81-578: The 26 Baku Commissars were Bolshevik and Left Socialist Revolutionary (SR) members of the Baku Commune. The commune was established in the city of Baku , which was then the capital of the briefly independent Azerbaijan Democratic Republic , and is now the capital of the Republic of Azerbaijan . The commune, led by Stepan Shahumyan , existed until 26 July 1918 when the Bolsheviks were forced out of power by
162-910: A far-left faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with the Mensheviks at the Second Party Congress in 1903. The Bolshevik party, formally established in 1912, seized power in Russia in the October Revolution of 1917, and was later renamed the Russian Communist Party, All-Union Communist Party, and Communist Party of the Soviet Union . The party's ideology, based on Leninist and later Marxist–Leninist principles,
243-534: A big group of a high-ranking Moscow's Cheka officers headed by Yakov Peters , an international criminal associated with the Siege of Sidney Street . Sennikov also brings up a quote of Chaikin in the article of Suren Gazaryan "That should not be repeated" in the Leningrad magazine " Zvezda ": "The painting of Brodsky Execution of the 26 Baku Commissars is historically false. They were not shot, but rather decapitated . And
324-618: A book in 2004 about his findings on the Tambov Rebellion where he mentioned several facts about the event. Sennikov claims that the famous Brodsky's painting is an invention of the Soviet historiography. The truth was established by the special commission of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee (VTsIK) that arrived from Moscow. The commission was headed by Vadim Chaikin ( PSR ). The commission also consisted of
405-555: A coalition of Dashnaks , Right SRs and Mensheviks . After their overthrow, the Baku commissars attempted to leave Baku but were captured by the Centrocaspian Dictatorship and imprisoned. On 14 September 1918, during the fall of Baku to Ottoman forces, Red Army 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
486-460: A core group of professional revolutionaries who would devote their full time and energy towards developing the party into an organization capable of leading a successful proletarian revolution against the Tsarist autocracy . The base of active and experienced members would be the recruiting ground for this professional core. Sympathizers would be left outside and the party would be organised based on
567-427: 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 in Baku. In Isaak Brodsky's famous painting, British officers are depicted as being present at the executions. Boris Vladimirovich Sennikov published
648-504: A higher budget. One of the common methods the Bolsheviks used was committing bank robberies, one of which, in 1907, resulted in the party getting over 250,000 roubles, which is the equivalent of about $ 125,000. Bolsheviks were in constant need of money because Lenin practised his beliefs, expressed in his writings, that revolutions must be led by individuals who devote their entire lives to the cause. As compensation, he rewarded them with salaries for their sacrifice and dedication. This measure
729-456: A more organized revolutionary work. After the proposed revolution had successfully overthrown the Russian autocracy, this strong leadership would relinquish power and allow a Socialist party to fully develop within the principles of democratic centralism . Lenin said that if professional revolutionaries did not maintain influence over the fight of the workers, then that fight would steer away from
810-619: A public school later absorbed into Haileybury and Imperial Service College , which prepared British young men for careers in Her Majesty's Army. He served as the inspiration for the character " Stalky " in Kipling's collection of school stories Stalky & Co . He was also uncle to H.D. Harvey-Kelly , the first Royal Flying Corps pilot to land in France during the First World War . Dunsterville
891-577: A rigid political structure was needed to effectively initiate a formal revolution. This idea was met with opposition from once close allies, including Martov, Plekhanov , Vera Zasulich , Leon Trotsky , and Pavel Axelrod . Plekhanov and Lenin's major dispute arose addressing the topic of nationalizing land or leaving it for private use. Lenin wanted to nationalize to aid in collectivization , whereas Plekhanov thought worker motivation would remain higher if individuals were able to maintain their own property. Those who opposed Lenin and wanted to continue on
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#1732856185962972-656: A separate Union of Socialists-Revolutionaries Maximalists ) and then again after 1917. The Bolsheviks ultimately became the Communist Party of the Soviet Union . The Bolsheviks, or Reds , came to power in Russia during the October Revolution phase of the 1917 Russian Revolution , and founded the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR). With the Reds defeating the Whites and others during
