The Sovietization of Azerbaijan: The South Caucasus in the Triangle of Russia, Turkey, and Iran, 1920–1922. By Jamil Hasanli. Salt Lake City: The University of Utah Press, 2018. Pp. 470. ISBN: 9781607815945
The number of academic books in English about the modern Caucasus may be counted on the fingers of one hand. The recent book The Sovietization of Azerbaijan by Jamil Hasanli (Cəmil Həsənli) is a welcome addition to the reading list of students of Soviet history, especially the history of the Caucasus. It deals with the historical time period from 1920 to 1922, the period of the establishment of Soviet rule in the region. The book consists of ten chapters including an introduction and conclusion.
As result of the wars between Russia and Iran, and according to two agreements in 1813 and 1828, Azerbaijan was divided into two parts. The southern part remained a province of Iran while the northern part was annexed by Russia.
In 1918 three republics, the Georgian Democratic Republic, the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, and the Republic of Armenia, were proclaimed in Transcaucasia. The Red Army invaded Azerbaijan in 1920 and established the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic. The Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic (TSFSR), which included Armenia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan, was created in 1922 as part of the USSR. In 1936 the TSFSR was abolished and the Azerbaijan SSR was incorporated into the USSR.
The first and second chapters of the Sovietization of Azerbaijan describe the political situation in Azerbaijan in the early twentieth century and after the Bolshevik occupation. They also outline anti-Soviet uprisings in Azerbaijan.
The following chapter narrates the Bolshevization of Iran’s northern provinces. It should be noted that the history of the short-lived Soviet Republic of Gilan is well-written.
Chapter 5, describing the Sovietization of Armenia and territorial conflict with Azerbaijan, is based mostly on archival documents. The root causes of the conflict over the Nagorno-Karabakh region are discussed thoroughly in this chapter.
The early twentieth century’s history of Russian-Turkish relations, including the Treaty of Moscow (March 1921) and the Treaty of Kars (October 1921), are highlighted in chapters 7 and 8. It is worth mentioning that the Treaty of Kars was a friendship agreement that established borders between Turkey and three Transcaucasian republics, Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Georgia.
The last chapter (9), followed by the conclusion of the book, is called “The Struggle of Baku Oil and the Formation of the Soviet Union.” It deals with the history of the formation of the Transcaucasian Soviet Federative Republic and the results of the international Genoa Conference in 1922.
The list of abbreviations, bibliography, and indexes are provided at the end of the book.
The only deficiency of the book under review is that the notes and bibliographic citations are given at the end of the book, which is not very convenient for the reader. They would be more useful if they were presented at the end of each page as footnotes.
The book The Sovietization of Azerbaijan: The South Caucasus in the Triangle of Russia, Turkey, and Iran, 1920–1922 is highly recommended for academic and large public libraries.
Akram Habibulla
Indiana University