A glance at our periodical press in the late 19th and early 20th centuries

Abstract

In the article is studied the organization and initial development process of the Azerbaijani national press in the background of the events happened in socio-political and literary-cultural life of Azerbaijan in the second half of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. The relevance of the topic for modern times is considered and the restriction of the press rights of Muslim Turks living in the Caucasus by the officials of Tsarist Russia, hypocritical propaganda of Bolsheviks against the Azerbaijani people in Russian-language newspapers after Russian revolution in 1905, including spreading ideas that the land of Azerbaijan allegedly belongs to Armenians by the fatwa of the Armenians and other anti-national propaganda initiatives is clarified.

In the article the contribution of oil millionaires who spent their property to increase the education and welfare of the Azerbaijani people, for the development of the press was mentioned. Their exceptional role in the creation and activities of national-democratic socio-political organizations (“Difai”, “Musavat”, “Nijat”, “Muselman Kheyriyye”, “Neshri-maarif” and others), newspapers and magazines (“Hayat”, “Irshad”, “Fuyuzat”, “Yeni Irshad”, “Achig Soz” and others) that played an important role in the development of national consciousness is indicated by concrete facts.

The article is characterized the period covered as a period of complex struggles, and the national press of that period as the tribune of ideas and thoughts of advanced intellectuals.