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. It was created in March 1922 to unify the region following a Soviet invasion two years prior, and 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 December 1922. 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
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. The three successor states—the First Republic of Armenia, the Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan, and the Democratic Republic of Georgia—lasted until 1920, when they were invaded by the Red Army and sovietized during the Armenian–Azerbaijani war. The Armenian, Azerbaijani, and Georgian Soviet Socialist Republics took the place of their respective nations. 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. On February 19, 1931, Abkhazia's republican status was downgraded to that of an Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic within the Georgian SSR.
The Adjarian 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 a 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.
Heads of state
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Chairs of the Union Council
! Name !! Dates !! Party
|-
| Nariman Narimanov || March–December 1922 || Communist Party of Azerbaijan
|-
| Polikarp Mdivani || March–December 1922 || Communist Party of Georgia
|-
| Aleksandr Myasnikyan || March–December 1922 || Communist Party of Armenia
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Chairmen of the Presidium of the USSR CEC from TSFSR
! Name !! Dates !! Party
|-
| Nariman Narimanov || 1922–1925 || Communist Party of Azerbaijan
|-
| Gazanfar Musabekov || 1925–1938 || Communist Party of Azerbaijan
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Chairs of the Central Executive Committee
! Name !! Period !! For
|-
| Mikhail Tskhakaya (1st time) || 1922–1927 ||Georgia
|-
| Samad aga Aliyev || 1922–1929 || Azerbaijan
|-
| Sarkis Hambartsumyan || 1922–1925 || Armenia
|-
| Sarkis Kasyan || 1927–1931 || Armenia
|-
| Filipp Makharadze (1st time) || 1927–1928 || Georgia
|-
| Mikhail Tskhakaya (2nd time) || 1928–1931 || Georgia
|-
| Gazanfar Musabekov || 1929–1931 || Azerbaijan
|-
| Filipp Makharadze (2nd time) || 1931–1935 || Georgia
|-
| Armenak Ananyan || 1931–1935 || Armenia
|-
| Sultan Majid Afandiyev || 1931–1936 || Azerbaijan
|-
| Sergo Martikyan || 1935–1936 || Armenia
|-
| Avel Enukidze || March–May 1935 || Georgia
|-
| Filipp Makharadze (3rd time) || 1935–1936 || Georgia
|-
|}
Stamps and postal history
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 Transcaucasian rubles. The 40,000 rubles and 75,000 rubles were then surcharged to 700,000 rubles. 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.
<gallery>
Transcaucasia 1923 CPA 2 stamp (Lesser Coat of Arms of Russian Empire. Star with 'ZSFSR' handstamped).jpg|A 1923 stamp overprinted on the stamp of the Russian Empire
Transcaucasia 1923 CPA 6 stamp (Lesser Coat of Arms of Russian Empire. Star with 'ZSFSR' handstamped).jpg|A 1923 stamp overprinted on the stamp of the Democratic Republic of Armenia
File:Transcaucasia 1923 CPA 8 stamp (Oil derricks, mounts Ararat and Elbrus, rising sun, Soviet symbols - hammer and sickle, red star).jpg|1923 40,000-rouble stamp
File:Transcaucasia 1923 CPA 19 stamp (oil derricks, mounts Ararat and Elbrus, rising sun, Soviet symbols - hammer and sickle, red star, star and crescent).jpg|1923 two-kopeck stamp
</gallery>
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. 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
- Kars Republic
- Mountain Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic
- Lithuanian–Belorussian Soviet Socialist Republic
- Far Eastern Republic
- Don Republic
- Kuban People's Republic
- Bavarian Soviet Republic
- Republics of the Soviet Union
- Komancza Republic