26 Baku Commissars
Encyclopedia
Commissar
Commissar is the English transliteration of an official title used in Russia from the time of Peter the Great.The title was used during the Provisional Government for regional heads of administration, but it is mostly associated with a number of Cheka and military functions in Bolshevik and Soviet...
s were Bolshevik
Bolshevik
The Bolsheviks, originally also Bolshevists , derived from bol'shinstvo, "majority") were a faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party which split apart from the Menshevik faction at the Second Party Congress in 1903....
and Left Socialist Revolutionary (SR) members of the Baku Soviet
Soviet (council)
Soviet was a name used for several Russian political organizations. Examples include the Czar's Council of Ministers, which was called the “Soviet of Ministers”; a workers' local council in late Imperial Russia; and the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union....
Commune. The commune was established in the city of Baku
Baku
Baku , sometimes spelled as Baki or Bakou, is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. It is located on the southern shore of the Absheron Peninsula, which projects into the Caspian Sea. The city consists of two principal...
(the capital of the briefly independent pre-Soviet Azerbaijan Democratic Republic
Azerbaijan Democratic Republic
The Azerbaijan Democratic Republic was the first successful attempt to establish a democratic and secular republic in the Muslim world . The ADR was founded on May 28, 1918 after the collapse of the Russian Empire that began with the Russian Revolution of 1917 by Azerbaijani National Council in...
, now the Republic of Azerbaijan). The commune, led by Stepan Shahumyan
Stepan Shahumyan
Stepan Gevorgi Shahumyan was a Bolshevist Russian communist politician and revolutionary active throughout the Caucasus. Shahumyan was an ethnic Armenian and his role as a leader of the Russian revolution in the Caucasus earned him the nickname of the "Caucasian Lenin", a reference to the leader...
, existed until 26 July 1918 when the Bolsheviks were forced out of power by a coalition of Dashnaks, Right SRs
Socialist-Revolutionary Party
thumb|right|200px|Socialist-Revolutionary election poster, 1917. The caption in red reads "партия соц-рев" , short for Party of the Socialist Revolutionaries...
, and Mensheviks. After their overthrow, the Baku commissars attempted to leave Baku but were captured by the Centrocaspian Dictatorship
Centrocaspian Dictatorship
The Central-Caspian Dictatorship , or the Centro-Caspian Dictatorship, was a short-lived anti-Soviet client state proclaimed in Baku, the capital of present-day Azerbaijan, during World War I...
and imprisoned. According to the Soviet historiography, on 14 September 1918, during the fall of Baku
Battle of Baku
The Battle of Baku in June – September 1918 was a clash between coalitions of Ottoman–Azerbaijani forces led by Nuri Pasha and Bolshevik–Dashnak Baku Soviet forces, later succeeded by British–Armenian–White Russian forces led by Lionel Dunsterville as part of the final battle of the Caucasus...
to Ottoman forces, Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
soldiers broke into their prison and freed the commissars; they then boarded a ship to Krasnovodsk, where they were promptly arrested by local authorities and, on the night of 20 September 1918, executed by a firing squad between the stations of Pereval and Akhcha-Kuyma on the Transcaspian Railway.
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 DaysMarch Days
The March Days, or March Events, refer to an inter-ethnic strife and massacres of up to 12,000 Azerbaijanis and other Muslims that took place between March 30 and April 2, 1918 in the city of Baku and adjacent areas of the Baku Governorate of Russian Empire.Facilitated by a political power struggle...
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
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
Army who wanted to attack Baku. Despite the difficult conditions, the Commune managed to make several social reform, such as the nationalization
Nationalization
Nationalisation, also spelled nationalization, is the process of taking an industry or assets into government ownership by a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to private assets, but may also mean assets owned by lower levels of government, such as municipalities, being...
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
Victor Serge
Victor Serge , born Victor Lvovich Kibalchich , was a Russian revolutionary and writer. Originally an anarchist, he joined the Bolsheviks five months after arriving in Petrograd in January 1919 and later worked for the Comintern as a journalist, editor and translator...
described the situation in May, June and July and the state of the small Red Army of Baku:
On 5 June, the Baku Red Army repulsed victoriously an assault of overwhelming Ottoman troops but later it launched an unsuccessful assault on Ganja
Ganja, Azerbaijan
Ganja is Azerbaijan's second-largest city with a population of around 313,300. It was named Yelizavetpol in the Russian Empire period. The city regained its original name—Ganja—from 1920–1935 during the first part of its incorporation into the Soviet Union. However, its name was changed again and...
