On the evening of 19 January 1990 television broadcasting in Baku suddenly stopped: the power unit of the TV centre had been blown up. While the city was cut off from news, shortly before midnight armoured vehicles and tens of thousands of soldiers entered Baku by the roads. By dawn unarmed people on the streets had been shot at. This night is remembered in Azerbaijan’s history as the Tragedy of 20 January, or «Black January».
The road to January
From 1988 Armenia’s claim to Mountainous Karabakh shook Azerbaijan (see the lesson «Perestroika, the start of the Karabakh conflict and the People's Movement»). On 1 December 1989 the Supreme Soviet of the Armenian SSR adopted a one-sided decision on joining Karabakh to Armenia; Azerbaijan did not recognise it and considered it illegal. This was an open attack on territorial integrity and it raised the people’s anger.
On the last day of 1989 — 31 December — the people of Nakhchivan tore down, along the Araz, the barbed wire and border installations that had divided Azerbaijan from Iran in Soviet times; today this date is the Day of Solidarity of Azerbaijanis of the World. The Popular Front was winning mass support at rallies, the Communist leadership was losing its authority. According to the textbooks the centre wanted to stop this process and keep Azerbaijan inside the USSR.
State of emergencyDefinition
A special legal regime applied in cases foreseen by law (natural disaster, mass disorder): curfew, limits on assembly, the use of troops. On 20 January it was announced only after the military operation had begun.
13–19 January: disorder and Moscow’s justification
From 13 January disorder began in Baku and violence was committed against the Armenian population. According to the textbooks this turmoil is linked to a provocation by the centre: although troops were in the city, the disorder was not stopped, and then these very events were named as the ground for sending in troops. Moscow officially declared its aims to be restoring order, protecting the population and preventing the Popular Front from seizing power.
The night of 19–20 January
Close to midnight tens of thousands of soldiers of the Soviet Army and the internal troops entered Baku with armoured vehicles. The people blocked the roads with buses and lorries to stop the troops; they were unarmed. The troops pushed the obstacles aside and opened fire. They fired not only at those in their way but also at residential buildings, ambulances and medical workers.
The decree on the state of emergency was announced only on the morning of 20 January — the military operation was already under way. For this reason in Azerbaijan the tragedy is assessed as an unlawful military intervention and a crime against the people.
On that night, as the troops were entering Baku, the Supreme Soviet of the Nakhchivan ASSR adopted, in protest, a decision on leaving the USSR (19 January). The decision was a protest against the troops’ entry, not a reason for it.
| Item | Data |
|---|---|
| Time | 1990, the night from 19 to 20 January |
| Place | Baku and the roads leading to it |
| Troops | tens of thousands of soldiers, armoured vehicles |
| Killed | 147 people |
| Wounded | 744 people |
| Illegally detained | 841 people |
According to official Azerbaijani data 147 people were killed, 744 wounded and 841 illegally detained. Older texts give 131 killed; do not confuse this figure with 147.
Heydar Aliyev and the people’s answer
On 21 January Heydar Aliyev came to the Permanent Mission of the Azerbaijan SSR in Moscow and made a statement. He had led Azerbaijan in 1969–1982 as First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Azerbaijan Communist Party; he called the events in Baku unlawful, condemned them as a crime against the people and demanded punishment of the guilty.
On 22 January hundreds of thousands of Baku residents buried the martyrs; that place is now the Alley of Martyrs. The same day the Supreme Soviet of the Azerbaijan SSR held a session and adopted a resolution on the events. The people’s answer was mass protest: strikes began and thousands of people threw away their Communist Party cards.
Results and assessment
According to the textbooks Moscow’s aim was to suppress the national liberation movement, to preserve the Communist regime and the USSR, and to keep Azerbaijan in subordination. In fact the opposite result was obtained: the blood did not extinguish the wish for independence but united the people’s will.
| Event | Result |
|---|---|
| Troops sent in to suppress the movement | the demand for independence became the demand of the whole people |
| Unarmed people shot at | party cards thrown away, strikes, the Communist authorities lost their credibility |
| Heydar Aliyev’s statement in Moscow | the demand for a political and legal assessment of the tragedy and for punishment of the guilty |
| The political upheaval after the tragedy | later steps towards independence: the Constitutional Act of 18 October 1991 |
Later, in the years of independence, 20 January received a legal and political assessment and the date was declared the Day of National Mourning. It is called «our memory of blood» because the martyrs’ blood is engraved in the people’s memory, and «our pride» because unarmed people stood before the tanks. For later events see the lesson «The restoration of independence and the power struggles (1991–1993)».
