Editing Baku (section)

==History==
{{Main|History of Baku|Timeline of Baku}}

===Antiquity===
[[File:Qobustan inscription.jpg|thumb|Roman stone inscription in [[Gobustan State Historical and Cultural Reserve|Gobustan]] dating back to AD 84–96]]
Traces of human settlement in the region of present-day Baku date back to the [[Stone Age]]. [[Bronze Age]] rock carvings have been discovered near Bayil, and a bronze figure of a small fish in the territory of the Old City. These have led some to suggest the existence of a Bronze-Age settlement within the city's territory.<ref>[http://azerisite.narod.ru/2.html Город Баку...] {{Webarchive|url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140319033931/http://azerisite.narod.ru/2.html |date= 19 March 2014 }} Retrieved on 24 June 2006</ref> Near [[Nardaran]], a place called Umid Gaya features a prehistoric observatory, where images of the sun and of various constellations are carved into rock together with a primitive astronomic table.<ref>Ancient Observatory of Absheron. ''Gobustan'', No 3 (1973)</ref> Further archeological excavations have revealed various prehistoric settlements, native temples, statues and other artifacts within the territory of the modern city and around it.

In the 1st century AD, the [[Roman Empire|Romans]] organised two Caucasian campaigns and reached what is today Baku. Near the city, in what is today [[Gobustan State Historical and Cultural Reserve|Gobustan]], Roman inscriptions dating from AD 84 to 96 survive – some of the earliest written evidences for a city there.<ref>{{Cite web |title= Azerbaijan – Walled City of Baku with the Shirvanshah's Palace... |url=http://worldheritage.heindorffhus.dk/frame-AzerbaijanBaku.htm |archive-url= https://archive.today/20080102011734/http://worldheritage.heindorffhus.dk/frame-AzerbaijanBaku.htm |archive-date= 2 January 2008 |access-date= 14 October 2007}}</ref>

According to the 6th-century archbishop and historian St. Sophronius of Cyprus, in 71, St. [[Bartholomew the Apostle]] was preaching Christianity in the city of Albana or Albanopolis,<ref>The Works of Sophronius, Archbishop of Cyprus (1911). Tiflis. p.397.30</ref> associated with present-day Baku<ref>[http://allsaintsrothbury.org.uk/BARTHOLOMEW.pdf Bartholomew – Some Thoughts]{{dead link|date=August 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}. The Parish of Upper Coquetdale.</ref> or [[Derbent]],<ref>[http://www.christianevidenceroom.com/TheResurrection.html Evidence of the Resurrection] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080924203801/http://www.christianevidenceroom.com/TheResurrection.html |date=24 September 2008 }}. ''Christian Evidence Room''.</ref> both located by the [[Caspian Sea]]. St. Bartholomew managed to convert even members of the local royal family who had worshipped the idol [[Astaroth]], but was later martyred by being [[flaying|flayed]] alive and crucified head down on orders from the pagan king Astyages.<ref>[http://www.homecomers.org/mirror/martyrs012.htm Martyrs Mirror]. p. 88</ref> The remains of St. Bartholomew were secretly transferred to [[Mesopotamia]].<ref>[http://www.orthodox.cn/divenbog/AUGST/25-AUGST.DOC 25 August]. ''Orthodoxy in China''.</ref>

===Rise of the Shirvanshahs and the Safavid era===
{{See also|Shirvanshah}}
[[File:1541-Battle in the war between Shah Isma'il and the King of Shirvan-Shahnama-i-Isma'il.jpg|left|190px|thumb |A [[Miniature (illuminated manuscript)|miniature painting]] marking the downfall of the [[Shirvanshahs]] at the hands of the [[Safavids]]]]
Baku was the realm of the [[Shirvanshahs]] during the 8th century AD. The city frequently came under assault from the [[Khazars]] and (starting from the 10th century) from the [[Kievan Rus'|Rus']]. [[Akhsitan I]] built a navy in Baku and successfully repelled a Rus' assault in 1170. After a devastating earthquake struck [[Shamakhi]], the capital of [[Shirvan]], Shirvanshah's court moved to Baku in 1191.<ref>[http://www.kaspiy.az/rubrics.php?code=316 "Ичери Шехер": быть или не быть] Retrieved on 25 June 2006 {{webarchive |url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080620120625/http://www.kaspiy.az/rubrics.php?code=316 |date= 20 June 2008 }}</ref>

