THE LOSS OF AZERBAIJAN'S TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY IN THE 19TH – EARLY 20TH CENTURIES

Abstract

The article examines, on the basis of historical sources and scholarly literature, the process of the loss of Azerbaijan's territorial integrity from the early 18th century to the first half of the 19th century. The study is based on the principles of historicism, objectivity and comparative analysis, and generalises scholarly works, publications based on historical documents and periodical press materials on the topic. It is shown that Russia's expansionist policy, which began with Peter I's Caspian campaign of 1722, intensified at the beginning of the 19th century, and the seizure of the South Caucasus, including the Azerbaijani khanates, became the main strategic goal of Tsarism. Internal rivalries among the khanates that emerged after the death of Nadir Shah, and the absence of a unified state and a strong central authority, weakened the country's resistance to foreign aggression. The article consistently analyses the annexation of Eastern Georgia in 1801, the occupation of the Ganja Khanate in 1804, the Kurakchay treaties of 1805, the first and second Russo-Iranian wars, as well as the division of Azerbaijan between Russia and Qajar Iran under the Treaty of Gulistan (1813) and the Treaty of Turkmenchay (1828). Particular attention is paid to the mass resettlement of Armenians from Iran and the Ottoman Empire to the lands of Northern Azerbaijan, the creation of the “Armenian Province”, the introduction of the commandant system of administration, and the resulting change in the ethnic and demographic composition of the region. The Guba uprisings against the occupation regime and the impact of the partition of Azerbaijan on the country's historical and political geography are also studied. It is concluded that these processes had a profound and long-lasting impact on the subsequent fate of the Azerbaijani people.