March Days: Difference between revisions

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Revision as of 10:56, 27 January 2007 editTengri (talk \| contribs)60 edits Nareklm please stop moving the references out of context without having your own, the piece you blockquoted is about March events not about September, see discussion page for details.← Previous edit		Revision as of 19:47, 27 January 2007 edit undoAivazovsky (talk \| contribs)25,346 editsm RvNext edit →
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	The '''March Days''' or '''March events''' refers to a period during the ] from March to early April ] when ethnic ] were massacred by ] and ] forces in the city of ] (present-day ]).<ref name="Smith">{{ru icon}} </ref> Equating the Azeris with the Ottoman Turks, the Dashnaks began the massacre in revenge for the ]. <ref name="Croissant-14">Michael P. Croissant. ''The Armenia-Azerbaijan Conflict: Causes and Implications'', p. 14. ISBN 0-275-96241-5</ref>		The '''March Days''' or '''March events''' refers to a period during the ] from March to early April ] when ethnic ] were massacred by ] and ] forces in the city of ] and other areas of former Baku governorate (present-day ]).<ref name="Smith">{{ru icon}} </ref> Equating the Azeris with the Ottoman Turks, the Dashnaks began the massacre in revenge for the ]. <ref name="Croissant-14">Michael P. Croissant. ''The Armenia-Azerbaijan Conflict: Causes and Implications'', p. 14. ISBN 0-275-96241-5</ref> Although not an isolated incident, given the participation of the Azerbaijanis during the Ottoman offensive on ] in early 1918, the March Days played a significant role in bringing pre-existing inter-ethnic tensions to the forefront of Armenian-Azeri relations. <ref name="Croissant-14" /> According to various sources a total of between 3,000 to 12,000 Muslims were killed during the violence. <ref name="Smith" /> Less than six months later, in September 1918, ]'s ] supported by local Azeri forces recaptured Baku and subsequently killed an estimated 10,000 to 20,000 ethnic Armenians in retaliation. <ref></ref> <ref name="Croissant-15">Croissant. ''Armenia-Azerbaijan Conflict'', p. 15.</ref>

		⚫	==References==
	== Preceding events ==
			<references />
	On March 9th, 1918, the staff of Azerbaijani Savage Division arrived in Baku. Its Commander, General Talyshinski was immediately arrested by the Baku Soviet, which resulted in calls for armed resistance to the Soviet among the Azerbaijanis in the city. ], the leader of Baku Soviet, could have prevented much bloodshed, had he been less impulsive and stubborn <ref>Firuz Kazemzadeh, ''Struggle For Transcaucasia (1917 - 1921)'', New York Philosophical Library, 1951, p. 69.</ref>. Only a few days before the arrival of General Talyshinski and his staff, ] had received a telegram from Lenin which read:
	::''Dear Comrade Shaumyan:''
	::''Many thanks for the letter. We are delighted by your firm and decisive policy; do unite with it a most cautious diplomacy, which is doubtlessly made necessary by the present most difficult situation, and we shall win.''
	::''The difficulties are unfathomable; up to now we have been saved by the contradictions and conflicts and the struggle among imperialists. Be able to use these conflicts; now it is necessary to learn diplomacy.''
	::''Best wishes and greetings to all the friends''
	:::::''V. Ulyanov (Lenin)''<ref>Stepan Shaumyan, ''Статьи и речи'', Baku, p. 224</ref>

	The telegram shows that Lenin, with his genius for appreciating people, felt the rashness of ]. Lenin's advice about diplomacy was nothing but a warning to be more careful and less provoking <ref>Firuz Kazemzadeh, ''Struggle For Transcaucasia (1917 - 1921)'', New York Philosophical Library, 1951, p. 70.</ref>.

