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36-665: The Nakhichevan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic , abbreviated as Nakhichevan ASSR was an autonomous republic within the Azerbaijan SSR , itself a republic within the Soviet Union . It was formed on 16 March 1921 and became a part of the Azerbaijan SSR proper on 9 February 1924. The first flag of the Nakhichevan ASSR was introduced in 1937 and contained both Azerbaijani and Armenian text. In

72-589: A Soviet republic in May 1920. This was the first country in the South Caucasus that the Bolsheviks seized control of. Taking advantage of its quarrels with neighboring Armenia, the 11th Army had little difficulty in initially sovietizing Azerbaijan. Although it soon was embroiled in a fierce anti-Soviet insurgency, the army remained poised to advance into the two remaining republics, Armenian and Georgia. For

108-543: A border with the Azerbaijan SSR. This deal was reaffirmed on 23 October, in the Treaty of Kars . Article V of the treaty stated the following: The Turkish Government and the Soviet Governments of Armenia and Azerbaijan are agreed that the region of Nakhchivan, within the limits specified by Annex III to the present Treaty, constitutes an autonomous territory under the protection of Azerbaijan. So, on 16 March 1921

144-608: A declaration celebrating the "victory of Soviet power in Armenia," proclaimed that both Nakhichevan and Zangezur should be awarded to the Armenian people as a sign of the Azerbaijani people's support for Armenia's fight against the former DRA government: As of today, the old frontiers between Armenia and Azerbaijan are declared to be non-existent. Mountainous Karabakh, Zangezur and Nakhchivan are recognised to be integral parts of

180-445: A total of 20 beds. The region was plagued by widespread diseases including trachoma and typhus . Malaria , which mostly came from the adjoining Aras River, brought serious harm to the region. At any one time, between 70% and 85% of Nakhichevan's population was infected with malaria, and in the region of Norashen (present-day Sharur) almost 100% were struck with the disease. This situation improved dramatically under Soviet rule. Malaria

216-760: A true successor organization. The Army of the North Caucasus , which was renamed 11th Army on October 3, 1918, constituted the main army of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic in the area during the Russian Civil War . During the Russian Civil War the 11th Army fought against the White troops of General Anton Denikin 's Volunteer Army in the western part of the North Caucasus . It

252-557: The 11th Soviet Red Army invaded and occupied the region and on 28 July, declared the Nakhichevan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic with "close ties" to the Azerbaijan SSR . In November, on the verge of taking over Armenia, the Bolsheviks, in order to attract public support, promised they would allot Nakhichevan to Armenia, along with Karabakh and Zangezur. This was fulfilled when Nariman Narimanov , leader of Bolshevik Azerbaijan issued

288-707: The seceding union republic , as well as to raise the issue of their state-legal status. The 1978 Constitution of the RSFSR recognized sixteen autonomous republics within the RSFSR. Their status as of October 2007 within the Russian Federation is given in parentheses: Gorno-Altai Autonomous Oblast (now Altai Republic ), Adyghe Autonomous Oblast (now Republic of Adygea ), Karachay–Cherkess Autonomous Oblast (now Karachay–Cherkess Republic ) and Khakassian Autonomous Oblast (now Republic of Khakassia ) were all promoted in status to that of an ASSR in 1991, in

324-742: The 1940s, when the Azerbaijani Latin alphabet was being replaced by Cyrillic , the previous flag was replaced by a Soviet flag with the Azerbaijani Cyrillic text "Нахчыван МССР" in gold and a dark blue bar along the fess . In 1990, it became the Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic within the Republic of Azerbaijan . In the final years of World War I , Nakhichevan was the scene of bloodshed between Armenians and Azerbaijanis, who both laid claim to

360-413: The Azerbaijan SSR "with the rights of an autonomous republic." The decision to make Nakhichevan a part of modern-day Azerbaijan was cemented 16 March 1921 in the Treaty of Moscow between Bolshevist Russia and Turkey. The agreement between Soviet Russia and Turkey also called for attachment of the former Sharur-Daralagez uyezd (which had a solid Azeri majority) to Nakhichevan, thus allowing Turkey to share

