March Days

This article is about the 1918 inter-ethnic clashes and Bolshevik takeover attempt in Baku. For Polish student and intellectual protests of 1968, see 1968 Polish political crisis.

March Days
Part of the Armenian-Azerbaijani War
Azerbaijani victims in Baku
Date 30 March – 2 April 1918 Location Baku Governorate, Transcaucasian Commissariat Result Bolshevik and Dashnaktsutyun victory Musavat lost control in Baku Baku Commune was established in April 1918
Belligerents
Bolsheviks Armenian Revolutionary Federation	Musavat Party Caucasian Native Cavalry Division
Commanders and leaders
Stepan Shahumyan	Mahammad Amin Rasulzade
Strength
Bolsheviks 6,000 regular troops, Russian Fleet gunboats Dashnaks 4,000 militiamen	10,000 troops and militiamen
Casualties and losses
Unknown	Unknown
2,500 Armenian civilians 3,000–12,000 Azerbaijani and other Muslim civilians

The March Days or March Events (Azerbaijani: Mart hadisələri) was a period of inter-ethnic strife and clashes which took place between 30 March – 2 April 1918 in the city of Baku and adjacent areas of the Baku Governorate of the Transcaucasian Commissariat.

Facilitated by a political power struggle between Bolsheviks with the support of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutiun) on one side and the Azerbaijani Musavat Party on another, the events led to rumours of a possible Muslim revolt on the part of Bolshevik and Dashnak forces and the establishment of the short-lived Baku Commune in April 1918.

The majority of historic sources and accounts interpret the March Days in the context of civil war unrest. The clashes resulted in "interethnic bloodletting", according to Ronald Grigor Suny; the massacres committed by Armenians in particular are interpreted by some scholars as retaliation for the Armenian genocide.

These were followed by the September days where 10,000–30,000 ethnic Armenians were massacred by Army of Islam and their local Azerbaijani allies upon capturing Baku.