The Red Army invasion of Azerbaijan, also known as the Sovietization or Soviet invasion of Azerbaijan, took place in April 1920. It was a military campaign conducted by the 11th Army of the Soviet Russia aimed at installing a Soviet government in the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic. The invasion coincided with an anti-government insurrection organized by local Azerbaijani Bolsheviks in the capital city of Baku. As a result, the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic was dissolved, and the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic was established. During 1919–1920, Azerbaijan experienced severe political and socio-economic crises, with volatile internal conditions. Armed conflicts occurred between various political and social factions across the country. Since the collapse of Republican Power in 1918, underground organizations consisting of different political parties and socialist groups were active. These factions united with the AC(b)P in February 1920 to coordinate their political objectives. In April 1920, the 11th Red Army, having defeated the Volunteer Army in the North Caucasus, approached Azerbaijan's borders. Azerbaijani Bolsheviks prepared for armed uprisings scheduled for the night of 26–27 April. Alongside the uprisings in Baku, several Soviet armored trains crossed into Azerbaijan, conducting successful deep raids behind Azerbaijani lines. After securing key strategic locations in the capital, the Bolsheviks issued an ultimatum to the Azerbaijani government and parliament, demanding the transfer of power. In an emergency session, the parliament voted to hand over power to the Azerbaijani Communist Party. With the support of the 11th Red Army entering the country, the new government quickly brought the rest of Azerbaijan under its control. The primary outcome was the establishment of Soviet rule under the Communist Party, and the proclamation of the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic. The Azerbaijan SSR functioned as a nominally independent state until 1922.
Background
=== The revolutionary movement in Azerbaijan after 1918 === In July 1918, Soviet power in Baku was overthrown, and in September, following its capture by the Caucasian Islamic Army, the city became the capital of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic. However, various parties aligned with Bolshevik ideology and socialist-oriented organizations such as "Hummat" and "Adalat" continued to operate clandestinely. Initially, these groups were significantly weakened. During the August–September 1918 capture of Baku, 100 members of "Adalat" were killed, and 95 were captured; the survivors and escapees resorted to underground activities. The "Hummat" organization, almost entirely dismantled after the fall of Soviet power, began to reorganize only at the end of 1918. Unlike the Bolshevik faction of "Hummat," its democratic wing participated in the Declaration of Independence of Azerbaijan and established its own faction within the National Council. Representatives of this faction (Samad aga Agamalioglu, Aliheydar Garayev, Ahmad bey Pepinov, Gasim Jamalbeyov, Ibrahim Abilov, Akbar agha Sheykhulislamov) later joined the Socialist faction in Azerbaijan's first parliament, which began functioning in December 1918. Among these deputies, Samad aga Agamalioglu and Aliheydar Garayev played significant roles. Some members of the Socialist "Hummat" later joined the Bolsheviks in 1920 and became active supporters of the establishment of Soviet power in the country. The formation of the Left SR (Socialist-Revolutionary) Party in Azerbaijan, including members such as Ruhulla Akhundov, Ali Bayramov, and Habib Jabiyev, occurred in November 1918 in alliance with the Bolsheviks. On the national question, they differed from the Russian Left SRs, advocating for the establishment and recognition of Azerbaijan as an independent Soviet republic. By the spring of 1919, most members of the Azerbaijani Left SR organization had merged with "Hummat". In December 1918, labor organizations (factory and industrial committees) united to form the Baku Workers' Conference, which soon became the highest permanent representative body of Baku workers. Anastas Mikoyan described it as "a kind of Soviet," while Sergey Kirov referred to it as a "workers' parliament." Within this body, intense struggles unfolded between Bolsheviks on one side and Mensheviks and SRs on the other. According to the Mensheviks and SRs, the authority of the Workers' Conference should be limited to addressing workers' wages and living conditions, with political struggles confined to parliament. Later, the Bolsheviks proposed the establishment of a Soviet of Workers', Soldiers', and Peasants' Deputies, a proposal approved at the Workers' Conference on 22 January 1919. By mid-March, the leadership of the Workers' Conference had effectively fallen into the hands of the Bolsheviks, who marginalized the Mensheviks and SRs, turning it into the supreme political body of Baku workers. During the existence of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, the Bolsheviks began publishing several newspapers. The following were published in Azerbaijani and Russian: "Nabat", "Füqəra Sədası", "Kommunist", "Molot", "Proletari", "Raboçiy Put", "Bednota", "Azərbaycan Füqərası", "Bakı Fəhlə Konfransının Xəbərləri", "Zəhmət Sədası", "Hürriyyət", "Həqq", "Raboçaya Pravda", and "Novıy Mir". On 30 July 1919, the Bolsheviks' newspaper "Bakı Fəhlə Konfransının Xəbərləri" ("News of Baku Workers' Conference"), edited by Menshevik Aliheydar Garayev, became the first to publish a translation of the new program of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks) into Azerbaijani. However, the program could not be fully published (only five issues were released) as the government shut down the newspaper. The Bolsheviks later published the program separately as a brochure. As Nariman Narimanov later noted, copies of these newspapers even reached Moscow, and Lenin himself was informed about them. Several revolutionary-minded individuals, including sympathizers of the Bolsheviks, worked within government institutions and law enforcement agencies. For instance, Chingiz Ildirim, with the support of deputy Garayev, initially became a member of the council under the Karabakh General-Governorship, later serving as the deputy head of Baku Port and simultaneously as deputy head of the naval base. Regarding revolutionary activities in military units and the navy, Mirza Davud Huseynov wrote:
In the Baku garrison, we had cells in virtually every military unit...The same was true for the navy... At that time, comrade Ildırım was an assistant to the head of Baku Port, and we operated through him. Nariman Narimanov's cousin, Muzaffar Narimanov, a member of "Hummat," served in the Azerbaijani army, later joining the Musavat counterintelligence service, and subsequently worked in the Ministry of Labor's conflict department. The wife of RCP(b) member Ali Bayramov, Jeyran Bayramova, worked as a secretary in the legislative department of the Azerbaijani parliament. Another RKP(b) member, Leonid Beriya, was employed in the "Organization for Combating Counter-Revolution" operating within Azerbaijan's Ministry of War.
