The Collapse of Imperial Russia and the Violence of 1918–1920

The Russian Revolution of 1917 and the subsequent collapse of imperial authority destabilized the South Caucasus.

Armenia and Azerbaijan declared independence in May 1918, but their territorial boundaries were contested. Nagorno-Karabakh, Zangezur, and Nakhichevan became major points of disagreement.

Between 1918 and 1920, Armenian and Azerbaijani forces, local armed groups, and political authorities struggled for control over disputed areas.

In Karabakh, Armenian assemblies sought political arrangements that would protect local autonomy and Armenian communal interests. Azerbaijani authorities asserted jurisdiction over the region.

British forces operating in the South Caucasus after the First World War became involved in temporary administrative arrangements. British representatives supported the provisional authority of Azerbaijani-appointed governor-general Khosrov bey Sultanov, pending a final settlement.

This did not resolve the underlying dispute.

The destruction of Armenian Shusha in 1920

In March 1920, violence in Shusha culminated in the destruction of much of the city's Armenian quarter.

Thousands of Armenians were killed according to some historical estimates, although the exact number remains disputed. Armenian residents fled, and a substantial part of the community's homes, churches, businesses, and institutions was destroyed.

The events left a lasting historical trauma and became part of Armenian collective memory of the region.

The violence of 1918–1920 also included attacks on Azerbaijani communities elsewhere in the disputed territories. The period established patterns of fear, displacement, territorial competition, and retaliatory violence that later generations inherited.

By 1920–1921, the Red Army had established Soviet power in Azerbaijan and Armenia, ending their first periods of independence.