Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
REVOLUTIONARY RUSSIA, cilt.29, sa.1, ss.66-91, 2016 (AHCI)
This article presents a comprehensive account of the Bolsheviks' efforts to control Baku in 1917-18 by analyzing the reasons for their defeat. It argues that the Bolsheviks' policy during this period in Baku was motivated by power rather than class concerns, and this ambition for power pushed them to pursue their goals even when in a desperate situation. Their defeat in Baku in 1918 demonstrates the clash between a pragmatic nationality policy and the actions of Bolshevik revolutionaries in civil war conditions, particularly while trying to establish control over regions without a significant number of ethnic Russians; indeed, the study of the Baku Sovnarkom illustrates the Bolsheviks' disregard for the Transcaucasian peoples' right to self-determination. This study contributes, therefore, to the literature on the Bolsheviks' stance on the question of national self-determination during the revolutionary period, whilst also offering insights into the power-driven vision of Bolshevik vanguardism.