Azerbaijan Democratic Republic
first Azerbaijani republic / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (ADR) also known as Azerbaijan People's Republic was the first successful attempt to create a democratic and secular republic in the Muslim world before the Republic of Turkey.[4] It was founded on May 28, 1918 after the collapse of the Russian Empire that began with the Russian Revolution of 1917 by the Azerbaijani National Council in Tiflis, Georgia.[5] Its borders were with Russia in the north, Democratic Republic of Georgia in the north-west, Democratic Republic of Armenia in the west, and Persian Empire (Iran) in the south. It had a population of 2.86 million.[6] Ganja was the temporary capital of the Republic as Baku, which is the de jure capital, was under Bolshevik control.
Azerbaijan Democratic Republic Azərbaycan Xalq Cümhuriyyəti | |||||||||
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1918–1920 | |||||||||
Motto: Bir kərə yüksələn bayraq bir daha enməz! The flag once raised will never fall! | |||||||||
Anthem: Azərbaycan Marşı March of Azerbaijan | |||||||||
Capital | Ganja (until Sep 1918) Baku | ||||||||
Common languages | Azerbaijani | ||||||||
Government | Parliamentary republic | ||||||||
Prime Minister | |||||||||
• 1918–1919 | Fatali Khan Khoyski | ||||||||
• 1919–1920 | Nasib bey Yusifbeyli | ||||||||
• 1920 | Mammad Hasan Hajinski | ||||||||
Speaker | |||||||||
• 1918 | Mahammad Amin Rasulzade | ||||||||
• 1918–1920 | Alimardan bey Topchubashi | ||||||||
Historical era | Interwar period | ||||||||
• Independence | 28 May 1918 | ||||||||
• Soviet invasion | 28 April 1920 | ||||||||
Area | |||||||||
1918[1][2] | 99,908.87 km2 (38,575.03 sq mi) | ||||||||
Population | |||||||||
• 1918[3] | 2862000 | ||||||||
Currency | Azerbaijani manat | ||||||||
ISO 3166 code | AZ | ||||||||
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Today part of | Armenia Azerbaijan Georgia |
Under the ADR, the government was a parliamentary system in which a parliament, called the Milli Majlis (National Assembly of Azerbaijan) elected on the basis of universal, free, and proportional representation, was the highest political institution of state authority and the Council of Ministers was responsible before it. Fatali Khan Khoyski became its first prime minister.[7] Besides the political party Musavat which had the majority in parliament, other political parties were Ehrar, Ittihad, Muslim Social-democrats as well as representatives of Armenian (21 out of 120 seats[5]), Russian, Polish, Jewish and German minorities[8] gained seats in the parliament. Some members supported Pan-Islamist and Pan-Turkist ideologies.[9]
Among the important accomplishments of the parliament was to give women the right to vote, making Azerbaijan the first Muslim nation to give women equal political rights with men.[5] Azerbaijan made these reforms earlier than the United Kingdom and the United States. Another important accomplishment of ADR was the establishment of Baku State University, which was the first modern-type university founded in Azerbaijan.