Socio-political conditions and satirical press at the beginning of the 20th century

Abstract

The most part of Azerbaijani press of XX century is democratic. The discontent with the
existing structure of bourgeois landlord relations, criticism of religious superstition, the discontent
with the existing structure of people, freedom ideas, requirements to improve living conditions and
others are the main idea of the democratic press. The most part of democratic press organs are
satirical magazines. The magazines such as “Molla Nasreddin” (1906-1931),”Behlul” (1907),
“Zenbur” (1909-1910), “Mirat” (1910), “Ari” (1910-1911), “Kelniyyet” (1912-1913), “Lek-Lek”
(1914), “Tuti” (1914-1917), “Mezeli” (1914-1915), “Babayi-Amir” (1915-1916), “Tatar Partan”
(1918), “Meshel” (1919-1920) were in a democratic position. These magazines form the basis of
our research. The satirical magazines are one of the sources that reflected the social contradiction, freedom
tendencies of people, critical attitude to the old world of the 20th century. Most of these journals
tried to follow the path “Molla Nasreddin” magazine. The magazine “Molla Nasreddin” played an
inimitable role in the development of Azerbaijani literature and press of 20th century. “Molla
Nasreddin” which was established based on the first Russian revolution was the standard bearer of
revolutionary democracy. The magazine reflected the events that affect the whole world, people's
liberation movement, the hatred of fighting workers and the villagers towards tsarism and bourgeois
landlords during the 1907s and worked effectively on the way to strengthen the class consciousness
of the workers.