The emergence of Jadid movement in Azerbaijan and Azerbaijani Jadidians

Jadidism is a movement in the field of education and culture among the Russian Turks with the main goal of preserving the national culture. In doing so, it directs the innovations in many fields such as language, literature, education, and press at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. People who played an important role in this process received education in the major universities of Russia and Europe and had jobs in the Russian administration. The formation of the national bourgeoisie against the colonial policy implemented by Tsarist Russia gave impetus to social activities. Intellectuals have used education, media, literature, and theater as effective tools to reach their goals. As a result of these intellectual effects and fast-changing social dynamics, the formation process of national forms—the basic dynamic of the Jadid move—started to take shape. This process was followed by political movements against Russian despotism and Armenian chauvinism. In this study, the transformations experienced by the Azerbaijani society, and the political and socio-cultural developments that occurred as a result, will be investigated within the context of Jadidism. It is emphasized that the Jadid movement has a national mission and that the innovation movements lay the groundwork for this mission; thus, using the concepts of Jadidism and innovation interchangeably is misleading.