NAGORNO KARABAKH DURING THE ESTABLISHMENT OF SOVIET RULE IN THE TRANSCAUCASIA

     The struggle for self-determination of the Armenians of Nagorno Karabakh saw dramatic development during the establishment of the Soviet rule in the Transcaucasia.

On April 29, the next day after the Soviet rule was established in Azerbaijan, the Foreign Komissar (Foreign Minister) of the Soviet Azerbaijan Huseinov send the following note to government of the Republic of Armenia: "On behalf of the government of workers and peasants of the Soviet Azerbaijani Republic, the Revolutionary Committee demands that first of all that your armed forces must leave the territory of Karabakh and Zangezur." This note confirms that the government of Soviet Azerbaijan inherited the principles of Azerbaijani Democratic Republic's aggressive policy. According to the bolshevik's plan of "exporting the revolution", the leadership of the Red Army demanded from the Commander of the Armed Forces of Karabakh-Zangezur Drastamat Kanayan (Dro) to leave Karabakh.In case of noncompliance with this demand, the armed confrontation between Armenia and Azerbaijan was inevitable. In this case the Red Army and the armed forces of Soviet Azerbaijan would have to act jointly against the Republic of Armenia and Nagorno Karabagh.

     In this situation on May 26 the tenth congress of Karabakh Armenians, which took place in Taghavard village, proclaimed Nagorno Karabakh to be Soviet. The Revolutionary Committee of Nagorno Karabagh was formed headed by S. Hambartsumian. On the same day Drastamat Kanayan along with his units had to leave Karabakh.

     Detachments of the Karabakh-Zangezur group, which was formed from the units of the 11th Red Army, started to move towards Karabakh and Zangezur with a purpose to penetrate Nakhichevan and unite with the "revolutionary" Turkish Army. Thus, during the spring, summer and fall of 1920 joint efforts of the detachments of the Red Army and those of Soviet Azerbaijan were directed at toppling the independence struggle of the Karabakh Armenians. Situation in the region remained tense and explosive.

     But even under these circumstances, Soviet Russia did not annex Nagorno Karabakh to Soviet Azerbaijan, taking into consideration the fact that the international community did not recognize the sovereignty of Azerbaijan over Nagorno Karabagh in 1918-1920. On August 10, 1920 , Soviet Russia and still independent Republic of Armenia sign a treaty, which stated "the fact that the disputed territories are occupied by the Soviet troops does not predetermine the question about the rights of the Republic of Armenia or the Soviet Socialistic Republic of Azerbaijan to these territories".

     Establishment of the Soviet Rule in Nagorno Karabakh marked the beginning of the policy of "peaceful" occupation of the region by the government of Azerbaijan . Gradually governmental positions in the Soviet and Party structures were occupied by the Azerbaijans .

     However, the policy of "peaceful" invasion of Nagorno Karabakh came across a decisive resistance from the Armenians of Nagorno Karabakh. In June 1920, the Armenians began the struggle for independence, which in the fall of the same year grew into a powerful national uprising. From the beginning of January 1921, Artsakh was free and independent again.

     Presenting the liberation movement of the Karabakh Armenians as anti-Soviet, the government of Azerbaijan with the assistance of the Red Army was able to crush it in the end of April, 1921.

     With the establishment of the Soviet rule in Armenia, the argument of its influence, which was used by the Azeri bolsheviks and the commanding staff of the 11 th Red Army lost its meaning. On the next day after the proclamation of the Armenian Soviet Socialistic Republic (November 30, 1920), the Revolutionary Committee (Revcom) of Azerbaijan officially addressed the Armenian Revcom:

     "Greetings of the Revco to everybody. On behalf of the Soviet Socialistic Republic of Azerbaijan convey the Armenians this decision of the Azerbaijani Revcom of November 30: The government of workers and peasants of Azerbaijan, learned about the proclamation of a Soviet Socialistic Republic in Armenia by the rebelled peasants and welcomed the victory of the brotherly people. From now on the borders between Armenia and Azerbaijan are annulled. Nagorno Karabakh, Zangezur, and Nakhichevan are recognized as a composite parts of Armenian Socialistic Republic. Long live the brotherhood and unity of the workers and peasants of Soviet Armenia and Azerbaijan.
     Head of the Azerbaijani Revcom N. NarimanovPeople's Commissar of Foreign Affairs Huseynov. "

     This telegram was read at the solemn session of the Baku Council as a declaration on December 1. However, on December 2 of the same year, Narimanov published the same document with some changes: "The territories of Zangezur and Nakhichevan are inseparable parts of Soviet Armenia, while the working peasantry of Nagorno Karabakh is given a full right to self-determination." Having made these changes, Narimanov created grounds for his further disavowal from the decision made on November 30.