=== The Slogan of "Independent Soviet Azerbaijan" === During a conversation in the autumn of 1918 with Dadash Bunyadzade, a member of "Hummat", V.I. Lenin remarked:
The loss of Stepan [Shaumyan] and the 26 Commissars should not halt the work we have begun. It is necessary to regroup, enlighten, and liberate the Azerbaijani workers and peasants who have been deceived by the Mensheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries. At that time, Bunyadzade informed Lenin that Azerbaijani communists held differing views regarding the future state structure of Azerbaijan:
When Ilyich was informed that there were two currents in Azerbaijan—one advocating for the establishment of an independent socialist Soviet republic after the liberation of Baku and Azerbaijan, and another proposing that no republic be created, instead dividing Azerbaijan into provinces to be annexed to the RSFSR—he expressed his view unequivocally. He stated that the idea of creating an independent republic was correct, while the second notion amounted to colonialism and, indeed, folly. On 2 May 1919, the All-Baku Party Conference adopted the slogan of "Independent Soviet Azerbaijan." During the conference of Transcaucasian party organizations held in Baku on 7–8 May, the Baku party organization proposed this slogan. However, the conference, particularly members of the Caucasus Bureau of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks) in Tiflis, rejected it. Despite this, on 19 July, a joint meeting of the Politburo and Organizational Bureau of the Central Committee of the RCP(b) decided to recognize Azerbaijan as an independent Soviet republic in the future. The Bolshevik newspaper "Füqəra Sədası" reported on 17 August that the idea of establishing the Azerbaijani Soviet Republic had been approved by V.I. Lenin. On 20 August, Y.D. Stasova, Secretary of the Central Committee of the RCP(b), wrote to the Caucasus Regional Committee, stating:
We consider the proclamation of an independent Soviet Republic of Azerbaijan entirely appropriate. On 22 May 1919, Anastas Mikoyan wrote to Lenin:
In Azerbaijan, there are greater oil resources, sharper social contradictions, more fertile grounds for a class-based upheaval, and more discontent and hatred against the existing government. Independence [of Azerbaijan Democratic Republic] is merely an illusion... To ensure the success of the revolutionary movement, remove national barriers on the path to revolution, and win the trust of the Muslim laboring masses in us, the internationalists, the Baku organization has recognized the Independent Soviet Azerbaijan as an entity with close political and economic ties to Soviet Russia. This slogan is highly popular, capable of uniting all Muslim laborers around it and mobilizing them for an uprising. According to the memoirs of Nariman Narimanov and Sergey Mironovich Kirov, Lenin believed that Soviet Azerbaijan should serve as a model for the peoples of the East.
Domestic political situation in Azerbaijan
=== Socio-economic environment === At the end of 1919 and the beginning of 1920, Azerbaijan was engulfed in a deep political and socio-economic crisis. The economic downturn caused by World War I, compounded by the severance of economic ties with Russia, had left the republic in a dire situation. Peasant uprisings broke out in several regions, the agricultural economy was collapsing, and the oil industry was in a catastrophic state. Compared to 1913, by early 1920, oil production had declined to only 39% and refining to 34.5% of the previous levels. Of the 40 existing oil refineries in the country, only 18 were operational. The damage inflicted on the oil industry by foreign intervention was estimated at 750 million gold rubles. At the second congress of the Musavat Party, the party's leader, Mahammad Amin Rasulzade, remarked on the oil crisis, noting that workers in the oil fields were being maintained at the state's expense, while oil industrialists were considering halting operations entirely. At the time, the oil fields were described by the Communist newspaper as a "graveyard." By 1920, the total area of cultivated agricultural land had decreased by 40% compared to the pre-war period. Cotton cultivation had dropped by 99%, vineyards by 30%, and livestock production had declined by 60-70%. Irrigation systems were in disrepair, resulting in cotton cultivation amounting to only 2.3% of pre-war levels. The instability in Azerbaijan was not solely due to the conflict between the wealthy and the poor, which exacerbated social tensions. The struggle of the working class to improve their economic and social conditions also contributed to the crisis. By September 1919, the number of unemployed in Baku had reached 30,000, and Iranian oil drillers were returning to their homeland. In October of the same year, the real wages of Baku oil workers were only 18% of their 1914 levels. Simultaneously, the prices of goods had soared dramatically. For example, in the second half of 1919, the price of bread increased by over 100%, meat by 56%, fish by 150%, eggs by 96%, butter by 200%, underwear by 100%, wool fabrics by 233%, and footwear by 135%. The economic blockade imposed by General A. I. Denikin's Volunteer Army in late 1919 further deepened the food crisis. Denikin sought to prevent Georgia and Azerbaijan from purchasing food from territories liberated from Bolshevik control, accusing them of acting "contrary to Russian state interests." Kazimzadeh, a member of the Musavat Party in parliament, lamented the intolerable living conditions in the capital, where all workers’ organizations had been disbanded. Starving workers were forced to labor for 17–18 hours a day instead of the standard 8 and could be dismissed at any time. On 22 March 1920, the Minister of Internal Affairs, Mustafa Bey Vekilov, officially stated:
The republic's supreme executive authority had no intention of intervening in the struggle to improve the economic and legal conditions of the working class but declared its determination to suppress any actions directed against the state by all possible means. In addition, armed clashes between Armenians and Azerbaijanis over disputed territories between Azerbaijan and Armenia were ongoing. Azerbaijan faced a significant influx of refugees, who brought with them epidemics and famine to the country's rural districts. Lacking material and financial resources, the Musavat government was unable to cope with the problems of refugees and widespread poverty.
