On the geopolitical map of the world there are enough places that can be marked in red. Here, military conflicts subside, then reignite, many of which have more than a century of history. There are not so many similar “hot spots” on the planet, but it’s better not to exist at all. However, unfortunately, one of these places is not so far from the Russian border. We are talking about the Karabakh conflict, which is rather difficult to briefly talk about. The very essence of the confrontation between Armenians and Azerbaijanis is rooted in the late nineteenth century. And many historians believe that the conflict between these nations exists for a much longer time. It is impossible to talk about him without mentioning the Armenian-Azerbaijani war, which claimed a large number of lives on both sides. The historical chronicle of these events is kept by the Armenians and Azerbaijanis very carefully. Although each nationality sees only what is right in the incident. In the article we will analyze the causes and consequences of the Karabakh conflict. And also briefly outline the current situation in the region. We will single out several sections of the article on the Armenian-Azerbaijani war of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, of which armed clashes in Nagorno-Karabakh are a part.
Description of the military conflict
Historians often argue that the causes of many wars and armed conflicts are misunderstandings among the mixed composition of the local population. In the same way, the Armenian-Azerbaijani war of 1918-1920 can be described. Historians call it ethnic conflict, but they see territorial disputes as the main cause of the outbreak of war. They were most relevant in those places where historically in some territories Armenians and Azerbaijanis got along. The peak of military clashes came at the end of the First World War. The authorities managed to achieve relative stability in the region only after the republics became part of the Soviet Union.
The first Republic of Armenia and the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic did not enter into direct clashes between themselves. Therefore, the Armenian-Azerbaijani war had some similarities with guerrilla resistance. The main actions took place in disputed territories where the republics supported militia units created by their fellow citizens.
For the entire time that the Armenian-Azerbaijani war of 1918-1920 lasted, the most bloody and active actions took place in Karabakh and Nakhichevan. All this was accompanied by a real massacre, which eventually became the cause of the demographic crisis in the region. The most difficult pages in the history of this conflict are called by Armenians and Azerbaijanis:
- March massacre;
- massacre of Armenians in Baku;
- Shusha massacre.
It should be noted that the young Soviet and Georgian governments tried to provide mediation services in the Armenian-Azerbaijani war. However, such an approach had no effect and did not guarantee the stabilization of the situation in the region. It was possible to solve the problem only after the Red Army occupied the disputed territories, which led to the overthrow of the ruling regime in both republics. However, in some regions, the fire of war was only slightly extinguished and flared up more than once. Speaking of this, we have in mind the Karabakh conflict, the consequences of which are still not fully appreciated by our contemporaries.
Background to military operations
From the earliest times, tense relations in the disputed territories between the people of Armenia and the people of Azerbaijan were noted. The Karabakh conflict was just the continuation of a long and dramatic history unfolding over several centuries.
Religious and cultural differences between the two peoples were often considered the occasion that led to the armed conflict. However, the real cause of the Armenian-Azerbaijani war (in 1991 it broke out with renewed vigor) was the territorial issue.
In 1905, the first riots broke out in Baku, which resulted in an armed conflict between Armenians and Azerbaijanis. Gradually, he began to flow to other regions of Transcaucasia. Wherever ethnic composition was mixed, there were regular clashes that were the harbingers of a future war. Its trigger mechanism can be called the October Revolution.
Since the seventeenth year of the last century, the situation in Transcaucasia has been completely destabilized, and the latent conflict turned into an open war, which claimed many lives.
A year after the revolution, serious changes took place in the once united territory. Initially, independence was proclaimed in Transcaucasia, but the newly-minted state lasted only a few months. It is historically logical that it broke up into three independent republics:
- Georgian Democratic Republic;
- Republic of Armenia (Karabakh conflict hit Armenians very seriously);
- Azerbaijan Democratic Republic.
Despite this division, a lot of Armenian population lived in Zangezur and Karabakh, which became part of Azerbaijan. They categorically refused to obey the new authorities and even created organized armed resistance. This partly gave rise to the Karabakh conflict (we will briefly consider it a little later).
The purpose of the Armenians living in the voiced territories was to join the Republic of Armenia. Armed clashes between disparate Armenian troops and Azerbaijani troops were repeated regularly. But neither side could come to any final decision.
