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Industry and Society in Baku, Azerbaijan, 1870- Present

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Industry and Society in Baku, Azerbaijan, 1870- Present OIL CAPITAL: INDUSTRY AND SOCIETY IN BAKU, AZERBAIJAN, 1870- PRESENT by REBECCA LINDSAY HASTINGS A DISSERTATION Presented to the Department of History and the Graduate School of the University of Oregon in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy June 2020 DISSERTATION APPROVAL PAGE Student: Rebecca Lindsay Hastings Title: Oil Capital: Industry and Society in Baku, Azerbaijan, 1870-Present This dissertation has been accepted and approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy degree in the Department of History by: Julie Hessler Chairperson, Advisor Julie Weise Core Member Ryan Jones Core Member Alexander Murphy Institutional Representative and Kate Mondloch Interim Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School Original approval signatures are on file with the University of Oregon Graduate School Degree awarded June 2020 ii © 2020 Rebecca Lindsay Hastings iii DISSERTATION ABSTRACT Rebecca Lindsay Hastings Doctor of Philosophy Department of History June 2020 Title: Oil Capital: Industry and Society in Baku, Azerbaijan, 1870-Present This dissertation is a historical study of the city of Baku, Azerbaijan, and its oil industry from the 1870s to the present, covering the tsarist Russian, Soviet, and post- Soviet eras. The history of the Baku oil industry offers a clear, focused example of the social and physical effects of the imposition of external parties’ financial and commodity demands on an urban-industrial setting. Baku as an urban environment, comprising not just the physical elements of the city but also its sociocultural communities, has embodied priorities imposed on the oil industry that have shifted as the global importance of oil and natural gas has grown, as those commodities’ uses have changed over time, and according to successive regimes’ respective political and economic ideologies. Despite the extra-regional connections that have contributed to Baku’s incongruous nature relative to its surroundings, in every era the city has remained to some degree engaged with its Azerbaijani and Transcaucasian contexts, including ethnic relations, geography, and geology. Throughout successive administrative eras, the city’s population grew and shrank, diversified and grew more homogeneous; interethnic and labor relations eased and raged; the city’s architecture and physical layout altered according to authorities’ tastes, ad hoc additions, industrial booms, innovations, and stagnation; the state of the natural environment deteriorated (according to modern standards) almost continuously, iv an unobjectionable or perturbing process, depending on the prevailing attitudes of the period. Using a synthesis of archival and published sources, this study investigates the extensive degree to which the character of the city, and its residents’ experience of it, hinged on its status as an oil capital. v CURRICULUM VITAE NAME OF AUTHOR: Rebecca Lindsay Hastings GRADUATE AND UNDERGRADUATE SCHOOLS ATTENDED: University of Oregon, Eugene Central Washington University, Ellensburg South Puget Sound Community College, Olympia DEGREES AWARDED: Doctor of Philosophy, History, 2020, University of Oregon Master of Arts, History, June 2013, Central Washington University Bachelor of Arts, History, June 2009, Central Washington University Associate of Arts, June 2006, South Puget Sound Community College AREAS OF SPECIAL INTEREST: History of Imperial Russia, the Soviet Union, and the Former Soviet Union History of Azerbaijan Oil and Energy History PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE: Graduate Employee, Department of History, University of Oregon, 2013-2020 Instructor, Grays Harbor College, 2019-2020 Instructor, South Puget Sound Community College, 2019 Teaching Assistant, Department of History, Central Washington University, 2012-2013 GRANTS, AWARDS, AND HONORS: McManus Student Travel Award, Loyola University Chicago, 2019 Turner Prize, University of Oregon Department of History, 2019 American Councils Title VIII Research Scholar Program, Advanced Research Fellowship, Azerbaijan (declined), 2019 Stephen F. Cohen-Robert C. Tucker Dissertation Research Fellowship, Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies (ASEEES) (declined), 2018 vi Wayne Morse Graduate Research Fellowship, 2018 Global Oregon Graduate Research Award, 201 American Councils Title VIII Combined Research and Language Training Program Advanced Research Fellowship, Azerbaijan, 2017 American Councils Eurasian Regional Language Program Title VIII Fellowship, Azerbaijan (declined), 2017 Graduate Research Prize, Association for Women in Slavic Studies, 2016 Graduate Research Support Fellowship, Oregon Humanities Center, 2016 Title VIII Program for Research and Training