Central-Caspian Dictatorship
Long nameCentral-Caspian Dictatorship
Centro-Caspian Dictatorship
P 126 Baku Commissars
S 1Azerbaijan Democratic Republic
CapitalBaku
Common languagesRussian
Azerbaijani
EraWorld War I
Event startJuly 26 Baku Coup d'état
Date start26 July
Year start1918
Event 1Battle of Baku
Date event 126 August 1918
Event endLiberation of Baku
Date end15 September
Year end1918
Life span1918
Event postArmistice of Mudros
Date post30 October 1918
TodayAzerbaijan

The Centro-Caspian Dictatorship, also known as the Central-Caspian Dictatorship (Russian: Диктатура Центрокаспия, Azerbaijani: Sentrokaspi Diktaturası), was a short-lived anti-Soviet administration proclaimed in the city of Baku during World War I.[1] Created from an alliance of the Socialist Revolutionary Party and Mensheviks, it replaced the Baku Commune in the bloodless July 26 Baku Coup d'état of 1918,[2] and fell on 15 September 1918, when a coalition of Ottoman-Azerbaijani forces captured Baku.[3]

The Central-Caspian Dictatorship asked for British help in order to stop the advancing Ottoman Islamic Army of the Caucasus 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, the Azerbaijani-Ottoman army took Baku over on 15 September 1918, 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 30 October 1918, a British occupational force re-entered Baku.

See also

References

  1. ^ Forsyth, James (2013). The Caucasus: A History. Cambridge University Press.
  2. ^ Dunsterville, Lionel Charles (1920). The adventures of Dunsterforce. E. Arnold. p. 207
  3. ^ 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.