In May 1918, for the first time in history, an independent Armenian state - the Republic of Armenia (Ararat) was established. The National Council of Azerbaijan adopted a decision to cede the city of Iravan to Armenia as the capital on the condition that no territorial claims will be made against Azerbaijan. However, the first act of the Armenian government was the start of hostilities to capture Zangazur and Karabakh.    

In July 1918, Armenian armed formations consisting of 10 thousand soldiers, led by General Andranik Ozanyan, who retreated from Eastern Anatolia, entered Zangazur. They also planned to seize the Nagorno-Karabakh and annex these territories to Armenia.      

On July 22, at the instigation of the Armenian government, the Armenians living in the mountainous part of Karabakh tried to proclaim their "independence".  

On September 15, 1918, with the help of the Caucasian Islamic Army, the city of Baku was liberated from the occupation of the Armenian-Bolshevik troops. The Armenian militants, frightened by the offensive of the Islamic army on Karabakh, surrendered their weapons and declared that they were ready to obey all orders of the Azerbaijani state institutions. However, according to the Mudros agreement, signed on October 30, 1918, the Caucasian Islamic army had to leave the Caucasus. After that, Armenian separatism again raised its head, massacres of the Azerbaijani population began in the upper part of Karabakh.

On December 20, 1918, an extraordinary meeting of the Azerbaijani parliament was held, at which the bloody events committed by Andranik's bandits in Karabakh and Zangazur were brought up for discussion. The Council of Ministers, at its meeting on January 15, 1919, for a decisive struggle against the Armenian armed formations, decided to establish a temporary governor-general for the Zangazur, Shusha, Javanshir and Jabrayil districts. The provisional governor-general was to be endowed with emergency powers. Khosrov-bek Sultanov was approved for the post of Governor-General of Karabakh, and on April 3, General V. Thomson, Commander of the Allied Forces in Baku, recognized his authority. The government of Armenia welcomed the creation of the general government by the government of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic with a large-scale political and diplomatic noise.  

After that, at the end of April 1919, the Armenian separatists refused to recognize the authority of the governor-general of Karabakh at their congress. On May 5, 1919, at the insistence of the Azerbaijani government, General Thomson ordered the withdrawal of the separatists from Karabakh, and on June 5, accompanied by British representatives, they were deported from Shusha to Tiflis. On June 6, at a rally in the Armenian-populated part of Shusha, the Armenians declared that they recognize the government of Azerbaijan. But, in spite of everything, the Armenian government continued to help the separatists in Karabakh and intensify their subversive activities. On November 23, in Tbilisi, with the participation S. Rhine, the Deputy High Commissioner of the Allied Powers in the South Caucasus, an agreement was signed between the Chairman of the Council of the Ministers of Azerbaijan, Nasib-bey Yusifbeyli, and the Prime Minister of Armenia, A. Khatisov. But the Armenian government violated the terms of this agreement and on December 8 sent troops to Zangazur. In addition to armed military intervention, the Armenian government paid special attention to the use of funds to realize its claims to Azerbaijani lands.      

At the end of 1919, the Armenian government allocated 19 million manats for the "liberation" of Nagorno-Karabakh. As a result of all this, in March 1920, the Armenian separatists became even more furious. On March 22-23, 1920, perfidious manoeuvres against Azerbaijan began in Nagorno-Karabakh. In order to prevent Armenian aggression, the Azerbaijani government sent a 20,000-strong military contingent to Karabakh, led by Major General Habib bey Salimov. After the bloody battles, the Azerbaijani army established the sovereign rights of Azerbaijan throughout the entire territory of Karabakh.

After the dissolution of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic on April 27, 1920, the activities of the Karabakh governor generalship were terminated. 
The Extraordinary Investigation Commission, established by the government of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, documented investigative materials on the massacres committed by Armenians in 157 villages of Shusha, Javanshir and Jabrayil districts with the support of the government of Armenia in 1918-1920.  

Recommended literature:

1. Azərbaycan Xalq Cümhuriyyəti Ensiklopediyası : 2 cilddə / red. heyəti Y. M. Mahmudov [et al.] ; baş red. Y. M. Mahmudov. II cild. - Bakı : Lider nəşriyyat, 2005. - 472 s.
2. Azərbaycan Xalq Cümhuriyyəti: 1918-1920. Parlament: stenoqrafik hesabatlar: 2 cilddə / Azərbaycan Xalq Cümhuriyyətinin 80 illiyinin keçirilməsi üzrə Dövlət Komissiyası, Azərbaycan Respublikası Nazirlər Kabinetini yanında Baş Arxiv İdarəsi.- Bakı: Azərbaycan nəşriyyatı, 1998.- I cild.- 976 s.; II cild.- 992 s.
3. Məmmədova, Həvva İsa qızı. Azərbaycan Xalq Cümhuriyyəti dövründə Yuxarı Qarabağda siyasi vəziyyət : erməni terrorizminin güclənməsi: 1918-1920 / H. İ. Məmmədova ; elmi red. A. C. İsgəndərov ; Azərbaycan Respublikası Mədəniyyət və Turizm Nazirliyi. - Bakı : Nağıl evi, 2006. - 150 s.