Azerbaijan Democratic Republic Proclaimed
The February and October revolutions removed Russian authority from the South Caucasus, and the short-lived Transcaucasian Federation dissolved in May 1918 as Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan went separate ways. The Azerbaijani republic was declared at Tiflis and established itself at Ganja before taking Baku — the empire's oil capital, then held by a Bolshevik-led commune — with Ottoman military assistance in September. The republic's parliament seated Armenian, Russian and Jewish deputies alongside the Musavat majority, established Baku State University, and extended the franchise to women in 1919 on the same terms as men. It obtained de facto recognition from the Paris Peace Conference in January 1920. In April 1920 the 11th Red Army crossed the border with minimal resistance and the republic was absorbed into what became the Soviet Union, remaining so until 1991.
- Year: 1918 CE
- Category: Political
