Armenia and Azerbaijan quarreled about the putative boundaries of the three provinces . The Karabakh Armenians attempted to declare their independence but failed to make contact with the Republic of Armenia . Following the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in World War I , Armenian General Andranik Ozanian entered Karabakh with military success and was headed towards the region capital of Shusha in December 1918 . British troops occupied the South Caucasus in 1919 , and the British command suggested Andranik cease his offense and allow the conflict to be solved at the Paris Peace Conference . Afterward , the British provisionally affirmed Azerbaijani statesman Khosrov bey Sultanov as the governor-general of Karabakh and ordered him to " squash any unrest in the region " . Afterward followed the Shusha massacre of an estimated 20,000 Armenians
Shusha massacre
Shusha massacre
Nagorno-Karabakh War