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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 (present-day Azerbaijan). Equating the Azeris with the Ottoman Turks, the Dashnaks began the massacre in revenge for the Armenian Genocide.

Preceding events

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. Stepan Shaumyan, the leader of Baku Soviet, could have prevented much bloodshed, had he been less impulsive and stubborn . Only a few days before the arrival of General Talyshinski and his staff, Shaumyan 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)

The telegram shows that Lenin, with his genius for appreciating people, felt the rashness of Shaumyan. Lenin's advice about diplomacy was nothing but a warning to be more careful and less provoking .

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 . 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 .

Battle and bloodshed

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 The Soviet, led by Shaumyan, 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" .

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, in a period called September Days , 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.

See also

• September Days

References

1. ^ Template:Ru icon Michael Smith. Azerbaijan and Russia: Society and State: Traumatic Loss and Azerbaijani National Memory
2. ^ Michael P. Croissant. The Armenia-Azerbaijan Conflict: Causes and Implications, p. 14. ISBN 0-275-96241-5
3. Firuz Kazemzadeh, Struggle For Transcaucasia (1917 - 1921), New York Philosophical Library, 1951, p. 69.
4. Stepan Shaumyan, Статьи и речи, Baku, p. 224
5. Firuz Kazemzadeh, Struggle For Transcaucasia (1917 - 1921), New York Philosophical Library, 1951, p. 70.
6. Документы об истории гражданской войны в С.С.С.Р., Vol. 1, pp. 282-283.
7. Claims of the Peace Delegation of the Republic of Caucasian Azerbaijan presented to the Peace Conference in Paris, Paris, 1919, pp. 18-19.
8. Tchalkhouchian, Gr. Le livre rouge, Paris, Veradzenout, 1919, pp. 85-86
9. B. Baikov. Воспоминания о революции в Закавказии, Memoirs of Russian Kadet in Baku 1917 - 1920, p. 122.
10. Human Rights Watch. "Playing the 'Communal Card': Communal Violence and Human Rights"
11. Croissant. Armenia-Azerbaijan Conflict, p. 15.

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