	The release of Talyshinski might have have closed the incident, but on 30th March the Soviet received information that the Muslim crew of the ship ''Evelina'' was armed and ready to revolt against the Soviet. The report lacked foundation in fact, but the Soviet acted on it and disarmed the crew which, it seems, tried to resist <ref>''Документы об истории гражданской войны в С.С.С.Р.,'' Vol. 1, pp. 282-283.</ref>. In response, a huge crowd gathered in the yard of one of the Baku mosques and adopted a resolution, demanding the release of the rifles confiscated by the Soviet from the crew of the ''Evelina''. On the next day a delegation of Muslims asked the Soviet to restore the arms. One of the Bolshevik leaders, Japaridze, promised to satisfy this demand, but in the meantime shooting started in the streets <ref>''Claims of the Peace Delegation of the Republic of Caucasian Azerbaijan presented to the Peace Conference in Paris'', Paris, 1919, pp. 18-19.</ref>.

	== Massacre on 30th-31st March, 1918 ==
	It's immaterial who fired the first shot. The fact counts that by 6 p.m, 30th March, 1918, Baku was a regular battlefield. Trenches were being dug, barricades erected, and preparations made for real warfare <ref>Tchalkhouchian, Gr. ''Le livre rouge'', Paris, Veradzenout, 1919, pp. 85-86</ref> The Soviet, led by ], realized that full civil war was starting and its own forced were insufficient against Azerbaijani masses led by Musavat. Allies were found among Baku Mensheviks, S.R.'s, and the Kadets (right-wing liberals), which promised support the Bolsheviks as the champions of the "Russian Cause" <ref>B. Baikov. ''Воспоминания о революции в Закавказии'', Memoirs of Russian Kadet in Baku 1917 - 1920, p. 122.</ref>.

	Musavat quickly noticed the nationalist nature of the conflict perpetrated by the Shauyman-led Soviet <ref>Firuz Kazemzadeh. ''Struggle for Transcaucasia (1917 - 1921)'', New York Philosophical Library, 1951, p. 71</ref> Musavat's newspaper ''Achiq Söz'' wrote the Bolsheviks, who had fought the Mensheviks for a whole year, were now uniting even with Kadets and the Dashnaks, and that such cooperation could only be explained by policy of provoking one nationality against the other. It further stated that instead of fighting a class war, Soviet was involved in a tragic capitulation of democracy <ref>''Achiq Söz'', No. 627, 1918.</ref>.

	But it was neither the Kadets, nor the Mensheviks, nor the S.R.'s who saved the Soviet during the March Days. It was the Dashnaktsutiun with its military organization that tipped the scaled in its favor. At first the Armenian National Council proclaimed its neutrality in the quarrel between the Musavat and the Soviet. It has even been suggested that the Armenians told the Musavat that the latter might expect their help against the Bolsheviks. If this was the case, then the Armenians were largely responsible for provoking the massacre that ensued, because the Musavat plunged into the armed conflict, thinking that it had only one enemy to face <ref>Firuz Kazemzadeh. ''Struggle For Transcaucasia (1917 - 1921)'', New York Philosophical Library, 1951, p. 71.</ref>. In fact, Suren Shaumyan, the brother of ] wrote that "the Muslim National Council would not have taken up arms, had it not confidence in its ally " <ref>Suren Shaumyan. "Бакинская Коммуна 1918-го года", ''Пролетарская Революция'', No. 12 (59), 1926, p. 78.</ref>

	On 31st March 1918, the ultimatium was issued by the Baku Soviet to Musavat, with the term of compliance set at 3 p.m. on 1st April, 1918 <ref>Tchalkhouchian, Gr., ''open citation'', pp. 85-86</ref> Although Musavat at last moment accepted the ultimatum, the fighting was uncontrollable on the streets of Baku, and the Armenians who had loudly proclaimed their neutrality suddenly swung towards the Soviet and joined the attack against the Musavat:
	::''In that bloodthirsty episode, which had such fatal effects upon the Muslims, the principal part was played by the Armenians, who were then in Baku, clustering as elsewhere around their nationalist party ... The truth is that the Armenians under the guise of Bolshevism, rushed on the Muslims and massacred during a few frightful days more than 12,000 people, many of whom were old men, women, and children''<ref>''Claims of the Peace Delegation of the Republic of Caucasian Azerbaijan Presented to the Peace Conference in Paris'', Paris, 1919, pp. 18-19.</ref>.

