The Main Directions Of The National Freedom Movement In Northern Azerbaijan At The Beginning Of The 20th Century

Abstract

Abstract. Research on the main development course and characteristics of the National Liberation Movement at the beginning of the twentieth century in Azerbaijan is important in the light of the decolonization discourse. This study analyzes religious-philosophical (idealistic), atheistic-Marxist, also enlightenment, national-democratic and socialdemocratic directions, existed for solving the political problems of this era. Moreover, the nature of political-ideological, socio-philological aspects of these directions has been studied. Before the first Russian revolution (1905-1907) and during the years of the revolution, the political and ideological situation of Northern Azerbaijan became complex and contradictory. Especially after the first Russian revolution, the political and ideological life of the country mainly developed in three directions: 1) National enlightment romanticism (realists, romantics), 2) National democratic direction (Islamism, Turkism, modernism and etc.), 3) Social democratic trends and Marxism (national revolutionaries, Menshevism, Bolshevism, Socialist Revolutionaries). The results of the study show that although all three directions played a unique role in the national liberation movement of Azerbaijan, the national democratism was a major course. At the same time, this paper scrutinize the conditions, as well as the factors that existed in the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic1 and led to the end of its existence.