Armed conflicts in uezds
In rural areas, peasants were seizing the estates of landowners, sometimes even organizing armed attacks to do so. One of the main concerns of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (ADR) government in 1919 was such attacks in the Ganja district, a region particularly distinguished by the prevalence of large estates (latifundia). A telegram from Colonel Vekilov, the governor of Yelizavetpol Governorate, to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the ADR noted that propaganda was spreading among the "dark forces" of the governorate, claiming that the ADR government was composed of beys and aghas and served only their interests and welfare. Certain actions of the government inadvertently reinforced this perception. For instance, the Minister of Internal Affairs, Nasib bey Yusifbeyli, instructed Governor Khosrov bey Sultanov in a telegram to preserve the current land situation until the implementation of new agrarian reforms. At the same time, a letter from peasants alleged that the governor and local administrative officials were overtly protecting the beys of Oksuzlu village. Elsewhere, protests and discontent over land issues continued to grow. In a context of political power vacuums, armed groups and bandit formations began to emerge locally. These groups, which gained significant strength in regions like Ganja, Gazakh, Lankaran, Nukha, and Shamkir during 1918–1919, had a fluid social composition. Their ranks often included fugitive criminals, landless peasants, impoverished nomads, refugees from Karabakh and Nakhchivan, and deserters from the Azerbaijani army. For example, in the village of Kizilhajili, an armed group led by a former convict, Mashadi Gadir, arose following a conflict between him and the village administrator. This group, consisting mainly of deserters, fugitive thieves, and Armenians, effectively controlled the Gazakh district by 1919. Their activities included looting landowners' properties, redistributing land to peasants, and killing government representatives. In response, a military detachment equipped with artillery and machine guns was dispatched to the region, initiating military confrontations with the group by October. In Ganja Governorate, Qatir Mammad, considered a national hero by the Azerbaijan Soviet Encyclopedia, emerged as the main leader of the peasant movement. Another group, led by former convict Kerbalayi Asgar, operated in the village of Yukhari Ayibli (modern-day Shishtepe) in Gazakh district. This group killed beys and government officials along with their families. After destroying all properties belonging to the Sultanov family, they were forced to leave Shamkir district. The governor warned that unless urgent steps were taken to suppress Asgar's group, his "influence and popularity among the masses would grow significantly." Qatir Mammad's group, which managed to establish connections with the Bolsheviks, had broader activities in rural areas. The group seized properties from wealthy individuals, burned down their homes, and killed those who resisted. On 20 March 1919, the combined forces of Qatir Mammad, Kerbalayi Asgar, M. Aliyev, and Kor Vali formed a 600-strong armed unit and laid siege to Ganja, Azerbaijan's second-largest city. They forced Governor Colonel Vekilov and his surviving troops to leave the city. This event became one of the main factors leading to the collapse of Fatali Khan Khoyski's government. Kerbalayi Asgar and Qatir Mammad were killed on 20 July and 18 September 1919, respectively, but armed conflict in the governorate persisted. The situation in Mughan remained tense, and Lankaran district descended into near-anarchy. Like Ganja, armed groups emerged in Lankaran. For example, in the village of Mistan in the Zuvand district, a group of peasants formed under the leadership of blacksmith Bala Mammad. In the Mughan plain, conflicts arose between villages labeled as "Bolshevik" (Privolnoye, Griboyedovka, Petrovka, Grigoryevka) and "counterrevolutionary" (Novogolovka [Uzuntepe], Andreyevka [Qarazanjir], Akhtarkhanovka, Pokrovka, Nikolayevka). After the fall of the Baku Commune and the establishment of the Centrocaspian Dictatorship, the region came under the "Dictatorship of the Five." This was later replaced by the Mughan Regional Authority, whose power was primarily concentrated in the hands of military figures like Lazar Bicherakhov and M. Przhevalsky, commanders of the local army headquarters and Caspian Naval Forces, respectively. Bicherakhov later became one of the commanders of the Volunteer Army in the North Caucasus. Osipov, a Red Army soldier, described the situation as follows:
The situation in Lankaran was highly uncertain, with everyone vying for power. Even streets were named after these power struggles: Ryabovskaya Street, Akopov Street, Osipov Street, etc. Daily clashes occurred between these groups. One day, they attempted to arrest Akopov; the next day, it was Shevkunov, and so on. In short, complete anarchy. At night, we couldn't even go out onto the streets. In the spring of 1919, the Bolsheviks declared the establishment of Soviet power in Lankaran and Mughan, making this the only region in the South Caucasus where Soviet authority existed at the time. Both Azerbaijani forces and military units under former tsarist officers opposed Bolshevik rule. In August 1919, a military campaign organized by the ADR, with support from the British government, ended Bolshevik authority in the region and restored Azerbaijani control. The "Azerbaijan" newspaper, the official publication of the Musavat government, reported:
Unfortunately, Bolshevik propaganda is gaining significant success in rural areas and villages. In February 1920, the Regional Committee of the Russian Communist (Bolshevik) Party informed its Central Committee:
We have full influence over the working and peasant classes... Extensive work is being carried out within many military units... and we are confident of their support.
