At the beginning of 1918, the situation in the South Caucasus was extremely difficult. After the peace talks between Russia and Germany in Brest-Litovsk failed, the German-Turkish troops began their offensive. The Transcaucasian Commissariat, in its turn, observing the advance of the Turkish troops, sent a telegram to the commander of the Caucasian Front Vakhib Pasha on 6 February 1918, expressing its willingness to begin peace talks with Turkey.

However, the Transcaucasian Commissariat, which lacked real influence and sufficient power in the region, was soon forced to resign. On 22 February 1918, at a meeting of deputies elected to the All-Russian Constituent Assembly from the South Caucasus, it was decided to establish the Transcaucasian Seim and transfer local power to this body. On 23 February 1918, the Transcaucasian Seim began its work, consisting of representatives of the three main party factions. The number of members in the Transcaucasian Seim reached 133. The Seim’s main political factions included the Georgian Social-Democrats (Mensheviks) consisting of 32 deputies, the Armenian Dashnaktsutiun members consisting of 27 deputies, and the Azerbaijani Musavatists, as well as 30 non-party deputies who joined the last group. Also, the Muslim Socialist Bloc was represented by 7 deputies, the Muslim faction in Russia (“Ittihad”) – 3 deputies, the Menshevik party “Hummet” – 4 deputies, as well as SRs, National Democrats and the Armenian People’s Liberation Party. The Azerbaijani faction in the Transcaucasian Seim was represented by 44 deputies.

The situation on the Caucasus front and the issue of declaring the independence of the South Caucasus became the central question of the Seim’s activity.
Without declaring the South Caucasus an independent state, the Seim could not recognise the region as a subject of international law and could not have the authority to make peace with foreign countries.

Whereas the Transcaucasian Seim was preparing for peace negotiations with Turkey, a separate treaty between Soviet Russia and Germany was signed in Brest. According to the treaty, Ardaghan, Kars and Batum, which were claimed by the Seim and the Transcaucasian government, were ceded to Turkey. The Transcaucasian Seim did not recognise the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk and declared that Transcaucasia had never recognised the authority of the Council of People’s Commissars of the RSFSR. However, Turkey, based on the provisions of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, gave an ultimatum to the Transcaucasian Seim to immediately clear Kars, Batum and Ardaghan. In such circumstances, a peace conference between Turkey and representatives of the Transcaucasian Seim opened in Trabzon on 14 March 1918. Turkey insisted on the conditions of the Brest-Litovsk Treaty and refused to recognize the Transcaucasian Seim delegation as a legal entity at the talks, since the Transcaucasian Seim did not declare itself a state formation independent of Russia. The failure to declare independence of the above-mentioned territories weakened Turkey’s interest in the negotiations. A. Chhenkeli recognised that Turkey is objectively interested in the declaration of independence of the South Caucasus. The independence of the South Caucasus ensures Turkey’s security from the north. The Turkish side noted the necessity to discuss the issues of officially defining the form of governance of the South Caucasus, its borders, state language and religion, as well as its relation to the Ottoman Empire. The South Caucasus delegation made a special statement on this issue and revealed that the form of government of the region would be worked out by the Seim and would remain in the form of a Democratic Federal Republic. The territory of the South Caucasus included the provinces of Baku, Elizavetpol, Iravan, Tiflis, Kutaisi, Batum and Kars provinces, as well as Sukhumi and Zagatala districts. The question of the Dagestan region and the Black Sea provinces remains open until they send a representative to the Seim; the official language at the moment is Russian, but there are reasons to expect that the forthcoming constitution will recognise Georgian, Turkic and Armenian as state languages. The statement also emphasises that there will be a law on freedom of conscience in the South Caucasus and that the constitution to be adopted will separate religion from the state.

But there was no unanimity among the national factions within the Transcaucasian Seim and this factor became more evident at the negotiations in Trabzon. Thus, Armenian side seriously objected to the transfer of a significant part of Kars province to the Ottomans, while Georgian representatives objected to the transfer of Ardaghan and Batum. The representative of Azerbaijan Kh. Khasmammadov proposed to exclude Batumi from the list of concession territories of Turkey. He believed that preservation of Batum, the last point of the Baku oil pipeline, as part of the South Caucasus was in the interests of the Azerbaijani oil industry because Batum was Azerbaijan’s only gateway to the world ocean.

The March uprising of the Bolsheviks together with the Dashnaks to seize power in Baku and the mass extermination of Azerbaijanis with unprecedented cruelty, the implementation of genocide in other territories of Azerbaijan on a large scale intensified the contradictions within the Transcaucasian Seim. Armenians, simultaneously with bloody crimes in Azerbaijan committed atrocities in Turkey, particularly  in Erzurum. All this made it difficult for the Transcaucasian Seim to take part in the Trabzon and Batum negotiations with Turkey. On 13 April 1918, the course of the negotiations with Turkey was discussed at a joint session of the Seim, the government and representatives of the factions. At this meeting, the Seim decided to suspend the Trabzon negotiations and prepare for war with Turkey. Martial law was declared in the country and the Supreme Defence Council consisting of Y. Gegechkori, N. Ramishvili and H. Karchikyan was established. The main purpose of not including a representative of Azerbaijan in this Council was to eliminate the possibilities of the Muslim faction to influence the course of events. However, these measures could not stop the advance of Turkish troops and on 14 April 1918 they captured Batum.

On 22 April 1918, at the insistence of the Muslim faction, the Transcaucasian Seim met and adopted a resolution to proclaim an independent Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic. One of the results of the governmental crisis that emerged during the discussion of the genocide of Azerbaijanis in Baku on 20 April was the resignation of the Transcaucasian government headed by Y. Gegechkori. On the same day the Transcaucasian Seim approved the new composition of the Transcaucasian Government: 1. A. Chhenkeli – Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs; 2. N. Ramishvili – Minister of Internal Affairs; 3. A. Khatisyan – Minister of Finance; 4. Khudadat bey Malik-Aslanov – Minister of Railway Transport; 5. Fatali Khan Khoiski – Minister of Justice; 6. G. Giorgadze – Minister of War; 7. N. Khomeriki – Minister of Agriculture; 8. Nasib bey Yusifbeyli – Minister of Education; 9. Mammad Hasan Hajinski – Minister of Trade and Industry; 10. A. Sahakyan – Minister of Food; 11. H. Kajaznuni – Minister of State Welfare; 12. A. Erzinkyan – Minister of Labour; 13. Ibrahim Heydarov – Minister of State Control. Thus, Georgians and Armenians occupied the main positions in the government.

The situation in Transcaucasia was worsening, as neither the internal nor foreign policy of the Transcaucasian Federal Republic had undergone major changes since independence. Representatives of political parties could not find a common language in the Transcaucasian Seim, they had no common programme of activity, and each faction tried to implement its own political line. In the last decade of May 1918 it was clearly felt that the Transcaucasian Seim was disintegrating. The Azerbaijani delegation found out that the Georgian faction of the Seim was holding secret negotiations with the German delegation in Batum and was preparing to declare the independence of Georgia. In the same days the leader of the Social-Democratic faction of the Seim I.G. Tsereteli stated that the idea of uniting the peoples of the South Caucasus in the form of confederation was not justified. Tsereteli considered it necessary for Georgia to withdraw from the Seim and be declared an independent republic, motivating this by its isolation in the Batum negotiations with Turkey. On 25 May 1918, Fatali Khan Khoiski, who chaired a session in the Seim, justified the need for a union of the South Caucasian peoples, but did not oppose the Georgian delegation’s wish, while at the same time stating that the Azerbaijani Turks would also have to take such a step.

On 26 May 1918, the last session of the Transcaucasian Seim was held. I.G. Tsereteli announced the dissolution of the Seim. The dissolution of the Transcaucasian Seim led to the creation of states that declared their independence in the South Caucasus, including the Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan.

Recommended literature:

1. Zaqafqaziya Seyminin müsəlman fraksiyası və Azərbaycan Milli Şurası iclaslarının protokolları 1918-ci il = Протоколы заседаний мусульманских фракций Закавказского Сейма и Азербайджанского Национального Совета 1918 г. / Azərbaycan Respublikasının Milli Arxiv İdarəsi ; məsul red. A. Ə. Paşayev. - Bakı : Adiloğlu, 2006. - 216 s.
2. Azərbaycan tarixi arxiv sənədlərində: 1917-1920-ci illər = История Азербайджана в архивных документах: 1917-1920-е годы / AMEA A.A. Bakıxanov adına Tarix İnstitutu, Rusiya Dövlət Sosial-Siyasi Tarix Arxivi; red. heyəti: Y. M. Mahmudov [et al.] ; tərt. İ. V. Niftəliyev ; elmi red., ön sözün müəl. Y. M. Mahmudov. I cild : Rusiya Dövlət Sosial-Siyasi Tarix Arxivinin sənədləri = Документы Российского Государственного Архива Социально-Политической Истории. - Bakı : Çaşıoğlu, 2010. - 768 s.
3. Azərbaycan Xalq Cümhuriyyəti Ensiklopediyası : 2 cilddə / red. heyəti Y. M. Mahmudov [et al.] ; baş red. Y. M. Mahmudov. II cild. - Bakı : Lider nəşriyyat, 2005. - 472 s.
4. Азәрбајҹан тарихи : 7 ҹилддә / АМЕА А.А. Бакыханов адына Тарих Институту. - ISBN 5-8066-1305-4. V ҹилд : 1900-27 апрел 1920 / мәс’ул ред. М. Ә. Исмајылов [et al.]. - Бакы : Елм, 2001. - 672 с.