Armenian-Azerbaijani War
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| Armenian-Azerbaijani war (1918 - 1920) | |||||||||
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| Part of Russian Civil War | |||||||||
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| Combatants | |||||||||
 Democratic Republic of Armenia Nagorno-Karabakh rebels |
 Azerbaijan Democratic Republic Ottoman Empire Azerbaijan SSR Russian SFSR |
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| Commanders | |||||||||
| Andranik Ozanian | Samedbey Mehmandarov | ||||||||
With the declaration of Armenia and Azerbaijan after the Russian Revolution of 1917 ended with a series of brutal and hard to classify wars between 1918, then 1920 to 1922. The conflict did not have a main pattern with standard armed structure. The conflicts involved civilians in the disputed districts of Kazakh-Shamshadin, Zanghezur, Nakhichevan and Karabakh. The use of guerrilla and semi-guerrilla operations were the main reasons for the high civilian casualties, which matches to nation building activities of newly established states. The reasons of behind the conflict is still far from being resolved after nearly a century.
The story of this campaign has very different perceptions; according to Armenian historians, Democratic Republic of Armenia was to include among the basic (Eastern Armenian) territories of Yerevan province including Nakhichevan, as well as the eastern and southern parts of Elisavetpol (Ganca) province.
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[edit] Background
First clashes between the Armenians and Azeris took place in Baku on February 1905. Soon, the conflict spilled over to other parts of the Caucasus, and on August 5, 1905 first conflict between the Armenian and Azeri population of Shusha took place. As a result of mutual pogroms and killings, hundreds of people died, more than 200 houses were burned just only in the Shusha town.[citation needed]
[edit] Active Stages
[edit] Fight for Baku, 1918-1919
- See also: Caucasus_Campaign#1918_-_Ottoman_Victory
In March 1918, ethnic and religious tensions grew and the Armenian-Azeri conflict in Baku began. Musavat and Committee of Union and Progress parties were accused of Pan-Turkism by Bolsheviks and their allies. Armenian and Muslim militia engaged in armed confrontation, with the formally neutral Bolsheviks tacitly supporting the Armenian side. As a result, thousands of Muslims were killed by extremist Armenian Dashnaks. Muslims were expelled from Baku, or went underground.
At the same time the Baku Commune was involved in heavy fighting with the advancing Caucasian Ottoman Army in and around Ganja. Major battles occurred in Yevlakh and Agdash, where the Turks routed and defeated Dashnak and Russian forces.
Things reversed back one more time when Enver Pasha, the Ottoman Empire, began to move forward with the newly established Army of Islam. Dunsterville ordered the evacuation of the city on September 14, after six weeks of occupation, and withdrew to Iran; most of the Armenian population escaped with British forces. The Ottoman Army of Islam and its Azeri allies, led by Nuri Pasha, entered Baku on September 15 and slaughtered between 10,000 - 20,000 Armenians in retaliation for the March massacre of Muslims. [1] [2] [3] The capital of the Azerbaijan was finally moved from Ganja to Baku. However, after the armistice of Mudros between the United Kingdom and the Ottoman Empire on October 30, Turkish troops were substituted by the Triple Entente. Headed by British general W. Thomson, who had declared himself the military governor of Baku, 5,000 Commonwealth soldiers arrived in Baku on November 17, 1918. By General Thomson's order, martial law was implemented in Baku.
The Armenian government tried several times to seize Shusha militarily. In January 1919 Armenian troops advanced towards Shusha, captured and destroyed 9 Azeri villages on their way but eventually had to retreat. Just before the Armistice of Mudros was signed, Andranik was on the way from Zangezur to Shusha, to control the main city of the Karabakh. The Armenian government tried several times to seize Shusha militarily, before. In January 1919 Armenian troops advancing, the British forces ordered Andranik back to Zangezur, and gave him the assurances that this conflict can be solved with the Paris Peace Conference, 1919. Andranik pulled back his units and British command at Baku gave the control to the Dr. Khosrov Bek Sultanov. Khosrov bey Sultanov, a native of Karabakh was appointed the general-governor of Karabakh. He had three Armenian and three Azeri aides.
[edit] Fight for Karabakh, early 1920
The largest Armenian-Azeri ethnic clashes in Shusha took place on March-April 1920. In the beginning of spring 1920 Azerbaijan, broke the agreement with the Armenians of Karabakh, and entered into the area with great military forces, declaring an ultimatum, ordering Armenians to hand over their weapons.[4] On the night from March 21-22, 1920 when the Azeris were celebrating Spring Equinox (Novruz Bayram), the Armenians of Karabakh began to revolt and organized a surprise attack.
They seized the approaches to Shusha, Khankendi, and the Askeran fortress, attacking the Azeri part of the town and burned the houses on their way.
However, the effect of suddenness backfired at the Armenians. Azeris infuriated by the attack on their holy day, launched a counteroffensive to the Armenian quarters of Shusha and burned almost the whole Armenian part of the town, forcing the Armenian population to flee. During these clashes thousands of people from both the Armenian and Azeri sides were killed, with more than 7,000 houses burned and Shusha virtually cleansed of its Armenian population.