1053-583: A separate party, convincing pro-Bolshevik workers within Russia to follow suit proved difficult. When the first meeting of the Fourth Duma was convened in late 1912, only one out of six Bolshevik deputies, Matvei Muranov (another one, Roman Malinovsky , was later exposed as an Okhrana agent), voted on 15 December 1912 to break from the Menshevik faction within the Duma. The Bolshevik leadership eventually prevailed, and
1134-462: A tense silence. One sailor shouted: "I'm not afraid, I'm dying for liberty." One of the executioners replied that "We too will die for liberty sooner or later, but we mean it in a different way from you." The first group of commissars, led from the train in the semi-darkness, was dispatched with a single salvo. The second batch tried to run away but was mown down after several volleys. The third resigned itself to its fate ... Soviet officials later blamed
1215-506: A tentative agreement, and one of its provisions was to make Trotsky's Vienna-based Pravda , a party-financed central organ. Kamenev, Trotsky's brother-in-law who was with the Bolsheviks, was added to the editorial board; but the unification attempts failed in August 1910 when Kamenev resigned from the board amid mutual recriminations . The factions permanently broke relations in January 1912 after
1296-458: A viewpoint that Bogdanov had been exploring and developing as Empiriomonism . Having worked as co-editor with Plekhanov, on Zarya , Lenin had come to agree with the Valentinov's rejection of Bogdanov's Empiriomonism. With the defeat of the revolution in mid-1907 and the adoption of a new, highly restrictive election law, the Bolsheviks began debating whether to boycott the new parliament known as
1377-528: Is known as Bolshevism . The origin of the split was Lenin's support for a smaller party of professional revolutionaries, as opposed to the Menshevik desire for a broad party membership. The influence of the factions fluctuated in the years up to 1912, when the RSDLP formally split into two parties. The Bolsheviks' political philosophy was based on the Leninist principles of vanguardism and democratic centralism . After
1458-701: The Allied powers in order to resolve her internal conflict. Unfortunately for the Bolsheviks, Lenin's assumptions were incorrect. Despite his and the party's attempts to push for a civil war through involvement in two conferences in 1915 and 1916 in Switzerland, the Bolsheviks were in the minority in calling for a ceasefire by the Imperial Russian Army in World War I. Although the Bolshevik leadership had decided to form
1539-580: The Baku authorities began the demolition of the city's 26 Commissars Memorial . This was the latest monument of several that had been built to commemorate the Commissars erected in that park during the Soviet period. This last monument itself had been fenced-off since July 2008. The remains of the commissars were reburied at Hovsan Cemetery on 26 January 2009, with participation of Muslim, Jewish and Christian clergy, who conducted religious ceremonies. The dismantling
1620-1024: The Central Committee of RKP(b) . In 1922 Vadim Chaikin published his book To the history of the Russian Revolution through the Grazhbin Publishing ( Moscow ) commemorating the first part "Execution of 26 Baku Commissars" to the event. After serving time in the Oryol Prison Chaikin on 11 September 1941 he was executed by a firing squad along with 156 other Oryol prison inmates during the Medvedev Forest massacre . The 26 "Baku Commissars" were not all commissars and were not all Bolsheviks; some of them were Left SRs and Dashnaks . There were many ethnicities among them: Greek , Latvian , Jewish , Russian , Georgian , Armenian and Azerbaijani . The 26 "commissars" were: In January 2009,
1701-679: The February Revolution of 1917, Lenin returned to Russia and issued his April Theses , which called for "no support for the Provisional Government " and "all power to the soviets ". In the summer of 1917, especially after the July Days and Kornilov affair , large numbers of radicalized workers joined the Bolsheviks, which planned the October Revolution which overthrew the government. The party initially governed in coalition with
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#17328561859621782-741: The Left Socialist-Revolutionaries , but increasingly centralized power and suppressed opposition during the Russian Civil War , and after 1921 became the sole legal party in Soviet Russia and the Soviet Union . Under Joseph Stalin 's leadership, the party became linked to his policies of " socialism in one country ", rapid industrialization, collectivized agriculture, and centralized state control. Lenin's political pamphlet What Is to Be Done? , written in 1901, helped to precipitate
