The article examines the role of national and cultural heritage in the formation and transformation of historical memory in Azerbaijan during the nine teenth and twentieth centuries. Historical memory is considered not merely as the preservation of the past, but as a process through which societies select, interpret, transmit, and give meaning to historical experiences within social, cultural, and political frameworks. The theoretical and methodological basis of the study draws upon Maurice Halbwachs’s concept of collective memory, Pierre Nora’s theory of “sites of memory,” and Jan Assmann’s concept of cultural memory. The study analyzes the impact of the Enlightenment movement, education, the development of the national press, literature, and theatre on the emergence of national consciousness and historical memory in Azerbaijan during the second half of the nineteenth century. Particular attention is paid to the role of the press and intellectual environment in the formation of national identity and ideas of statehood in the early twentieth century, as well as to the relationship between cultural heritage and national statehood during the period of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic. The Soviet period is examined as a complex stage characterized simultaneously by ideological control, selective interpretation of the past, and institutional preservation of certain elements of cultural heritage. The article also explores the re-actualization of historical memory in the late twentieth century, the place of the January 20, 1990 tragedy in collective memory, the impact of the Karabakh conflict on memory practices, and the re assessment of national statehood heritage following the restoration of Azerbaijan’s independence. The study argues that national and cultural heritage has functioned as an important mechanism for the intergenerational transmission of historical experience and has significantly contributed to the formation of national identity and statehood consciousness in Azerbaijani society.
Keywords: historical memory, national and cultural heritage, collective memory, cultural memory, national identity, Azerbaijan, Enlightenment, national press, statehood.