Diktatura Tsentrokaspiya

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Diktatura Tsentrokaspiya ( Central Caspian Dictatorship ) was a British-controlled anti-Soviet government founded in Baku on August 1, 1918. This regime replaced the pro-Soviet Baku Commune that collapsed on July 26, 1918, when the Bolsheviks were clearly outvoted in the Baku Soviet and were forced out of power. The new government was composed by the Socialist-Revolutionary Party, the Mensheviks and the Armenian nationalists known as the Dashnaks. All these forces asked British help in order to stop the advancing Ottoman Army of Islam that was marching towards Baku. British forces under General Dunsterville occupied the city and helped the mainly Dashnak-Armenian forces to defend the capital in the Battle of Baku. However, Baku fell on September 15, 1918 and an Azeri-Ottoman army entered the capital, causing British forces and much of the Armenian population to flee. The Ottoman Empire, however, capitulated on November 30, 1918 and the British occupational force re-entered Baku.