Browsing by Subject "Baku"

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Open Access
Baku expedition of 1917-1918 : a study of the Ottoman policy towards the Caucasus
(2007) Murgul, Yalçın
The Ottoman expedition to Baku has central importance in Caucasus between the Bolshevik Revolution and end of the WWI. Since the Ottoman expedition to Baku was the most concrete action towards domination of the area, it served as the main determinant in the formation of relations between the Great Powers and the Caucasian people fighting for their sovereignty in the period until October 1918. This thesis based on a multi-sided bibliography, attempts to study the Baku Operation of the CaucasusIslam Army commanded by Nuri Pasha in the course of the First World War in detail by analyzing both political and military processes and international dimensions, with a detailed picture of the whole process. By placing the Ottoman Operation at the centre, it aims to analyze the perception of both sides of the international struggle over Baku. iv Since the studies on the Committee of Union and Progress and Enver Pasha give special place to the issue of Pan-Turkism, this study argues that Ottoman Army’s Baku operation has a special place in Ottoman history as one of practical implementations of Pan-Turkist policies and it has an important role in the shaping of Azerbaijani National Movement in Transcaucasia. The thesis is divided into three parts. These are “The Ottoman State’s Caucasus Policy from the February Revolution to Batum Treaties”, “The General Situation in Transcaucasia before Baku Operation”, and “The CaucasusIslam Army’s Baku Operation”. In this context Germany, Soviet Russia and Britain’s strategies in the region will also be considered.
Open Access
Dunsterforce and Baku : a case study in British imperial
(2012) İnceoğlu, Cengiz
This thesis will examine the actions of the British Empire in Transcaucasia during the latter half of the First World War, more specifically, after the collapse of Imperial Russia into a state of revolution in March of 1917. Western sources tend to defend the British Intervention in the Caucasus in 1917 as a necessity to what was then an ongoing military conflict, rather than, being based on imperialist initiatives. Simultaneously, Soviet historians denounce every action of the British in Transcaucasia as premeditated imperialist intervention aimed at annexation and colonization. The purpose here will be to examine the decision making process of the pertinent committees involved in formulating British policy towards Transcaucasia in 1917 and 1918. Through an analysis of the relevant material it is then possible to determine the impetus behind the formulation of General Dunsterville’s mission, “Dunsterforce”, and its subsequent intervention at Baku in August of 1918. This thesis is divided into five parts. The first part will focus on policy creation and the committees involved, as well as the importance of oil as a resource. The next three sections focus on the British perception of the intentions of their enemies in Transcaucasia based off of primary sources, starting with the Turks, then the Germans, and lastly the Bolsheviks. The last chapter focuses on the British response to the perceived actions of their enemies, characterized by the eventual approval granted to Dunsterforce to proceed to Baku and help in its defence. Determining to what extent the members of the Imperial War Cabinet and the Eastern Committee – the committee that generated policy for Transcaucasia – were influenced by imperialistic ambitions with regard to Transcaucasian policy is of cardinal importance here.