[[File:Sabayil relics.jpg|thumb|Relics from the sunken [[Sabayil Castle]] ]]
The Shirvan era greatly influenced Baku and the remainder of present-day Azerbaijan. Between the 12th and 14th centuries, massive fortifications were built in Baku and the surrounding towns. The [[Maiden Tower (Baku)|Maiden Tower]], the [[Ramana Tower]], the [[Nardaran Fortress]], the Shagan Castle, the [[Quadrangular castle (Mardakan)|Mardakan Castle]], the [[Round Castle (Mardakan)|Round Castle]] and also the [[Sabayil Castle]] on the island of the [[Bay of Baku]] date from this period. The [[Old City (Baku)|city walls of Baku]] were also rebuilt and strengthened.

By the early 16th century, Baku's wealth and strategic position attracted the attention of its larger neighbours; in the previous two centuries, it was under the rule of the Iran-centred [[Kara Koyunlu]] and [[Ak Koyunlu]]. The fall of the Ak Koyunlu brought the city immediately into the sphere of the newly formed Iranian [[Safavid dynasty]], led by king (''[[shah]]'') [[Ismail I]] ({{reign | 1501 | 1524}}). Ismail I laid siege to Baku in 1501 and captured it; he allowed the Shirvanshahs to remain in power, under Safavid suzerainty. His successor, king [[Tahmasp I]] ({{reign | 1524 | 1576}}), completely removed the Shirvanshahs from power and made Baku a part of the [[Safavid Shirvan|Shirvan]] province. Baku remained as an integral part of his empire and of successive Iranian dynasties for the next centuries, until ceded to the [[Russian Empire]] through the 1813 [[Treaty of Gulistan]]. The House of Shirvan, which had ruled Baku since the 9th century, was extinguished in the course of Safavid rule.

At this time, the city was enclosed within lines of strong walls, which were washed by the sea on one side and protected by a wide trench on land. The Ottomans briefly gained control over Baku as a result of the [[Ottoman–Safavid War (1578–1590)|Ottoman-Safavid War of 1578–1590]]; by 1607, it came under Iranian control again.<ref>{{Cite book |last1= Dumper |first1= Michael |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=3SapTk5iGDkC&pg=PA65 |title= Cities of the Middle East and North Africa |last2= Stanley |first2= Bruce E |publisher= ABC-CLIO |year= 2007 |isbn= 978-1-57607-919-5 |access-date= 4 July 2020 |archive-date= 28 May 2021 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210528124515/https://books.google.com/books?id=3SapTk5iGDkC&pg=PA65 |url-status= live }}</ref> In 1604 Shah [[Abbas I of Persia|Abbas I]] ({{reign | 1588 | 1629}}) destroyed Baku fortress.

[[File:Ateshgah temple inscription.png|upright|thumb|right| [[Ateshgah of Baku|Atashgah]] is a temple built by Indian traders before 1745, west of the Caspian Sea. The inscription invokes Lord [[Shiva]] in [[Sanskrit]] at the Atashgah.]]
Baku had a reputation as a focal point for traders from across the world during the [[Early modern period]]; commerce was active and the area prospered. Notably, traders from the [[Indian subcontinent]] established themselves in the region. These Indian traders built the [[Ateshgah of Baku]] during 17th–18th centuries; the temple was used as a [[Hindu]], [[Sikh]], and [[Zoroastrian]] place of worship.<ref name="Ziyadov2012">{{Cite book |last= Taleh Ziyadov |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=48CHpkjeCcEC&pg=PA94 |title= Azerbaijan as a Regional Hub in Central Eurasia: Strategic Assessment of Euro-Asian Trade and Transportation |publisher= Taleh Ziyadov |year= 2012 |isbn= 978-9952-34-801-9 |pages= 94– |access-date= 16 August 2018 |archive-date= 28 May 2021 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210528124524/https://books.google.com/books?id=48CHpkjeCcEC&pg=PA94 |url-status= live }}</ref>

