DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS OF THE KUBAN PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC WITH THE AZERBAIJAN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC (1918–1920)

Abstract

The Kuban People's Republic declared its independency on February 16, 1918. The Republic’s territories consisted of the Kuban region and the territories of Kuban Cossack troops of the former Russian Empire. In foreign policy, the main task of the Kuban People's Republic was to develop relations with the new states of the region, with which it planned to carry a joint struggle against the Bolsheviks and the Denikinites. The Kuban People's Republic had closer ties with the Ukrainian People's Republic (the two states planned to unite on a federal basis), and it also had intensive diplomatic relations with the Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan. For the Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan, the establishment of close relations with the young states that were formed on the territory of the former Russian Empire had also a special importance. In March 1919, a representative office of the Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan was opened in the capital of the Kuban People's Republic in Ekaterinodar. The Government of the Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan believed that strengthening the independence of the Kuban People's Republic and other republics of the North Caucasus served to prevent the Bolshevik danger expected from the North. The Azerbaijan Democratic Republic considered the Civil War an internal affair of Russia and tried not to interfere in the processes that took place there. In the face of the imminent threat from Denikin, Kolchak and the Bolsheviks, the Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan was interested in cooperating with the new states which did not pursue anti - Azerbaijani policies and did not support the ideology of Bolshevism. Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, which existed in 1918-1920 took certain steps in establishing diplomatic relations with the Kuban government, and defended its interests at the Paris Peace Conference. The local political situation in the Kuban was difficult, and not all political forces approved of good relations with Azerbaijan. Despite all these political difficulties, the establishment of relations with the Kuban People's Republic and other newly formed young states in the North Caucasus has served to strengthen the state security of the Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan because these states created a security zone between Soviet Russia and Azerbaijan.