Moscow, Mysl Publishing House. 1976. 456 p. The print run is 3000 copies. Price 2 rubles 9 kopecks.
The history of relations between the peoples of Transcaucasia and Russia has always attracted the attention of a wide range of specialists. Philosophers, economists, historians, and literary critics have explored various aspects of this problem. But most often, the relationship of each of the peoples of Transcaucasia with Russia was studied separately. As a result, a lot of research and documentary publications have accumulated that require a look at the subject as a whole.
Book of corresponding members. Director of the Institute of History of the Academy of Sciences of the Armenian SSR G. A. Galoyan is almost the first attempt to write a generalizing work on the entire problem. The author collected and researched a huge amount of factual material, studied extensive literature. Relying on the achievements of Soviet historical science, he created a valuable work that reveals the origins of friendship between the peoples of Transcaucasia and the Russian people.
It is known that Transcaucasia has been the scene of devastating wars between Ottoman Turkey and Iran for many centuries. The military-feudal nobility of these countries subjected the peoples of Transcaucasia to merciless oppression. The local feudal lords did the same. The populations of Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia were threatened with physical destruction. In the XVI-XVIII centuries. it has repeatedly rebelled against foreign enslavers and local feudal lords. The class struggle was intertwined with the struggle against the foreign yoke. Under these conditions, the orientation of the peoples of Transcaucasia towards Russia emerged and developed. Based on the analysis of rich material, the author proves that this orientation was historically determined by stable socio-economic and political reasons. Since the beginning of the 17th century, broad strata of the Transcaucasian peoples saw Russia's support and patronage as the most reliable way to liberate themselves from the oppression of the Ottoman Empire and Iran.
The book examines Russia's relations with the peoples of Transcaucasia, especially since the 15th century. Interesting documents about Ivan III's contacts with the Azerbaijani khanates, Ivan IV's contacts with the Georgian Tsar Alexander II, and the arrival of the Russian embassy in Kakheti in 1588 (p.29-35) are included. In the 17th century. and especially at the beginning of the XVIII century, Russia's policy on the approaches to the Caucasus became more active. Here the interests of the Russian state and Turkey collided. In this regard, the author rightly notes that "the strengthening of Russia's position in the Caucasus, regardless of the goals of tsarism, had a positive impact on Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia, contributed to the strengthening of political ties and trade relations with them, which also led to the strengthening of their Russian orientation" (p.53).
Trade relations between Russia and Transcaucasia were increasingly developing, and the number of Armenian colonies in Astrakhan and Moscow was growing. The author emphasizes that the capture of Azov by Peter I (1696) served as an important impetus for further Russian contacts with Transcaucasia and the activities of Russian diplomacy in this area. The book traces step-by-step the process of expanding the liberation movement of peoples in the territories subject to Turkey and Iran and simultaneously strengthening the orientation towards Russia. A well-known Armenian public figure, Yisrael, has worked tirelessly in this direction
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Ori (p. 62-64). The book covers in detail the policy of Peter I to strengthen Russian positions in Transcaucasia in the first third of the XVIII century, shows the sympathy of broad strata of the Armenian, Georgian, and Azerbaijani peoples for this policy, and provides documents on Peter I's intention to support their liberation struggle against Turkey (pp. 74-75).
The author considers the events in Transcaucasia against the background of the struggle between the major powers in the Middle East. However, it would be necessary to cover the rivalry of the powers somewhat more broadly, which would contribute to a better understanding of the goals of Russian policy.
By the middle of the 18th century, many Armenians were moving to the Russian possessions (Astrakhan, Mozdok, and Kizlyar). The well-known figure of the liberation movement Iosif Emin actively promotes the development of Russian-Transcaucasian contacts. Russo-Turkish wars of the second half of the XVIII century. They contributed to the further growth of Russia's influence in Transcaucasia. An important milestone in the history of the entire Transcaucasus was the voluntary transfer of Georgia under the protectorate of Russia (1783). It inspired the Transcaucasian peoples to fight against the Turkish yoke. At the same time, Turkey and Iran were opposed not only by the masses of the people, but also by the propertied classes of Transcaucasia. The author shows that, despite the aggressive nature of the tsarist policy, the annexation of Georgia to Russia served the interests of the Georgian people, saved them from barbaric enslavement and extermination, and had a progressive significance.
The entry of the Azerbaijani khanates into Russia during the Russo-Persian (1804-1813) and Russo - Turkish (1806-1812) wars is considered in the same aspect in the book. Russia's wars with Iran and Turkey in the 1920s led to the annexation of Eastern Armenia to the Russian state, as a result of which a significant part of the Armenian people was spared the threat of annihilation.
Galoyan points out that the annexation of Transcaucasia to Russia was a turning point in the historical destinies of the Georgian, Armenian and Azerbaijani peoples. As a result of the annexation, significant socio-economic changes took place: the feudal fragmentation of Transcaucasia was put to an end; the process of gradual integration of this region into the Russian economy began (the latter was able to use its rich natural resources for its economic development); in Transcaucasia, as in all of Russia, a new economic system was being formed - capitalist. Russian-Transcaucasian trade relations were strengthened, which was facilitated by the construction of the Georgian Military Road. Joining Russia accelerated the formation of the Georgian, Armenian, and Azerbaijani bourgeois nations, and opened the way for the influence of the Russian liberation movement and democratic ideas.