1863-580: The March Days 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 Army which wanted to attack Baku. Despite the difficult conditions, the Commune carried out several social reforms, such as the nationalization of the oil industry. This is how the writer Victor Serge described the situation in May, June and July and
1944-526: The Russian Civil War of 1917–1922, the RSFSR became the chief constituent of the Soviet Union (USSR) in December 1922. The average party member was very young: in 1907, 22% of Bolsheviks were under 20 years of age; 37% were 20–24 years of age; and 16% were 25–29 years of age. By 1905, 62% of the members were industrial workers (3% of the population in 1897). Twenty-two percent of Bolsheviks were gentry (1.7% of
2025-738: The Third Duma . Lenin, Grigory Zinoviev , Lev Kamenev , and others argued for participating in the Duma while Bogdanov, Anatoly Lunacharsky , Mikhail Pokrovsky , and others argued that the social democratic faction in the Duma should be recalled. The latter became known as " recallists " ( Russian : otzovists ). A smaller group within the Bolshevik faction demanded that the RSDLP Central Committee should give its sometimes unruly Duma faction an ultimatum, demanding complete subordination to all party decisions. This group became known as " ultimatists " and
2106-456: The socialist mode of production path towards complete socialism and disagreed with his strict party membership guidelines became known as "softs" while Lenin supporters became known as "hards". Some of the factionalism could be attributed to Lenin's steadfast belief in his own opinion and what was described by Plekhanov as Lenin's inability to "bear opinions which were contrary to his own" and loyalty to his own self-envisioned utopia . Lenin
2187-414: The 2nd Congress vote, Lenin's faction won votes on the majority of important issues, and soon came to be known as Bolsheviks , from the Russian bolshinstvo , 'majority'. Likewise, Martov's group came to be known as Mensheviks , from menshinstvo , 'minority'. However, Martov's supporters won the vote concerning the question of party membership, and neither Lenin nor Martov had a firm majority throughout
2268-737: The Baku Commissars in his book Buonanotte, signor Lenin ( Goodnight, Mr Lenin: A Journey Through the End of the Soviet Empire , 1992). A street in southwest-central Moscow is named after the 26 Baku Commisars Ulitsa 26 Bakinskikh Komissarov . Nine Photos of past monuments dedicated to the 26 Baku Commissars, plus photo of the funeral. Azerbaijan International, Vol. 15:2–4 (2011) , pp. 167–169. Bolshevik The Bolsheviks ( Russian : большевики , bolsheviki ; from большинство, bolshinstvo , 'majority'), led by Vladimir Lenin , were
2349-619: The Baku Red Army repulsed an assault by overwhelming Ottoman troops, but later it launched an unsuccessful assault on Ganja , the headquarters of the Ottoman Army of Islam , and was obliged to retreat to Baku. At this point, Dashnaks , 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
2430-448: The Bolshevik leaders and some loyal troops tried to reach Astrakhan , the only Caspian port still in Bolshevik hands. 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
2511-557: The Bolsheviks earned a reputation for ruthlessness executing those who did not support them, the Bolsheviks of Baku were not so strict. The Cheka in Baku executed only two persons, both members of the Soviet caught in embezzling public funds: the Commissar for Finance, Aleksandr Kireev, and the commissar of the steamship Meve , Sergei Pokrovskii. After the fall of the Baku Soviet in July 1918,
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2592-534: The Bolsheviks formed their own Duma faction in September 1913. One final difference between the Bolsheviks and Mensheviks was how ferocious and tenacious the Bolshevik party was in order to achieve its goals, although Lenin was open minded to retreating from political ideals if he saw the guarantee of long-term gains benefiting the party. This practice was seen in the party's trying to recruit peasants and uneducated workers by promising them how glorious life would be after
2673-472: The Bolsheviks organised a Bolsheviks-only Prague Party Conference and formally expelled Mensheviks and recallists from the party. As a result, they ceased to be a faction in the RSDLP and instead declared themselves an independent party, called Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (Bolsheviks) – or RSDLP(b). Unofficially, the party has been referred to as the Bolshevik Party. Throughout the 20th century,
2754-512: The Bolsheviks' split from the Mensheviks . In Germany , the book was published in 1902, but in Russia , strict censorship outlawed its publication and distribution. One of the main points of Lenin's writing was that a revolution can only be achieved by a strong, professional leadership with deep dedication to Marxist theoretical principles and an organization that spanned through the whole of Russia, abandoning what Lenin called "artisanal work" towards
