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The Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, also known as the Azerbaijan People's Republic (Azerbaijani: Azərbaycan Xalq Cumhuriyyəti) or simply just Azerbaijan, is the first secular democratic republic in the Turkic and Muslim worlds. Located in the region of Transcaucasia , the country is bordered by Russia to the north, the Caspian Sea to the east, Persia to the south, Georgia to the northwest, and the Ottoman Empire to the west.
History[]
Transcaucasian Commissariat[]
With the collapse of Russia due to the Bolshevik Revolution, the Transcaucasian Commissariat, based in Tiflis, declared its independence in 1918. Ruled by an unstable committee of Armenians, Azerbaijanis, Georgians, and Russians, the future of the newly proclaimed state was uncertain since the beginning. Eventually the nation collapsed during the Ottoman campaign into the Caucasus in May 1918, with its members one by one withdrawing from Transcaucasia. In early June, the Treaty of Batum was signed; While Georgia and Armenia had to cede vast swaths of their territory to both the Ottomans and recently founded Azerbaijan, Azerbaijan instead signed a treaty of friendship and cooperation with the Ottoman Empire.
German-Ottoman proxy war[]
Azerbaijan would soon become a battleground in the proxy war being waged between the German and Ottoman Empires. Germany had established ties with Georgia, turning the country into a de facto puppet state via the Treaty of Poti, and wanted to expand their influence into Azerbaijan to gain access to the Baku oil fields. The Ottomans however were not willing to compromise their influence in Azerbaijan, seeing the Azerbaijanis as their ethnic kin. Tensions between the two empires grew and it threatened to tear the Central Powers apart.
Situation in the Caucasus after the Treaty of Batum, June 1918
Throughout 1918 and 1919, Azerbaijani and Ottoman forces were involved in various border skirmishes with Azerbaijan's neighbors. To the northwest, Georgia clashed with Azerbaijan over the disputed city of Zaqatala and the Kura River. While in the southwest, Armenian resistance groups led by Andranik Ozanian clashed with Azerbaijani authorities in Karabakh and Zangezur. In an attempt to establish a common border between the two states, Ottoman forces would invade Nakhchivan from the west while Azerbaijan would invade from the east. While the Ottomans hoped that by establishing a common border they would be able to increase their influence in the region, the Ottoman-Azerbaijani invasion of Nakchivan and Karabakh failed.
Following the end of the Weltkrieg in late 1919, most fighting across Europe had largely died down, however, in the Caucasus peace was nowhere in sight. To prevent the escalation of the issue, Germany called a multinational conference in Constantinople, the Caucasus Conference, which was called in order to settle the various border disputes in the Caucasus and establish peace, simultaneously ensuring German interests in the region would be maintained.
Situation in the Caucasus after the Caucasus Conference in Constantinople, November 1918
Caucasus Conference[]
The primary German aims at the conference were to sway Azerbaijan to join Germany's expanding sphere of influence, as doing so could secure German interests in the Baku oil fields. The efforts of Germany were hampered due in part to Baku's continued gravitation towards the Ottomans, as well as the fact that most of the country remained under the occupation of forces such as the Islamic Army under Enver Pasha. To bypass the issue, Germany decided to drive a wedge between the Ottomans and Azerbaijan by supporting the cause of Azerbaijani nationalism. While the Ottomans had given their support for Azerbaijani nationalism, they mainly looked upon the Azerbaijani people as subjects to be ruled, envisioning the eventual incorporation of Azerbaijan into the Ottoman Empire and a return to the golden age of the late 16th century. The Baku government, in a desire to maintain their independence, would come to support Germany after the latter promised generous economic investment and acknowledging Azerbaijan's territorial claims to Armenian held Zangezur and Karabakh; Georgian held Zaqatala and Ottoman held Nakhchivan. Enver Pasha eventually was expelled from Baku, and Azerbaijan had gained all of their claimed territory, By the end of the conference, Armenia was completely partitioned, Georgia and Azerbaijan had joined Germany's sphere of influence, and Ottoman-German relations were deeply damaged.
