ABSTRACT
The internal and external situation of Azerbaijan in the summer of 1918 made the liberation of Baku city an urgent matter. Toward the end of World War I, Baku had become an object of struggle between the Ottoman empire, Germany, England, and Soviet Russia. As the Russian White Guard General Anton Denikin phrased it, Baku’s oil plagued the minds and souls of European and Asian political leaders. While the Baku issue and the events occurring within the city should be approached from a domestic political standpoint, Baku was also a pawn in the world war. The military and diplomatic standoffs between Germany, Turkey, Soviet Russia, and England, and the confrontation between the Quadruple Alliance and the Entente states, propelled Baku into the fray. For all these reasons, the liberation of Baku was imperative. The march for Baku had started in the early spring. Both the Ottoman army led by Nuri Pasha and the British army wanted to reach Baku before the Germans reached it by way of Georgia. 1