2835-454: The Bolsheviks. He remained a self-described "non-factional social democrat " until August 1917, when he joined Lenin and the Bolsheviks, as their positions resembled his and he came to believe that Lenin was correct on the issue of the party. All but one member of the RSDLP Central Committee were arrested in Moscow in early 1905. The remaining member, with the power of appointing a new committee,
2916-542: The Congress as delegates left or switched sides. In the end, the Congress was evenly split between the two factions. From 1907 onward, English-language articles sometimes used the term Maximalist for "Bolshevik" and Minimalist for "Menshevik", which proved to be confusing as there was also a "Maximalist" faction within the Russian Socialist Revolutionary Party in 1904–1906 (which, after 1906, formed
2997-459: The Council of People's Commissars and People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs), Prokopius Dzhaparidze (People's Commissar for Internal Affairs), Yakov Zevin (People's Commissar of Labor), Meshadi Azizbekov (provincial Commissar), Grigory Korganov (People's Commissar for Military and Naval Affairs), Nariman Narimanov (People's Commissar of Municipal Economy), Ivan Fioletov (People's Commissar of
3078-882: The Mensheviks made an alliance with the Jewish Bund , the Bolsheviks found themselves in a minority. However, all factions retained their respective factional structure and the Bolsheviks formed the Bolshevik Centre , the de facto governing body of the Bolshevik faction within the RSDLP. At the 5th Congress held in London in May 1907, the Bolsheviks were in the majority, but the two factions continued functioning mostly independently of each other. Tensions had existed between Lenin and Alexander Bogdanov from as early as 1904. Lenin had fallen out with Nikolai Valentinov after Valentinov had introduced him to Ernst Mach 's Empiriocriticism ,
3159-715: The National Economy), A.B. Karinyan (People's Commissar of Justice), N N. Kolesnikova (People's Commissar of Education); and the left SRs: Mir Hasan Vezirov (People's Commissar of Agriculture), I. Sukhartsev (People's Commissar of Railways, Sea Transport, Posts and Telegraphs). And the Chairman of the Cheka for Combating Counterrevolution under the Baksovnarkom became the Bolshevik Sahak Ter-Gabrielyan . On 5 June 1918
3240-598: 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 the 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 have stopped
3321-499: The Turks, a commando unit led by Anastas Mikoyan freed them from their prison. Shahumyan, Dzhaparidze, Azizbekov, and their comrades, along with Mikoyan, then boarded the ship Turkmen , intending to reach Astrakhan by sea. 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
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3402-598: The Zagros Mountains of Persia for some 350 km across Qajar Persia . Dunsterville was promoted to major-general in 1918. His mission set out from Baghdad in January 1918, aiming to gather information, to train and command local forces, and to prevent the spread of German propaganda . On his way to Enzeli on the Persian Caspian coast he also fought Mirza Kuchik Khan and his Jangali forces in Manjil . Dunsterville
3483-458: The beginning of World War I loomed near. Joseph Stalin was especially eager for the start of the war, hoping that it would turn into a war between classes or essentially a Russian Civil War . This desire for war was fuelled by Lenin's vision that the workers and peasants would resist joining the war effort and therefore be more compelled to join the socialist movement. Through the increase in support, Russia would then be forced to withdraw from
3564-793: The city the next day. The Allies regained control of Baku within two months as a result of the Ottoman armistice of 30 October 1918. Promoted to major general in 1918, Dunsterville died in 1946 at Torquay, Devon, England. Captain Lionel Charles Dunsterville of the Indian Staff Corps married Margaret Emily (known as "Daisie"), daughter of Captain John Walter Keyworth late 48th Regiment, in November 1897 at Bishopsteignton, Devon, England. Their elder son, Lionel Walter Dunsterville,
3645-471: The city from an imminent Ottoman attack. The Bolsheviks and their leftist allies opposed this scheme, 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 atrocities and was replaced by the Central-Caspian Dictatorship. In contrast to what happened in many parts of Russia, where
3726-446: The concept of democratic centralism . Martov, until then a close friend of Lenin, agreed with him that the core of the party should consist of professional revolutionaries, but he argued that party membership should be open to sympathizers, revolutionary workers, and other fellow travellers. The two had disagreed on the issue as early as March–May 1903, but it was not until the Congress that their differences became irreconcilable and split