     On June 3 1921 , the Cauacasus Bureau (Kavbureau) of the Russian Communist Party of Bolsheviks with the participation of Narimanov, unanimously resolved to "mention that Nagorno Karabagh belongs to Armenia in the declaration of the Armenian government".

     In accordance with the mentioned decision of Kavbureau, the government of Soviet Armenia issues a decree on June 12, which states that "based on the declaration of the Revcom of the Socialistic Soviet Republic of Azerbaijan and agreement between the Socialistic Republics of Armenia and Azerbaijan it is declared that from now on Nagorno Karabakh is an inseparable part of the Socialistic Soviet Republic of Armenia".

     In order to define the borders of Trascaucasian republics, Kavbureau created a commission headed by S. Kirov on May 2, 1921 . However, the ratio in national composition of the commission did not allow making an impartial decision. On June 27 the commission ceased its operation and left the decision up to the Kavbureau.

     The Kavbureau Plenum made the decision on July 4 to "include Nagorno Karabakh in the Armenian SSR", but to recognize the need for a referendum in Nagorno Karabakh in order to formally ensure the right of people to self-determination.The Chairman of the Azerbaijani Revcom Narimanov, being against the unification of Nagorno Karabakh with Armenia and holding a referendum, suggested to "leave the final decision up to the Central Committee of the Russian Communist Party (CCRCP) of Bolsheviks due to the importance of the Karabakhian problem to Azerbaijan." After this statement Kavbureau makes the decision to leave the discussions of the problem up to the CCRCP.

     Instead of transferring the discussion of the problem to Moscaw, an extraordinary session of the Kavbureau was called on July 5, which, under Stalin's pressure, resolved "to leave Nagorno- Karabakh in the boundaries of Azerbaijani SSR and give it a wide regional autonomy with the administrative center in the town of Shoushi ." Meanwhile, as opposed to the first decision of the Kavbureau, in the decision adopted on July 5 there is not a word about a possibility to poll the population of Nagorno Karabakh, since the outcome of such a referendum will be easy to predict.

     The session of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Armenia (CCCPA) on July 16, 1921 expressed its disagreement with the decision of the Kavbureau.

     However, even after the decision of the Kavbureau, the leadership of Azerbaijan was not going to form an autonomous region. Only two years later, under the pressure of the Kavbureau, the Nagorno Karabakh autonomous region (NKAR) was formed on a part of Karabakh's territory according to the decree of the Central Electoral Commission of July 7, 1923 . The remaining part of Nagorno Karabakh became part of Azerbaijan SSR. Only Shahoumian region remained as a distinctive administrative entity. Administrative borders of other Armenian-populated territories were repeatedly changed and by 1988 were part of Khanlar, Kedabek and Shamkhor regions (in the mountainous and pre-mountainous parts). Moreover, during the demarcation of the north-western border of NKAR, Lachin and Kelbajar regions were annexed thus leaving no link with Armenia .

     Thus, all the documents in the scientific circulation undoubtedly prove that till the middle of 1921 the Nagorno Karabakh problem was solved in a favorable to Armenia way. However, in the middle of June 1921, Azerbaijan makes a sharp turn. The events of that period demonstrate that the Declaration and the Appeal of the Azerbaijani Revcom on the occasion of the establishment of Soviet rule in Armenia were of propagandistic nature.

     The decision of Kavbureau of July 5, 1921 does not have a legal base. This party organ, which consisted of eight people was not legitimate in its decision to transfer a historic Armenian territory to Azerbaijan, which did not belong to the latter, without taking into account the opinion of the Armenian people, Armenian government and the Communist party of Armenia

     In the above-mentioned decision of the Kavbureau, the "Turkish factor" also played a decisive role, just like it did during the Moscow treaty of March, 1921, when Armenian region of Nakhichevan was given to Azerbaijan under Turkish pressure.

Artsakh from ancient times till 1918

Principilates of Artsakh

Nagorono Karabakh in 1918-1920

Nagorno Karabakh during the establishment of soviet rule in Transcaucasia

Nagorno Karabakh's Struggle for Freedom

Genocide of the Armenians

War of 1991 - 1994