Baku Commune
The Baku Commune was a short-lived political entity which lasted from 13 April to 25 July 1918. It came to power after the bloody confrontation with the Muslim population, known as the March Days in Baku. During its brief existence the Commune had to face several problems: from the shortage of food and supplies to the threat of a strong Ottoman Empire Army who wanted to attack Baku. Despite the difficult conditions, the Commune managed to make several social reform, such as the nationalization of the oil industry. Their nationalization process was simple as they were securing private property by military means, claiming them in the name of Revolution which was justified by the Lenin's words which stated that for the Revolution there are no laws (see Dictatorship of Proletariat). This is how the writer Victor Serge described the situation in May, June and July and the state of the small Red Army of Baku:
| “ | In May, June and July the inhabitants could be given only minute rations of nuts and sunflower seed; the small quantities of corn that the Soviet managed to bring in by sea were reserved for the troops. Attempts at requisitioning were made by the small Red Army of Baku, a poorly disciplined, poorly managed body composed largely of Armenians who were alien to the revolutionary spirit of the proletariat. These drank in excess and plundered the Moslem peasants, causing disaffection among them. | ” |
On 5 June, the Baku Red Army repulsed victoriously an assault of overwhelming Ottoman troops but later it launched an unsuccessful assault on Ganja, the headquarters of the Ottoman Army of Islam, and was obliged to retreat to Baku. At this point, Dashanaks, Right SRs and Mensheviks started to negotiate with General Dunsterville, the commander of the British troops in Persia, inviting his troops to Baku in order to defend the city from an imminent Ottoman attack. The Bolsheviks and their leftist allies were opposed to it but on 25 July the majority of the Soviet voted to call in the British and the Bolsheviks resigned. The Baku Commune was imprisoned for participation in unlawful military formations and militarized robbery, particularly for the March Days atrocities and was replaced by the Central-Caspian Dictatorship.
Contrarily to what happened in many parts of Russia, where the Bolsheviks earned a reputation for ruthlessness executing those who didn't support them, Bolsheviks of Baku were not so strict. Cheka in Baku executed only two persons, they were members of the Soviet who were caught in embezzling public funds: the Commissar for Finance, Aleksandr Kireev, and the commissar of the steamship Meve, Sergei Pokrovskii.
Read more about this topic: 26 Baku Commissars
Famous quotes containing the word commune:
“Softly now the light of day
Fades upon my sight away;
Free from care, from labor free,
Lord, I would commune with Thee.”
—George Washington Doane (1799–1859)