3807-452: The end of the main hostilities), and was promoted to major on 23 August 1902, and colonel on 1 May 1912. In the First World War Dunsterville held a posting in India. At the end of 1917 the army appointed then-Major Dunsterville to lead an Allied force ( Dunsterforce ) of fewer than 1,000 Australian, British, Canadian and New Zealand troops, drawn from the Mesopotamian and Western Fronts , accompanied by armoured cars, from Hamadan in
3888-430: The executioner of the penalty was a single man - a Turkmen , a gigantic strength bogatyr . That Turkmen by himself with his own hands using a shashka beheaded all of them." The pit with remains of the commissars and their heads was uncovered under the surveillance of the VTsIK special commission and representatives of Cheka . The report on the death of Baku commissars was sent by the commission to VTsIK, Sovnarkom , and
3969-405: 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 . How Anastas Mikoyan, who
4050-451: 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
4131-424: The exhumation only 21 bodies were discovered and that "Shahumyan and four other Armenian commissars managed to escape their murderers". This report was questioned by Shahumyan's granddaughter Tatyana, now living in Moscow , who told the Russian daily Kommersant that: It is impossible to believe that they weren't all buried. There is a film in the archives of 26 bodies being buried. Apart from this, my grandmother
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#17328561859624212-496: The formation of Party Schools as Proletarian Universities at a Bolshevik mini-conference in Paris organised by the editorial board of the Bolshevik magazine Proletary . However, this proposal was not adopted and Lenin tried to expel Bogdanov from the Bolshevik faction. Bogdanov was then involved with setting up Vpered , which ran the Capri Party School from August to December 1909. With both Bolsheviks and Mensheviks weakened by splits within their ranks and by Tsarist repression,
4293-492: The idea of a completely classless society . This pamphlet also showed that Lenin opposed another group of reformers, known as " Economists ", who were for economic reform while leaving the government relatively unchanged and who, in Lenin's view, failed to recognize the importance of uniting the working population behind the party's cause. At the 2nd Congress of the RSDLP , which was held in Brussels and then London during August 1903, Lenin and Julius Martov disagreed over
4374-444: 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 , two British officers on board the commissars' ship ordered it to sail to Krasnovodsk instead of Astrakhan, where they found
4455-421: The less significant Moscow Soviet was dominated by the Bolsheviks. These Soviets became the model for those formed in 1917. As the Russian Revolution of 1905 progressed, Bolsheviks, Mensheviks, and smaller non-Russian social democratic parties operating within the Russian Empire attempted to reunify at the 4th Congress of the RSDLP held in April 1906 at Folkets hus , Norra Bantorget , in Stockholm . When
4536-411: The night of 20 September, executed by a firing squad between the stations of Pereval and Akhcha-Kuyma on the Transcaspian Railway by soldiers of the Ashkhabad Committee . They were executed for essentially letting the Islamic Army of the Caucasus seize Baku. The Baku Commune lasted from 13 April to 25 July 1918. It came to power after the bloody confrontation with the Muslim population, known as
4617-579: The party adopted a number of different names. In 1918, RSDLP(b) became All-Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks) and remained so until 1925. From 1925 to 1952, the name was All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) and from 1952 to 1991, the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. As the party split became permanent, further divisions became evident. One of the most notable differences was how each faction decided to fund its revolution. The Mensheviks decided to fund their revolution through membership dues while Lenin often resorted to more drastic measures since he required
4698-458: The party membership rules. Lenin, who was supported by Georgy Plekhanov , wanted to limit membership to those who supported the party full-time and worked in complete obedience to the elected party leadership. Martov wanted to extend membership to anyone "who recognises the Party Programme and supports it by material means and by regular personal assistance under the direction of one of the party's organisations." Lenin believed his plan would develop
4779-419: The party was the Russian police. The police were able to infiltrate both parties' inner circles by sending in spies who then reported on the opposing party's intentions and hostilities. This allowed the tensions to remain high between the Bolsheviks and Mensheviks and helped prevent their uniting. Lenin was firmly opposed to any reunification but was outvoted within the Bolshevik leadership. The meeting reached
