As published in the late of 80th of XX century in Armenia, academic papers and monographs attempt to prove that exactly Stalin in the early of 20th of the XX century gave the Azerbaijan SSR alleged Armenian lands – Nagorno-Karabakh and Nakhchivan. The appearance in this period, such publications were not accidental, since the second half of the 80th of the XX century in the SSR in the pages of allied print under the slogan of “reconstruction”, “new thinking” has started a powerful wave of anti-Stalin criticism, which was convenient to write off all costs of the totalitarian communist system, including in the field of international relations.
After the occupation of northern Azerbaijan in April 1920, Russian XI Red Army, the Armenian claims to the lands of Azerbaijan in Karabakh and Zangezur. Nakhchivan haven’t stopped. The Soviet Russia bearing plans of annexation of all Southern Caucasus has acted in a role of the intermediary in the decision of the given conflict. Among the leaders of Soviet Russia, actively participating in this process was Stalin, who in
1917-1922 headed the Commissariat of Nationalities of the RSFSR. Being the politician with imperial thinking, Stalin perfectly understood that the country which is in a condition of civil war and endures economic depression needs the international world and stability. At the permission of international conflicts at Stalin reasons of political expediency always dominated. As archival documents, in the period of 1920-1921’s telegrams, and reports to the Center on territorial issues in the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict had accurate addressees – I.Stalin and G.Chicherin. And this is understandable, since the first was People’s Commissar for Nationalities, and the second – Commissar for Foreign Affairs of the RSFSR. Most of the telegram sent to the Centre, were signed by Mr. G. Ordzhonikidze, in which Lenin put supervising internal and external policy of Azerbaijan SSR. Just G.Ordzhonikidze for the first time in the telegram directed in the middle of 1920 to Stalin and Chicherin, suggested to allocate Nagorno-Karabah in Autonomous region as a part of the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic.
In turn, for the first time in the Armenian-Azerbaijan territorial conflict Stalin has stated the position in S.Ordzhonikidze’s telegram on July, 8, 1920: “My opinion is that it is impossible to manoeuvre endlessly between the parties, it is necessary to support one of the parties, in this case Azerbaijan with Turkey. I talked with Lenin, he does not mind”. However, Stalin came to the resolution of territorial issues in terms of political conjecture. Confirmation of a statement by Stalin at the joint meeting of the Central Committee of the ACP (b) ACP (b), Caucasian Bureau (Caubureau) of the CC RCP (b), and Azrevkom and Bakispolkom on November 9, 1920, where discussed the issue of the territories of the Azerbaijan SSR, which claimed Dashnak Armenia. In his speech, Stalin said: “If you want to know who owned the valley of Zangezur and Nakhichevan, the present government of Armenia can not pass them, will be Soviet, then it will be possible”. From this statement of Stalin, it is clear that the plan for the transfer of Nakhichevan and Zangezur, Armenia has been prepared by the higher Bolshevik leadership in Moscow before the Sovietization of the South Caucasus.
The implementation of these plans began immediately after the formation of the Armenian SSR at the end of November 1920. In the article “Long live the Soviet Armenia,” published in the newspaper “Pravda”, 4 December 1920, Stalin, roughly twisting the declaration of Baksovet from December 1, 1920, solemnly proclaimed the transfer of Zangezur, Nakhchivan and Karabakh of the Soviet Armenia.
There is an artificial created by Armenian historians and firmly embedded in the consciousness of the wide public myth that the supposedly well-known solution of the July Plenum of Caubureau CC RCP (b) 1921 on Nagorno-Karabakh was imposed by Stalin. In the first few months of “the Karabakh conflict” by the Armenians was used fairly simple, and as it turned out later, an effective method – developed and actively promoted the “historical legend” that the July 4, 1921 Plenary Session of the Caucasian Bureau of the CC RCP (b) agreed to include Nagorno-Karabakh in structure of Armenia, but the intervention of Stalin plenum at its meeting on July 5, 1921 made the opposite decision, “leaving the” Nagorno-Karabakh in Azerbaijan SSR. For this reason, the autonomous status of Nagorno-Karabakh within Azerbaijan SSR was treated by Yerevan as one of the serious consequences of Stalinism, which in itself is already predetermined position and attitude of the Soviet public to be artificial created and in every possible way spread Karabakh problem.