396-506: The Nakhichevan ASSR was established. On 9 February 1924, the Soviet Union officially placed the Nakhichevan ASSR under the jurisdiction of the Azerbaijan SSR . Its constitution was adopted on 18 April 1926. As a constituent part of the Soviet Union, tensions lessened over the ethnic composition of Nakhichevan or any territorial claims regarding it. Instead, it became an important point of industrial production with particular emphasis on

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432-501: The Socialist Republic of Armenia. Vladimir Lenin , although welcoming this act of "great Soviet fraternity" where "boundaries had no meaning among the family of Soviet peoples," did not agree with the motion and instead called for the people of Nakhichevan to be consulted in a referendum. According to the formal figures of this referendum, held at the beginning of 1921, 90% of Nakhichevan's population wanted to be included in

468-820: The Soviet Union In the Russian SFSR , for example, Chairmen of the Government of the ASSRs were officially members of the Government of the RSFSR . Unlike the union republics, the autonomous republics only had the right to disaffiliate themselves from the Union when the union republic containing them did so, as well as to choose to stay with the Union separately from them. The level of political, administrative and cultural autonomy they enjoyed varied with time—it

504-669: The Soviet leadership and the Soviet media accused the Azeris of "embracing Islamic fundamentalism". In January 1990, the Supreme Soviet of the Nakhichevan ASSR issued a declaration stating the intention for Nakhichevan to secede from the USSR to protest the Soviet Union's actions during Black January . It was the first part of the Soviet Union to declare independence, preceding Lithuania 's declaration by almost 2 months. Heydar Aliyev ,

540-494: The administrative borders of the former Erivan Governorate (which under prior Imperial Russian rule encompassed Nakhichevan), while Azerbaijan was to be limited to the governorates of Baku and Elisabethpol . This proposal was rejected by both Armenians (who did not wish to give up their claims to Qazakh, Zangezur and Nagorno-Karabakh) and Azeris (who found it unacceptable to give up their claims to Nakhichevan). As disputes between both countries continued, it soon became apparent that

576-665: The area, the British decided to withdraw from the region in mid-1919. Still, fighting between Armenians and Azeris continued and after a series of skirmishes that took place throughout the Nakhichevan district, a ceasefire was agreed. This lasted only briefly, and by early March 1920, more fighting broke out, primarily in Karabakh between Karabakh Armenians and Azerbaijan's regular army. This triggered conflicts in other areas with mixed populations, including Nakhichevan. In July 1920,

612-744: The area. By 1914, the Armenian population had decreased slightly to 40% while the Azeri population increased to roughly 60%. After the February Revolution of 1917, the region was placed under the authority of the Special Transcaucasian Committee of the Russian Provisional Government and subsequently the short-lived Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic (TDFR) in 1918. When the TDFR

648-600: The area. When tensions between Armenians and Azeris were reignited in the late-1980s by the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Azerbaijan's Popular Front managed to pressure the Azerbaijan SSR to instigate a partial railway and air blockade against Armenia, while another reason for the disruption of rail service to Armenia were attacks of Armenian forces on the trains entering the Armenian territory from Azerbaijan, which resulted in railroad personnel refusing to enter Armenia. This effectively crippled Armenia's economy, as 85% of

684-414: The cargo and goods arrived through rail traffic. In response, Armenia closed the railway to Nakhichevan, thereby strangling the exclave's only link to the rest of the Soviet Union. December 1989 saw unrest in Nakhichevan as its Azeri inhabitants moved to physically dismantle the Soviet border with Iran to flee the area and meet their ethnic Azeri cousins in northern Iran. This action was angrily denounced by

720-546: The coup. In late 1991, Aliyev consolidated his power base as chairman of the Nakhichevan Supreme Soviet and asserted Nakhichevan's near-total independence from Baku . On 19 November 1990, it became the Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic within the Republic of Azerbaijan . In 2008, the National Bank of Azerbaijan minted a pair of gold and silver commemorative coins for the 85th anniversary of

