Ideological Resistance in Early Soviet Azerbaijan: A Textual Analysis of a Unique Archival Document

Abstract

The article analyses the anti-Soviet sentiments and movements in Soviet Azerbaijan in the late 1920s and early 1930s on the basis of Strictly Confidential documents received to the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Azerbaijan SSR. Particular attention is paid to the reflection of anti-Russian sentiments on the basis of an analysis of both the document and two interesting poems, which show the perception of Russians both among the anti-Bolshevik-minded segments of the population associated with parties operating underground and among young people. Textual analysis of this document shows that anti-Bolshevik sentiments often acquired a pronounced anti-Russian character. All these circumstances were manifested in the dissatisfaction of various strata of Azerbaijani society with the Soviet regime, which, along with anti-Russian sentiments, also acquired the character of pro-Turkish movements.