At the end of winter 1926 delegates of the Turkic-speaking peoples gather in Baku from many regions. The main question on the agenda is this: if millions still write in the Arabic script, how can illiteracy be removed quickly? The answer is found — the Latin alphabet. But only thirteen years later, in 1939, the same people will have to learn yet another alphabet.
The story shows the main contradiction of this cultural change: Soviet power achieved a great deal in schooling, science and the arts, and at the same time placed culture under the control of ideology and censorship. The economic side is covered in «War communism, NEP and industrialisation», the political side in «Collectivisation, the totalitarian regime and mass repressions».
Against illiteracy: the «cultural revolution»
At the start of the 20th century the great majority of Azerbaijan's population could neither read nor write. Soviet power tried to remove this through a broad «cultural revolution» programme: courses for the liquidation of illiteracy (Russian «likbez»), evening schools and village and factory reading rooms were opened, and teaching in the mother tongue spread.
Cultural revolutionDefinition
In Soviet ideology, the policy of changing the outlook of the population by removing illiteracy, building a new school system and creating a socialist culture.
From the early 1930s universal compulsory primary education was introduced, workers' faculties (rabfak) were opened to prepare students for higher education, and children of workers and peasants were given priority. Education was secular: an anti-religious campaign was carried out, religious schools were closed, and many mosques and churches were turned into clubs and warehouses.
The alphabet: from Arabic to Latin, from Latin to Cyrillic
For many centuries Azerbaijani was written in the Arabic script, which did not render the vowels of Turkic accurately and was hard to learn. In 1922 the New Alphabet Committee was set up (Samad Aghamalioglu played a large part in its work) and the move to the Latin alphabet began. Textbooks name as its reasons the simplicity of the Latin alphabet, faster removal of illiteracy and a break with the religious tradition tied to the Arabic script. The process was completed in 1929: the Latin alphabet fully replaced the Arabic one. As a result, books and manuscripts in Arabic script gradually dropped out of everyday reading.
From 26 February to 6 March 1926 the First Turkological Congress met in Baku. Delegates and scholars of the Turkic-speaking peoples (among them the Turkologist Bakir Chobanzade) discussed the alphabet, orthography and scientific terminology and recommended the move to the Latin alphabet. In Turkey the Latin alphabet was adopted in 1928.
At the end of the 1930s policy changed: in 1939 the Latin alphabet was replaced by the Cyrillic one. Textbooks and Azerbaijani historiography regard the main reason as political: Moscow wanted to cut Azerbaijan off from Turkey and the Turkic world and to strengthen Russian influence. As a result one generation changed its alphabet twice, and the books of earlier years became foreign to the next one.
| Period | Alphabet | Key event |
|---|---|---|
| Until 1922 | Arabic script | learning to read was hard, vowels were not shown accurately |
| 1922–1929 | transition to the Latin alphabet | 1922 — New Alphabet Committee; 1926 — Turkological Congress; 1929 — full transition |
| 1929–1939 | Latin alphabet | books, newspapers and textbooks were printed in Latin letters |
| From 1939 | Cyrillic alphabet | a political aim: weakening ties with the Turkic world; the Latin alphabet was restored only in the years of independence |
Science, literature and the arts
The network of higher education grew: Baku State University (1919) was reorganised under Soviet rule, the Polytechnic Institute opened in 1920 and the Medical Institute in 1930. In the 1930s research was carried out by the Azerbaijan branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences; the road to an Academy of its own was completed in 1945 (see the lesson «Culture in the 1940s–1980s»).
Literature saw old and new generations side by side. Jalil Mammadguluzadeh revived in Baku, in 1922, the journal «Molla Nasreddin», which he had started in Tiflis in 1906. Jafar Jabbarly turned to women's liberation and historical themes in his plays «Sevil» (1928) and «Bride of Fire». Huseyn Javid wrote the tragedy «Khayyam» (1935), Samad Vurgun became known for the drama «Vagif» (1937); Mikayil Mushfig and Ahmad Javad stood out as poets.