=== Downfall of the Safavids and the Khanate of Baku ===
The Safavids temporarily lost power in Iran in 1722; Emperor [[Peter the Great]] of Russia took advantage of the situation and invaded. As a result of the [[Russo-Persian War of 1722–1723]], the Safavids were forced to cede Baku to Russia.<ref>{{Cite web |last= Shukiurov Kerim |title= The Caucasus in the System of International Relations: The Turkmanchay Treaty was Signed 180 Years Ago |url= http://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/the-caucasus-in-the-system-of-international-relations-the-turkmanchay-treaty-was-signed-180-years-ago |url-status= live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150629192734/http://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/the-caucasus-in-the-system-of-international-relations-the-turkmanchay-treaty-was-signed-180-years-ago |archive-date= 29 June 2015 |access-date= 30 June 2015 |website= [[Cyberleninka]]}}</ref> By 1730 the situation had deteriorated for the Russians; the successes of [[Nader Shah]] ({{reign | 1736 | 1747}}) led them to sign the [[Treaty of Ganja]] near [[Ganja, Azerbaijan|Ganja]] on 10 March 1735, ceding the city and all other conquered territories in the Caucasus back to [[Iran]].<ref>{{Cite book |last= Mikaberidze |first= Alexander |title= Conflict and Conquest in the Islamic World: A Historical Encyclopedia |year= 2011 |isbn= 978-1-59884-336-1 |editor-last= Mikaberidze, Alexander |publisher= ABC-CLIO |page= 329 |chapter= Treaty of Ganja (1735)}}</ref>

The eruption of instability following Nader Shah's death in 1747 gave rise to the various [[Khanates of the Caucasus|Caucasian khanates]]. The semi-autonomous Persian-ruled<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |title= Azerbaijan – history – geography |encyclopedia= Encyclopædia Britannica |url= https://www.britannica.com/eb/article-129462/Azerbaijan |access-date= 4 July 2015 |url-status= live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20081118105319/https://www.britannica.com/eb/article-129462/Azerbaijan |archive-date= 18 November 2008}}</ref><ref>Russia and Iran, 1780-1828By Muriel Atkin, Page 16-20</ref>

=== Russo-Persian Wars and Iran's cession ===
[[File:Баку. Набережная. 1861.jpg|left|270px|thumb|Painting of Baku's shoreline in 1861 by [[Alexey Bogolyubov]]]]

From the late 18th century, [[Imperial Russia]] switched to a more aggressive geopolitical stance towards its two neighbours and rivals to the south, namely Iran and the Ottoman Empire. In the spring of 1796, by [[Catherine II of Russia|Catherine II]]'s order, General [[Valerian Zubov]]'s troops started [[Persian Expedition of 1796|a large campaign]] against [[Qajar dynasty|Qajar]] Persia.<ref>{{Cite book |title= Relations between Tehran and Moscow, 1797–2014 |url= https://www.academia.edu/9137125 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150501122208/http://www.academia.edu/9137125/Relations_between_Tehran_and_Moscow_1979-2014 |archive-date= 1 May 2015 |access-date= 9 March 2015}}</ref> Zubov had sent 13,000 men to capture Baku, and it was overrun subsequently without any resistance. On 13 June 1796, a Russian flotilla entered Baku Bay, and a garrison of Russian troops was stationed inside the city. Later, however, Emperor [[Paul I of Russia|Paul I]] of Russia ordered the cessation of the campaign and the withdrawal of Russian forces following the death of his predecessor, [[Catherine the Great]]. In March 1797 the tsarist troops left Baku and the city became part of [[Qajar Iran]] again.

In 1813, following the [[Russo-Persian War (1804–13)|Russo-Persian War of 1804–1813]], Qajar Iran had to sign the [[Treaty of Gulistan]] with Russia this provided for the cession of Baku and of most of Iran's territories in the [[North Caucasus]] and [[South Caucasus]] to Russia. During the next and final bout of hostilities between the two, the [[Russo-Persian War (1826–28)|Russo-Persian War of 1826–1828]], the Iranians briefly recaptured Baku. However, the militarily superior Russians ended this war with a victory as well, and the resulting [[Treaty of Turkmenchay]] (1828) made Baku's inclusion in the [[Russian Empire]] definite.<ref>{{Cite book |last= Mojtahed-Zadeh, Pirouz |title= Boundary Politics and International Boundaries of Iran: A Study of the Origin, Evolution, and Implications of the Boundaries of Modern Iran with Its 15 Neighbours in the Middle East by a Number of Renowned Experts in the Field |publisher= Universal |year= 2007 |isbn= 978-1-58112-933-5 |page= 372}}</ref> When Baku was occupied by the Russian troops during the [[Russo-Persian War (1804–13)|war of 1804–13]], nearly the entire population of some 8,000 people was ethnic [[Tat people (Caucasus)|Tat]].<ref name="books.google.nl">{{Cite book |last= James B. Minahan |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=oZCOAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA262 |title= Ethnic Groups of North, East, and Central Asia: An Encyclopedia |publisher= ABC-CLIO |year= 2014 |isbn= 978-1-61069-018-8 |page= 262 |access-date= 24 August 2017 |archive-date= 28 May 2021 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210528124526/https://books.google.com/books?id=oZCOAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA262 |url-status= live }}</ref> Baku within Russia was the administrative center of the [[Baku Uyezd]], [[Baku Governorate]], and the [[Baku Gradonachalstvo]].