, 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
March Days
The March Days, or March Events, refer to an inter-ethnic strife and massacres of up to 12,000 Azerbaijanis and other Muslims that took place between March 30 and April 2, 1918 in the city of Baku and adjacent areas of the Baku Governorate of Russian Empire.Facilitated by a political power struggle...
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
Cheka
Cheka was the first of a succession of Soviet state security organizations. It was created by a decree issued on December 20, 1917, by Vladimir Lenin and subsequently led by aristocrat-turned-communist Felix Dzerzhinsky...
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.
The executions
After the fall of the Baku Soviet, the Bolshevik leaders and some loyal troops tried to reach Astrakhan by sea. However, their ship was intercepted by the military vessels of the Caspian fleet and after undergoing an hour's bombardment in mid-sea they surrendered and returned to Baku. Most of the Bolshevik militants were arrested and remained in prison until, after the fall of Baku to the Turks, a commando unit led by Anastas Mikoyan
Anastas Mikoyan
Anastas Ivanovich Mikoyan was an Armenian Old Bolshevik and Soviet statesman during the rules of Vladimir Lenin, Joseph Stalin, Nikita Khrushchev, and Leonid Brezhnev....
freed them from their prison.
Shahumyan, Dzhaparidze, Azizbekov, and their comrades, along with Mikoyan, then boarded the ship Turkmen, intending to reach Astrakhan
Astrakhan
Astrakhan is a major city in southern European Russia and the administrative center of Astrakhan Oblast. The city lies on the left bank of the Volga River, close to where it discharges into the Caspian Sea at an altitude of below the sea level. Population:...
, the only Caspian
Caspian Sea
The Caspian Sea is the largest enclosed body of water on Earth by area, variously classed as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. The sea has a surface area of and a volume of...
port still in Bolshevik hands. According to recent historians, the sailors chose instead to sail to Krasnovodsk for fear of being arrested in Astrakhan. At Krasnovodsk the commissars were arrested by the town's commandant who requested further orders from the "Ashkhabad Committee
Transcaspian Government
The Transcaspian Government was set up by Railway workers of the Trans-Caspian Railway in 1918 and lasted until July 1919. It was based at Ashgabat.-Origin:...
", led by the Socialist Revolutionary Fyodor Funtikov, about what should be done with them. Three days later, British Major-General Wilfrid Malleson
Wilfrid Malleson
Sir Wilfrid Malleson was a Major-General in the British Army who led a mission to Turkestan during the Russian Civil War. Malleson joined the Royal Artillery in 1886. In 1904 he transferred to the Indian Army and accompanied Sir Louis William Daneon on his mission to Kabul, Afghanistan, 1904–1905...
, on hearing of their arrest, contacted Britain's liaison-officer in Ashkhabad, Captain Reginald Teague-Jones
Reginald Teague-Jones
Reginald Teague-Jones MBE was a British political and intelligence officer. He was active in the Caucasus and Central Asia during the Russian Civil War.-Early life:...
, to suggest that the commissars be handed over to British forces to be used as hostages in exchange for British citizens held by the Soviets. That same day, Teague-Jones attended the Committee's meeting in Ashkabad which had the task of deciding the fate of the Commissars. For some reason Teague-Jones did not communicate Malleson's request to the Committee, and claimed he left before a decision was made. He further claimed that next day he discovered the committee had eventually decided to issue orders that the commissars should be executed. According to historian Richard H. Ullman, Teague-Jones could stop the executions if he wanted since the Ashkabad Committee was dependent on British support and could not refuse a request from its powerful ally, but he decided not to do so.
On the night of 20 September, three days after being arrested, twenty-six of the commissars were executed by a firing squad between the stations of Pereval and Akhcha-Kuyma on the Trans-Caspian railway
Trans-Caspian railway
The Trans-Caspian Railway is a railway that follows the path of the Silk Road through much of western Central Asia. It was built by the Russian Empire during its expansion into Central Asia in the 19th century. The railway was started in 1879, following the Russian defeat of Khokand...