756-1312: The creation of the Nakhichevan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. 1918–24   Turkestan 1918–41   Volga German 1919–90   Bashkir 1920–25   Kirghiz 1920–90   Tatar 1921–91   Adjarian 1921–45   Crimean 1921–91   Dagestan 1921–24   Mountain 1921–90   Nakhichevan 1922–91   Yakut 1923–90   Buryat 1923–40   Karelian 1924–40   Moldavian 1924–29   Tajik 1925–92   Chuvash 1925–36   Kazakh 1926–36   Kirghiz 1931–92   Abkhaz 1932–92   Karakalpak 1934–90   Mordovian 1934–90   Udmurt 1935–43   Kalmyk 1936–44   Checheno-Ingush 1936–44   Kabardino-Balkarian 1936–90   Komi 1936–90   Mari 1936–90   North Ossetian 1944–57   Kabardin 1956–91   Karelian 1957–92   Checheno-Ingush 1957–91   Kabardino-Balkarian 1958–90   Kalmyk 1961–92   Tuvan 1990–91   Gorno-Altai 1991–92   Crimean Autonomous republics of

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792-428: The fragile peace under British occupation would not last. In December 1918, with the support of Azerbaijan's Musavat Party , Jafargulu Khan Nakhichevanski declared the Republic of Aras in the Nakhichevan uyezd of the former Erivan Governorate assigned to Armenia by Wardrop. The Armenian government did not recognize the new state and sent its troops into the region to take control of it. The conflict soon erupted into

828-602: The future president of Azerbaijan, returned to his birthplace of Nakhichevan in autumn 1990, after being ousted from his position in the Politburo by Mikhail Gorbachev in 1987. Soon after returning to Nakhichevan, Aliyev was elected to the local Supreme Soviet by an overwhelming majority. Aliyev subsequently resigned from the CPSU and after the failed August 1991 coup against Gorbachev, he called for complete independence for Azerbaijan and denounced Ayaz Mütallibov for supporting

864-645: The ground. Under the terms of the Armistice of Mudros , the Ottomans agreed to pull their troops out of the Transcaucasus to make way for the forthcoming British military presence. Under British occupation, Sir Oliver Wardrop , British Chief Commissioner in the South Caucasus, made a border proposal to solve the conflict. According to Wardrop, Armenian claims against Azerbaijan should not go beyond

900-1605: The last year of the Soviet Union. Only the Jewish Autonomous Oblast retained its autonomous oblast status in Russia. Other autonomous republics also existed within RSFSR at earlier points of the Soviet history: 1918–24   Turkestan 1918–41   Volga German 1919–90   Bashkir 1920–25   Kirghiz 1920–90   Tatar 1921–91   Adjarian 1921–45   Crimean 1921–91   Dagestan 1921–24   Mountain 1921–90   Nakhichevan 1922–91   Yakut 1923–90   Buryat 1923–40   Karelian 1924–40   Moldavian 1924–29   Tajik 1925–92   Chuvash 1925–36   Kazakh 1926–36   Kirghiz 1931–92   Abkhaz 1932–92   Karakalpak 1934–90   Mordovian 1934–90   Udmurt 1935–43   Kalmyk 1936–44   Checheno-Ingush 1936–44   Kabardino-Balkarian 1936–90   Komi 1936–90   Mari 1936–90   North Ossetian 1944–57   Kabardin 1956–91   Karelian 1957–92   Checheno-Ingush 1957–91   Kabardino-Balkarian 1958–90   Kalmyk 1961–92   Tuvan 1990–91   Gorno-Altai 1991–92   Crimean 11th Soviet Red Army The 11th Army

936-808: The mining of minerals such as salt. Under Soviet rule, it was once a major junction on the Moscow– Tehran railway line as well as the Baku – Yerevan railway. It also served as an important strategic area during the Cold War , sharing borders with both Turkey (a NATO member state ) and Iran (a close ally of the West until the Iranian Revolution of 1979). Facilities improved during Soviet times; education and public health especially began to see some major changes. In 1913, Nakhichevan only had two hospitals with

972-583: The misery of the soldiers; during the winter of 1918-1919 fifty thousand men became ill. The sick, the hungry, and the demoralized gave themselves up by the tens of thousands. The Whites captured large stores of weapons and the Eleventh army ceased to exist." On 27 April 1920 the 11th Army took Baku and Azerbaijan Democratic Republic collapsed. The Bolsheviks then established the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic , as

