The factors that led to the outbreak of the Second Karabakh War in late September, 2020 – enshrined in the military history of Azerbaijan as a Patriotic War or “Operation Iron Fist” – have been clarified on the basis of retrospective analysis. The military-political processes that took place during the 44-day war have been studied, their characteristic features have been presented, the contributions of “Operation Iron Fist” to world's military art have been theoretically substantiated.