1920 Ganja revolt

The situation before the uprising

On 21 and 23 April 1920, the Revolutionary Military Council of the Caucasian Front, under S.G. Ordzhonikidze, ordered the XI Red Army to cross the border of Azerbaijan on 27 April and occupy the entire territory. On 26 April, the XI Red Army headquarters moved to Derbend to lead the offensive. The attack began at 12 o'clock on the night of 26–27 April, with 70,000 troops, the armoured train 'III International', three more armoured trains, and 300 infantrymen crossing the bridge over the Samur River.

Among the leaders were Anastas Mikoyan and Gazanfar Musabeyov. On the same day, the ACP Ganja District Committee formed the Revolutionary Committee of Gubernia after hearing about events in Baku. The next evening, Governor Khudadat Bey Rafibeyli signed the act transferring power to the Revolutionary Committee in the entire Ganja Governorate. The Ganja Revolutionary Committee consisted of chairman Ibrahim Aliyev, deputy Farhad Aliyev, Vakilov, Sultanov, and Eminbeyov.

During the change of government, armoured trains moved from Baku to Ganja and engaged in a major battle with Musavatist bands. On 1 May, Soviet armoured trains and landing companies of the 28th Infantry Division captured Ganja station and the railway district. The next day, regiments of the II Cavalry Corps and the Taman Cavalry Division arrived and occupied the city and its subordinate districts. At the same time, during the uprising, many villagers did not even know about the sovietization of the country.

On 28 April, the Azerbaijan Revolutionary Committee established the People's Commissariat for Military and Naval Affairs, appointing Chingiz Yildirim as its first commissioner. The next day, the committee appealed to Azerbaijani soldiers to help the Red Army.

Status of the Parties

When the revolt broke out, the 1st Azerbaijani infantry division of the ADR had not undergone Soviet-style reorganization. Its command structure remained intact; Major General Amir Kazim Mirza, for instance, served as the Govanli-Qajar division’s supply chief and held the post of city commandant through 20 May. The 178th and 180th infantry regiments from the 20th division were positioned in Ganja’s Armenian quarter, while the Taman Cavalry Brigade’s commandant unit and the communication battalion were stationed in the city’s Azerbaijani sector.

Under Alexander Schirmacher, the III brigade fielded 2,000 troops, 30 machine guns, and a light artillery division. The 20th Cavalry Brigade, based in Zurnabad about 20 kilometers southwest of Ganja, counted 450 soldiers, one cavalry battery, and 8 machine guns. The division’s artillery headquarters and a two-gun battery were located in the German colony of Yelenendorf, roughly 5 to 6 kilometers south of Ganja. On 25 May, the II regiment of the Taman Cavalry Brigade was dispatched to Ganja.

History

There is no consensus in sources on the dates of the beginning and end of the uprising. Georgian historian Giorgi Mamulia and Ramiz Abutalibov wrote in 'Odlar yurdu' that it started on 22 May. Journalist K. Bayramov noted that most Bolshevik documents give 25 May as the start and 31 May as the final suppression. The report of the People's Commissar of Internal Affairs indicates the uprising lasted until 30 May, while Linchevsky, a participant in its suppression, stated the city was 'cleared of Musavatists' on the night of 1–2 June and that the disarmament triggering the uprising occurred on the night of 25–26 May.

Qachaq Mammadgasim from Samukh and Jahangir Bey Kazimbeyli, an organizer, recalled the uprising began on 24 May. According to Kazimbayli, it was suppressed on the night of 3–4 June, a date also mentioned in a letter from Zahid Khan Khoyski to Khanlar Bayramov. Khanlar Bayramov based his work on dates given by participants. Disagreement also exists on the starting time: Kazimbeyli's memoirs state disarmament of the Bolsheviks began at 20:00 and ended at 23:00, while Soviet literature says the uprising started at 3 o'clock at night, with townspeople joining from 5 o'clock in the morning.

The 1983 encyclopedia 'Civil war and military intervention in the USSR' explains events from 26 May and records suppression on 31 May. The 2008 Russian encyclopedia 'Revolution and Civil War in Russia: 1917-1923' mentions the uprising took place on 25–31 May. British historian Jonathan Smele also notes it began on the night of 25–26 May and that by 31 May the Red Guards concentrated main forces to suppress it. Nagi Bey Sheykhzamanli, head of the counter-revolution organization during the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, wrote in his memoirs that the uprising lasted nine days.