The theatres passed to state management, and a repertoire was created for workers and peasants as the new audience. Jabbarly's play «Sevil» (1928) brought the theme of women's liberation to the stage, and in 1929 a film «Sevil» was made from it, so cinema too became a branch of the new culture. Uzeyir Hajibeyli formed the Folk Instruments Orchestra in 1931; his opera «Koroghlu» (1937) was staged at the Azerbaijan State Opera and Ballet Theatre in Baku under the composer's own baton. Muslum Magomayev composed the opera «Nargiz» (1935); the Azerbaijan State Philharmonic was founded in 1936. In the visual arts Azim Azimzade was known for his satirical caricatures.
In architecture the constructivism of the 1920s gave way in the 1930s to a solemn, monumental neoclassical («Stalinist») style. An example is the Government House in Baku, begun in 1936 to a design by the architects L. Rudnev and V. Munts (finished in 1952; see «Culture in the 1940s–1980s»).
Interactive
Ideology, censorship and losses
Culture was under party control. Publications were checked by the censorship body called the Main Literature Directorate (Glavlit). In 1934 the First Congress of Soviet Writers declared «socialist realism» the main creative method: art had to serve the building of socialism. On charges of «pan-Turkism», «nationalism» and «religious superstition» many works were banned and historical themes were distorted.
Censorship and ideological pressure reached their peak in the mass repressions of 1937–1938: Bakir Chobanzade, Ahmad Javad, Mikayil Mushfig, Huseyn Javid and other cultural figures were repressed. Their fate is followed in the lesson «Collectivisation, the totalitarian regime and mass repressions».
- 1920s
The campaign against illiteracy («likbez»)
- 1922
The New Alphabet Committee is set up; the move to the Latin alphabet begins
- 1922
«Molla Nasreddin» is revived in Baku
- 26 February – 6 March 1926
Turkological Congress
The move to the Latin alphabet is recommended.
- 1928
Jabbarly's play «Sevil»
- 1929
The Latin alphabet fully replaces the Arabic one
- 1929
A film is made from Jabbarly's play «Sevil»
- 1931
Hajibeyli forms the Folk Instruments Orchestra
- 1934
«Socialist realism» is declared the creative method
- 1935
Magomayev's opera «Nargiz»; Javid's tragedy «Khayyam»
- 1936
The Azerbaijan State Philharmonic; building of the Government House begins
- 1937
Hajibeyli's opera «Koroghlu»; Vurgun's drama «Vagif»
- 1937–1938
Mass repression of cultural figures
- 1939
The move to the Cyrillic alphabet
| Person | Field | Work / activity | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Samad Aghamalioglu | statesman | New Alphabet Committee, the move to Latin script | 1922 |
| Bakir Chobanzade | Turkologist | took part in the Turkological Congress | 1926 |
| Jalil Mammadguluzadeh | writer, journalist | revival of «Molla Nasreddin» in Baku | 1922 |
| Jafar Jabbarly | playwright | the play «Sevil» | 1928 |
| Huseyn Javid | playwright, poet | the tragedy «Khayyam» | 1935 |
| Muslum Magomayev | composer | the opera «Nargiz» | 1935 |
| Uzeyir Hajibeyli | composer | the Folk Instruments Orchestra; the opera «Koroghlu» | 1931; 1937 |
| Samad Vurgun | poet, playwright | the drama «Vagif» | 1937 |
| Cause | Result |
|---|---|
| Illiteracy of a large part of the population | «likbez», evening schools, teaching in the mother tongue, compulsory primary education |
| The difficulty of learning the Arabic script | the move to the Latin alphabet (1922–1929); the Turkological Congress of 1926 |
| According to the textbooks, Moscow's policy of isolating Azerbaijan from Turkey and the Turkic world | the move to the Cyrillic alphabet in 1939 |
| Party control, censorship, socialist realism | limits on creative freedom; the repression of cultural figures (1937–1938) |
| Criterion | The move to Latin (1922–1929) | The move to Cyrillic (1939) |
|---|---|---|
| Script base | Latin letters | Russian letters |
| Relation to Turkey in writing | the same script base as Turkey's alphabet of 1928 | a break with Turkey; the other Turkic-speaking republics also moved to Cyrillic |
A source and DİM-type tasks
Representatives of the Turkic-speaking peoples had gathered in one city to discuss a common script. The speakers noted that the alphabet used for centuries did not render the sounds of the Turkic languages accurately and made learning to read harder. Another alphabet, they said, conveys the sounds more precisely and is easier to learn.
The meeting recommended moving to that alphabet. Rules of writing and scientific terminology were discussed at the same time: the aim was to achieve a common standard in writing among the Turkic-speaking peoples. It was decided that this work should continue.
Source tasks
Problem
1) Identify the meeting, the city where it was held, the year and the recommended alphabet — none of which is named in the text.
2) Explain one political and one economic-social reason why Soviet power supported this change of alphabet.
3) Write two consequences of this change that are not stated in the text.
Show solutionHide solution
Solution
2) Political (the textbook position): the Latin alphabet was supported as a means of breaking with the religious tradition tied to the Arabic script and of carrying out the «cultural revolution» — the policy of changing the outlook of the population. Economic-social: the difficulty of the Arabic script hindered the liquidation of illiteracy; an easy alphabet allowed literacy to spread quickly and workers and cadres to be trained. Marks: both — 1; one — ½.
3) Any two consequences: a rapid rise in literacy; books, newspapers and textbooks printed in the new letters; a break with books and manuscripts in Arabic script (the new generation could not read the traditional written heritage); the writing of Azerbaijan coming closer to Turkey's alphabet of 1928. Marks: two consequences — 1; one — ½. «Easy to learn» and «a common script», already in the text, earn nothing; the completion in 1929 is the change itself and 1939 is a separate later decision.
DİM task: combination
Problem
Choose the correct statements:
1. The journal «Molla Nasreddin» began to appear again in Baku in 1922
2. The First Turkological Congress was held in Tiflis
3. U. Hajibeyli wrote the opera «Koroghlu» in 1937
4. The Azerbaijan Academy of Sciences was set up in 1925
5. In 1934 socialist realism was declared the main creative method
A) 1, 2, 3
B) 2, 4, 5
C) 1, 3, 5
D) 1, 3, 4
E) 3, 4, 5
Show solutionHide solution
Solution
Step 2: statement 4 is wrong — the Azerbaijan Academy was set up in 1945; in the 1930s there was only a branch of the USSR Academy. D and E drop out.
Step 3: 1, 3 and 5 are facts from the lesson.
Answer: C.
DİM task: chronology
Problem
Put the events in chronological order:
1. The move to the Cyrillic alphabet
2. The First Turkological Congress
3. The writing of the opera «Koroghlu»
4. The creation of the Folk Instruments Orchestra
5. The revival of «Molla Nasreddin» in Baku
Show solutionHide solution
Solution
Step 2: 5 is the earliest and 1 the latest (Cyrillic — 1939); 2, 4 and 3 stand between them.
Answer: 5, 2, 4, 3, 1.
DİM task: «does not belong»
Problem
Which does NOT belong to the cultural change of the 1920s–1930s?
A) the move to the Latin alphabet
B) the holding of the First Turkological Congress
C) the creation of the Folk Instruments Orchestra
D) the creation of the Azerbaijan Academy of Sciences
E) the start of building the Government House in Baku
Show solutionHide solution
Solution
Step 2: the Azerbaijan Academy was set up in 1945; in the 1930s only a branch of the USSR Academy was active — that is the trap.
Answer: D.
The fate of culture in the war years is followed in the lesson «The Azerbaijan SSR in the Second World War», and the later growth of science and the arts in «Culture in the 1940s–1980s».
Remember
- Under the «cultural revolution» Soviet power introduced the liquidation of illiteracy, teaching in the mother tongue, compulsory primary education (from the early 1930s) and the secular school.
- The alphabet: 1922 — the New Alphabet Committee, 1926 — the First Turkological Congress in Baku (recommending Latin), 1929 — Latin fully replaces Arabic, 1939 — the move to Cyrillic.
- Science: in the 1930s the Azerbaijan branch of the USSR Academy was active; the Azerbaijan Academy itself was set up only in 1945.
- Literature and music: Jabbarly («Sevil» — 1928), Javid («Khayyam» — 1935), Vurgun («Vagif» — 1937), Magomayev («Nargiz» — 1935), Hajibeyli (orchestra — 1931, «Koroghlu» — 1937).
- Culture was under party and censorship control; socialist realism was declared in 1934, and in 1937–1938 cultural figures were hit by the mass repressions.