History of the Baku Oil Industry. Part 16

After the discovery of the oil fields, Baku became a special place, where various economic and political interests of international coalitions, industrial clans and leaders were concentrated and clashed. VK begins publishing chapters from the book by Ismail Agakishiev "History of the Baku Oil Industry and the Second Oil Boom (second half of the 19th century - beginning of the 20thcentury.)". The book presents a historical analysis of the emergence and current state of the Azerbaijani oil industry.

A dual power was formed in the South Caucasus: on the one hand - the power of the Transcaucasian Sejm, which did not recognize the All-Russian Bolshevik government, and on the other hand - the power of the Baku Soviet, acting in accordance with the instructions and directives of the Soviet government. Without going into details regarding the confrontation between the two sides, let us note that the positions of both sides were quite vulnerable. Against the background of the weakening of the Russian state in face of external forces, including its former allies in the Entente, and former enemies - the members of the Quadruple Alliance, a real opportunity of capturing the South Caucasus and especially of the coveted oil region of Baku appeared. Therefore, the preservation of Baku as a major source of oil was the most important task of the Bolsheviks. Meanwhile, it was very hard for them to maintain their position in Baku and in the Baku region. On the one hand, the common

The Transcaucasian authorities were trying to extend their control over the entire territory of the Caucasus, including the Baku region. On the other hand, the power of the Baku Soviet was strong only in the city of Baku. It was extremely volatile in the region, and in many areas the Bolsheviks entirely lost power. In Baku itself the Bolsheviks felt constant pressure from their opponents - Socialist parties, the Mensheviks and Dashnaks. As for the Azerbaijani national parties, they clearly cooperated with the Sejm authorities. The situation deteriorated sharply in March 1918, when the central Bolshevik government signed the Treaty of Brest with Germany and its allies, which called for significant territorial concessions from Russia. The Baku oil region remained with Russia. But the threat of capture by one of the main allies of Germany, the Ottoman Empire, was very real. In the course of 1917 the Baku oil fields produced 405.7 million tons of oil, which inevitably provoked the fight for this important product between the Sejm and the Bolsheviks. Supporters of Vladimir Lenin, having chosen the boycott tactics, did not recognize the power of the Sejm. In March 1918 the Baku Soviet decided to attack. A resolution adopted on March 15th 1918 provided a plan for the overthrowing of the Sejm. One should bear in mind that Soviet Russia at that time did not have any military force capable of countering a possible armed resistance. It was necessary for them to attract the Armenian military troops, which flooded Baku after the demobilization of the Russian Caucasus Army. The army participated in the battles against the Turks. It was fraught with serious consequences for interethnic and inter-ethnic relations on the territory of the Baku region. Yet the leaders of the Baku Soviet, and especially its chairman, Stepan Shaumyan, decided to implement the plan.

As a result, by March 1918 the majority of armed forces of the Baku Soviet consisted of Armenian military troops. As noted by researcher R. Mustafa, "in the spring of 1918 under the auspices of the Baku Soviet a tactical alliance was formed in Baku between the Bolshevik Party, the ARF and other nationalist Armenian force which, with the help of a large Armenian capital sought to seize power in Baku, and later on the whole territory of Azerbaijan... In the context of demographic dominance of the Azerbaijanis in the region ... and the strengthening of the authority of national parties among them on the one hand, and military and political dominance of the Bolshevik-Dashnak block in Baku... on the other hand, the tactics chosen by the "union" for the power struggle inevitably led to a policy of terror against the ideologically disloyal and ethnically "foreign" population and suppression of the Azerbaijani national parties and their leaders" 1. The policy of Shaumyan aimed at allying with Armenian political and military forces was indirectly supported by Lenin. In a telegram from February 14th 1918 he stated: "We are delighted by your firm and resolute policy. If you manage to combine it with the diplomacy prescribed, certainly, by the current difficult situation, we will win. The difficulties are immense. So far we have been safe only due to contradictions and conflicts as well as controversies among the imperialists. You should know how to use these conflicts: so far it is necessary to learn diplomacy" 2. In March 1918 the Baku Soviet leaders deliberately provoked a political conflict with the armed groups of the "Musavat" party, which led to an open terror campaign against the civilian Muslim population of Baku and its suburbs, as well as the Baku region. 3 Shaumyan later wrote: "we had to fight back, and we used the occasion - the first attempt at an armed attack on our cavalry unit, and attacked along the frontline." At the same time Shaumyan said that he had to use the military troops of the ARF party. "The participation of the latter," he wrote, "turned the civil war partly into a national massacre, but it was impossible to avoid it. We were consciously aiming at it. The Muslim poor significantly suffered... " 4 Shaumyan explained the choice of tactics as caused by the threat of losing the South Caucasus as part of Russia. In any case, the political events of the spring of 1918 were motivated by struggle of opposing parties for oil. After the Peace of Brest the main task of the Ottoman Empire became the finding of a convenient excuse to get access to Baku's oil. With regard to Soviet Russia, not having the necessary military forces to save the Baku oil region for themselves, and not wanting to enter into a direct armed confrontation with Germany's ally, Turkey, it actually created a buffer state, with its center in Baku. Thus, in the event of a confrontation with the Turkish armed forces, Russia was going to blame the local authorities. It can be the only explanation for the establishment of a government in Baku, the Baku Soviet of People's Commissars, headed by Stepan Shaumyan at the end of April 1918. This government showed great activity from April to May 1918, seeking to expand the territory it controlled.

The troops of the People's Commissars of Baku took active offensive operations during that period of time to the north, west and south of Baku, establishing the power of authority of the People's Commissars of Baku. As a result, the City Duma was disbanded, and all the power was transferred to the Baku Soviet, which was a great surprise to the oil magnates. On April 8th 1918 the Committee of Revolutionary Defence demanded 50 million rubles from the oil companies and received it.