Centrocaspian Dictatorship
The Centro-Caspian Dictatorship, also called Central-Caspian Dictatorship (Russian: Диктатура Центрокаспия, Diktatura Tsentrokaspiya) (Azerbaijani: Sentrokaspi Diktaturası), was a short-lived anti-Soviet administration proclaimed in the city of Baku during World War I. Created from an alliance of Russian Socialist-Revolutionaries, Mensheviks and the Dashnaks, it replaced the Bolshevik Baku Commune in a bloodless coup d'état on July 26, 1918,[1] and fell on September 15, 1918, when Ottoman-Azeri forces captured Baku.[2]
Central-Caspian Dictatorship Centro-Caspian Dictatorship Диктатура Центрокаспия Sentrokaspi Diktaturası | |||||||||
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| 1918–1918 | |||||||||
 Flag | |||||||||
| Capital | Baku | ||||||||
| Common languages | Russian Azerbaijani | ||||||||
| Government | Dictatorship | ||||||||
| Historical era | World War I | ||||||||
• Established | 26 July 1918 | ||||||||
| 26 August 1918 | |||||||||
• Liberation of Baku | 15 September 1918 | ||||||||
| 30 October 1918 | |||||||||
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| Today part of |  Azerbaijan | ||||||||
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Background
The Central-Caspian Dictatorship asked for British help in order to stop the advancing Ottoman Army of Islam that was marching towards Baku. A small British force under General Lionel Dunsterville was sent to Baku and helped the mainly Dashnak-Armenian forces to defend the capital during the Battle of Baku. However, Baku was taken over on September 15, 1918 by Azerbaijani-Ottoman army which entered the capital subsequently causing British forces to evacuate and much of the Armenian population to flee. After the Ottoman Empire signed the Armistice of Mudros on October 30, 1918, a British occupational force re-entered Baku.
See also
References
- Dunsterville, Lionel Charles (1920). The adventures of Dunsterforce. E. Arnold. p. 207.
- Companjen, Françoise; Maracz, Laszlo; Versteegh, Lia (2011). Exploring the Caucasus in the 21st Century: Essays on Culture, History and Politics in a Dynamic Context. Amsterdam University Press. p. 119. ISBN 978-90-8964-183-0.