=== Discovery of oil ===
{{Main| Petroleum industry in Azerbaijan}}
[[File:Baku, 1861.jpg|thumb|300px| Panoramic view of Baku bay in 1861]]
The Russians built the first [[oil refinery|oil-distilling factory]] in [[Balaxani]] in 1837. The first person to drill oil in Baku was an ethnic [[Armenians|Armenian]] [[Ivan Mirzoev]], who is also known as a 'founding father of Baku's oil industry.'<ref>{{Cite book|last=Daintith|first=Terence|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g1G52SwFjeQC&q=mirzoev+baku&pg=PA157|title=Finders Keepers?: How the Law of Capture Shaped the World Oil Industry|date=2010|publisher=Earthscan|isbn=978-1-936331-76-5|language=en|access-date=13 May 2021 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Altstadt|first=Audrey L.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FgtZAAAAYAAJ|title=Economic Development and Political Reform in Baku: The Response of the Azerbaidzhani Bourgeoisie|date=1980|publisher=Wilson Center, Kennan Institute for Advanced Russian Studies|language=en|access-date=13 May 2021 }}</ref> Digging for oil began in the 1840s, with the first [[oil well]] drilled in the [[Bibiheybət|Bibi-Heybat]] suburb of Baku in 1846.<ref name="Smil">{{Cite book |last= Smil |first= Vaclav |title= Energy and Civilization: A History |date= 2017 |publisher= The MIT Press |isbn= 978-0-262-03577-4 |location= Cambridge |page= 246}}</ref> Large-scale [[oil exploration]] started in 1872 when the Russian imperial authorities auctioned parcels of oil-rich land around Baku to private investors. The pioneer of oil extracting from the bottom of the sea was the Polish geologist [[Witold Zglenicki]]. Soon after, investors appeared in Baku, including the [[Nobel Brothers]] in 1873 and the [[Rothschild family|Rothschilds]] in 1882. An industrial area of oil refineries, better known as [[Black City (Baku)|Black Town]] ({{langx |ru| Чёрный город}}), developed near Baku by the early 1880s.<ref>{{Cite book |last= Yergin |first= Daniel |title= The Prize, The Epic Quest for Oil, Money & Power |date= 1991 |publisher= Simon & Schuster |isbn= 978-0-671-79932-8 |location= New York |pages= 57–63}}</ref>
[[File:BibiEybat.jpg|thumb|270px|Oil workers digging an oil well by hand at Bibi-Heybat]]
Professor [[A. V. Williams Jackson]] of Columbia University wrote in his work ''From Constantinople to the Home of Omar Khayyam'' (1911):
{{blockquote|Baku is a city founded upon oil, for to its inexhaustible founts of naphtha it owes its very existence, its maintenance, its prosperity... At present Baku produces one-fifth of the oil that is used in the world, and the immense output in crude petroleum from this single city far surpasses that in any other district where oil is found. Verily, the words of the Scriptures find illustration here: 'the rock poured me out rivers of oil.

Oil is in the air one breathes, in one's nostrils, in one's eyes, in the water of the morning bath (though not in the drinking water, for that is brought in bottles from distant mineral springs), in one's starched linen – everywhere. This is the impression one carries away from Baku, and it is certainly true in the environs.<ref>Abraham Valentine Williams Jackson. {{Cite web |title= From Constantinople to the Home of Omar Khayyam |url= https://archive.org/stream/fromconstantino00jackgoog#page/n10/mode/2up |url-status= live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120318114642/http://www.archive.org/stream/fromconstantino00jackgoog#page/n10/mode/2up |archive-date= 18 March 2012 |access-date= 1 December 2011 |publisher= The Macmillan Company | year = 1911 | page = 25}}</ref>}}

By the beginning of the 20th century, half of the oil sold in international markets was extracted in Baku.<ref>{{Cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=EVABAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA16 |title= Troubled Waters: The Geopolitics of the Caspian Region |publisher= I.B. Tauris |year= 2003 |isbn= 978-0-85771-755-9 |page= 16 |author=R. Hrair Dekmejian |author2=Hovann H. Simonian}}</ref> The [[oil boom]] contributed to the massive growth of Baku. Between 1856 and 1910 Baku's population grew at a faster rate than that of [[London]], [[Paris]], [[New York City|New York]], or [[Tokyo]].

