Centrocaspian Dictatorship
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The Centrocaspian Dictatorship (Russian: Диктатура Центрокаспия, Diktatura Tsentrokaspiya) was a British-backed anti-Soviet government founded in Baku on August 1, 1918. The name derives from the abbreviation "Centrocaspiy" (Tsentrokaspiy) for "Central Committee of the Caspian Military Fleet (Центральный комитет Каспийской военной флотилии; fleet inherited from the Russian Empire).
This regime replaced the pro-Soviet Baku Commune that collapsed on July 26, 1918, when the Bolsheviks were clearly outvoted in the Baku Soviet and were forced out of power.
The new government was composed of the Socialist-Revolutionary Party, the Mensheviks and the Armenian national movement which was known as the Dashnaks (Armenian Revolutionary Federation).
All these forces asked for British help in order to stop the advancing Ottoman Army of Islam that was marching towards Baku. British forces under General Dunsterville occupied the city and helped the mainly Dashnak-Armenian forces to defend the capital in the Battle of Baku. However, Baku fell on September 15, 1918 and an Azeri-Ottoman army entered the capital, causing British forces and much of the Armenian population to flee. The Ottoman Empire signed the Armistice of Mudros on October 30, 1918, and the British occupational force re-entered Baku.
