British foreign policy in Azerbaijan, 1918-1920
Creators: name: Akhmedov, Afgan
Publisher: name: Lancaster University
Year: 2019

description: This thesis examines Anglo-Russian rivalry in Transcaucasia in general -
      and Azerbaijan in particular - focusing on the years 1918-1920. The first
      part of the thesis provides a general review of the history of the Great
      Game - the geopolitical rivalry between the British and Russian Empires
      fought in the remote areas of central Asia - before going on to examine
      the growing investment by British firms in the oil industry of Baku. It
      also discusses how the Anglo-Russian Entente of 1907 changed the texture
      of AngloRussian relations without resolving the tensions altogether, which
      lasted until the February Revolution of 1917, despite the wartime alliance
      between Britain and Russia. The thesis then goes on to examine British
      policy towards Transcaucasia after the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917. The
      thesis argues that the political turmoil in Russia provided the British
      government with an opportunity to exert greater political control over the
      south of the country, securing its access to oil and control of the
      Caspian Sea region, thereby reducing any potential threat to India. The
      allied victory in the First World War, and the weakening of Turkey in
      particular, meant that British policy in central Asia after November 1918
      increasingly focused on advancing British economic and strategic interests
      in the area. Although the British government did not seek to exert direct
      long-term political control over Azerbaijan, its policy in 1919 was
      designed both to support the local government in Baku against possible
      Bolshevik attack, whilst simultaneously exerting control over Baku oil.
      The thesis shows that the British military authorities who controlled
      Azerbaijan in the first part of 1919 typically acted as an occupying
      force, manipulating the local government, and behaving in ways that
      alienated large sections of the local population. This pattern of
      quasi-imperial rule, which was designed to secure the economic benefits of
      controlling Baku oil while avoiding the costs of large-scale military
      occupation, eventually proved fruitless. The final part of the thesis then
      examines how the British sought to defend their economic interests in
      Azerbaijan even as they removed their military forces. The government in
      London supported the local Musavat government in its attempt to gain
      international recognition, hoping that this would bolster its position
      both abroad and at home. Yet this policy failed to recognise the radical
      mood on the ‘streets’ of Baku and the appeal of Bolshevism to the many of
      the local population. When the Bolsheviks finally took control of
      Azerbaijan in 1920 they did so with the support of significant sections of
      the population.
      
      This thesis suggests that developments in Azerbaijan during this period
      can be analysed by using a Marxist framework that emphasises how
      imperialism creates divisions between imperial powers - divisions that
      endure over time even as they take new forms. It also examines how British
      policy towards Azerbaijan can be seen as an attempt to establish a form of
      colonial control that promoted the economic and political interests of key
      economic and political groups in Britain at the cost of the local Azeri
      population. In order to develop this argument and avoid the dangers of
      over-simplification, the thesis draws on a massive array of archive and
      published sources in English, Russian, Azeri and Turkish. In doing this it
      offers perspectives and arguments that are absent from the existing
      scholarly literature whilst introducing the reader to new material
      unfamiliar to most English-language readers.