	An Azerbaijani Boshevik, Effendiev, wrote:
	::''The Dashnaks, who for handsome pay protected the capitalists, Taghiev, Naghiev, and others, massacred to a man, in the name of the Soviet, the population of entire blocks and sections inhabitted by the Muslim poor. The Dashnaks under the command of such millionaires as Lalaiev and others, were now destroying not only the Musavatists but Muslims in general... The course of events led to a situation in which the comrades who stood at the head of the Soviet, ], Japaridze, and others, became themselves prisonsers of Dashnaks.''<ref>''Жизнь Национальностей'', No. 25 (33), 6th July, 1919</ref>

	It's possible to state that the Soviet provoked the "civil war" in the hope of breaking the power of its most formidable rival, the Musavat <ref>Firuz Kazemzadeh. ''Struggle For Transcaucasia (1917 - 1921)'', New York Philosophical Library, 1951, p. 74-75.</ref> . However, once the Soviet had called upon the Dashnaktsutiun to lend its assistance in the struggle against the Azerbaijani nationalists in Baku, the "civil war" degenerated into massacre, the Armenians killing the Muslims irrespective of their political affiliations or social and economic position.<ref>Firuz Kazemzadeh. ''Struggle For Transcaucasia (1917 - 1921)'', New York Philosophical Library, 1951, p. 75.</ref> That the attack was directed just as much against the civilian population as against the military detachments of Musavat there can be no doubt. Every Azerbaijani whom the Dashnak bands could catch was killed. Many Persians lost their lives too.<ref>''Известия'', No. 90, Moscow, 9th May, 1918.</ref>. According to various sources a total of between 3,000 to 12,000 Muslims were killed during the violence <ref name="Smith" />. In fact, Shauyman said that 20,000 men took part in the fighting:
	::''For us the results of the battle were brilliant. The destruction of the enemy was complete. We dictated to them the conditions which were signed without reservation. More than 3,000 were killed on both sides''<ref>Ratgauzer, Ia. ''Революция и гражданская война в Баку''. Baku, 1927, p. 144.</ref>.


	== Aftermath ==
	The March events touched off a series of massacres all over ]. According to Firuz Kazemzadeh:
	::"''The brutalities continued for weeks. No quarter was given by either side: neither age nor sex was respected. Enormous crowds roamed the streets, burning houses, killing every passer-by who was identified as an enemy, many innocent persons suffering death at the hands of both the Armenians and Azerbaijanis. The struggle which had begun as a political contest between the Musavat and the Soviet assumed the characters of a gigantic race riot.''"<ref>Firuz Kazemzadeh. ''Struggle for Transcaucasia (1917 - 1921)'', New York Philosophical Library, 1951, p. 73.</ref> <ref name=azeris>The Armenia-Azerbaijan Conflict: Causes and Implications By Michael P. Croissant - Page 14, quoted word-to-word from Firuz Kazemzadeh, "Struggle for Transcaucasia", 1951, p. 73</ref>.

	The Armenian archbishop Bagrat wrote a letter to the ] mission in ], explaining the March Events. The letter began with the usual accusations that the Azerbaijanis, being the disciples of the Turks and the ], could not be trusted. Having thus disposed of the Azerbaijani version of the events, Bagrat stated that the battle was waged by the Musavat and the Soviet, while the Armenians remained neutral. It's true, he continued, that some Armenian soldiers took part in the fighting, but those were only isolated individuals for whom the Armenian National Council could not be held responsible. The Archbishop placed the entire guilt upon the Musavat, calling it the helper of Turks<ref>Firuz Kazemzadeh. ''Struggle for Transcaucasia (1917 - 1921)'', New York Philosophical Library, 1951, p. 73.</ref>. As far as massacred of civilians was concerned, Archbishop Bagrat denied that the Armenians had anything to do with it. He claimed that on the contrary, the Armenians gave shelter to some 20,000 Muslims during the struggle<ref>Jean Loris-Melikof. ''La revolution russe et les nouvelles Republiques Transcaucasiennes,'' Paris, Felix Alcan, 1920, pp. 115-117.</ref>.Persian Armenians in Baku tried to and saved many lives of their fellow citizens, which may have been the basis for Archbishop Bagrat's exaggerated assertion that some 20,000 Muslims were saved by Armenians<ref>Firuz Kazemzadeh. ''Struggle for Transcaucasia (1917 - 1921)'', New York Philosophical Library, 1951, p. 73.</ref>.