Political crisis
The state was also in deep crisis. According to the law, the parliament was supposed to consist of 120 members, but throughout its entire existence, it was never able to reach this number. Many members rarely attended parliamentary sessions or participated in its activities. As a result, 20 sessions of the parliament could not be held due to the lack of a quorum. For such reasons, the government decided to impose fines for non-attendance at parliamentary sessions. During the entire period of its activity, 230 legislative proposals were submitted to the parliament for discussion. More than two-thirds of these proposals were presented by the Ministries of Finance, Justice, Internal Affairs, and the Military. The Ministries of Public Education, Health, and Labor submitted 30 proposals, while the Ministry of Agriculture presented only 12. These legislative proposals were referred to various commissions, such as those on budget, military, land, and finance, where they often became stuck. One notable example of this was the draft law on agrarian issues, which remained mired in endless discussions, transfers, and withdrawals. During the second congress of the Musavat Party, Mammad Amin Rasulzadeh was compelled to declare that "the government... did not fulfill its promises regarding the peasant issue" and added, "we are still guided by old laws... the laws of Nicholas." Irregularities, corruption, abuse of power, speculation, and similar practices were widespread in government institutions, giving rise to political scandals. For instance, the Minister of Trade and Industry, M. Asadullayev, became embroiled in a political scandal due to his secret dealings and abuses related to the sale of oil. This scandal led to the resignation of the Khoyski government and the formation of the Yusifbeyli government. The prevailing political instability in the country intensified the struggle between Musavat, Ittihad, Ahrar, socialists, and non-partisan individuals. The Ittihadists, along with Turkish nationalist-military figures such as Khalil Pasha, Rufat Bey, and Yagub Bey, advocated for an alliance with Soviet Russia. Behbud Khan Javanshir, the leader of the non-partisan members in parliament, as well as Mammadhasan Hajinski, a member of the Musavat Party, also supported establishing friendly relations with Russia. As a result, the situation of Yusifbeyli's government was precarious. The forces led by Khoyski held an anti-Bolshevik stance, while those under Hajinski advocated the opposite. The government's foreign and domestic policies were harshly criticized by the left wing of its own party. The Bolshevik newspaper Novy Mir wrote the following on the matter:
The Musavat Party has completely lost its influence in the country. It is still in power, it still directs politics, but it is now hanging by a thread. It no longer has any support among the broad masses of the population... The Musavat Party has outlived its usefulness.
=== Problems in the army === Instances of desertion were spreading within the ranks of the Azerbaijani army, and the Bolsheviks were actively working to exacerbate the situation. The Minister of War, Samad bey Mehmandarov, had warned the head of the Council of Ministers about this:
I fear that, since Baku has now become the center of the Bolsheviks of the South Caucasus, their negative influence on the Baku garrison is inevitable. To address this issue, the Ministry of War requested the Prime Ministry to take steps to intensify propaganda in favor of the new political system within military units. In addition to Baku, Bolshevik propaganda was also influencing military units in rural areas. Mirza Davud Huseynov later wrote about this:
We had organizations within the garrisons of Lankaran, Karabakh, and Guba. A telegram dated 10 March 1920, from the governor of the Zaqatala district to the Ministry of Internal Affairs urgently requested the closure of reading rooms and canteens in Qakh, Zaqatala, and Balakan, as they had become centers of Bolshevik propaganda. At the same time, the Bolshevik Party Committee in Lankaran managed to establish three cells within the local garrison. Such activities resulted in growing unrest within several military units. In March 1920, some soldiers of the 5th Regiment refused to go to Karabakh to fight against the Armenian rebels. According to Huseynov, a significant portion of this regiment eventually joined the Bolsheviks. Available records indicate that some commanders themselves sympathized with the Bolsheviks. Aliheydar Garayev later wrote that the Deputy Minister of War, Aliaga Shikhlinski, disagreed with the government's policies and therefore "joined our side and offered us his assistance." When the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (ADR) was occupied, Shikhlinski refused to carry out the government's order to blow up the railway to prevent the advance of the Bolsheviks’ armored train. In addition to Bolshevik activities and propaganda, the poor conditions of soldiers, many of whom came from impoverished backgrounds, further deteriorated the army's combat readiness. According to Minister of War Mehmandarov, only the poor were enlisting in the army, and he stated, "I have not seen any khans or beys in the ranks of the army." The impoverished soldiers could not withstand the cold, hunger, and disease, leading to fatalities. The deceased were buried in the Chambarakand cemetery. B. Baykov, who was in Baku at the time, recalled seeing soldiers in poor condition with bare feet wandering the streets of Baku. The horses intended for combat were described as nothing more than "skin and bones." By early 1920, the Azerbaijani army was beginning to disintegrate. By mid-April, only 300 of the 1,000 soldiers in the 5th Baku Regiment remained. Similarly, the Guba Regiment had 400 soldiers, the 1st Cavalry Regiment 380, the 8th Agdash Regiment 400, the 2nd Karabakh Cavalry Regiment 250, the Shaki Cavalry Regiment about 200, and the Ganja Infantry Regiment 400 soldiers. According to some sources, approximately 35,000 soldiers deserted from Karabakh, where they had been sent to suppress the Armenian rebellion, during the spring months. Incidents of insubordination and mutiny occurred in numerous locations. Major General Habib bey Salimov noted that by that time, the remnants of the army existed only on paper.
