Guba, April-May 1918. Documented Pogroms of the Muslims
46
We do hereby apply to the Executive Committee with the request to
assist the refugees willing to bury their kin killed in the course of riots since
the road from the village to the city is still very dangerous indeed”. (117)
Similar resolution was adopted by the general meeting of
Galashyklhly rural community of Guba Uyezd in early June 1918:
“Complying with the authority of the Soviet of People’s Com-
missars both in the capital and in the provinces, we, the members of
the Soviet of Peasant Deputies, are willing to serve and support it in
whatever we can.
The Executive Committee of Galashykhly Community elected at
the village assembly of almost 3000 residents is in a desperate situation
at the moment as the villagers left the fields and fled to the mountains.
There is no access to the railroad with crops and pastures on both sides,
and the harvest yielding time is coming soon. In our capacity of autho-
rized villagers of Garashykhly Community we do hereby apply to the
Soviet of Workers, Soldiers, Seamen and Peasants Deputies to render
an immediate assistance and take urgent steps to guarantee personal
security of civilians and provide enabling conditions for their return to
their households from the highland areas of their current refuge”. (118)
Conditions in which the peasant Soviets were formed, as well as the
way they were perceived by local population may be inferred from the
speech by Meshadi Azizbeyov at the ceremony of joint meeting of the
Baku Soviet and the First Congress of the Baku Uyezd Peasant Deputies
Soviet: “They say that Azizbeyov is traveling throughout the villages with
armed guard that terrifies the villagers, so that they pass resolutions to
support the Soviet Power. Not true, comrades, as I was never escorted by
armed bodyguards. I was traveling alone or together with one more per-
son, preferably an Armenian, as I was more scared by our own troops that
the Muslims. That’s why I was escorted by a non-Muslim”. (119)
One can imagine a situation in both the city of Baku and coun-
tryside areas all over Azerbaijan whereby not only local peasants were
fearful to get back to their homes from highlands, but even the Baku
Soviet Commissar of Azerbaijani descent did not dare to leave for
rural areas other than with an Armenian companion out of the fear of
‘his own troops”, i.e. Red Army’s Armenian soldiers.
This was exactly the environment the Soviet power had to sur-
vive in Guba Uyezd, named ‘the Red Bolshevik Republic’ by the com-
munists (120) unless the Baku Commissars were forced to resign in