The people of
Karabakh and Zangezur
rejected to recognize the jurisdiction of the Azerbaijani Republic.
Here the two Armenian national uezd (district) Councils took the power
into their hands, organized and headed the struggle against
Azerbaijan.
On July 22, 1918 the First Congress of the
Armenians of Karabakh was convened, which proclaimed Nagorno-Karabakh
an independent administrative-political unit, elected the National
Council as well as the People’s government made up from seven persons.
On July 24, the Declaration of the People’s government of Karabakh was
adopted which set forth the objectives of the newly established state
power.
After this Congress the Azerbaijani government was
trying to incorporate Nagorno-Karabakh into the Azerbaijani territory
with the help of the Turkish troops. The commander of the troops, Nuri-Pasha,
laid an ultimatum to the National Council of Karabakh, however, the
second Congress of the Armenians of Karabakh, convened on September 6,
rejected this demand of the Turkish commandment and the government of
Azerbaijan.
On September 15, 1918, the Turkish troops entered
Baku and the great massacres of the Armenian population of the city
began the victims of which became 30 thousand Armenian. Hundreds of
villages in Baku and Yelizavetpol gubernias were subjected to
destruction and extermination. In these circumstances the command of
the Turkish troops’ again laid an ultimatum to the Nagorno-Karabakh
people’s government, demanding disarmament from Karabakh, the pass of
the Turkish and Azerbaijani troops into Shushi and recognising the
power of Azerbaijan.
To discuss the ultimatum the Third Congress of the
Armenians was convened. On September 17,1918 where the draft of the
answer to the Turks was adopted, in which the demands of disarmament
and subordination to the power of Azerbaijan were decisively rejected.
The Turkish command was compelled to refuse from the demand of the
general disarmament of the people and agreed not to insist on
recognising the power of Azerbaijan and preserve the status quo of
Karabakh. The Turks only insisted on the necessity of bearing the
troops into Shushi. Since the defeat of the German block in World War
I was the question of some days, People’s government of Karabakh
agreed on this demand to win the time. However the population of the
district was discontented and couldn’t reconcile themselves to
bringing the troops into Shushi.
Marching into Shushi without fighting the Turks
disarmed the Armenian population of the town, arrested the
representatives of intelligentsia. On this account the Armenians of
Karabakh cancelled the decision of the Third Congress and began to
prepare for resistance.
On October 31, 1918 Turkey admits its defeat in
World War I. Its troops retreated from Transcaucasia and the English
troops replaced them in December and became entire masters.
The government of Azerbaijan for this once tried to
capture Nagorno-Karabakh with the help of the English. The new borders
of Transcaucasia could not be defined without the agreement of
England. Stating that the fate of the disputable territories must be
solved at the Peace Conference in Paris, the English command in
reality did everything for incorporating Nagorno-Karabakh into
Azerbaijan long before the final resolution of the problem.
Establishing a full control over the export of the Baku oil, the
English sought the final secession of Transcaucasia from Russia;
Azerbaijan, as it was supposed, was to play a role of an advanced post
of the West in the South Caucasus to create barriers to the
sovietization of the region.
On this account the policy of the allied powers in
the relation with Transcaucasia had a pro-Azerbaijani trend. The
solution of the Karabakhian problem was dragged out rather calculating
on the development of the military-political situation that would be
favourable for Azerbaijan, therefore the change of the ethnic
structure of Nagorno-Karabakh.
On January 15, 1919 the Azerbaijani government with
"the knowledge of the English command" appointed Khosrovebek Sultanov
governor-general of Nagorno-Karabakh, simultaneously laying an
ultimatum to the Karabakhian National Council to recognize the power
of Azerbaijan.
On February 19, 1919 the 4th Congress of the
Armenian population of Karabakh was convened in Shushi, which
decisively rejected this ultimatum of Azerbaijan and expressed protest
in connection with the appointment of Sultanov governor-general. The
resolution adopted by the congress says, "Insisting on the principle of
the self-determination of a people, the Armenian population of
Karabakh respects the right of the neighbouring Turkish people for
self-determination and together with this decisively protests against
the attempts of the Azerbaijani government to eliminate this principle
in the relation of Nagorno-Karabakh, which never will admit the power
of Azerbaijan over it".
In the connection with the appointment of Sultanov
the British mission came out with an official notification, which
stated, that "by the British command’s consent Dr. Khosrov Bek
Sultanov is appointed provisional governor of Zangezur, Shushi,
Jivanshir and Jebrail uesds. The British Mission finds it necessary to
confirm that belonging of the mentioned districts to one or another
unit must be solved at a Peace Conference".
The National Council of Karabakh gave the following
answer: " The National Council of the Armenians of Karabakh with its
full complement, in common with the commanders of all the districts of
Karabakh, having discussed the fact of appointing general-governor of
the government of Azerbaijan, came to the conclusion that the Armenian
Karabakh cannot accept such a fact, as the Armenian people of Karabakh
considers the dependence on the government of Azerbaijan, in whatever
form it might be, unacceptable due to those violence and violations of
rights, which the Armenian people was systematically subjected to by
the Azerbaijani government until recently wherever it connected its
position with this government. The Armenian Karabakh showed the whole
world that it in fact did not recognize and does not recognize within
its borders the power of the Azerbaijani government as it had been
decided recently by the Congress of the Armenians of Karabakh.