On the eve of the uprising
=== Establishment of the Communist Party of Azerbaijan === At the beginning of 1920, communist organizations in Azerbaijan lacked a unified party structure. They recognized the necessity of merging into a single party to enhance their political activities. However, tensions between the Menshevik and Bolshevik factions of the Hummat Party led to their eventual split. Although left-wing Hummat members, under Ruhulla Akhundov's leadership, sought to merge with Azerbaijani Socialist Revolutionaries (SRs), complete consensus between the two groups could not be achieved. The Azerbaijani SRs advocated that only Azerbaijanis should participate in establishing the Azerbaijani Communist Party, positioning themselves as the sole representatives of the nation. Conflicts within the Adalat Party were resolved through the intervention of V. Naneishvili, Anastas Mikoyan, and Dadash Bunyadzade, preventing a division. During a general congress, a new Central Committee was elected. Discussions about unification dominated the meetings of all these parties. The SRs emphasized the need to involve Azerbaijani intellectuals who had been unfairly excluded from the political process. One of the critical topics of discussion was identifying the true culprits behind the March Events of 1918. In early 1920, Moscow ordered the dissolution of national organizations in Azerbaijan and their consolidation into a single communist party. The new party was intended to unify all ethnic groups in the region and eliminate distinctions between Turks and Muslims. On 11–12 February 1920, a congress of Azerbaijani communist organizations convened in Baku, culminating in the establishment of the Azerbaijani Communist (Bolshevik) Party. Participants included 30 representatives each from the Baku branches of the Russian Communist Party, Hammat, and Adalat parties, as well as 30 delegates from regional organizations. The congress was held secretly in the Workers’ Club in Baku with its windows sealed. The congress decided that the Azerbaijani Communist Party would function as part of the Caucasus Regional Committee and recognize it as its superior body. A resolution under the section titled "The Current Situation" identified the primary goal of Azerbaijani communists: to prepare workers and peasants to overthrow the existing government through practical measures. Disagreements between Western and Soviet Azerbaijani historians persist regarding these developments. Soviet Azerbaijani historians accused their Western counterparts of distorting historical facts. For instance, Firuz Kazemzadeh noted:
...Despite objections from regional committees, party rules were violated as Azerbaijani figures such as Qarayev, Sultanov, Akhundov, Huseynov, and others broke away to establish an independent Azerbaijani Communist Party. Another historian, Tadeusz Swietochowski, argued that Bolshevik activities under the Musavat government were facilitated by the liberal environment created through British intervention. He asserted that Azerbaijani communists were reluctant to assimilate into the Russian party structure and framed the entire process as a "conflict between Russian centralism and Azerbaijani separatism."
Countermeasures by authorities. Government crisis
Due to unrest among members of the military, the government increasingly relied on the police, which had been granted extensive authority. Baku's police chief, Rustam Bey Mirzayev, issued instructions to precinct chiefs, noting that while he had information regarding the increasing frequency of unlawful meetings and rallies organized by communists, no concrete evidence or reports of such activities had been received. He ordered police departments to maximize efforts to monitor communist activities, apprehend participants in any such meetings, and immediately report to him regarding these developments. A month before the fall of Baku, government forces intensified their pressure on the Bolsheviks. On 22 February 1920, the editorial office of the Bolshevik newspaper "Novy Mir" was sealed, and several of its staff members were arrested by order of the Governor-General of Baku, General Murad Geray bey Tlekhas. A few days later, Tlekhas submitted a detailed report on measures to prevent Bolsheviks and other "enemies of the republic" from entering his jurisdiction. On 9 March, the newspaper "Azerbaijan Füqarası" was shut down. In an interview with the newspaper Azerbaijan, Interior Minister Mustafa Bey Vekilov stated that the government would not permit the Bolsheviks to conduct activities among the masses under any circumstances. He vowed to wage a relentless struggle against Bolshevism. On 10 March, he ordered the arrest of Zakariyya Balakhlinsky. On 15 March, during a raid on the Central Workers’ Club in Baku, where a rally commemorating S. Kazibekov, who had been killed in Dagestan, was being held, 24 communist activists, including Dadash Bunyadzade, Gasim Ismayilov, and Sumbat Fatelizade, were arrested. On 18 March, Ali Bayramov, a member of the Central Committee of the Azerbaijani Communist Party and one of the leaders of the Bolshevik combat organization in Azerbaijan, was arrested by the police and later killed. His mutilated body and severed head were discovered near the Khatissov factory (later known as the Lieutenant Schmidt factory) in a working-class district of the city. News of Bayramov's arrest spread throughout the city before his body was found. Acting Minister of Internal Affairs Shafi Bey Rustambeyov and police chief Rustam Mirzayev denied in parliament that Bayramov had been arrested by the police in response to questions from MP Aliheydar Garayev. Prosecutor Nazarov ordered a criminal investigation into Bayramov's disappearance, and the Ministry of Justice launched a special inquiry under Rustambeyov's supervision to monitor the investigation of Bayramov's murder. Meanwhile, almost the entire membership of the Ganja committee, which had been preparing for an uprising, was arrested. On 25 March, the