1008-652: The time being, however, the authorities in Moscow ordered the army to stand down while negotiations between Russia and Armenia were being carried out. In that brief span the Red Army did aid Armenian communists fighting against the Armenian government in the Ijevan region of Armenia. In September–November 1920 Armenia and in February–March 1921, Georgia were invaded and brought under Bolshevik control. Having conquered

1044-545: The violent Aras War. British journalist C.E. Bechhofer described the situation in April 1920: You cannot persuade a party of frenzied nationalists that two blacks do not make a white; consequently, no day went by without a catalogue of complaints from both sides, Armenians and Tartars [Azeris], of unprovoked attacks, murders, village burnings and the like. Specifically, the situation was a series of vicious cycles. By mid-June 1919, Armenia had established control over Nakhichevan and

1080-713: The whole of Transcaucasia, the 11th Army was dissolved on May 29, 1921 and replaced by the Independent Caucasus Army . The commanders of the Army of the North Caucasus were : The head of the 11th Army's Revolutionary Military Council was Sergo Ordzhonikidze . The military leaders of the 11th Army were Military decisions were supervised by the Army's Council of War . Its members were in 1921: Sergey Kirov , Valerian Kuybyshev , J.P. Butyagin, K.A. Mekhonoshin , Sokolov, J.I. Vesnik, Lukin, B.D. Mikhailov, Kvirkeliya, S.S. Eliava and P.I. Kushner. By 1921,

1116-468: The whole territory of the self-proclaimed republic. The fall of the Aras republic triggered an invasion by the regular Azerbaijani army and by the end of July, Armenian troops were forced to leave Nakhichevan City to the Azeris. Again more violence erupted, leaving some 10,000 Armenians dead and 45 Armenian villages destroyed. Meanwhile, feeling the situation to be hopeless and unable to maintain any control over

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1152-609: Was a field army of the Red Army during the Russian Civil War , which fought on the Caspian-Caucasian Front. It took a prominent part in the sovietization of the three republics of the southern Caucasus in 1920–21, when Azerbaijan , Armenia , and Georgia were brought within the orbit of Soviet Russia. Since the Russian Republic's Caucasus Front (April 1917 - March 1918) dissolved, it did not have

1188-629: Was dissolved in May 1918, Nakhichevan, Nagorno-Karabakh , Zangezur (today the Armenian province of Syunik and part of the province of Vayots Dzor ), and Qazakh were heavily contested between the newly formed and short-lived states of the Democratic Republic of Armenia (DRA) and the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (ADR). In June 1918, the region came under Ottoman occupation. The Ottomans proceeded to massacre 10,000 Armenians and razed 45 of their villages to

1224-481: Was most substantial in the 1920s ( Korenizatsiya ), the 1950s after the death of Joseph Stalin , and in the Brezhnev Era . According to the constitution of the USSR , in case of a union republic voting on leaving the Soviet Union, autonomous republics, autonomous oblasts and autonomous okrugs had the right, by means of a referendum , to independently resolve whether they will stay in the USSR or leave with

1260-676: Was sharply reduced and trachoma, typhus, and relapsing fever were eliminated. During the Soviet era, Nakhichevan saw a significant demographic shift. Its Armenian population gradually decreased as many emigrated to the Armenian SSR . In 1926, 15% of region's population was Armenian, but by 1979, this number had shrunk to 1.4%. The Azeri population, meanwhile increased substantially with both a higher birth rate and immigration from Armenia (going from 85% in 1926 to 96% by 1979). Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh noted similar though slower demographic trends and feared an eventual "de-Armenianization" of

1296-726: Was the main strength of the Caspian-Caucasian Army Group . In January 1919, the front of 200 miles held by the Red troops along the Caucasus foothills and South Russian steppes was cut into two by the White forces in the Northern Caucasus Operation (1918–1919) , which resulted in the panic flight of the 11th Red Army. According to Peter Kenez , "The raging typhus epidemics greatly contributed to

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