Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)/Azerbaijan, Republic of

AZERBAIJAN, REPUBLIC OF. This new state of Transcaucasia had its birth in circumstances resulting from the World War. Its frontiers are not yet defined with precision, but it has an area of about 57,000 square miles in eastern Caucasia, is bounded on the south and east by Persia and the Caspian Sea, and on the north and west by Daghestan and Georgia. The population is mixed, though the bulk is of Iranian stock with a mixture of Tartars and Turks. After the overthrow of the Russian Czar and the establishment of the Soviet regime the people of Azerbaijan, together with those of Georgia and Russian Armenia, broke away from Russia and formed a joint state, April 22, 1918, which they styled the Federal Republic of Transcaucasia. The interests of the different peoples, however, were so divergent that the experiment came to an end in about five weeks. Georgia was swayed by German influences, the people of Azerbaijan were sympathetic with the Turks who were their co-religionists, while Armenia was strongly in favor of the Allied cause. The Transcaucasian Republic therefore dissolved into its component parts, May 26, 1918, and two days later Azerbaijan declared its own independence.

Baku, the great oil center and seaport of Azerbaijan, was at the time held by the Bolshevists, who in the early spring had captured it after a battle in which the natives lost 12,000 in killed. The new government which had established its seat at Elizabetpol appealed for aid to the Turks, and with the assistance of the latter retook Baku and drove back a Bolshevist army that was threatening Elizabetpol. The Azerbaijan Government then invited General Thomson, the commander of British troops stationed on Persian territory, to occupy Baku, for the sake of strengthening its defense. The request was acceded to, and British troops took possession of the town Nov. 17, 1918. At the end of 1919 the troops were withdrawn. The independence of Azerbaijan was acknowledged by the Allies in January, 1920.

The Azerbaijan Parliament consists of 120 members, elected by universal suffrage. Representatives of the various races in the state, Russians, Armenians, Poles, and Jews, are included in the membership. The members of the Cabinet are responsible to Parliament. The national budget for 1919 was put at 665,000,000 rubles. The great source of revenue for state purposes is the petroleum industry.