4860-448: The party's objective and carry on under the influence of opposing beliefs or even away from revolution entirely. The pamphlet also showed that Lenin's view of a socialist intelligentsia was in line with Marxist theory . For example, Lenin agreed with the Marxist ideal of social classes ceasing to be and for the eventual " withering away of the state ". Most party members considered unequal treatment of workers immoral and were loyal to
4941-497: The party. At first, the disagreement appeared to be minor and inspired by personal conflicts. For example, Lenin's insistence on dropping less active editorial board members from Iskra or Martov's support for the Organizing Committee of the Congress which Lenin opposed. The differences grew and the split became irreparable. Internal unrest also arose over the political structure that was best suited for Soviet power . As discussed in What Is To Be Done? , Lenin firmly believed that
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#17328561859625022-422: The revolution and granting them temporary concessions. Bolshevik figures such as Anatoly Lunacharsky , Moisei Uritsky and Dmitry Manuilsky considered that Lenin's influence on the Bolshevik party was decisive but the October insurrection was carried out according to Trotsky's, not to Lenin's plan. In 1918, the party renamed itself the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks) at Lenin's suggestion. In 1925, this
5103-409: The revolutionary spirit of the proletariat. These drank in excess and plundered the Moslem peasants, causing disaffection among them. On April 25, 1918, at a meeting of the Baku Council, the Baku Council of People's Commissars (Sovnarkom) was formed, consisting of Bolsheviks and Left Social Revolutionaries . The Bolsheviks entered the Baku Council of People's Commissars: Stepan Shaumyan (Chairman of
5184-403: The state of the small Red Army of Baku: In May, June and July the inhabitants could be given only minute rations of nuts and sunflower seed; the small quantities of corn that the Soviet managed to bring in by sea were reserved for the troops. Attempts at requisitioning were made by the small Red Army of Baku, a poorly disciplined, poorly managed body composed largely of Armenians who were alien to
5265-443: The total population) and 38% were uprooted peasants ; compared with 19% and 26% for the Mensheviks. In 1907, 78% of the Bolsheviks were Russian and 10% were Jewish ; compared to 34% and 20% for the Mensheviks. Total Bolshevik membership was 8,400 in 1905, 13,000 in 1906, and 46,100 by 1907; compared to 8,400, 18,000 and 38,200 for the Mensheviks. By 1910, both factions together had fewer than 100,000 members. Between 1903 and 1904,
5346-474: The town's commandant who requested further orders from the " Ashkhabad Committee ", led by the Socialist Revolutionary Fyodor Funtikov , about what should be done with them. Three days later, British Major-General Wilfrid Malleson , on hearing of their arrest, contacted Britain's liaison-officer in Ashkhabad, Captain Reginald Teague-Jones , to suggest that the commissars be handed over to British forces to be used as hostages in exchange for British citizens held by
5427-402: The two factions were in a state of flux, with many members changing sides. Plekhanov, the founder of Russian Marxism, who at first allied himself with Lenin and the Bolsheviks, had parted ways with them by 1904. Trotsky at first supported the Mensheviks, but left them in September 1904 over their insistence on an alliance with Russian liberals and their opposition to a reconciliation with Lenin and
5508-410: The two factions were tempted to try to reunite the party. In January 1910, Leninists, recallists, and various Menshevik factions held a meeting of the party's Central Committee in Paris. Kamenev and Zinoviev were dubious about the idea; but under pressure from conciliatory Bolsheviks like Victor Nogin , they were willing to give it a try. One of the underlying reasons that prevented any reunification of
5589-567: The worldwide political movement coordinated by the Comintern . During the Cold War in the United Kingdom, trade union leaders and other leftists were sometimes derisively described as Bolshies . The usage is roughly equivalent to the term " commie ", "Red", or " pinko " in the United States during the same period. The term Bolshie later became a slang term for anyone who was rebellious, aggressive, or truculent. Lionel Dunsterville Major General Lionel Charles Dunsterville , CB , CSI (9 November 1865 – 18 March 1946)
5670-472: Was a British Army officer, who led Dunsterforce across present-day Iraq and Iran towards the Caucasus and Baku during the First World War . Lionel Charles Dunsterville was born in Lausanne , Switzerland on 9 November 1865, the son of Lieutenant General Lionel D'Arcy Dunsterville (1830–1912) of the Indian Army and his wife, Susan Ellen (1835–1875). He went to school with Rudyard Kipling and George Charles Beresford at The United Services College ,