	Although not an isolated incident, given the participation of the Azerbaijanis during the Ottoman offensive on ] in early 1918 <ref name=azeris>The Armenia-Azerbaijan Conflict: Causes and Implications By Michael P. Croissant - Page 14</ref>, the March Days played a significant role in bringing pre-existing inter-ethnic tensions to the forefront of Armenian-Azeri relations. <ref name="Croissant-14" /> According to various sources a total of between 3,000 to 12,000 Muslims were killed during the violence. <ref name="Smith" /> Less than six months later, in September 1918, in a period called ] <ref name=azeris>The Armenia-Azerbaijan Conflict: Causes and Implications By Michael P. Croissant - Page 14</ref>, ]'s ] supported by local Azeri forces recaptured Baku and subsequently killed an estimated 10,000 to 20,000 ethnic Armenians in retaliation. <ref></ref> <ref name="Croissant-15">Croissant. ''Armenia-Azerbaijan Conflict'', p. 15.</ref>

	However, the figure in September 1918 events above roughly speculated by Michael Croissant without serious research, is clarified by the data from the Armenian National Council. According to Dr. Firuz Kazemzadeh, "''on 15th September, 1918, Azerbaijani troops burst into the city. The Turks remained outside for three days, while Azerbaijanis took a full measure of revenge for the March Events. Figures gathered by a special commission of the Armenian National Council indicate that 5,248 Baku Armenians were massacred. Moreover, 1,500 Armenian refugees from other parts of the Caucasus who happened to have been in Baku at the wrong time were killed. To this Commission added 2,240 Armenians whose corpses were found in the streets but whose identities were never established. Thus the total reached 8,988. It must be noted that these figures were gathered by the '''Armenian''' National Council, whom one can hardly expect to be objective in such a matter; <ref>Firuz Kazemzadeh. "Struggle for Transcaucasia (1917-1921)", New York Philosophical Library 1951, p. 143-144.</ref> yet, considering the general run of events, they cannot be much exaggerated'' <ref>B. Ishkhanian. ''Великие ужасы в городе Баку'', Tiflis, 1920, pp. 28-30 as quoted by Firuz Kazemzadeh, "Struggle for Transcaucasia", p. 144.</ref>".

	==See also==		==See also==
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⚫	==References==
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Revision as of 19:47, 27 January 2007

The March Days or March events refers to a period during the Russian Civil War from March to early April 1918 when ethnic Azerbaijanis were massacred by Dashnak and Bolshevik forces in the city of Baku and other areas of former Baku governorate (present-day Azerbaijan). Equating the Azeris with the Ottoman Turks, the Dashnaks began the massacre in revenge for the Armenian Genocide. Although not an isolated incident, given the participation of the Azerbaijanis during the Ottoman offensive on Armenia in early 1918, the March Days played a significant role in bringing pre-existing inter-ethnic tensions to the forefront of Armenian-Azeri relations. According to various sources a total of between 3,000 to 12,000 Muslims were killed during the violence. Less than six months later, in September 1918, Enver Pasha's Army of Islam supported by local Azeri forces recaptured Baku and subsequently killed an estimated 10,000 to 20,000 ethnic Armenians in retaliation.

References

^ Template:Ru icon Michael Smith. Azerbaijan and Russia: Society and State: Traumatic Loss and Azerbaijani National Memory
^ Michael P. Croissant. The Armenia-Azerbaijan Conflict: Causes and Implications, p. 14. ISBN 0-275-96241-5
Human Rights Watch. "Playing the 'Communal Card': Communal Violence and Human Rights"
Croissant. Armenia-Azerbaijan Conflict, p. 15.

Revision as of 19:47, 27 January 2007

References

See also