Azerbaijan SSR
This article is about the former Soviet republic; for other similar uses, see Azerbaijan (disambiguation). Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist RepublicАзәрбаjҹан Совет
Сосиалист Республикасы | State motto:
Azerbaijani: Бүтүн өлкәләрин
пролетарлары, бирләшин!
Translation: Workers of the world, unite!  | SovietUnionAzerbaijan.png |
| | Capital | Baku | | Official language | None. De facto, Azerbaijani, Russian, and Armenian (in Nagorno-Karabakh). | | Chairman of the Supreme Council | Heydar Aliyev (at independence) | Established
In the USSR:
- Since
- Until | April 28, 1920
December 30, 1922
August 30, 1991 | Area
- Total
- Water (%) | Ranked 9th in the USSR
86,600 km²
negligible | Population
- Total (1989)
- Density | Ranked 6th in the USSR
7,037,900
81.3/km² | | Currency | Ruble (манат)| Time zone | UTC + 5 | | Anthem | Anthem of Azerbaijan SSR | | | | | |
The
Azerbaijan SSR or the
Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic (
Azerbaijani: Azərbaycan Sovet Sosialist Respublikası, in
Cyrillic alphabet: Азәрбаjҹан Совет Сосиалист Республикасы;
Russian: Азербайджанская Советская Социалистическая Республика, often shortened to АССР) was the name given to
Azerbaijan when it was part of the
Soviet Union from
1936 to
1991.
Established as a Soviet Socialist Republic
on April 28 1920, from March 12 1922 to December 5 1936 it was part of the Transcaucasian Federative Soviet Socialist Republic together with the Armenian SSR and the Georgian SSR. The constitution of the Azerbaijan SSR was approved by the 9th Extraordinary All-Azeri Congress of Soviets on March 14, 1937. On November 19 1990 it was renamed into Republic of
Azerbaijan'', remaining in the
USSR for a year before independence.
Establishment
The Azerbaijan SSR was established in April 1920 after the invasion by Russian Soviet forces and the surrender of the government of
Azerbaijan Democratic Republic to local communists under the leadership of Mirza Davud and Nariman Narimanov. The new governemnt was still in a state of war against neighboring Armenia, which by that time occupied large parts of western Azeri territory. In June the forces of Azerbaijan SSR together with the Russian Red Army and limited Turkish assistance staged a combined assault on Armenian-held territory in western Azerbaijan and successfully recovered all territories which Azerbaiajan previously lost to Armenia during the
Azeri-Armenian war of 1918-1919. In August 1920 the cease-fire agreement was signed in Yerevan ending open hostilities between Azerbaijan SSR and Armenia. Sporadic fighting continued in Karabakh and Zanghezur districts of Azerbaijan where several Armenian warlords refused to stop guerilla war.
However, the cease-fire was broken in November 28, 1920 when the Russian and Azeri forces crossed the demarcation line and invaded Armenia in support of the Armenian communist rebellion. The Soviets also justified their move by blaming Armenia for several invasions of Azeri territory. The Armenian army was unable to put up effective resistance and quickly surrendered. The communists then proclaimed a friendly
Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic in Yerevan.
In October 13, 1921, the Soviet republics of Russia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia signed an agreement with Turkey known as the Treaty of Kars. By this treaty, Karabakh province was recognized as part of Azerbaijan SSR, however, the Armenian-pupulated part known as Nagorno-Karabakh was given the status of ASSR - an autonomous area within Azerbaijan. This area would again become the source of conflict after the collapse of Soviet Union in 1991, however for a long time the conflict seemed to be firmly settled. The previously independent Naxicivan SSR would also become autonomous ASSR within Azerbaijan by the treaty of Kars. On the other hand, Armenia was awarded the region of Zhangezur and Turkey agreed to return Alexandropol.
Borders of Azerbaijan and Armenia were redrawn several times between 1922 and 1936. Some major "adjustments" were made in 1931. As a result, Armenia had to cede to Azerbaijan the northern half of Kazakh-Shamshadin district and a number of smaller parts of Zanghezur. However the same year, Armenia received territorial compensation by being assigned Lori district of Georgia (former Lori canton of Borchalo district that had been a "neutral zone" between 01.1919 and 11.1920). Neither side was completely satisfied with the results.
Transcaucasian SFSR
In March 12, 1922, under heavy pressure from Moscow, the leaders of Azerbaijan, Armenian, and Georgian Soviet Socialist Republics established a union known as
Transcaucasian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic. This was the first attempt at a union of Soviet republics, preceding the USSR. The Union Council of TSFSR consisted of the representatives of the three republics - Nariman Narimanov (Azerbaijan), Polikarp Mdivani (Georgia), and Aleksandr Fyodorovich Miasnikyan (Armenia). The First secretaries of the Transcaucasian Communist Party was Sergo Ordzhonikidze.
In December 1922, again under pressure from Moscow, TSFSR agreed to join the union with
Russia,
Ukraine, and
Belarus, thus creating
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics which would last until 1991. The TSFSR, however, did not last long. In December 1936 the Transcaucasian Union was finally dismantled when the leaders in the Union Council found themselves unable to come to agreement over several issues. Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Georgia then became separate
Republics of the Soviet Union.
