The Baku Commune, 1917-1918

Book excerpt: Ronald Grigor Suny examines the Revolution in Baku, important provincial capital and oil center of the Russian empire. His study of Baku's national and class conflicts, Bolshevism as it developed in the city, and the failure of the Commune in 1918 amends our picture of the Revolution as the work of a highly conspiratorial party, seizing power by force and imposing its will on a reluctant population by terror. Originally published in 1972. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.