Mughan clashes
According to historians O. M. Morozova and T. F. Yermolenko, this historical episode rarely attracts the attention of scholars; the events are used more in political interests related to modern ethnic conflicts.
In the third volume of the Soviet publication History of Azerbaijan (1963), the chronology of events was not established, the assessment of political forces was ideological.
According to Russian historian Olga Morozova, local Shiites turned to the Persians and Sunni Muslims to the Turkish sultan.
[5] The resettlement of the Russians to Mugan, according to various sources, took place during the reign of Nicholas II, among whom were Subbotniks, Dukhoborchevs, Staroobryadchevs, Malorussovs,[clarify] and others.
According to Talbli, sectarians in exile in Russia have become an element of government protection - the detention of Russian immigrants has led to clashes with the local population.
However, according to Morozova and Yermolenko, the population was dissatisfied with the tsarist policy due to the failure of local authorities and the lack of special measures.
According to Morozova, a similar situation existed in Karabakh and Gazakh; the construction of Armenian villages on the routes of nomads caused conflicts.
[1] After the October Revolution and the collapse of the Caucasus Front, anarchy arose in Mugan in the south of the present-day Republic of Azerbaijan.
[citation needed] The period of ethnic clashes ended only in April 1918, after the establishment of Soviet power by parts of the Baku commune, and there were attempts at reconciliation.
However, Soviet rule did not last long, and a few months after the collapse of the Baku Commune, a puppet government of the Russian White Forces was formed in Mugan: the Provisional Military Dictatorship of Mughan.
He stated in his appeal that "with the consent of the Republic of Azerbaijan, I am sending troops to Lankaran to end the civil war, restore stability and save you from the aggressors.
[10] After the events in Mugan, the southern districts of Baku province finally became part of Azerbaijan, but instability prevailed in the region for a long time.
In early January 1920, Garrison Adjutant Hashimov reported from Lankaran to the General Staff of the Azerbaijani Army that the situation in Lankaran and Mugan was calm; but "there is an increase in the Bolshevik organization of the villages of Privolnoye (Jalilabad), Grigorevka (Sharan), Otrubintsi, which are in the center of attention due to the recent successes of the Bolsheviks among the population of Mugan."
[15] The armed resistance, known as the Lankaran Uprisings, was suppressed only in October 1921, but, as Mehman Süleymanov noted, protests against Soviet rule in the region continued for many years.