The author also writes about the negative aspects of the tsarist policy: social and national oppression, the suppression of peasant revolts (p. 187), and the persecution of advanced thinkers in Transcaucasia. But in general, the annexation contributed to the development of Russian-Transcaucasian cultural ties. New educational institutions were opened in the cities (county schools, gymnasiums). Many young people of the region (mostly from the well-to-do strata) studied at higher educational institutions in Central Russia. This contributed to the spread of advanced Russian culture in Transcaucasia. In 1874, the ecclesiastical academy began to operate in Etchmiadzin, from the walls of which later prominent public and revolutionary figures emerged. Russian and Georgian theaters opened in Tiflis, and the first public library in Transcaucasia was founded.
The book covers in detail the development of democratic socio-political thought of the peoples of Transcaucasia. The author shows the connections of the advanced part of the Georgian nobility with the Decembrists (pp. 264-265). Progressive thinkers and revolutionary Democrats of Transcaucasia Kh. Abovyan, M. Nalbandian, I. Chavchavadze, S. Dodashvili, A. Bakikhanov, M. Akhundov promoted the ideas of the Russian revolutionary democrats and maintained personal contacts with them. They fought against the feudal-clerical trends in Transcaucasia.
The Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878 and the San Stefano Peace Treaty raised hopes for the liberation of other territories from Turkish rule. However, the Berlin Congress brought disappointment, especially to the population of Western Armenia, languishing under the rule of the Turkish sultan.
The author shows that in the last decades of the XIX century new features appeared in the relations between the Russian people and the peoples of Transcaucasia. A huge role in
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In this respect, the development of the revolutionary movement and the spread of Marxist ideas in Russia played a role. A working class was being formed in Transcaucasia. The tasks of the liberation struggle under these conditions could only be solved by the joint efforts of the peoples of the Russian Empire. The book covers the activities of the first Marxist circles in Transcaucasia, their close contacts with Marxist organizations in Central Russia. In Transcaucasia, the works of Karl Marx and Fr. Engels, was in the process of combining socialism with the working-class movement. The workers and peasants of the region assimilate the international and national tasks of the revolutionary struggle (pp. 351-352). V. I. Lenin followed the development of the working-class movement in Transcaucasia with great attention, and articles in Iskra were devoted to this issue. S. Shaumyan made a great contribution to the cause of rallying the ranks of the Transcaucasian proletariat.
The first Russian Revolution of 1905-1907 had a huge impact on the revolutionary movement in Transcaucasia. The workers of Baku, Tiflis, Kutaisi, Erivan, and Alexandropol rose up to fight against the autocracy. While suppressing revolutionary actions by force of arms, tsarism simultaneously applied methods of inciting ethnic hatred in its policy in Transcaucasia. They were exposed by V. I. Lenin in connection with the events in Baku on February 6-9, 1905.1 (pp. 374, 378).
G. A. Galoyan dwells on the struggle of classes and parties in Transcaucasia. The petty-bourgeois and bourgeois - nationalist parties that emerged there in the last decades of the nineteenth century initially played a certain progressive role, but in the era of imperialism they became a reactionary force. The contradictions in the national liberation movement itself have also become more acute.
Considering the events of the First World War, Galoyan reveals the plans of the imperialist powers in relation to Transcaucasia, tells about the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire, and the attitude of various political groups in Transcaucasia to the war. It shows that the bourgeois nationalists who developed projects for the creation of "independent" states actually became an instrument of international imperialism. All these years V. I. Lenin continued to follow the events in Transcaucasia and corresponded with S. Shaumyan. Lenin's works on national and national-colonial issues provided a clear guide for the development of the international struggle for the socialist revolution in Russia.
The news of the overthrow of tsarism was greeted with enthusiasm by the working people of Transcaucasia. A Council of Workers', Soldiers 'and Peasants' deputies was established in Baku. The monograph covers in detail the course of events in the region in the summer and autumn of 1917. In Transcaucasia there was a stubborn struggle between the Bolsheviks and Mensheviks, which was sharply manifested at the First Regional Congress of the Caucasian Army (April - May 1917) (pp. 415-416). On June 25, 1917, the All-Baku Conference of Bolsheviks decided on the final organizational separation from the Mensheviks. The Baku Committee of the RSDLP (b) was elected, which included S. Shaumyan, P. Japaridze, N. Narimanov and other Bolsheviks. Independent Bolshevik organizations were established in Tiflis, Batum, Kutaisi, Chiatura, Telava, Alexandropol and other places (p. 416). On October 2-7, the First Regional Congress of Bolshevik Organizations of the Caucasus was held in Tiflis, which took the decision of the Sixth Congress of the RSDLP (b) to unswervingly implement it.
This peer-reviewed work addresses a complex set of issues and concerns the fate of the three most numerous peoples of Transcaucasia - Azerbaijanis, Armenians, and Georgians. Unfortunately, the author did not pay attention to South Ossetians, Abkhazians, as well as Avars, Lezgins and Kurds, some of whom live in Transcaucasia. There are some inaccurate statements in the book. Thus, on page 30, it is stated that already in the fifteenth century the so-called Eastern question arose in international politics. In fact, this question, in the sense that historiography puts it, arose during the decline of the Ottoman Empire in the XVIII century.
In general, Galoyan's research is of great scientific and political significance. It makes a significant contribution to the study of Russian-Transcaucasian relations, helps to further develop the history of the peoples of this region, exposes bourgeois falsifiers trying to deny the friendship of the peoples of Transcaucasia with the Russian people and their joint struggle against tsarism.
Academician A. L. Narochnitsky
1 See V. I. Lenin. PSS. Vol. 9, p. 333.
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