The Azerbaijan Affair: Inspection of the Council of Ministers of the Azerbaijan SSR in 1948

Abstract

The article, on the basis of the materials of the archival funds of the Ministry of State Control of the USSR, the Party Control Commission of the Central Committee of the CPSU, the Secretariat and the Politburo, is dedicated to the unknown aspects of the “Azerbaijan affair” and political processes in the Central Committee of the CPSU in the summer of 1948. The “Azerbaijan affair” was an investigation of abuses of senior officials of the Azerbaijan SSR. The revision of the government of the Azerbaijan SSR was approved by the Council of Ministers of the USSR and personally by Stalin. The development of events from January to July 1948 became threatening for the republic’s nomenklatura. The audit took place on a large scale; its conclusions could lead to serious personnel changes in the republic and even criminal cases. Based on the analysis of the archival materials of the Party Control Commission and the Central Committee of the CPSU on the case of the Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Azerbaijan SSR Azizbekov it is possible to conclude that the attitude of the Party leadership towards this affair changed in July 1948. The decision of the Party Control Commission’s Bureau to exclude Azizbekov from the Party was withdrawn from Protocol of the Commission and adopted in a new edition after another number, date and with another resolution (instead of the exception from the Party Azizbekov received a severe reprimand). July 21, 1948, the Politburo Commission was formed, which included the first secretary of the Communist Party of Azerbaijan M. D. Bagirov. Conclusions of the Commission, rehabilitating Azerbaijan leaders, condemned the course of the audit and entailed resignations in the Ministry of State Control, were approved by the Politburo. It can be assumed that a sharp turn in the “Azerbaijan affair” is connected with the regrouping of forces inside the Central Committee.