Former republic of the Soviet Union
The
Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic
(
Transcaucasian SFSR
or
TSFSR
), also known as the
Transcaucasian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic
, or simply
Transcaucasia
, was a
republic
of the
Soviet Union
that existed from 1922 to 1936.
The TSFSR comprised
Armenia
,
Azerbaijan
, and
Georgia
, traditionally known as the "
Transcaucasian
Republics" as they were separated from
Russia
by the
Caucasus Mountains
. The TSFSR was one of the four republics to sign the
Treaty on the Creation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
establishing the Soviet Union in 1922. The TSFSR was created ostensibly to consolidate the economic situation and
Bolshevik
control over the region. The TSFSR was dissolved upon the adoption of the
1936 Soviet Constitution
and its constituent republics were elevated individually to republics of the Soviet Union.
History
[
edit
]
The roots of a Transcaucasian condominium state trace back to the dissolution of the
Russian Empire
in 1918, following the
October Revolution
, when the provinces of the
Caucasus
seceded and formed their own state called the
Transcaucasian Federation
. Competing ethno-national interests and confrontation with the
Ottoman Empire
in
World War I
led to the dissolution of the Transcaucasian Federation only two months later, in April 1918.
[2]
The three successor states?the
First Republic of Armenia
, the
Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan
, and the
Democratic Republic of Georgia
?lasted until the end of the
Russian Civil War
that was being fought across the mountains, when they were invaded by the
Red Army
and
sovietized
. Following the proposal by
Vladimir Lenin
the three now Soviet Republics, the
Armenian
,
Azerbaijani
and
Georgian SSRs
, were united into the
Federative Union of Socialist Soviet Republics of Transcaucasia
on 12 March 1922. On 13 December that year, the First
All-Caucasian Congress of Soviets
transformed this
federation of states
into a unified
federal state
and renamed it into the Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic, though keeping formally the autonomy of its constituent republics. The congress also adopted the constitution, appointed the
Central Executive Committee
(the highest legislative body between congressional sessions), and the
Council of People's Commissars
(the government).
Mamia Orakhelashvili
, a Georgian
Bolshevik
leader, became the first chairman of the Transcaucasian SFSR's Council of People's Commissars.
[3]
Tbilisi
was the capital of the republic.
The republic became a founding member of the
Soviet Union
on 30 December along with the
Russian SFSR
, the
Ukrainian SSR
, and the
Byelorussian SSR
. In December 1936, the Transcaucasian SFSR was dissolved and divided again among the Georgian, Armenian and Azerbaijani SSRs.
[4]
Autonomous republics within the TSFSR
[
edit
]
Map of the Transcaucasian region during the Soviet era
After the
Red Army invasion of Georgia
,
Abkhazia
(an autonomous province within the
Democratic Republic of Georgia
) was declared a Soviet Republic. In March 1922, the Abkhaz
Revolutionary committee
renamed the region the
SSR of Abkhazia
. Despite the declaration of this new Soviet Republic, its relations with Georgia and Russia had yet to be formally settled.
[5]
On December 16, 1921, Abkhazia signed a treaty of alliance with the Georgian SSR codifying its status as a
treaty republic
(Russian: договорная республика). This agreement allowed the formation of an Abkhazia military while also establishing a political and financial union between the two Soviet republics. Thus, through Georgia, Abkhazia joined the TSFSR and was initially on an equal footing with the other republics of the federation.
[6]
On February 19, 1931, Abkhazia's republican status was downgraded to that of an
Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic
within the Georgian SSR.
[7]
The
Adjar ASSR
was established on July 16, 1921, within the Georgian SSR as a consequence of the
Treaty of Kars
. The treaty marking the end of the
Caucasus Campaign
in
World War I
provided for the division of the former
Batum Oblast
of the
Kutais Governorate
of the Russian Empire between Georgia and Turkey. According to the agreement the northern half with significant Georgian Muslim population would become part of the Soviet Georgia but granted autonomy.
Another autonomous republic was established in July 1920 in
Nakhchivan
, an area bordering Armenia, Turkey and Iran, which was claimed by Armenians and Azerbaijanis. After the occupation of the region by the
Red Army
, the
Nakhchivan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic
was declared with "close ties" to the Azerbaijani SSR. The
Treaty of Moscow
and the Treaty of Kars established the Nakhchivan region as an autonomous republic under the protection of the Soviet Republic of Azerbaijan.
[8]
Heads of state
[
edit
]
Stamps and postal history
[
edit
]
Before 1923,
Georgia
,
Armenia
, and
Azerbaijan
each issued their own
postage stamps
. The Transcaucasian Federation began issuing its own stamps on September 15, 1923, and superseded the separate republics' issues on October 1.
The first issues consisted of some of the stamps of Russia and Armenia
overprinted
with a star containing the five-letter acronym of the Federation inside the points. Massive
inflation
having set in, this was followed by an issue of the Federation's own designs, four values of a view of
oil fields
, and four with a montage of Soviet symbols over mountains and
oil derricks
, values ranging from 40,000 to 500,000
roubles
. The 40,000 roubles and 75,000 roubles were then surcharged to 700,000 roubles. On October 24, the stamps were re-issued with values from 1 to 18
gold kopecks
. Starting in 1924, the Federation used stamps of the
Soviet Union
.
[9]
Most of the stamps of the Federation are not especially rare today, with 1998 prices in the US$1?2 range, although the overprints on Armenian stamps range up to US$200.
[
citation needed
]
As might be expected from a short period of usage, used stamps are less common than unused and
covers
are not often seen.
See also
[
edit
]
Notes
[
edit
]
Bibliography
[
edit
]
- Blauvelt, Timothy (May 2007), "Abkhazia: Patronage and Power in the Stalin Era",
Nationalities Papers
,
35
(2): 203?232,
doi
:
10.1080/00905990701254318
,
S2CID
128803263
- Forestier-Peyrat, Etienne (January 2018), "Soviet Federalism at Work: Lessons from the History of the Transcaucasian Federation, 1922?1936",
Jahrbucher fur Geschichte Osteuropas
,
65
(4): 529?559,
doi
:
10.25162/jgo-2017-0020
,
S2CID
252457317
- Hewitt, B.G. (1993), "Abkhazia: a problem of identity and ownership",
Central Asian Survey
,
12
(3): 267?323,
doi
:
10.1080/02634939308400819
- Lang, David Marshall
(1962),
A History of Modern Georgia
, London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson
- Saparov, Arsene (2015),
From Conflict to Autonomy in the Caucasus: The Soviet Union and the making of Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Nagorno Karabakh
, New York City: Routledge,
ISBN
978-0-41-565802-7
- Suny, Ronald Grigor
(1994),
The Making of the Georgian Nation
(Second ed.), Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press
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