. How Anastas Mikoyan, who was part of the group, managed to survive is still uncertain, as is the reason why his life was spared. In 1922, V. Chaikin, a Socialist Revolutionary journalist, published a description of the moments before the execution.
Alternative version
During the evacuation of Baku with the advancing Ottoman forces, the deputy from the Bolshevik faction Anastas Mikoyan
Anastas Mikoyan
Anastas Ivanovich Mikoyan was an Armenian Old Bolshevik and Soviet statesman during the rules of Vladimir Lenin, Joseph Stalin, Nikita Khrushchev, and Leonid Brezhnev....
by means of threats requested the release of the Baku Commune members for conducting investigation and court trials over the arrested in Astrakhan
Astrakhan
Astrakhan is a major city in southern European Russia and the administrative center of Astrakhan Oblast. The city lies on the left bank of the Volga River, close to where it discharges into the Caspian Sea at an altitude of below the sea level. Population:...
where the evacuation was directed. In route to Astrakhan (held by the Reds), the team of the steamship led by naval officers turned to the city of Petrovsk that was held by the White forces. At that time all 27 commissars mixed with the other 600 refugees. At the arrival to Petrovsk during the passport checks conducted by military counterespionage officials Mikoyan was caught for unlawful possession of weapon and placed into an investigatory isolator of temporary detention. The chief of staff of General L.Bicherakhov garrison, simultaneously the chief of counterespionage team, Major General
Major General
Major general or major-general is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. A major general is a high-ranking officer, normally subordinate to the rank of lieutenant general and senior to the ranks of brigadier and brigadier general...
Aleksei Martynov during interrogations offered Anastas Mikoyan a deal - his life over the assistance in selecting among the refugees all of the commissars. Thanks to the help of Mikoyan all the commissars were detained and brought to court. Upon completion of the investigation all 26 members were sentenced to a death by firing squad, while Mikoyan was released on parole not to engage in anti-government activities. According to General Alexei Yevgenevich Martynov: of all the detainees, he was the worst scum, we should have dealt with him too, but I gave him my officer's word to spare his life...
Impact of the executions
Soviet officials later blamed the executions on British agents acting in the Baku area at the time. When Soviet rule was established in the whole Caspian area, Funtikov, the head of the Ashkhabad 'Directorate' responsible for the executions, was imprisoned. Funtikov put all blame for the executions onto Britain, and in particular Teague-Jones who, he claimed, had ordered him to have the commissars shot. Funtikov was tried and shot in Baku in 1926. Britain denied involvement in the incident, saying it was done by local officials without any knowledge of the British.This accusation caused a further souring of relations between Britain and the fledgling Soviet government and helped lead to the confrontational attitude of both sides in the coming years.
According to Soviet historiography
Soviet historiography
Soviet historiography is the methodology of history studies by historians in the Soviet Union . In the USSR, the study of history was marked by alternating periods of freedom allowed and restrictions imposed by the Communist Party of the Soviet Union , and also by the struggle of historians to...
two British officers on board the commissars' ship ordered it to sail to Krasnovodsk instead of Astrakhan, where they found a government led by SRs and British officers who immediately ordered the arrest of the commissars. The Soviets would later immortalize the death of the 26 commissars through, among other things, movies, artwork, stamps, and public works including the 26 Commissars Memorial
26 Commissars Memorial
The 26 Commissars Memorial, which was located in Baku, Azerbaijan, paid tribute to the 26 Baku Commissars from the Baku commune. The commune was overthrown in 1918 and the commissars later slain near Krasnovodsk...
in Baku. In Isaak Brodsky's famous painting, British officers are metaphorically depicted as being present at the executions.
According to B.Sennikov, the 26 were decapitated, not shot, and the executioner was a Turkmen
Turkmen people
The Turkmen are a Turkic people located primarily in the Central Asian states of Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, and northeastern Iran. They speak the Turkmen language, which is classified as a part of the Western Oghuz branch of the Turkic languages family together with Turkish, Azerbaijani, Qashqai,...
.
The Commissars
The twenty-six "Baku Commissars" were not all commissars and were not all Bolsheviks; some of them were Left SRs and Dashnaks. There were many different nationalities among them: GreekGreeks
The Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world....