Minister of Internal Affairs contacted the Minister of Foreign Affairs, requesting immediate negotiations with Georgia's diplomatic representative to arrange for the deportation of arrested Bolsheviks to Batumi via Georgia, as it was deemed unsafe to detain them in regional areas. Measures were also implemented to prevent Bolsheviks from crossing into Dagestan and returning to Azerbaijan. For instance, Agakishibeyov, the head of the Quba district, reported to the governor of Baku on 1 April that security posts had been established in the Yalama and Khazri regions, and border security measures were being organized. On 7 April, the military governor of the Baku province instructed the city's police chief to reinforce military outposts along the coastline and nearby islands, emphasizing that this measure was of "the highest state importance." According to Chingiz Ildirim, the authorities planned to fortify positions in Bayil, Shikhov, and Nargin Island, creating strong defensive fortifications. Police forces were being concentrated in Baku. On 15 April, the Minister of Internal Affairs ordered the transfer of 100 guards from the Ganja, Shamakhi, and Aghdam districts to the capital. On 20 March, the Minister of Labor and Agriculture, socialist Ahmad Bey Pepinov, protested in a parliamentary session against the closure of the Workers’ Club and the arrests carried out. When the government's majority rejected a proposal to urgently discuss this statement, Pepinov resigned and relinquished his ministerial duties on 23 March. On the same day, the Baku Trade Union Council and the Presidium of the Central Workers’ Conference sent a letter to Pepinov protesting the persecution of workers’ organizations, demanding the reopening of closed facilities and the release of those arrested. By the end of the month, the socialist faction in parliament withdrew its support for Nasib Bey's cabinet due to the arrests of communists. This marked the final action of the Hummat party, which had already largely ceased to exist except for a few remaining politicians. Within weeks, members of Hummat individually joined the Communist Party, bringing an end to divisions among Azerbaijani Marxists. On 30 March, tensions between Fatali Khan Khoyski and Mammad Hasan Hajinski escalated, leading the latter to leave the government. On 1 April, Nasib Bey's cabinet resigned. Following Pepinov, socialist Jamo bey Hajinski also resigned on 9 April. On 15 April, the Ahrar Party, represented by Aslan Bey Gardashov, declared its withdrawal from the coalition and recalled its representatives from the cabinet, leaving the Musavat Party isolated within the government. Intense debates erupted between various parties in parliament. Members of the Ittihad Party advocated for a military alliance with Soviet Russia and even suggested collaborating with the communists to stage a coup. To retain leadership in the newly formed cabinet, the Musavat Party nominated Hajinski, a candidate supported by Ahrar and Ittihad. However, Hajinski faced opposition from the Musavat Party's right wing, which exerted significant pressure on the parliamentary faction. Hajinski initiated negotiations with the Bolsheviks and offered them ministerial posts, but his proposal was rejected.
Preparation for the uprising
On 25 October 1919, the General Baku Party Conference adopted a resolution to seize power. By late 1919, a revolutionary headquarters, led by Mirza Davud Huseynov and established by the Bolsheviks, was directly involved in preparing for an armed uprising. Funds and weapons were being smuggled into Baku from the North Caucasus and Astrakhan. For instance, in February 1920, the Baku Bolsheviks received 5 million rubles. In the autumn of 1919, Hamid Sultanov secretly traveled to Tiflis to secure weapons for Baku. He managed to acquire and transport a significant quantity of arms, including two railcars full of weapons. Following the establishment of Soviet power in Turkmenbashi, the Bolsheviks began obtaining weapons from Central Asia, particularly through the Turkestan Front Command. In March 1920 alone, three sailboats loaded with weapons arrived in Baku from Turkestan. These weapons were stored at several bases established by the Military Combat Headquarters in Baku's working-class neighborhoods. Notably, a substantial cache of weapons, explosives, and valuables was stored at house No. 37 on First Bayilov Street. In a letter to Sergei Kirov, the Bolsheviks' Baku Bureau and the Regional Committee outlined their plans for the uprising as follows:
Our plan is to strengthen military organization, secretly organize combat forces, and adopt a cautious approach. All our actions align with an attack from Astrakhan, which we cannot imagine proceeding without... Our forces in the city of Baku alone consist of 20,000–30,000 unarmed individuals. There are 8,000–10,000 armed individuals on the Mughan plain. The population of Elizavetpol Province is in a revolutionary mood, as is the population of Baku Province. During the coup, these forces will side with us. We currently possess 2,500 rifles, ammunition, bombs, revolvers, etc. In a 7 March telegram to the Central Committee of the RCP(b), Kirov reported that following the de facto recognition of Azerbaijan's independence by the Entente, the government had intensified its repression against the Bolsheviks, forcing them into clandestine activities. Nevertheless, during the Regional Committee's plenary session, it was expressed that a coup in Azerbaijan could be expected once the Red Army approached Petrovsk and the fleet advanced toward Baku. Kirov actively participated in preparations for the coup by sending workers, financial resources, weapons, and ammunition to the Baku Bolsheviks. On 9 March, two days after informing the Central Committee of the RCP(b) about the situation of Azerbaijan's Bolsheviks, Kirov sent a letter to Mikoyan proposing several measures for coordinated action between the armed groups in Baku and the XI Red Army. By the end of March, Boris P. Sheboldaev, the secretary of the Dagestan RCP(b) regional committee and deputy chairman of the Dagestan Revolutionary Committee, received a telegram from Garaev, a Menshevik member of the Azerbaijani parliament. The telegram stated:
We are preparing for a coup in Baku in the coming days. Before initiating operations, we will issue an appeal to Azerbaijan's workers and peasants explaining the purpose of our movement. In March, the Azerbaijani authorities uncovered the Bolsheviks' military organization. When the police raided their headquarters in Baku, they obtained several critical documents. On 30 March, the newspaper "Azerbaijan" published an article titled "The Exposure of the Bolshevik Revolt," and on 2 April, "Georgia" in Tiflis newspaper featured an article titled "Bolshevik Uprising in Baku." According to Azerbaijan, the authorities had obtained detailed information about the planned uprising in Baku and throughout Azerbaijan. These documents revealed the extent of the preparations, including lists of party members capable of carrying weapons, their categorization by military expertise, the formation of combat units, and the appointment of commanders. Additionally, proposals were made for unit leaders and political commissars to assess the enemy's positions in their areas and keep unarmed combatants in reserve, ready for mobilization. On 22 April 1920, during an emergency meeting of the RCP(b) Caucasus Bureau and the Central Committee of the Azerbaijani Communist Party (ACP), with representatives from the XI Red Army in attendance, it was decided to send an ultimatum to the Azerbaijani government on 27 April, demanding the transfer of power. To avoid undesirable consequences in Turkey and other Muslim countries, Azerbaijan Communist Party representatives secured guarantees from the XI Red Army headquarters that their forces would not enter Azerbaijani territory until 24 hours after the uprising began. On 24 April, the RCP Caucasus Bureau, along with the ACP Central and Baku Committees, declared a state of military readiness for the Baku Party Organization. A decision was made to place the entire Baku regional party organization on high alert, with supreme party leadership and command functions entrusted to the newly formed Combat Headquarters. This decision suspended the organizational activities of the ACP Central Committee, the Baku Committee, and all regional committees, transferring their operations to the Combat Headquarters. All party members were mobilized and ordered to follow the directives and instructions of the Combat Headquarters. Furthermore, any failure to fulfill assigned duties, concealment, or delays were considered acts of treason and betrayal, punishable accordingly. At that time, an illegal issue of the newspaper "Yeni Dunya", the organ of the AKP Central and Baku Committees, was published with slogans such as "A call to overthrow the bey-khan government of Musavat", "Long live Soviet power!" and "Long live Soviet independent red Azerbaijan!". On 25 April, communist statements, leaflets, and posters related to the day of the uprising were printed clandestinely at the government printing house. On 26 April, an emergency meeting of the AKP Central Committee and the RCP Caucasus Bureau established an operational headquarters to lead the uprising. The headquarters included Mirza Davud Huseynov, I.I. Dovletov, E.A. Kvantaliani, Victor Naneyshvili, Hamid Sultanov, and I.N. Chikaryov. The military-operational leadership of the uprising was carried out from two locations—the main headquarters at house No. 101 on Gymnasium Street (now Lev Tolstoy Street) and the city headquarters at house No. 36 on Shakhlar Lane near the Juma Mosque.
On the eve of the arrival of the XI Red Army
=== The military-political situation in the spring of 1920 === In early January 1920, the Soviet Russian Commissar for Foreign Affairs, Georgy Chicherin, sent a note to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (ADR), Fatali Khan Khoyski. In the note, Chicherin proposed an alliance against Anton Denikin, the leader of the White Army, attempting to draw the ADR into the Russian Civil War. Khoyski rejected Chicherin's proposal. In a second note, Chicherin criticized the Azerbaijani government in diplomatic language for rejecting the offer. In a response written by Fatali Khan at the beginning of February, he stated that any discussions on this matter would first require the recognition of Azerbaijan's sovereignty. Chicherin, avoiding the issue of recognition in his reply, interpreted Khoyski's response as a rejection of the offer. As Azerbaijani communists prepared for an uprising, the Red Army, having defeated the White Army forces in southern Russia in the Don and North Caucasus regions, approached Azerbaijan's borders. In March, Kirov reported to the Central Committee of the Russian Communist Party that Azerbaijani communists planned to overthrow the Musavat government with the support of Red Army and navy forces, combined with an uprising of workers and peasants. By the spring of 1920, Soviet Russia had recognized the independence of three non-Soviet states that had emerged within the former empire: Poland, Finland, and Estonia. At that time, several power centers were vying for control across the fragmented territory of the former empire. Makhno's forces were active in southeastern Ukraine, White Army troops defended Crimea, and the war against White Finnish forces continued in Karelia. Particular attention was focused on the Polish front. On 6 March, Polish troops launched an offensive in Belarus, capturing Mozyr and Kalinkovichi. Four attempts by the 12th and 14th Red Army units to counterattack and recapture Mozyr failed. In March, a course of action favoring a military resolution to the Azerbaijan issue gained prominence among Bolshevik leadership. Nonetheless, even Vladimir Lenin harbored certain doubts. The intensification of Soviet-Polish tensions prompted him to reconsider the feasibility of the operation. Simultaneously, he considered the continuation of diplomatic dialogue. On 11 March, Lenin wrote to Lev Trotsky:
No matter how much Khan Khoyski disputes, serious negotiations are evidently needed. If we must direct all our forces toward Poland and Finland, and if oil can be obtained peacefully, wouldn't it be prudent to delay the war? Despite Lenin's hesitation regarding a large-scale or protracted conflict in the South Caucasus due to the Soviet-Polish tensions, A. Marshal suggests that the prospect of military operations on the Western Front underscored Soviet Russia's urgent need for oil. As a result, Lenin approved the organization of a coup to overthrow the government in Baku on 17 March. According to Russian historian V. M. Mukhanov, optimistic reports from the Caucasian front about the Red Army's successful progress in the North Caucasus convinced Lenin that this approach was the correct one. On the same day, Lenin sent a telegram to members of the Military Revolutionary Council of the Caucasian Front, Ivar Smilga and Sergo Ordzhonikidze:
Baku is extremely, extremely important to us. Direct all efforts toward this, but ensure absolute diplomacy in statements and guarantee the solid establishment of local Soviet authority. The same applies to Georgia, but I recommend acting with greater caution. Meanwhile, the membership of the Azerbaijani Communist Party continued to grow, reaching 4,000 members by April 1920. Many viewed surrendering to the Bolsheviks as the only way to save the republic. Notably, then-Minister of Internal Affairs Mammad Hasan Hajinski actively advocated this idea. Even after being assigned to less central positions within the Cabinet of Ministers, Hajinski continued to support pro-Russian economic activities, including the sale of oil to the Soviets. Given the deteriorating situation on the Polish front, certain military units from the Caucasus had to be redeployed. This necessitated discussion not about the plan for the Baku operation but rather about the number of forces to be allocated for it. On 21 March, Lev Trotsky, chairman of the Military Revolutionary Council, directly contacted Stalin, who was managing reinforcements for the Caucasian front. Trotsky remarked:
It is planned to withdraw three infantry divisions and three cavalry divisions from you in connection with the capture of Novorossiysk and Grozny. Additional forces will only be sent to you after navigation opens. Under such conditions, do you consider it feasible to carry out and maintain the Baku operation? Keep in mind the possibility of Azerbaijan receiving support from Georgia. Stalin responded that six divisions could be sent to the Polish front from the Caucasian front, and "the remaining forces will easily secure the Baku region. Georgians will not pose a threat if we promise them neutrality." By that time, the 11th Red Army had approached Dagestan, where battles continued between White forces and mountain insurgents. Turkish General Nuri Pasha fled from Dagestan to Azerbaijan on the night of 21 March. Meanwhile, the situation in Karabakh escalated. On the night of 22–23 March, as Nowruz celebrations were underway, Armenian armed groups launched a surprise attack on Azerbaijani garrisons in Shusha, Askeran, and Khankendi, attempting to catch them unprepared. The Azerbaijani government deployed its main armed forces to Karabakh to suppress the uprising. While Azerbaijani troops were engaged in quelling the uprising in Karabakh, the struggle for Dagestan reached its final stage. On the night of 25 March, the 1st Derbent Soviet Regiment and Lezgi insurgents attacked Derbent, capturing the city and later advancing toward the port of Petrovsk. In the north, insurgents launched an offensive on the Temir-Khan-Shura front on 26 March, breaking through the front line and capturing Temir-Khan-Shura the following day. To the north of the city, the 11th Red Army entered Khasavyurt on 28 March. The combined Red Army and insurgent forces occupied Petrovsk on 30 March. General D. P. Drachyenko's troops boarded ships and moved toward Baku. The 11th Red Army units reached the Azerbaijani border. In this context, it is essential to highlight the observations of academic Pustakhanim Azizbeyova. She emphasized that the Soviet Russian party-state leadership embraced Karl Marx's idea of world revolution and linked the Russian Revolution with revolutions in advanced countries like Germany, France, and England. She cited Nikolai Bukharin's words: "...every proletarian state has the right to red intervention," because "the expansion of the Red Army signifies the spread of socialism, proletarian power, and revolution." Azizbeyova concluded that:
The October Revolution was primarily a Russian revolution. Subsequently, during the struggle against the White Army, the revolution, represented by Soviet power, extended to the peripheries of the former empire. The same occurred in Azerbaijan and throughout Transcaucasia.
Preparation for Military Operation
The relocation and assembly of new Red Army forces began in Dagestan. On 2 April, an order issued by M.K. Levandovski, commander of the 11th Red Army, and K.A. Mekhanoshin, a member of the army's Revolutionary Military Council, tasked Corps Commander Smirnov with relocating certain military units, including moving troops from Port-Petrovsk to Derbent. Additionally, the 7th Cavalry Brigade of the 34th Cavalry Division was assigned to the command of the 7th Cavalry Division. The same order instructed the 49th Division and the Terek Group to move towards Port-Petrovsk, while Nesterovskiy was directed to position his troops in Dagestan alongside Smirnov's corps. It was anticipated that by mid-April, the 39th Division, Kuryshko's Cavalry Division, and the 2nd and 32nd Divisions would arrive in Temir-Khan-Shura. On 15 April, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, Fatali Khan Khoyski, sent a note to Georgy Chicherin, the People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic. The note, which went unanswered, stated:
