The Nagorno-Karabakh War refers to the armed conflict that takes place from February 1988 to May 1994, in the small ethnic enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh in southwestern Azerbaijan, between the predominantly ethnic Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh backed by the Republic of Armenia against the Republic of Azerbaijan.

As the war progresses, Armenia and Azerbaijan, both former Soviet Republics, become enveloped in a protracted, undeclared war in the mountainous heights of Karabakh as Azerbaijan attempts to curb a secessionist movement in Nagorno-Karabakh.

The enclave's parliament had voted in favor of uniting itself with Armenia and a referendum is held with the vast majority of the Karabakh population voting in favor of independence.

The demand to unify with Armenia, which had proliferated in the late 1980s, begins in a relatively peaceful manner; however, in the following months, as the Soviet Union's disintegration nears, it gradually grows into an increasingly violent conflict between the two ethnic groups, resulting in claims of ethnic cleansing by all sides.The war is the most destructive ethnic conflict in both terms of lives and property that emerges after the Soviet Union collapsed in December 1991.

Inter-ethnic fighting between the two breaks out shortly after the parliament of Nagorno-Karabakh, an autonomous oblast in Azerbaijan, votes to unify the region with Armenia on February 20, 1988.

The declaration of secession from Azerbaijan is the final result of a "long-standing resentment in the Armenian community of Nagorno Karabakh against serious limitations of its cultural and religious freedom by central Soviet and Azerbaijani authorities," but more importantly, as a territorial conflict regarding the land.

Along with the secessionist movements in the Baltic republics of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, the secessionist movements in the Caucasus characterize and play a large role in bringing the downfall of the Soviet Union.

As Azerbaijan declares its independence from the Soviet Union and removes the powers held by the enclave's government, the Armenian majority votes to secede from Azerbaijan, and in the process proclaims the enclave the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh.Full-scale fighting erupts in the late winter of 1992. International mediation by several groups including Europe's OSCE fails to bring an end resolution that both sides could work with.

In the spring of 1993, Armenian forces capture regions outside the enclave itself, threatening the involvement of other countries in the region.

By the end of the war in 1994, the Armenians are in full control of not only the enclave but also hold and currently control approximately 9% of Azerbaijan's territory outside the enclave.

As many as 400,000 Armenians from Azerbaijan and 800,000 Azeris from Armenia and Karabakh have been displaced as a result of the conflict.

A Russian-brokered cease fire s signed in May of 1994 and peace talks, mediated by the OSCE Minsk Group, have been held ever since by Armenia and Azerbaijan.