in Eastern Europe and Eurasia Fellowship, Azerbaijani, Indiana University Summer Language Workshop, 2016 Dale and Mary Jo Comstock Distinguished Thesis Award, Central Washington University, 2013 Central Washington University College of Arts and Humanities Outstanding Graduate Student Scholarship Award, 2012 vii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS My completion of this dissertation was possible only with the guidance and support of many mentors, colleagues, and friends. I thank my advisor, Julie Hessler, for her unwavering support and mentorship over the past seven years; her comments and suggestions have been invaluable to me. Julie Weise guided me on issues of migration history and consistently offered practical suggestions that oriented me during my years in the doctoral program. Alexander Murphy’s feedback gave me grounding in the field of geography and other relevant theoretical frameworks. Ryan Jones encouraged me to consider seriously the environmental dimension of this history and always presented thought-provoking comments. Beyond the faculty members who served on my dissertation committee, I would like to thank George Sheridan, who was unfailingly kind and supportive as he served on my comprehensive exam committee and responded to chapters I presented in seminars. My thanks also to the graduate students in the Department of History, including Tara Keegan (and Steve Chadwick), Haley Williamson, Hayley Brazier, Emily Cole, Patience Collier, Hillary Maxson, Nanosh Lucas, Annie Reiva, Olivia Wing, Jue Hou, Spencer Abbe, Kwangyeol Ko, Moeko Yamazaki, Jack Evans, and Christopher Smith. Nichelle Frank shared an office and completed the program in step with me for the entire seven years, a comradeship that I am immensely grateful for. I could not have entered and completed this program without the continued encouragement of Roxanne Easley and Jason Knirck of Central Washington University. I benefited from language training by Yelaina Kripkov of University of Oregon, Zoya Polack of University of Washington, Vafa Yunusova of Indiana University’s Summer viii Language Workshop, and Sabina Aliyeva of the Azerbaijan University of Languages. I would also like to thank the staff of the Azerbaijan National Archives, the National Library of Azerbaijan, and the Hoover Institution Library and Archives. Thank you also to the staff of American Councils in Baku, and to Cat Bobbitt, who literally saved my life in Baku. This project was supported by a number of grants and fellowships. I am grateful for the financial support and recognition of American Councils, supported by the U.S. Department of State’s Program for Research and Training on Eastern Europe and the Independent States of the Former Soviet Union (Title VIII); the Oregon Humanities Center; the Association for Women in Slavic Studies; Global Oregon; the Wayne Morse Center; the Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies; the University of Oregon Department of History; and Loyola University Chicago. Finally, I am enormously grateful to my family and friends. Christina Bartholet always stuck with me. Sam provided constant inspiration. My mother and my late father, both archivists and fellow history enthusiasts, always encouraged me in my various endeavors. I cannot adequately express what my mother’s support has meant to me through all of this. ix TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page I. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................ 1 II. “PROSPERITY LIES AHEAD”: DOMESTIC AND FOREIGN CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE BUILDING OF THE BAKU OIL INDUSTRY, 1872-1901......................................................................... 23 Pre-Industrial Baku ......................................................................... 27 Opening the Baku Oil Industry ....................................................... 34 Labor Migration to Baku ................................................................ 51 Physical Transformation of Baku ................................................... 58 Conclusion ...................................................................................... 68 III. LABOR, ETHNICITY, AND CRISIS IN THE BAKU OIL INDUSTRY, 1901-1920 ....................................................................... 70 Baku, 1905 ...................................................................................... 72 Aftermath of the 1905 Events ......................................................... 87 Between Crises: 1905-1914 ............................................................ 93 War to Revolution: 1914-1920 ........................................................ 99 Conclusion ....................................................................................... 107 IV. RESTORATION OF THE BAKU OIL INDUSTRY, 1920-1928 ........ 110 Bolshevik Takeover and
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