1920 Ganja revolt

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1920 Ganja revolt
Date 26–31 May 1920 Location Ganja, Azerbaijan Result Bolshevik victory, revolt suppressed
Belligerents
1st Azerbaijani infantry division Gachags	XI Army
Commanders and leaders
Mahammad Mirza Qajar †[1] Javad bey Shikhlinski Teymur bey Novruzov Jahangir bey Kazimbeyli[2]	Mikhail Levandovsky Mikhail Velikanov Pyotr Kuryshko Anastas Mikoyan Alexander Shirmakher
Strength
10,000–12,000	Unknown
Casualties and losses
Unknown	800–8,500

The 1920 Ganja revolt (Azerbaijani: Gəncə üsyanı) was a popular uprising against the Soviet occupation that took place in Ganja on 26 to 31 May 1920. The goal of the uprising was to liberate Azerbaijan from the Soviet army and put an end to the arbitrariness of the communists. This was the largest rebellion against Soviet rule in Azerbaijan in the 20th century, and caused the most losses. The organisers and leading force of the uprising were officers of the army of the former Azerbaijan Democratic Republic.^[3]

The 1st Infantry Division of the Azerbaijan Army, the units of the 3rd Ganja Regiment in the city, the training team of the 3rd Sheki Cavalry Regiment, an artillery battery, and the personnel of the commandant's unit subordinated to the divisional headquarters were mainly involved in the organisation of the uprising. Qachaq Gambar, Sari Alakbar, Qachaq Gasim Kolakhani, Qachaq Mikayil and others also participated in the Ganja uprising with their armed men. The armies of the surrounding villages joined the rebellion army. Their number was more than 10 thousand people^[4][5].On the eve of the uprising, units of the 20th infantry division of the 11th Red Army took up positions in and around the city. The 178th and 180th infantry regiments of the division were in the Armenian neighbourhood of the city, and the communications battalion and commandant unit of the 3rd brigade were in the Azerbaijani part of the city. The 40 th Cavalry Brigade was stationed around the village of Zurnabad. On 25 May, the II regiment of the Taman Cavalry Brigade was also brought to Ganja.^[6]

During the uprising that started on the night of 25–26 May, the rebels quickly took control of the important facilities of the city, the Red Army units in the Azerbaijani part. The military warehouse, the city prison, the railway station, the building of the emergency commissariat was also captured. On 28 May, the leaders of the Ganja uprising and the city community gathered at the district court building to celebrate the second anniversary of the declaration of Azerbaijan's independence.^[7][8]

On 29 May, the Bolshevik attack on the rebels ended in failure. The Bolshevik forces were unable to fulfill their task in the attack carried out from several directions. On the contrary, the counterattacks by the rebels put the Bolshevik forces in a difficult position. Later, the XI Red Army command brought additional forces to Ganja. Before the start of the next battles on 30 May, the 11th Red Army had 5 infantry regiments, 6 cavalry regiments, 7 separate units and detachments, 57 cannons and 2 armoured vehicles in Ganja. Most of these forces were deployed to the north of the city, and from there the main attack began on 31 May. Rebels who could not leave the city, as well as civilians, were surrounded and shot en masse. After the suppression of the rebellion, 12 generals, 27 colonels and lieutenant colonels, 46 captains, staff captains, 12 generals, 27 colonels and lieutenant colonels, 46 captains, staff captains of the Azerbaijani army, along with prominent figures such as Major-General Muhammad Mirza Qajar, Qachaq Gambar, lawyer Ismayil Khan Ziyadkhanov, writer Firidun Bey Kocherli, engineer Abuzar Bey Rzayev and teacher Mirza Abbas Abbaszadeh, lieutenants and second lieutenants, 146 ensigns and sub-ensigns, and 267 other military personnel were shot by the Bolsheviks.^[7][9][10]