Clientelist Networks and ‘Nationalist Deviations’: ‘Groupism’ in the Azerbaijan SSR Leadership During Korenizatsiia, 1920–1933

This article examines political groupism in the Azerbaijan SSR leadership in the 1920s and early 1930s—specifically factionalism among high-ranking officials at the regional level—as a distinctive characteristic of the Soviet political system. Focusing on the Azerbaijan Communist Party, the study examines how the ruling elites consolidated their position both in the centre and at the regional peripheries, against the backdrop of the Soviet government’s nationalities policies. Attitudes on the ground to the programme of ‘korenizatsiia’ shaped political intercourse in this region as local actors were labelled ‘nationalist deviationists’ or ‘Great Russian Chauvinists’ and factions were formed often along ethnic lines. This case study finds that, ultimately, in the Azerbaijan SSR, factionalism among party officials remained confined to localized networks and failed to evolve into organized interest groups, largely due to interventions in personnel change from the centre and the pervasive effects of repression.