Nation-Building in Southern Caucasus: The Case of Arzerbaijan (1900-1920)

Year 2019, Issue: 2, 31 - 55, 30.06.2019

Cengiz Çağla

Abstract

This article deals with the specificities of
Azerbaijani nation-building between 1900 and 1920.  To do this, first it explores the rise of
nationalism and the main theoretical approaches trying to illuminate this
process. Secondly, it investigates the scholarship about the Azerbaijani national
movement in the beginning of the XXth century using first and second hand
sources. It shows that, backed by the wealthy classes, the Azerbaijanis first
looked for the recognition of their particularity in a colonial context to
protect their rights and culture and that gradually the movement evolved from a
rights-based reformism founded on religious identity to a secular political
movement of national autonomy and independence. The article defends also that the
success and popularity of the movement was due to its leaders’ rich
intellectual formation and political experience which enabled them to formulate
a strong ideology rooted in the national identity, conditioned by regional
political facts and a realistic understanding of western civilization including
its modern political institutions.

Keywords

Azerbaijan, nation-building, reformism, autonomy

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