attitude of Russian parties to the Azerbaijani national movement. Musavatists were not included in the Bureau for Combating Counter-Revolution organized in the days of the Kornilov Affair.

Meanwhile, the results of the October 22, 1917 elections to the Baku Soviet of Workers' Deputies exceeded all expectations. Musavat received 9,617 votes winning in all fishing areas but Zabratsky.

The First Congress of the Musavat Party held on October 25-29, 1917 was a significant event in the political life of Azerbaijan. Mammad Amin Rasulzadeh was elected the Chairman of the Central Committee of the party. The Musavat program proclaimed the principles of a state system, which was presented as a democratic federal republic and where the rights and freedoms of citizens should be protected by the Constitution. The leading Azerbaijani party considered that in each autonomous region of federal Russia the language of the local people should be considered an official language. Musavat demanded equality before the law for all citizens of the federal republic regardless of nationality, religion, and party conviction.

 

Conflict of local democracy

The seizure of power by the Bolsheviks in Petrograd (St Petersburg) on October 27 (new style: November 7) marked a new turning point in the former empire. On October 31, the Baku Bolsheviks supported by peasants and workers, as well as regimental and navy committees, achieved domination in the Baku Council.

While the Socialist-Revolutionaries, Mensheviks and Dashnaks issued a call for the elimination of the Bolshevik insurrection in Petrograd, the Musavatists initially supported the new government because, first of all, the Muslim movement as a whole approved the slogans proclaimed by the Bolsheviks on the self-determination of peoples, a world without annexations and indemnities, and a struggle against imperialism. But the position of the Musavatists was also affected by the negative attitude of Socialist-Revolutionaries, Mensheviks and Dashnaks towards Muslim democracy, ignoring them as a real political force. Musavatists insisted that the government should be democratic and consist of representatives of ordinary people, regardless of their national or party affiliation but in line with the real strength of each party.

The Musavat Party supported the Bolsheviks at the same time when the Mensheviks, Socialist Revolutionaries and Dashnaks withdrew from the Executive Committee of the Baku Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies. The leading Azerbaijani party condemned “the intention to resolve the conflict created among local democracy by isolating the Bolsheviks from the rest of the revolutionary democracy.”

Relations between the Musavatists and the Bolsheviks escalated after the latter tried to establish their one-party power in Baku. On November 22, the Bolsheviks deformed the former local government - the Committee of Public Organizations. As the only rival of the Baku Council, the City Council remained operational and was Chaired by one of the leaders of the Azerbaijani national movement, Fatali Khan Khoysky.

Bolshevik power in Baku was strengthened following the results of elections to the Baku Council held on December 12-13, 1917. The Bolsheviks won the election ensuring their dominance in the new Executive Committee.

 

Commissars of Transcaucasia

Meanwhile, Azerbaijani national-democratic forces supporting the Bolsheviks during the first days after the October Revolution joined forces to autonomize the region. On November 15, 1917, the Transcaucasian Commissariat was established, which included representatives of Azerbaijan: Fatali-khan Khoysky (Commissar for Public Education), Mammad Yusif Jafarov (Commissar for Trade and Industry), Khudadat-bey Melik-Aslanov (Commissar for Communications), Khalil-bey Hasmamedov (Commissar for Control). The Georgian Menshevik Yevgeni Gegechkori was elected the Chairman of the Zakkomissariat.

In fact, the activities of the Zakomissariata implied a first serious step to cut the region from Russia. It was under the close attention of the Western powers. Representatives of England (General Shore), France (Colonel Chardonnay) and the U.S. (Consul Smith), that is, the states that supported the anti-Bolshevik forces, participated in the meetings of Georgian, Azerbaijani and Armenian politicians, which led to the establishment of the Zakkomissariat.

However, the prospects for the autonomization of the South Caucasus depended, at that time, primarily on the position of the Ottoman Empire, which, in alliance with Germany, waged war against the above-mentioned countries of the Entente. Therefore, on December 5, 1917, the Zakkomissariat concluded an armistice with the Ottoman Empire, and on January 14, 1918, the Turkish command suggested that it begin negotiations on signing a peace treaty.

Meanwhile, at the end of 1917, one of the significant events in the political life of the South Caucasus was the election to the All-Russian Constituent Assembly. Preparation for them began under the Provisional Government. In Azerbaijan, F. Khoysky headed the commission for elections to the Constituent Assembly. For the first time, women were allowed to vote, and separate polling stations were set up in nine polling stations for Muslim women.

Elections to the Constituent Assembly in Azerbaijan, as in the entire South Caucasus, took place on November 26, 1917. Mensheviks, Musavatists and Dashnaks received a total of more than 73% of the votes. While only 4.4% of voters voted for the Bolsheviks throughout the Transcaucasian district. However, in Baku they received 20% of the votes of all residents and more than 70% of the votes of the garrison soldiers.

Thus, the end of 1917 was marked by serious collisions in Azerbaijan and throughout the South Caucasus. After the October coup, the region gradually began to plunge into the violent political forces, in the conditions of which the Azerbaijani political forces faced the necessity of choice. The South Caucasus has actually been divided into two parts. In Baku and his province, the power of the Bolsheviks was strengthened, in contrast to which the national parties of local peoples began to seek the existence in the rest of the South Caucasus of an independent existence from Soviet Russia.