, Latvian
Latvians
Latvians or Letts are the indigenous Baltic people of Latvia.-History:Latvians occasionally refer to themselves by the ancient name of Latvji, which may have originated from the word Latve which is a name of the river that presumably flowed through what is now eastern Latvia...
, Jewish, Russian
Russians
The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....
, Georgian
Georgians
The Georgians are an ethnic group that have originated in Georgia, where they constitute a majority of the population. Large Georgian communities are also present throughout Russia, European Union, United States, and South America....
, Armenian
Armenians
Armenian people or Armenians are a nation and ethnic group native to the Armenian Highland.The largest concentration is in Armenia having a nearly-homogeneous population with 97.9% or 3,145,354 being ethnic Armenian....
and Azerbaijani
Azerbaijani people
The Azerbaijanis are a Turkic-speaking people living mainly in northwestern Iran and the Republic of Azerbaijan, as well as in the neighbourhood states, Georgia, Russia and formerly Armenia. Commonly referred to as Azeris or Azerbaijani Turks , they also live in a wider area from the Caucasus to...
.
The 26 "commissars" were:
Stepan Shahumyan
Stepan Shahumyan
Stepan Gevorgi Shahumyan was a Bolshevist Russian communist politician and revolutionary active throughout the Caucasus. Shahumyan was an ethnic Armenian and his role as a leader of the Russian revolution in the Caucasus earned him the nickname of the "Caucasian Lenin", a reference to the leader...
- Chairman of the Baku Council of the People's Commissars
Council of the People's Commissars
The Council of People's Commissars , was a government institution formed shortly after the October Revolution in 1917. Created in the Russian Republic the council laid foundations in restructuring the country to form the Soviet Union...
, Commissar Extraordinary for the Caucasus
Meshadi Azizbekov
Meshadi Azizbekov
Meshadi Azimbey oghlu Azizbekov, also spelled Azizbeyov , was a famous Azerbaijani revolutionary.- Early life :...
- Deputy People's Commissar of Internal Affairs, gubernial commissar for Baku
Prokopius Dzhaparidze
Prokopius Dzhaparidze
Prokofy Aprasionovich Dzhaparidze or Japaridze, , was a Georgian Communist activist, one of the Red Army and Bolshevik Party leaders in Azerbaijan during the Russian Revolution....
- Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Baku Soviet
Ivan Fioletov
Ivan Fioletov
Ivan Timofeevich Fioletov Иван Тимофеевич Фиолетов was a Russian Communist activist, one of the Bolshevik Party leaders in Azerbaijan during the Russian Revolution....
- Chairman of the Soviet of National Economy
Mir-Hasan Vazirov - People's Commissar for Agriculture
Grigory Korganov
Grigory Korganov
Grigory Nikolayevich Korganov was a Georgian Communist activist, one of the 26 Baku Commissars and Bolshevik Party leaders in Azerbaijan during the Russian Revolution....
- People's Commissar for Military and Navy Affairs
Yakov Zevin
Yakov Zevin
Yakov Davidovich Zevin was a Jewish Communist activist, one of the Bolshevik Party leaders in Azerbaijan during the Russian Revolution. Zevin was born in Krasnapolle, a town in nowadays Mahilyow Voblast, Belarus. He became a member of Russian Social Democratic Labour Party in 1904 and he was...
- People's Commissar for Labor
Grigory Petrov
Grigory Petrov
Grigory Constantinovich Petrov was a Russian Left Socialist-Revolutionary activist in Baku, Azerbaijan, during the Russian Civil War. Petrov became one of the 26 Baku Commissars of the Soviet Commune that was established in the city after the October Revolution. He was the Military Commissar of...
- Military Commissar
Military commissariat
Military commissariat is a military institution in some European counties.-Russia and former USSR:Military commissariat , abbreviated as voyenkomat is а local military administrative agency in the former Soviet Union as well as in present-day Russia and some other CIS countries that prepares and...
of the Baku region from the Sovnarkom of the Russian SFSR
Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic
The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic , commonly referred to as Soviet Russia, Bolshevik Russia, or simply Russia, was the largest, most populous and economically developed republic in the former Soviet Union....