In turn, a similar situation has developed on the territory of Armenia . It included the Erivan province, densely populated by Muslims. They resisted joining the republic and received material support from Turkey and Azerbaijan.
The eighteenth and nineteenth years of the last century were the initial stage for the military conflict, when the formation of warring camps and opposition groups took place.
The most important events for the war took place in several regions almost simultaneously. Therefore, we will consider war through the prism of armed clashes in precisely these areas.
Nakhichevan. Muslim resistance
The Mudros Armistice, signed in the eighteenth year of the last century and marking the defeat of Turkey in the First World War, immediately changed the balance of power in Transcaucasia. Her troops, previously brought into the Transcaucasian region, were forced to hastily leave him. After several months of independent existence, the liberated territories were decided to be included in the Republic of Armenia. However, this was done without the consent of local residents, most of whom were Azerbaijani Muslims. They began to resist, especially since the Turkish military supported this opposition. A small number of soldiers and officers were transferred to the territory of the new Republic of Azerbaijan.
Her authorities supported their compatriots and made an attempt to isolate the disputed regions. One of the Azerbaijani leaders even declared Nakhchivan and several more districts closest to it an independent Arak Republic. A similar outcome promised bloody clashes, for which the Muslim population of the self-proclaimed republic was ready. The support of the Turkish army was very welcome and, according to some forecasts, the Armenian government troops would be defeated. Serious clashes were avoided thanks to the intervention of Britain. Through her efforts in the declared independent territories, a governor general was formed.
For several months of the nineteenth year, under the British protectorate, the disputed territories managed to restore peaceful life. Telegraph communication with other countries was gradually established, the railway track was repaired and several trains were launched. However, the British troops could not stay long in these territories. After peace negotiations with the Armenian authorities, the parties came to an agreement: the British left the Nakhchivan region, and the Armenian military units entered there with full right to these lands.
This decision led to the outrage of Azerbaijani Muslims. The military conflict broke out with renewed vigor. Robberies took place everywhere, houses and Muslim shrines burned. In all areas close to Nakhichevan, fights and minor clashes thundered. Azerbaijanis created their troops and performed under the British and Turkish flags.
As a result of the battles, the Armenians almost completely lost control of Nakhichevan. The surviving Armenians were forced to leave their homes and flee to Zangezur.
Causes and consequences of the Karabakh conflict. Historical reference
This region cannot boast of stability until now. Despite the fact that theoretically a solution to the Karabakh conflict was found in the last century, in reality it did not become a real way out of the current situation. And its roots it goes back to ancient times.
If we talk about the history of Nagorno-Karabakh, then we want to stop on the fourth century BC. It was then that these territories became part of the Armenian kingdom. Subsequently, they became part of Great Armenia and six centuries territorially entered one of its provinces. In the future, these areas more than once changed their affiliation. They were ruled by Albanians, Arabs, again Armenians and Russians. Naturally, territories with such a history as a distinctive feature have a heterogeneous population. This was one of the reasons for the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
For a better understanding of the situation, it must be said that at the very beginning of the twentieth century there were already clashes between Armenians and Azerbaijanis in this region. From 1905 to 1907, the conflict periodically made itself felt by short-term armed clashes among the local population. But the October Revolution became the starting point of a new round in this conflict.
Karabakh in the first quarter of the twentieth century
In the years 1918-1920, the Karabakh conflict flared up with renewed vigor. The reason was the proclamation of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic. Nagorno-Karabakh with a large number of Armenian population was to enter its structure. It did not accept the new government and began to resist it, including the armed one.
In the summer of 1918, the Armenians living in these territories convened the first congress and elected their own government. Knowing this, the Azerbaijani authorities took advantage of the help of the Turkish troops and began to gradually suppress the resistance of the Armenian population. The Armenians of Baku were the first to be attacked, the bloody massacre in this city was a lesson for many other territories.
By the end of the year, the situation was far from normal. Clashes between Armenians and Muslims continued, chaos reigned everywhere, robberies and robbery became widespread. The situation was complicated by the fact that refugees from other regions of the Caucasus began to flock to the region. According to preliminary estimates of the British, about forty thousand Armenians disappeared in Karabakh.
