At the origins of the idea of the Caucasian Muslim confederation: on the union of Azerbaijan, Dagestan, and the Mountainous Republic in 1917–1918

Abstract

On the basis of a significant amount of documentary and archival material, the article examines the background and development of the idea of creating a political and state association of the territories inhabited by the Muslim peoples of the North Caucasus and Transcaucasia. It is shown how the idea of cultural and national autonomy of the national outskirts arose in the course of the democratic movement in Russia in 1917, and how after the Bolshevik Coup in Russia, that idea was transformed into plans for the creation of independent political entities in Transcaucasia and the North Caucasus. The leaders of the Azerbaijani faction of the Transcaucasian governments repeatedly raised at various levels the question of the accession of the North Caucasus Muslim state entities to Transcaucasia, but the unstable political and military situation in the Caucasus made the resolution of this issue impossible. Until the middle of 1918, there were two opposing authorities in Azerbaijan – the government of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic and the Baku Commune. The North Caucasus was even more fragmented, both ethnically and politically. At the same time, the anti-Bolshevik forces of the mountainous peoples received almost no material support from outside but competed with the White movement that had emerged in the South of Russia for influence in the region. The fall of the Baku Commune and the seizure of Baku by the Turkish-Azerbaijani troops revived the ideas of the Caucasian Muslim confederation for a short time. However, being disunited, the forces of the North Caucasus “independent” entities were unable to resist the pro-Bolshevik forces in the region. The defeat of Turkey and Germany in the First World War at the end of 1918 made a serious change in the balance of power in the Caucasus region and marked a new stage in the development of the idea of the Caucasian Muslim confederation, associated with the attempts of the government of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic to achieve recognition of its sovereignty by the victorious Entente countries at the Paris Peace Conference.