46
of the religious institution), establishment of “Omar” school and “Ali” school,
which further expanded the gap between Shiis and Sunnis”. (15)
The existence of non-confidence of the Tsarist regime to Azerbaijanis
was also encountered in the fact that Azerbaijanis were not enrolled into the
army. This in fact brought about inability of using ammunition and put them in a
vulnerable situation during the turmoil. In this regard M. E. Rasulzade wrote
“one of the great damages imposed on Azerbaijani Turks by the Tsarist regime
was the deprivation of their enrollment in the military service. By doing this the
tsarist regime wanted to marginalize the Turks”. (16)
As the consequence of imperial policy of the Tsarist Russia and the
Soviet Russia and instigation between nations and religions and their ultimate
destruction horrible crimes were committed by Armenians towards Azerbaijanis
in 1918.
The result of the elections held to the Baku Soviet in October 22.1917
and to the Assembly in Transcaucasia in November 26-28, 1917 proved that
Bolsheviks did not have any strong public support in the South Caucasus. Even
the Bolsheviks, who took power in Baku with false pledges, could not possess
complete control over the city until the March events in 1918. They could not
stop the activity of the city Duma and of National Council, could not disarm
national troops and break the resistance of bourgeoisie. The Baku Soviet set a
goal to remove “Musavat” party in order to take the real power in the city. For
this reason the Baku Soviet increased its pressure on Muslim population that
backed this party and thus it used Armenians in implementing this policy.
In January-March, 1918 Armenian nationalist parties enhanced their
different provocation and blackmail campaign to increase hostility towards
Muslim population. The Baku Soviet under the leadership of Shaumyan
promoted Armenians to high-ranking posts in the Soviet agencies.
The head of the Baku Commune, established in April 1918, Shaumyan,
did not only recognize the right of self-determination, but also did not accept
using the word “Azerbaijan”. “Bakinsky rabochy” newspaper, Amiryan as the
editor, did also mock at this word. (17)
After the elimination of the Caucasian frontthe Russian soldiers sold
their weapons very cheaply to Armenians. As there was famine in Russia the
majority of soldiers prefer to stay in Baku. Armenian nationalist party
“Dashnaksutun” declared the necessity to seize the power in Baku until a week
remained to the March massacre. Under this circumstance the Muslim
population set up self-defense forces in Ganja, Baku and Lankaran, however the
process did not gather momentum.
Western powers exacerbated the situation by their effort to use
Armenian military forces to their own interests, and thus to being indifferent to
the tragedy of local population. The confidential information of the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs of the United Kingdom, dated January 4, 1918, clearly reflected
47
the interest of the British in the South Caucasus. This document attached a
special importance to the propaganda against Turkey. Mr. P. Kok's report stated:
“The model of propaganda among Caucasus Muslims is simple. We shouldurge
the king of Saudi Arabia to send influential delegation to the Caucasus and
receive support from Muslims of Caucasus and Crimea to liberate holy sites of
Arabs from Turkish invaders. Apart from that they should be encouraged to
continue war and keep great number of Turks in the Caucasus front”. (18)
The Armenian armed forces responded to the agreement reached
between religious leaders in order to prevent killing during the conflict:
“Muslim religious leaders may reconcile with Armenian religious leaders,
however Armenian nation is willing to wage a war towards Muslims and Britain
will support Armenia in this fight”. (19)
Pro-British propaganda of Armenian politicians after the collapse of the
Russian Empire led to the change of attitude of Muslims towards the British.
Muslims addressed to the Transcaucasian Seim and demanded to stop
negotiations with the British government and expressed their dissatisfaction
against the arrival of the British military forces to Caucasus.
In January 22, 1918 Captain Noel wrote about deterioration of
relations: “when I was here 6 weeks ago head of the Azerbaijani community
behaved us friendly. Now, upon return to Baku, I notice the change of attitude as
it was replaced with the hostility. It can be explained as the follows:
1.
The common view on our support to Armenian interests.
2.
The facts show that the Armenians emphasize this view and easily
abuse it.
3.
Priority given to the establishment of Armenian national forces. I
assume that it overlaps with the view of Russian head quarters “we back
Armenians, but do not count on Muslims”. To my mind this policy is wrong and
it will most likely lead to disaster. (20)
Dashnaks, pursuing their cunning policy, preferred to achieve their
target with the help of Bolsheviks in March-April 1918 since the western forces
were away.