The British, who felt quite confident in these territories, saw an intermediate solution to the Karabakh conflict in the transfer of this region under the control of Azerbaijan. Such an approach could not but shock the Armenians who considered the British government their ally and assistant in regulating the situation. They did not agree with the proposal to leave the conflict resolution to the Paris Peace Conference and appointed their representative in Karabakh.
Attempts to resolve the conflict
The Georgian authorities offered their help in stabilizing the situation in the region. They organized a conference where plenipotentiary delegates from both young republics arrived. However, the settlement of the Karabakh conflict was impossible due to a different approach to its resolution.
Armenian authorities proposed to be guided by ethnic characteristics. Historically, these territories belonged to the Armenians, so their claims to Nagorno-Karabakh were justified. However, Azerbaijan has made undeniable arguments in favor of an economic approach to deciding the fate of the region. It is separated from Armenia by mountains and is in no way territorially connected with the state.
After lengthy disputes, the parties did not come to a compromise. Therefore, the conference was considered a failure.
The further course of the conflict
After an unsuccessful attempt to resolve the Karabakh conflict, Azerbaijan introduced an economic blockade of these territories. He was supported by the British and Americans, but even they were forced to recognize such measures as extremely cruel, as they led to starvation among the local population.
Gradually, Azerbaijanis increased their military presence in the disputed territories. Periodic armed clashes did not develop into a full-fledged war only thanks to representatives from other countries. But for a long time this could not continue.
The participation of Kurds in the Armenian-Azerbaijani war in official reports of that period was not always mentioned. But they took an active part in the conflict, joining specialized horse detachments.
At the beginning of 1920, the Paris Peace Conference decided to recognize the disputed territories as Azerbaijan. Despite the nominal resolution of the issue, the situation did not stabilize. Robberies and robberies continued, bloody ethnic cleansing, which claimed the lives of entire settlements, became a frequent occurrence.
Armenian uprising
The decisions of the Paris Conference led to relative peace. But in this situation, he was just the calm before the storm. And she struck in the winter of 1920.
Against the background of the intensified national massacre, the Azerbaijani government demanded unconditional submission of the Armenian population. To this end, an Assembly was convened, the delegates of which worked until the first days of March. However, they did not come to a consensus either. Some advocated only for economic unification with Azerbaijan, while others refused any contact with the authorities of the republic.
Despite the ceasefire, the Governor General, appointed by the Azerbaijani Republican government to govern the region, gradually began to draw troops here. In parallel, he introduced a lot of rules restricting the movement of Armenians, and made a plan for the destruction of their settlements.
All this only aggravated the situation and led to the beginning of the uprising of the Armenian population on March 23, 1920. Armed groups attacked several settlements simultaneously. But to achieve a noticeable result, it turned out only in one of them. The rebels failed to keep the city: already in early April, he was returned to the power of the Governor General.
Failure did not stop the Armenian population, and a long-standing military conflict resumed with renewed vigor in the territory of Karabakh. During April, settlements passed from one hand to another, the forces of the opponents were equal, and the tension only intensified every day.
At the end of the month, the Sovietization of Azerbaijan took place, which radically changed the situation and the balance of forces in the region. Over the next six months, Soviet troops entrenched in the republic and entered Karabakh. Most of the Armenians went over to their side. Those officers who did not lay down their arms were shot.
Subtotals
The result of the Karabakh conflict can be considered the Sovietization of Armenia and Azerbaijan. Karabakh was nominally left the right to self-determination, although the Soviet government sought to use this region for its own purposes.
Initially, the right to it was assigned to Armenia, but a little later the final decision was the introduction of Nagorno-Karabakh into Azerbaijan as an autonomy. However, a similar result did not satisfy either side. Periodically, minor conflicts arose, provoked either by the Armenian or the Azerbaijani population. Each of the peoples considered itself infringed on their rights, and the issue of transferring the region to the power of Armenia was raised repeatedly.
The situation only seemed outwardly stable, which was proved in the late eighties and early nineties of the last century, when they again started talking about the Karabakh conflict (1988).
Resumption of conflict
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The ideas of reunification with Armenia leaked into print media. In the republic itself, the population actively supported new trends, which negatively affected the authority of the leadership. Trying to restrain popular protests, the Communist Party was rapidly losing ground. Tensions in the region grew, which inevitably led to another round of the Karabakh conflict.