Proceeding from the fact that the British command recognizes the
Armenian Karabakh such a territory that is not subordinated to any
state before the solution of the Peace Conference, therefore and in
particular to Azerbaijan, the National Council considers the
appointment of the English general-governor the only acceptable form
for the government of the Armenian Karabakh, and it asks the mission
to solicit the Supreme English Command".
However in spite of the Karabakhi people’s protests
the English commandment continued to assist and support the
Azerbaijani Government in realizing the policy of incorporation of
Armenian Karabakh into Azerbaijan. The English troops’ commander in
Baku Colonel Schatelwort stated to the Karabakhian people:"Your roads
are closed, your starving people will not get bread, we will not help
you, until you recognize the power of the Musavat Azerbaijan. Unable
to force Nagorno-Karabakh to it knees by threats or by the help of the
armed forces Schatelwort personally arrived at Shushi late in April
1919 to compel the National Council of Karabakh to recognize the power
of Azerbaijan. On April 23, in Shushi the Fifth Congress was convened
which rejected the Schatelwort’s demands.
Having received a refusal from the Fifth Congress,
Sultanov decided to subordinate Nagorno-Karabakh by means of the armed
forces. Almost the whole army of Azerbaijan was concentrated at the
Nagorno-Karabakh borders. The English troops withdrew from
Nagorno-Karabakh to give the Azerbaijani troops a free hand.
On those days there was concluded the agreement to
convene the Sixth Congress of the Karbakhs'
Armenians, at which the
representatives of the English Mission and Azerbaijani government were
to take part. The main objective of the Congress was the discussion of
the interrelations of Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijan before the
convention of the Peace Conference in Paris. However the
representatives of the English mission and the government of
Azerbaijan arrived at the Congress, after it had finished its work and
the negotiations did not take place. To find out whether
Nagorno-Karabgh would be able to defend its independence in case of
war, at the Congress the Commission was established which came to the
conclusion, that the Karabakhians would not be able to do so. In such
circumstances the Congress, being under the threat of the armed
assault form Azerbaijan, was compelled to start negotiations.
Eager to win time and to concentrate the forces
available, the Congress of the Armenians of Karabakh convened on
August 13, 1919 concluded the agreement on August 22 according to
which Nagorno-Karabgh considered itself to be provisionally within the
borders of the Azerbaijani Republic till the final solution of the
problem at Peace Conference in Paris. However the Armenians did not
lay down their arms and the Azerbaijani troops did not enter
Nagorno-Karabakh. The 22nd August Agreement in essence did
not change the status of Nagorno-Karabakh -
the land still remained an
independent political entity.
This circumstance could not satisfy Sultanov who
was preparing for the final incorporation of the territory into
Azerbaijan by changing the ethnic structure of Nagorno-Karabakh. On
February 19, 1920 Sultanov turned to the National Council of the
Karabakhs' Armenians with the demand "urgently to solve the question of
the final incorporation of Karabakh into Azerbaijan".
From February 23 till March 4, 1920 there was held
the Eighth Congress of Karabakhs' Armenians which rejected the demand
of Sultanov. The resolution of the Congress criticized the policy of
the government of Azerbaijan, which roughly violated the terms of the
22nd August provisional agreement. In accordance with the
decision of the Congress the diplomatic and the military
representatives of the allied states of the Entente, three
Transcaucasian republics and the provisional governor-general were
informed that "the repetition of the events will compel the Armenians
of Nagorno- Karabakh to turn to the appropriate means for defense."
However, the government of Azerbaijan did not
intend to stop. It decided hastily to conquer Nagorno-Karabakh and
azerbaijanized it
Proceeding from this being the circumstances, the
Karabakhs' Armenians decided to prepare for defense. On the night from
March 22-23 they rose in an armed revolt in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Heavy fighting continued from March 22 till April
13. March 23, 1920 became a particularly tragic day, when
Turkish-Azerbaijani troops burned and robbed Shushi, the capital of
the district, at that time the fifth town in Transcaucasia in number
of residents. On that day about 20 thousand Armenians perished and the
town was practically razed to the ground. In the course of the war
tens of churches and other monuments of History and Culture were
destroyed and profaned.
Soon the military units arrived from Armenia to
help: Nagorno-Karabakh was entirely liberated. On April 1920, the
Ninth Congress of the Karabakhi Armenians was held which proclaimed
Nagorno-Karabakh an essential part of Armenia. The concluding document
reads:
1. "To consider the agreement, which was concluded
with the government of Azerbaijan on behalf of the Seventh Congress of
Karabakh, violated by the latter, in view of the organized attack of
the Azerbaijani troops on the civilian Armenian population in Shushi
and villages.
2. To proclaim the joining of
Nagorno-Karabakh to
Armenia as an essential part of Armenia".
Thus, in the period of an initial definition of the
borders and establishment of the three National States in
Transcaucasia, Nagorno-Karabakh was not a part of Azerbaijan. From
late May 1918 till April 1920, i.e. before the Soviet power having
been established in Azerbaijan, Nagorno-Karabakh was independent. All
the attempts of the government of Azerbaijan to capture
Nagorno-Karabakh failed.
The International Community in the person of the
League of Nations recognized the disputable status of the Armenian
Nagorno-Karabakh, recognizing it within much broader borders than
present borders of the NKR. The League of Nations indicated that in
connection with the question of recognizing the independence of
Armenia and Azerbaijan the final status of Nagorno-Karbakh is to be
solved at the Paris Peaceful Conference. So never recognized by the
League of Nations the de jury Azerbaijani Republic left the arena of
History when Russia (already Soviet) returned to Trancaucasia.