 

Forty-four

In December 1917, the German-Turkish troops launched an offensive on the Caucasian front. The advancement of the Ottoman army forced the Zakkomissariat to express readiness for peace negotiations.

On January 12, 1918, the Zakkomissariat adopted a decision to establish a regional legislative body, the Transcaucasian Sejm (ZakSejm), which included deputies from Transcaucasia elected to the All-Russian Constituent Assembly. The most influential forces represented in ZakSeim, which opened on February 23, were Georgian Mensheviks, Musavatists and Dashnaks. Azerbaijan was represented by 44 deputies, of which 30 were Musavatists and non-Party democrats who joined them, 7 were the members of the Muslim Socialist bloc, 4 were the members of the Hummet Party, and 3 were the members of the Ittihad Party.

The leader of the Azerbaijani (Muslim) faction in ZakSejm Mammad Amin Rasulzadeh wrote that “all the energy of the Muslims in the Sejm was aimed both at the peaceful resolution of the situation on the frontline and the immediate independence of the Caucasus.”

Without declaring the Transcaucasus an independent state, the Sejm declared its right to conclude peace with the Ottoman Empire. Meanwhile, a separate agreement was signed in Brest between the Soviet Russia and Germany that left the war. Under this agreement, Ardahan, Kars and Batumi were taken by the Ottoman Empire. ZakSejm did not recognize the Brest agreement, since “Transcaucasia has never recognized the Bolshevik government and the Council of People's Commissars”.

Pursuant to the decisions of the Brest Treaty, the Ottoman Empire presented an ultimatum to the Sejm about an immediate withdrawal from Kars, Batumi, and Ardahan. Under these conditions, on March 14, a peace conference was held in Trabzon between the Ottomans and the representatives of ZakSejm. It is interesting that the representative of the ZakSejm delegation, Mir Yagub Mehdiyev, supported the adoption of the Turkish ultimatum. Another Azerbaijani negotiator, Khalil-bey Khasmammadov, proposed to make one exception from the list of territories assigned to the Ottomans. He considered it necessary in the interests of the Azerbaijani oil industry to preserve Batum in the South Caucasus, which was the final destination of the oil pipeline from Baku.

On April 10, the head of the ZakSejm delegation, Akaky Chkhenkeli, accepted the terms of the Brest Treaty, hence the majority of territories indicated in this document, with the exception of Batumi, passed under the control of the Ottoman army. However, the Turks demanded the transfer of Batumi as well. On April 13, Ottoman troops entered Batumi. However, by that time, the Azerbaijani deputies of ZakSejm were much more concerned about the fate of Baku... After all, beginning from the last days of March 1918, the Azerbaijani people has experienced one of the bloodiest pages of its history.

 

 

 

FATALI-KHAN OF KHOISKY (1875-1920) 

Fatali-khan Khoisky was one of the prominent political figures of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (ADR). He is rightfully considered one of the founders of the ADR. 

After graduating the Faculty of Law of the Moscow University with honours, Fatali-khan worked in the judicial system. Since 1907, with his election to the Second State Duma, Khoisky began an active political activity. Speaking at various meetings of the Duma, he demonstrated himself as a principle defender of the interests of the Muslim population of the Russian Empire, a sharp critic of the discriminatory policy of tsarism on the national borders. 

After the February Revolution of 1917, Khoisky became one of the most prominent figures of the national movement in Azerbaijan. Not bound by any party restrictions and being a non-partisan, he began active work as a member of the Executive Committee of the Baku Muslim National Council. Following the results of the October 1917 elections to the Baku City Duma, Khoisky, as the representative of the winner of the election, the Muslim bloc, was elected the chairman of the Baku Duma. 

With the establishment of the dictatorship of the Baku Council in Baku, which in fact was a Bolshevik-Dashnak power tandem, Khoisky, like many other figures of the Azerbaijani national liberation movement, focused his political activities on the establishment of the Transcaucasian Federal Republic. He was a deputy of the Transcaucasian Sejm, and after the proclamation of the independent Transcaucasian Federation, he was the Minister of Education. He played an instrumental role in the establishment of the Baku University, which started functioning already during the period of ADR. 

On May 28, 1918, the day of the proclamation of ADR, Khoisky was entrusted with a mission to head of government. In general, he has chaired three of the five offices operating during the ADR period. Under his premiership, the process of state construction began in the republic, the Azerbaijani army was formed, and a fateful historical event occurred – the liberation of Baku from the power of the Dashnak-Socialist-Menshevik dictatorship of the Centrocaspia established in Baku after the fall of the Baku Council of People's Commissars. 

In December 1919, Khoisky was appointed the Minister of Foreign Affairs under the government of Nasib-bey Yusifbeyli. He made great efforts to counter the political pressure of Soviet Russia on ADR. 

After the occupation of ADR by the Red Army of Soviet Russia, Khoisky moved to Tiflis. On June 19, 1920, he was killed by an Armenian Dashnak-terrorist. Fatali-khan Khoisky will remain forever in the history of Azerbaijan as an outstanding statesman and politician who has devoted his entire life to the freedom and independence of the Fatherland, the progress of his native people.



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