5751-469: Was assigned to re-inforce the defence of the key oil-field and port of Baku (in present-day Azerbaijan ), held from 26 July 1918 by the anti-Soviet Centro Caspian Dictatorship . Dunsterforce personnel first arrived in Baku on 6 August 1918. However, the British and their allies chose to abandon Baku on 14 September 1918 in the face of an onslaught by 14,000 Ottoman troops and Azerbaijani Generals like Ali-Agha Shikhlinski and Gaimmegam Hasan Bey, who took
5832-521: Was born on 9 September 1902 at Tientsin, China; their younger son Galfrid Charles Keyworth was born on 18 February 1905; and their daughter Susannah Margaret on 14 July 1911. Galfrid co-authored books on Venezuelan orchids with L. A. Garay . Susannah's first husband was the Swiss lawyer and diplomat August R. Lindt , the son of a renowned chocolate manufacturer. Her second husband was Colditz escapee Damiaen Joan van Doorninck , whom she met in Switzerland during
5913-752: Was changed to All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks). At the 19th Party Congress in 1952 the Party was renamed the Communist Party of the Soviet Union at Stalin's suggestion. Bolo was a derogatory expression for Bolsheviks used by British service personnel in the North Russian Expeditionary Force which intervened against the Red Army during the Russian Civil War. Adolf Hitler , Joseph Goebbels , and other Nazi leaders used it in reference to
5994-917: Was commissioned into the British Army as a lieutenant in the Royal Sussex Regiment on 23 August 1884. He later transferred to the British Indian Army , was promoted to captain on 23 August 1895, and served on the North-West Frontier and in Waziristan . As a railway staff officer he served in China during the Boxer Rebellion 1900–02, for which he was mentioned in despatches (by Major-General O'Moore Creagh , commander of British forces in China after
6075-458: Was generally allied with the recallists. With most Bolshevik leaders either supporting Bogdanov or undecided by mid-1908 when the differences became irreconcilable, Lenin concentrated on undermining Bogdanov's reputation as a philosopher. In 1909, he published a scathing book of criticism entitled Materialism and Empirio-criticism (1909), assaulting Bogdanov's position and accusing him of philosophical idealism . In June 1909, Bogdanov proposed
6156-644: Was opposed by some local left-wingers and by the Azerbaijan Communist Party in particular. It also upset Armenia as the Armenian public believed that the demolition and reburial was motivated by the reluctance of the Azerbaijanis, after the Nagorno-Karabakh War to have ethnic Armenians buried in the center of their capital. Another scandal happened when Azerbaijani press reports claimed that during
6237-445: 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. At around 6 A.M. [relates a witness], the twenty-six commissars were told of the fate awaiting them while they were in the train. They were taken out in groups of eight or nine men. They were obviously shocked, and kept
6318-698: Was present at the reburial. Almost all monuments in Azerbaijan dedicated to the commissars including Shahumyan, Azizbekov, Dzhaparidze and Fioletov, have been demolished. Most streets named after the commissars have been renamed. Russian prominent poet Sergei Yesenin wrote "Ballad of the Twenty-six" to commemorate the Baku Commissars, poem first published in The Baku Worker , 22 September 1925. Russian band WOMBA named one of its albums The 27th Baku Commissar . Italian prominent writer Tiziano Terzani wrote about
6399-580: Was seen even by fellow party members as being so narrow-minded and unable to accept criticism that he believed that anyone who did not follow him was his enemy. Trotsky , one of Lenin's fellow revolutionaries, compared Lenin in 1904 to the French revolutionary Maximilien Robespierre . The two factions of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) were originally known as hard (Lenin supporters) and soft (Martov supporters). In
6480-411: Was taken to help ensure that the revolutionaries stayed focused on their duties and motivated them to perform their jobs. Lenin also used the party money to print and copy pamphlets which were distributed in cities and at political rallies in an attempt to expand their operations. Both factions received funds through donations from wealthy supporters. Further differences in party agendas became evident as
6561-576: Was won over by the Bolsheviks. The lines between the Bolsheviks and the Mensheviks hardened in April 1905 when the Bolsheviks held a Bolsheviks-only meeting in London, which they called the 3rd Party Congress . The Mensheviks organised a rival conference and the split was thus finalized. The Bolsheviks played a relatively minor role in the 1905 Revolution and were a minority in the Saint Petersburg Soviet of Workers' Deputies led by Trotsky. However,
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