=== World War I ===
{{Main|Baku during World War I}}
[[File:Army of Azerbaijan in 1918.jpg|thumb| Soldiers and officers of the army of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic shortly after the [[Battle of Baku]] ]]
[[File:Neftchiler Avenue 1918-1920.jpg|thumb|[[Neftchiler Avenue]] in Baku, {{circa | 1920}}]]
In 1917, after the [[October Revolution]] and amidst the turmoil of [[World War I]] and the [[Russian Revolution]], Baku came under the control of the [[26 Baku Commissars|Baku Commune]], led by the veteran Bolshevik [[Stepan Shahumyan]]. Seeking to capitalize on the existing ethnic conflicts, by spring 1918, Bolsheviks inspired and condoned civil war in and around Baku. During the [[March Days]] of 1918, Bolsheviks and [[Armenian Revolutionary Federation|Dashnaks]], seeking to establish control over Baku streets, faced armed Azerbaijani groups. The Azerbaijanis suffered defeat from the united forces of the Baku Soviet and were massacred by Dashnak teams in what was called the [[March Days]]. An estimated 3,000–12,000 Azerbaijanis were killed in their own capital.<ref name="smithmusavat">{{Cite journal |last= Smith |first= Michael |date= April 2001 |title= Anatomy of Rumor: Murder Scandal, the Musavat Party and Narrative of the Russian Revolution in Baku, 1917–1920 |journal= Journal of Contemporary History |volume= 36 |issue= 2 |page= 228 |doi= 10.1177/002200940103600202 |quote= ''The results of the March events were immediate and total for the Musavat. Several hundreds of its members were killed in the fighting; up to 12,000 Muslim civilians perished; thousands of others fled Baku in a mass exodus.'' |s2cid=159744435}}</ref><ref name="minahan">{{Cite book |last= Minahan |first= James B. |title= Miniature Empires: A Historical Dictionary of the Newly Independent States |year= 1998 |isbn= 978-0-313-30610-5 |page= 22 |publisher= Greenwood Publishing |quote= ''The tensions and fighting between the Azeris and the Armenians in the federation culminated in the massacre of some 12,000 Azeris in Baku by radical Armenians and Bolshevik troops in March 1918.''}}</ref> After the massacre, on 28 May 1918, the Azerbaijani faction of the [[Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic|Transcaucasian Sejm]] proclaimed the independence of the [[Azerbaijan Democratic Republic]] (ADR) in [[Ganja, Azerbaijan|Ganja]], thereby founding the first Muslim-majority [[democratic republic|democratic]] and [[secular]] [[republic]].<ref>Tadeusz Swietochowski. ''Russia and Azerbaijan: A Borderland in Transition''. Columbia University Press, 1995. {{ISBN|978-0-231-07068-3}}, {{ISBN|978-0-231-07068-3}} and Reinhard Schulze. A Modern History of the Islamic World. I.B.Tauris, 2000. {{ISBN|978-1-86064-822-9}}, {{ISBN|978-1-86064-822-9}}.</ref> The newly independent Azerbaijani republic, being unable to defend the independence of the country on their own, asked the Ottoman Empire for military support in accordance with clause 4 of the treaty between the two countries. Shortly after, Azerbaijani forces, with support of the [[Ottoman Army of Islam]] led by [[Nuri Killigil|Nuru Pasha]], started their advance on Baku, eventually capturing the city from the loose coalition of [[Bolshevik]]s, [[Socialist-Revolutionary Party|SRs]], [[Armenian Revolutionary Federation|Dashnaks]], [[Menshevik]]s and British forces under the command of General [[Lionel Dunsterville]] on 15 September 1918.

After the [[Battle of Baku]] of August–September 1918, the Azerbaijani irregular troops, with the tacit support of the Turkish command, conducted four days of pillaging and killing 10,000–30,000<ref name="Gen">Andreopoulos, George (1997). ''Genocide: Conceptual and Historical Dimensions''. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, {{ISBN|978-0-8122-1616-5}}, p. 236.</ref> [[Armenians in Baku|Armenians of Baku]]. This [[pogrom]] became known as the "[[September Days]]". Shortly after this, Baku was proclaimed the new capital of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic.