| Feature | 28 April 1920 | 20 January 1990 |
|---|---|---|
| Troops | the 11th Red Army of Soviet Russia | the Soviet Army and internal troops |
| Who took the decision | the leadership of Soviet Russia | the central leadership of the USSR |
| The population | power was handed over under an ultimatum | unarmed people were shot at |
| Result | the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic fell | the Soviet regime lost its authority, the way to independence opened |
Interactive
| Person | Role |
|---|---|
| Heydar Aliyev | 21 January 1990: statement in Moscow condemning the tragedy |
| Abulfaz Elchibey | head of the Popular Front, leader of the people’s movement |
| Mikhail Gorbachev | leader of the USSR; the troops were sent in during his rule |
- 23 September 1989
Constitutional Law on sovereignty
- 1 December 1989
Decision of the Supreme Soviet of the Armenian SSR on the «unification» of Karabakh
- 31 December 1989
Border installations torn down in Nakhchivan
- 13–19 January 1990
Disorder in Baku
- 19 January 1990
Nakhchivan’s decision to leave the USSR
In the evening the TV power unit was blown up.
- 20 January 1990
Tragedy of 20 January
In the night from 19 to 20 January troops entered Baku; the state of emergency was announced in the morning.
- 21 January 1990
Heydar Aliyev’s statement
At the Permanent Mission of the Azerbaijan SSR in Moscow.
- 22 January 1990
Funeral of the martyrs
The Alley of Martyrs; a session of the Supreme Soviet of the Azerbaijan SSR and its resolution.
- 18 October 1991
Constitutional Act on state independence
Interactive
Source and written tasks
The statement was made in Moscow, at the Permanent Mission of the Azerbaijan SSR. It says that at night troops opened fire on unarmed people and that many were killed or wounded. The statement stresses that the state of emergency was announced only after the military operation had begun. Its author considers such a step to conform neither to the law nor to the country’s constitution, calls it a crime against the peaceful population and says that those who committed it must answer for it.
Source tasks
Problem
1) Identify the event not named in the text, the year in which it happened and the post held in Azerbaijan in 1969–1982 by the person who made the statement.
2) Explain two aims of sending in the troops as given in the textbooks.
3) Write two results of this event that are not stated in the text.
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Solution
2) Aims given in the textbooks: to suppress the national liberation movement; to keep the Communist regime; to keep Azerbaijan inside the USSR (any two). Marks: two aims with explanation — 1; without explanation — ⅔; one with explanation — ½; one without — ⅓.
3) Results not in the text: the mass funeral on 22 January and the Alley of Martyrs; party cards thrown away and strikes; the loss of authority of the Communist rule; 20 January declared the Day of National Mourning. Marks: two results — 1; one result — ½.
Coded item
Problem
Items that refer to the events of 19–20 January 1990:
1. the blowing up of the TV centre’s power unit
2. the tearing down of border installations in Nakhchivan
3. the announcement of the state-of-emergency decree after the military operation
4. troops opening fire on unarmed people who had come out on the roads
5. the adoption of the Constitutional Law on sovereignty
A) 1, 2, 3 B) 2, 3, 5 C) 1, 3, 4 D) 3, 4, 5 E) 1, 4, 5
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Solution
Chronology item
Problem
Arrange the events in chronological order:
1. Heydar Aliyev’s statement in Moscow
2. the tearing down of border installations in Nakhchivan
3. the burial of the martyrs in the Alley of Martyrs
4. the sending of troops into Baku
A) 2, 4, 1, 3 B) 4, 2, 1, 3 C) 2, 4, 3, 1 D) 4, 2, 3, 1 E) 2, 1, 4, 3
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Solution
Similarity item
Problem
Features common to the entry of troops into Baku (28 April 1920 and 19–20 January 1990):
1. armed military forces entered Baku
2. Azerbaijan’s state independence was abolished
3. unarmed people were fired upon
4. the troops were sent in by a decision of Moscow
5. after the event Azerbaijan left the USSR
A) 1, 2 B) 1, 4 C) 2, 3 D) 3, 4 E) 2, 5
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Solution
Remember
- The end of 1989: the attempt to «unify» Karabakh by the decision of the Supreme Soviet of the Armenian SSR on 1 December, the tearing down of border installations in Nakhchivan on 31 December, the growing strength of the Popular Front.
- In the night from 19 to 20 January (1990) tens of thousands of soldiers entered Baku and unarmed people were shot at; the state of emergency was announced later.
- 147 people were killed, 744 wounded and 841 illegally detained (older texts give 131 killed).
- 21 January — Heydar Aliyev’s statement in Moscow; 22 January — the funeral in the Alley of Martyrs.
- The opposite of Moscow’s aim was achieved: the demand for independence became nationwide and the Soviet regime lost its authority.
- 20 January is the Day of National Mourning.