Armenian:Անդրկովկասի Խորհրդային Սոցիալիստական Դաշնային (Ֆեդերատիվ) Հանրապետություն Andrkovkasi Khorhrdayin Soc'ialistakan Dashnayin (Federativ) Hanrapetut'yun
Azerbaijani: Zaqafqaziya Sosialist Federativ Sovet Respublikası زاقافقازیا اجتماعی فدراتیو شورا جمهوریتی
Georgian:ამიერკავკასიის საბჭოთა ფედერაციული სოციალისტური რესპუბლიკა Amierk'avk'asiis Sabch'ota Pederatsiuli Sotsialist'uri Resp'ublik'a
Russian:Закавказская Социалистическая Федеративная Советская Республика Zakavkazskaya Sotsalisticheskaya Federativnaya Sovetskaya Respublika
TheTranscaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic (Transcaucasian SFSR orTSFSR), also known as theTranscaucasian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, or simplyTranscaucasia, was arepublic of theSoviet Union that existed from 1922 to 1936.
The Soviets subsequently saw need for economic, military, and political unification of the region to fight against the imperialists in the ongoingRussian Civil War and to defend against counterrevolutionary remnants from the 1920 invasion, in addition to helping restore the region's economy and eliminate interethnic tensions.[3] Following a proposal byVladimir Lenin, the three Soviet Republics were united into theFederative Union of Socialist Soviet Republics of Transcaucasia on 12 March 1922. On 13 December that year, the FirstAll-Caucasian Congress of Soviets transformed thisfederation of states into a unifiedfederal state and renamed it the Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic, though keeping formally the autonomy of its constituent republics. The congress also adopted the constitution, appointed theCentral Executive Committee (the highest legislative body between congressional sessions), and theCouncil of People's Commissars (the government).Mamia Orakhelashvili, a GeorgianBolshevik leader, became the first chairman of the Transcaucasian SFSR's Council of People's Commissars.[5]Tbilisi was the capital of the republic.
The republic became a founding member of theSoviet Union on 30 December along with theRussian SFSR, theUkrainian SSR, and theByelorussian SSR. In December 1936, the Transcaucasian SFSR was dissolved and divided again among the Georgian, Armenian and Azerbaijani SSRs.[3]
Map of the Transcaucasian region during the Soviet era
After theRed Army invasion of Georgia,Abkhazia (an autonomous province within theDemocratic Republic of Georgia) was declared a Soviet Republic. In March 1922, the AbkhazRevolutionary committee renamed the region theSSR of Abkhazia. Despite the declaration of this new Soviet Republic, its relations with Georgia and Russia had yet to be formally settled.[6] On December 16, 1921, Abkhazia signed a treaty of alliance with the Georgian SSR codifying its status as atreaty 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.[7] On February 19, 1931, Abkhazia's republican status was downgraded to that of anAutonomous Soviet Socialist Republic within the Georgian SSR.[8]
TheAdjar ASSR was established on July 16, 1921, within the Georgian SSR as a consequence of theTreaty of Kars. The treaty marking the end of theCaucasus Campaign inWorld War I provided for the division of the formerBatum Oblast of theKutais 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 inNakhchivan, an area bordering Armenia, Turkey and Iran, which was claimed by Armenians and Azerbaijanis. After the occupation of the region by theRed Army, theNakhchivan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was declared with "close ties" to the Azerbaijani SSR. TheTreaty of Moscow and the Treaty of Kars established the Nakhchivan region as an autonomous republic under the protection of the Soviet Republic of Azerbaijan.[9]
Before 1923,Georgia,Armenia, andAzerbaijan each issued their ownpostage 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 Armeniaoverprinted with a star containing the five-letter acronym of the Federation inside the points. Massiveinflation having set in, this was followed by an issue of the Federation's own designs, four values of a view ofoil fields, and four with a montage of Soviet symbols over mountains andoil derricks, values ranging from 40,000 to 500,000Transcaucasian 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 18gold kopecks. Starting in 1924, the Federation used stamps of theSoviet Union.[10]
A 1923 stamp overprinted on the stamp of the Russian Empire
A 1923 stamp overprinted on the stamp of the Democratic Republic of Armenia
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 andcovers are not often seen.
^abcdЗакавказская федерацияArchived 2015-09-25 at theWayback Machine.Большая советская энциклопедия, 3-е изд., гл. ред. А. М. Прохоров. Москва: Советская энциклопедия, 1972. Т. 9 (A. M. Prokhorov; et al., eds. (1972). "Transcaucasian Federation".Great Soviet Encyclopedia (in Russian). Vol. 9. Moscow: Soviet Encyclopedia.)
Forestier-Peyrat, Etienne (January 2018), "Soviet Federalism at Work: Lessons from the History of the Transcaucasian Federation, 1922–1936",Jahrbücher für Geschichte Osteuropas,65 (4):529–559,doi:10.25162/jgo-2017-0020,S2CID252457317
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, Arsène (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,ISBN978-0-41-565802-7
Suny, Ronald Grigor (1994),The Making of the Georgian Nation (Second ed.), Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press
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