The Other Jihad: Enver Pasha, Bolsheviks, and Politics of Anticolonial Muslim Nationalism during the Baku Congress 1920

In this chapter, I will showcase one of the most symbolic events trying to draft of his 'Theses on the National and Colonial Questions'.10 Lenin was thereby in favour of supporting revolutionary movements in the colonial world regardless of their stance towards communist ideals.11 In article six of the theses on the national and colonial questions, adopted by the Second Con- gress of the Comintern, this idea was manifested as follows: embark this transnational movement of Muslim anticolonialism, namely the Bolshevik call for jihad during the Baku Congress in 1920. Two of the major political actors who tried to steal the show from each other at this eventful congress were Enver Pasha and the Bolsheviks. Their story tells the greater story of anticolonial Muslim nationalism during this 'jihad' of 1920. The chapter will, first, illustrate the approach of Comintern and Soviet Russia towards the Baku Congress. Second, it will dwell on the Bolshevik call for jihad and discuss their problematic approach to Islam in mobilising Muslim anticolonialism. Third, it will contextualise the Baku Congress from the British perspective, which delivered fancy conspiracy theories in trying to make sense out of the anticolonial uprisings in the Middle East. Lastly, it will discuss the role of Enver Pasha in Baku and argue that his struggle needs to be read within movement of anticolonial Muslim nationalism. This chapter showcases one of the most symbolic events trying to embark the transnational movement of Muslim anticolonialism during the aftermath of World War I, namely the Bolshevik call for jihad during the Baku Congress in 1920. Two of the major political actors who tried to steal the show from each other at this eventful congress were Enver Pasha and the Bolsheviks. Their story tells the greater story of anticolonial Muslim nationalism during this 'jihad' of 1920. The chapter, first, illustrates the approach of Comintern and Soviet Russia towards the Baku Congress. Second, it dwells on the Bolshevik call for jihad and discusses their problematic approach to Islam in mobilising Muslim anticolonialism. Third, it contextualises the Baku Congress from the British perspective, which delivered fancy conspiracy theories in trying to make sense out of the anticolonial uprisings in the Middle East. Lastly, the chapter discusses the role of Enver Pasha in Baku and argue that his struggle needs to be read within movement of anticolonial Muslim nationalism