The fighting increased in intensity by February 1920 and martial law was introduced in Karabakh, which was enforced by the newly formed National Army, led by general Samedbey Mehmandarov.
[edit] Sovietization of Azerbaijan, April 1920
In early April 1920 the Republic of Azerbaijan was in severely troubled situation. In the west, the Armenians still occupied large parts of Azeri territory; in the east, the local Azeri communists were rebelling against the government; and to the north the Russian Red Army was steadily moving southward having defeated Denikin's White Russian forces.
On April 27, 1920 the government of Azerbaijan Democratic Republic received a notice that the Soviet army was about to cross the northern border and invade ADR. Faced with such difficult situation the government officially surrendered to the Soviets, but many generals and local Azeri militias kept resisting the advance of the Soviet forces and it took a while for the Soviets to stabilize the newly proclaimed Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic, headed by the leading Azeri Bolshevik Nariman Narimanov.
While the Azeri government and army were in chaos, the Armenian army and local Armenian militias used the opportunity to affirm their control over parts of Azeri territory, taking Shusha, Khankendi, and other important cities. By the end of April the Armenian forces were in control of most of western Azerbaijan including all of Karabakh with the surrounding areas, as well as all of Nakhichevan and much of Kazakh-Shamshadin district. In the meantime, the Armenian communists attempted a coup in Armenia, but ultimately failed.
[edit] Azeri and Soviet counter-attack, May 1920
After having gained firm control of Azerbaijan, the Soviet forces moved on to reclaim the Armenian-occupied areas in the west for the Azerbaijan SSR. The Azeri army was reorganized along Soviet lines and reequipped with Russian weapons.
The Russian and Azeri offensive started in early June and resulted in quick defeat of Armenian forces. On June 5 the Armenian forces were expelled from Shusha. In early July Armenians withdrew from Tatev and suffered several defeats in Kazakh-Shamshadin area. On 28 July the Soviet forces and their Turkish allies staged an assault on Nakhichevan City, expelling Armenian forces and establishing a joint Russian/Azeri/Turkish occupation of the province. In early August, Armenian troops made one more attempt to take over Nakhichevan but were defeated at Shakh-Takhty by joint Soviet-Turkish corps. Thus, the Azerbaijan SSR was fully restored to the borders of Azerbaijan Democratic Republic prior to Armenian invasion.
On August 10 1920, the cease-fire agreement was signed in Yerevan between Soviet and Armenian forces, ending the hostilities and forcing Armenia to recognize the Azeri control of Karabakh and temporary independence of Nakhichevan. Sporadic fighting continued in Karabakh district where several Armenian warlords refused to stop guerilla war.
[edit] End of Hostilities, September-November 1920
- See also: Turkish-Armenian War and Treaty of Alexandropol
In September 1920 Armenia was engaged in a bitter war on another front against Turkish Revolutionaries. The Turkish-Armenian war of September-November 1920 stripped Armenia of most of its south-western territories, including Kars and Alexandropol, severely exhausted the military capacity of Armenian army, and left Armenia broken and abandoned. However, the Turkish forces were unable to completely defeat Armenia and after their defeat near Yerevan, Turkey signed a cease-fire.
In late November, there was yet another Soviet-backed communist uprising in Armenia. On November 28, 1920 blaming Armenia for the invasions of Sharur (20.11.1920) and Karabakh (21.11.1920), the 11th Red Army under the command of Anatoli Gekker, crossed the demarcation line between Democratic Republic of Armenia and Soviet Azerbaijan. The second Soviet-Armenian war lasted only a week.
[edit] Aftermath
The Armenian national liberation movement exhausted by the 6 years of permanent wars and conflicts, Armenian army and population were incapable of any further active resistance.
[edit] Sovietization of Armenia, December 1920
- See also: Democratic Republic of Armenia and Turkish-Armenian War
On December 4 1920, the Red Army entered Yerevan, the government of Democartic Republic of Armenian effectively surrendered. On December 5, the Armenian Revolutionary Committee (Revkom; made up of mostly Armenians from Azerbaijan) also entered the city. Finally, on the following day, on December 6, Felix Dzerzhinsky's dreaded secret police, Cheka entered Yerevan, thus effectively ending all existence of the Democratic Republic of Armenia. [5]
The Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic was then proclaimed, under the leadership of Aleksandr Miasnikyan.
[edit] Treaty of Kars, 23 October 1921
The violence in Transcaucasia was finally settled in a friendship treaty between Turkey and the Soviet Union. The peace Treaty of Kars, which was signed in Kars by the representatives of Russian SFSR, Azerbaijan SSR, Armenian SSR, Georgian SSR, and Turkey. Turkey had another agreement, "Treaty on Friendship and Brotherhood" also called Treaty of Moscow, signed on March 16, 1921 with Soviet Union.
By this treaty Nakhichevan was granted a status of an autonomous region within Azerbaijan. Turkey and Russia became guarantors of Nakhichevan's status. Turkey agreed to return Alexandropol to Armenia and Batumi to Georgia.
[edit] Notes
[edit] Bibliography
[edit] See also
- Azerbaijan Democratic Republic
- Democratic Republic of Armenia
- History of Nagorno-Karabakh (1915-1923)
- Turkish-Armenian War
