Kavbiuro

Soviet Union
This article is part of a series on the politics and government of the Soviet Union
Leadership Leaders President (list Vice President) Collective leadership State Council Presidential Council
Communist Party Congress Central Committee History General Secretary Politburo Secretariat Orgburo
Legislature Congress of Soviets (Central Executive Committee) Supreme Soviet Soviet of the Union Soviet of Nationalities Presidium Congress of People's Deputies Speaker 1989 Legislative election
Governance Constitution Official names 1924 1936 1977 Government Ministries State Committees Executive Officer Premiership Cabinets Council of People's Commissars Council of Ministers Cabinet of Ministers
Judiciary Law Supreme Court People's Court Procurator General
History 1917–27 Revolution Civil War 1927–53 World War II 1953–64 Khrushchev Thaw 1964–82 Era of Stagnation 1982–91 Dissolution
Ideology Soviet democracy Marxism–Leninism Leninism Stalinism Khrushchevism De-Stalinization
Society Economy Agriculture Consumer goods Five-Year Plan Kosygin reform New Economic Policy Science and technology Era of Stagnation Material balance planning Transport Culture Demographics Education Family Phraseology Religion Repression Censorship Censorship of images Great Purge Gulag system Collectivization Human rights Ideological repression Suppressed research Political abuse of psychiatry Political repression Population transfer Propaganda Red Terror
Other countries Atlas

Kavbiuro was an organisation set up by the Bolsheviks in April 1920 to supervise the subordination of Caucasia to the Russian Communist Party (Bolshevik).

Kavbiuro was set up on 8 April 1920 under the leadership of the Georgian Grigory Ordzhonikidze (Chairman) and the Russian Sergey Kirov (Vice Chairman).^[1] One immediate concern was that Kavbiuro did not want to see any independent communist parties being created outside of their control.^[1]

Karabagh

One decision the Kavbiuro was involved in concerned Karabagh, a predominantly Armenian area disputed by both Armenia and Azerbaijan. Under Tsarist rule the area had been administered from Baku. However in the context of the ethnic conflicts following the Russian Revolution the Karabagh Armenians wanted to become annexed by Armenia. This was prevented first through the intervention of the Ottoman Empire, and following its collapse, by the British. Originally the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic, established in April 1920 promised that Karabagh would become part of Armenia. This position was endorsed by Kavbiuro on 3 July 1920, only to be reversed two days later ""considering the necessity of national harmony between Muslims and Armenians, the economic linkage between upper and lower Karabagh, and its permanent ties to Azerbaijan."^[2] Some Armenian historians have attributed this to the intervention of Stalin and Nariman Narimanov, chairman of Azrevkom, the Azerbaijani Revolutionary Committee. This position was maintained despite protests from the Armenian Communist Party. Aleksandr Myasnikyan described the Kavbiuro meeting:

"the last session of the Kavbiuro can be characterized as if Aharonian, Topchubashov and Chkhenkeli were sitting there. Azerbaijan declared that if Armenia demanded Karabagh, then we will not give them kerosene."^[2]

References