By 1988, the first clashes between the Armenian and Azerbaijani populations were recorded. The impetus for them was the dismissal in one of the villages of the head of the collective farm - an Armenian. The riots were suspended, but in parallel in Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia, a collection of signatures was launched in favor of the association. With this initiative, a group of delegates was sent to Moscow.
In the winter of 1988, refugees from Armenia began to arrive in the region. They spoke about the oppression of the Azerbaijani people in the Armenian territories, which added tension to the already difficult situation. Gradually, the population of Azerbaijan was divided into two warring groups. Some believed that Nagorno-Karabakh should finally become part of Armenia, while others traced separatist tendencies in the unfolding events.
At the end of February, Armenian people's deputies voted for an appeal to the Supreme Soviet of the USSR with a request to consider a sensitive issue with Karabakh. Azerbaijani MPs refused to vote and defiantly left the courtroom. The conflict was gradually getting out of hand. Many feared bloody clashes among the local population. And they did not keep themselves waiting.
On February 22, it was difficult to separate two groups of people - from Agdam and Askeran. In both settlements fairly strong opposition groups were formed with weapons in their arsenal. We can say that this clash was a signal to the beginning of a real war.
In early March, a wave of strikes swept through Nagorno-Karabakh. In the future, people more than once will resort to a similar method to draw attention to themselves. In parallel, people began to take to the streets of Azerbaijani cities in support of the decision on the impossibility of revising the status of Karabakh. The most massive were similar processions in Baku.
The Armenian authorities tried to restrain the pressure of the people, who increasingly advocated unification with once controversial areas. Several official groups have even formed in the republic, collecting signatures in support of the Karabakh Armenians and carrying out explanatory work on this issue among the masses. Moscow, despite numerous appeals from the Armenian population, continued to adhere to the decision on the former status of Karabakh. However, it encouraged representatives of this autonomy with promises to establish cultural ties with Armenia and the provision of a number of concessions to the local population. Unfortunately, such half measures could not satisfy both sides.
Rumors spread about the oppression of various nationalities everywhere, people took to the streets, many of them had weapons. The situation finally got out of control in the last days of February. At that time, bloody pogroms of Armenian quarters occurred in Sumgait. For two days, law enforcement agencies could not restore order. In official reports, reliable information on the number of victims was not included. Authorities still hoped to hide the real state of things. However, Azerbaijanis were determined to carry out mass pogroms, destroying the Armenian population. It was difficult to prevent a recurrence of the situation with Sumgait in Kirovobad.
In the summer of 1988, the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan reached a new level. The republics began to use conventionally “legitimate” methods in the confrontation. These include a partial economic blockade and the adoption of laws on Nagorno-Karabakh without considering the views of the opposite side.
Armenian-Azerbaijani war of 1991-1994
Until 1994, the situation in the region was extremely difficult. A Soviet group of forces was introduced in Yerevan, and in some cities, including Baku, the authorities set a curfew. Unrest often resulted in massacres, which even the military contingent could not stop. Artillery shelling became the norm on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border. The conflict escalated into a full-scale war between the two republics.
In 1991, Nagorno-Karabakh was proclaimed a republic, which caused another round of hostilities. At the fronts used armored vehicles, aircraft and artillery. Victims on both sides only provoked the conduct of regular military operations.
To summarize
Today, the causes and consequences of the Karabakh conflict (in brief) can be found in any school history textbook. After all, he is an example of a frozen situation that has not yet found its final solution.
In 1994, warring parties entered into a ceasefire. An intermediate result of the conflict is the official change in the status of Nagorno-Karabakh, as well as the loss of several Azerbaijani territories that previously belonged to the border. Naturally, Azerbaijan itself considered the military conflict not resolved, but only frozen. Therefore, in 2016, he began shelling the territories adjacent to Karabakh.
Today, the situation threatens to again develop into a full-fledged military conflict, because the Armenians do not want to return to their neighbors the lands annexed several years ago. The Russian government advocates a truce and seeks to leave the conflict frozen. However, many analysts believe that this is impossible, and sooner or later the situation in the region will again become uncontrollable.