The Ottoman Empire, recognising defeat in World War I by October 1918, signed the [[Armistice of Mudros]] with the British (30 October 1918); this meant the evacuation of Turkish forces from Baku. Headed by General [[William Montgomery Thomson|William Thomson]], some 5,000 British troops, including parts of the former [[Dunsterforce]], arrived in Baku on 17 November. Thomson declared himself military governor of Baku and implemented [[martial law]] in the city until "the civil power would be strong enough to release the forces from the responsibility to maintain the public order". British forces left before the end of 1919.<ref>{{Cite web |last= Behbudov |first= Tahir |title= British Police in Baku |url= http://www.visions.az/en/news/99/afcf2df0/ |url-status= live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170831184344/http://www.visions.az/en/news/99/afcf2df0/ |archive-date= 31 August 2017 |access-date= 31 August 2017 |website= Visions of Azerbaijan}}</ref>

=== Soviet period ===
The independence of the Azerbaijani republic was a significant but short-lived chapter in Baku's history. On 28 April 1920, the [[11th Army (RSFSR)|11th Red Army]] [[Red Army invasion of Azerbaijan|invaded]] Baku and reinstalled the Bolsheviks, making Baku the capital of the [[Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic]] within [[Soviet Union|Soviet Russia]].

The city underwent many major changes. As a result, Baku played a great role in many branches of Soviet life. Baku was the major oil city of the Soviet Union. From about 1921 the city was headed by the Baku City Executive Committee, commonly known in Russian as ''Bakgorispolkom''. Together with Baku Party Committee (known as the ''Baksovet''), it developed the economic significance of the Caspian metropolis. From 1922 to 1930 Baku became the venue for one of the major [[trade fair]]s of the Soviet Union, serving as a commercial bridgehead to Iran and the Middle East.<ref>Etienne Forestier-Peyrat, "[http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/ab_imperio/summary/v2013/2013.4.forestier-peyrat.html Red Passage to Iran: Baku Trade Fair and the Unmaking of the Azerbaijani Borderland, 1922–1930] {{Webarchive|url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160304115115/http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/ab_imperio/summary/v2013/2013.4.forestier-peyrat.html |date= 4 March 2016 }}", ''Ab Imperio'', Vol 2013, Issue 4, pp. 79–112.</ref>

=== World War II ===
{{main|Baku during World War II}}
The major powers continued to note Baku's growing importance as a major energy hub. During [[World War II]] (1939–1945) and particularly during the [[Case Blue|1942 Nazi German invasion of the southwestern Soviet Union]], Baku became of vital strategic importance to the [[Axis powers]]. In fact, capturing the [[Petroleum industry in Azerbaijan#World War II|oil fields of Baku]] was a primary goal of the [[Wehrmacht]]'s [[Operation Edelweiss]], carried out between May and November 1942. However, the [[German Army (1935–1945)|German Army]] reached only a point some {{convert|530|km|0|abbr=off}} northwest of Baku in November 1942, falling far short of the city's capture before being driven back during the Soviet [[Operation Little Saturn]] in mid-December 1942.

=== Fall of the Soviet Union and later ===
After the 1991 [[dissolution of the Soviet Union]], Baku embarked on a process of restructuring on a scale unseen in its history.<ref>{{Cite web |title= Money from oil changes the face of Azerbaijan |url= http://news.az/articles/society/41029 |url-status= live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110726173757/http://www.news.az/articles/society/41029 |archive-date= 26 July 2011 |access-date= 22 July 2011 |publisher= news.az}}</ref> Thousands of [[Khrushchevka|panel buildings]] from the Soviet period were demolished to make way for a green belt on its shores; parks and gardens were built on the land reclaimed by filling up the beaches of the [[Baku Bay]]. Improvements were made in general cleaning, maintenance, and garbage collection to bring these services up to Western European standards. The city is growing dynamically and developing at pace on an east–west axis along the shores of the [[Caspian Sea]]. Sustainability has become a key factor in future urban development.<ref>
{{Cite web
 |title= Baku White City – Sustainability |url= http://www.bakuwhitecity.com/en/page/4-sustainability |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170426060345/http://www.bakuwhitecity.com/en/page/4-sustainability |archive-date= 26 April 2017 |access-date= 2017-04-25 |website= bakuwhitecity.com
}}
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