Economy and Development
In the spring of
1921 a general change-over from
revkoms and
kombeds to Soviets took place. In order to help the Azeri
oil industry the
Supreme Council of the National Economy decided in the same year to provide it with everything necessary out of turn. The new oilfields, like
Ilyich Bay,
Qara-Chukhur,
Lok-Batan and Kala have been discovered. In
1929 a great
kolkhoz movement have developed and Azerbaijan became the second Soviet
tea producer after the
Georgian SSR for the first time. On
March 31,
1931 the oil industry of the Azerbaijan SSR, which supplied over 60% of the total Soviet oil production at the time, was awarded the
Order of Lenin. The republic gained the second Order on
March 15,
1935 during the observation of the 15th anniversary. At the end of the second
five-year plan (1933-1937) Azerbaijan appeared on the 3rd place in the Soviet Union by the
capital investment size.
|
Enver Aliyev. Entrenchments and antitank obstacles near Baku. 1976, Ilya Repin Academy of Arts, Saint Petersburg. |
Soviet-German War
In April,
1940 intelligence flights by the
British and
French Air Forces did fly over the
Absheron Peninsula. In the first year of the
Soviet-German War, Azerbaijan produced 25,4 million tons of oil - a record for the entire history of its oil industry. Meanwhile Great Britain and France seriously considered the possibility of bombing the Republic's oil fields. By the end of 1941, thousands of Azeris had joined the so-called People's Voluntary Corps. Mobilization affected all spheres of life, particularly the oil industries. A week after fighting began, the oil workers themselves took the initiative to extend their work to 12-hour shifts, with no days off, no holidays, and no vacations until the end of the war. Meanwhile in September
1942 Hitler's generals presented him with a large decorated cake which depicted the
Caspian Sea and Baku. Baku then became the primary strategic goal of Hitler's 1942 Fall Blau offensive. This offensive was unsuccessful, however. The German army was at first stalled in the mountaines of
caucasus, then decisevely defeated at the
battle of Stalingrad and forced to retreat from the area, abandoning all hopes for Reichskommisariat Kaukasus. In 1942 Azerbaijan also became the second largest
tea producer of the
Soviet Army. By the Decree of the
Supreme Soviet of the USSR in February of 1942, the commitment of more than 500 workers and employees of the oil industry of Azerbaijan was awarded orders and medals. Of the estimated 700,000 Azeris who were recruited into the Soviet Army, 400,000 never returned home.
The post-war period
Apart from the
Oil Rocks, Azerbaijan's first offshore field was opened in the early 50s.
Chairmen and the Presidium of the Supreme Council
*
Mir Timur Yakubov (1938)
*
Mir Bashir Kasumov (1938-1949)
*
Nazar Geydarov (1949-1954)
*
Mirza Ibragimov (1954-1958)
*
Mustafa Topchibashev (1955-1959)
*
Abdulla Bayramov (1958)
*
Gazanfar Jafarli (1958-1959)
*
Ilyas Abdullayev (1958-1959)
*
Saftar Jafarov (1959-1961)
*
Ali Tagi-zade (1959-1963)
*
Mamed Iskenderov (1961-1969)
*
Mamed Dadash-zade (1963-1967)
*
Gurban Khalilov*
Suleyman Rustam*
Elmira Kafarova*
Ayaz Mutalibov*
Heydar AliyevChairmen of the Central Executive Committee
*
Mukhtar Gajiyev (1921-1922)
*
Samed Aliyev (1922-1929)
*
Gazanfar Musabekov (1929-1931)
*
Sultan-Mejid Efendiyev (1932-1937)
*Mir Bashir Kasumov (1937-1938)
Military
Under the military structure of the former Soviet Union, Azerbaijan shortly before gaining independence was host to over 60,000 Soviet military personnel deployed throughout the country in units of the Ground Forces, Air Forces, Air Defense Forces, and Navy. The primary combat formation of Ground Forces in Azerbaijan was the
Soviet 4th Army, which housed its headquarters and various support units in Baku. In addition to the independent
surface-to-air missile (SAM), artillery, and
SCUD brigades, the principal combat elements of the Fourth Army were the 23rd (
Ganja), 295th (
Lenkoran), 60th (Baku) and 75th (
Nakhichivan)
motorized rifle divisions (MRD), and the Ganja Helicopter Assault Regiment (
Mi-24 Hinds and
Mi-8 Hips). The only ground forces training establishment in Azerbaijan was the Combined Arms Command School at Baku.
История государства и права Азербайджанской ССР. Б., Академия наук ССР, 1964.
"ражданский кодекс Азербайджанской ССР. Б., 'ерховный совет, 1964.
*Madatov, G.
Azerbaijan During the Great Patriotic War. Baku, 1975.
Независимая газета, 12 August 1992, pp. 1-2.
*
General info (in Russian)*
Справочник по истории Коммунистической партии и Советского Союза 1898 - 1965*
Сталинские списки: Азербайджанская ССР