Ivan Malygin - Deputy Chairman of the Military Revolutionary Committee
Military Revolutionary Committee
The Military Revolutionary Committee also known as the Milrevcom was the name for military organs under the soviets during the period of the Russian Revolution and Russian Civil War. The most notable ones were those of the Petrograd Soviet, the Moscow Soviet, and at Stavka.These committees were...
of the Caucasian Army
Arsen Amiryan - Chief Editor of Baku Worker newspaper
Meyer Basin - member of the Military Revolutionary Committee
Suren Osepyan - Chief Editor of Izvestia of the Baku Council newspaper
Eigen Berg - sailor
Vladimir Polukhin
Vladimir Polukhin
Vladimir Nikolayevich Polukhin — died September 3, 2009, St.Petersburg) was a Russian scientist and engineer in field of optics.-Career:Polukhin is known for his contribution to physical chemistry and technology of optical and special types of glass, fiber-optic elements, and micro channel...
- Collegiate Commissar for Military and Navy Affairs of the Russian SFSR
Fyodor Solntsev - member of the military
Armenak Boriyan - journalist
Ivan Gabyshev - political commissar
Political commissar
The political commissar is the supervisory political officer responsible for the political education and organisation, and loyalty to the government of the military...
of a brigade
Mark Koganov - member of the Military Revolutionary Committee
Bagdasar Avakyan - Military Commandant of Baku
Irakly Metaksa - Shahumyan's bodyguard
Ivan Nikolayshvili - Dzhaparidze's bodyguard
Aram Kostandyan - Deputy People's Commissar for Agriculture
Solomon Bogdanov - member of the Military Revolutionary Committee
Anatoly Bogdanov - clerk
Isay Mishne - secretary of the Military Revolutionary Committee
Tatevos Amirov - commander of a cavalry unit, member of Dashnaktsutiun
Demolition of the 26 Commissars Memorial and Reburial
On January 2009, the BakuBaku
Baku , sometimes spelled as Baki or Bakou, is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. It is located on the southern shore of the Absheron Peninsula, which projects into the Caspian Sea. The city consists of two principal...
authorities’ demolition of the 26 Commissars Memorial
26 Commissars Memorial
The 26 Commissars Memorial, which was located in Baku, Azerbaijan, paid tribute to the 26 Baku Commissars from the Baku commune. The commune was overthrown in 1918 and the commissars later slain near Krasnovodsk...
commemorating 26 Commisars began and was soon completed. The park itself was fenced in July 2008. The dismantling was opposed by some local left-wingers
Left-wing politics
In politics, Left, left-wing and leftist generally refer to support for social change to create a more egalitarian society...
and by the Azerbaijan Communist Party (1993)
Azerbaijan Communist Party (1993)
The Azerbaijan Communist Party is a political party in Azerbaijan. AKP was set up in 1993 by Ramiz Ahmadov and registered by the Justice Ministry in 1994.-Ideology:...
in particular. The remains of the commissars were reburied at Hovsan
Hövsan
Hövsan is a municipality in Baku, Azerbaijan. It has a population of 38,257....
Cemetery on 26 January 2009, with participation of Muslim, Jewish and Christian clergy, who conducted religious ceremonies. During exhumation only 21 bodies were discovered, out of expected 26. One of those whose remains were missing from the grave was the leader of the Baku Commune Stepan Shahumyan
Stepan Shahumyan
Stepan Gevorgi Shahumyan was a Bolshevist Russian communist politician and revolutionary active throughout the Caucasus. Shahumyan was an ethnic Armenian and his role as a leader of the Russian revolution in the Caucasus earned him the nickname of the "Caucasian Lenin", a reference to the leader...
and four other Armenian commissars Tatevos Amirov, Bagdasar Avakyan, Armenak Boriyan and Aram Kostandyan.
Trivia
Russian alternative music band WOMBA named one of its albums The 27th Baku Commissar.Italian prominent writer Tiziano Terzani
Tiziano Terzani
Tiziano Terzani was an Italian journalist and writer, best known for his extensive knowledge of 20th century East Asia and for being one of the very few western reporters to witness both the fall of Saigon to the hands of the Vietcong and the fall of Phnom Pehn at the hands of the Khmer rouge in...
wrote about the Baku Commissars in his book 'Buonanotte, signor Lenin' (Goodnight, Mr Lenin: A Journey Through the End of the Soviet Empire, 1992).