Following the guarantee given by Germany, martial law soon ended and public elections were called for the first time in May 1920. The election would see the conservative and pan-Turkic Müsavat Party win a majority in the parliament, thanks in part due to the success of the party in securing the independence and territorial claims of the country. The Müsavat party would go on to implement reforms to education, but fail to implement any land reform.
Armenian revolts and the Republic of Mountainous Armenia[]
The situation in Karabakh and Zangezur was still problematic for Baku, as despite Azerbaijan having officially annexed the territories in the Caucasus Conference, it was still under the control of Armenian guerilla forces, now under the leadership of Garegin Nzdeh, with backing from the former Armenian government, which had proclaimed the "Republic of Mountainous Armenia" in Goris, a city in Zangezur. Over the course of 1920, the Azerbaijani military, still in its infancy, tried and failed to root out the guerilla forces, meeting continued resistance from Armenian forces entrenched in the mountains of the region. Due to the failure of the Azerbaijani military, the Armenian guerillas were able to expand their influence west into Nakhchivan, a region primarily inhabited by Azerbaijanis and de jure part of Azerbaijan.
Rebel States of the Caucasus in the 1920s: The Azerbaijani-Turkish-aligned Republic of Aras in Nakhchivan and the Armenian guerilla states of Mountainous Armenia (based in Zangezur) and the Karabakh Council (based in Karabakh)
With the arrival of winter, Nakhchivan was isolated from Zangezur. This isolation would lead to Jafargulu Khan Nakhchivanski, an ethnic Azerbaijani and Tsarist officer, to stage a coup in December in the city of Nakhchivan, proclaiming the Republic of Aras. The republic was founded with the goal of reuniting Nakhchivan with Azerbaijan once the Armenian forces separating the two were subdued. In March the Armenian forces would attempt to reclaim the region but would see failure due to Jafargulu unofficialy receiving supplies from the Ottoman Empire and also an attack by Azerbaijani military forces on Karabakh. The Azerbaijani offensive was stopped shortly afterwards.
The following month, in April, the Azerbaijani military came close to launching another offensive, but cancelled it after facing German pressure to deescalate the conflict. Germany intervened to protect their economic investments and assets in the region, which were threatened by the conflict Azerbaijan was fighting. After reluctantly deescalating the conflict, the Azerbaijani military were infuriated, being unable to go against the Azerbaijani government. With the exception of raids and small scale skirmishes, the conflict remained cold for the next decade.
Decline of the Müsavat Party[]
Over the next few years, the Müsavat Party would gradually dip in popularity, forming a coalition government with the Ahrar Party following the 1928 elections. In April 1931, an Armenian terrorist blew up during a performance at the Azerbaijan State Academic Opera and Ballet Theater in Baku, killing 34 people, including famous screenwriter Jafar Jabbarli. This event sparked an uproar among Azerbaijani nationalists and the government was met by serious pressure from the military and general public to deal with the Armenians in Karabakh and Zangezur. In May, the government made a formal declaration to retake the occupied areas from the rebel Armenian forces. Following initial success by the Azerbaijani military, the Armenian rebels began to panic. As a result of Azerbaijani victories, Armenian terrorists began to sabotage Azerbaijani infrastructure across the country, destroying train tracks, military compounds, and even damaging foreign assets such as the German owned Baku pipeline.
German officials, fearing further damage to their assets, sent another ultimatum to Azerbaijan demanding they end their war effort immediately. After initially refusing the ultimatum, following German threats to withdraw their investments from the country, Azerbaijan folded and agreed to call off the attack, even though the threat turned out to be a simple bluff. With yet another agreement to German demands by Azerbaijan, the military and public were further enraged, causing the Müsavat Party to plummet further in popularity. The consequences of this were felt in the 1932 elections, which saw the Social Democratic Himmat Party become the largest party in parliament. To make matters worse for the Müsavat Party, the pan-Turkic members of the party, having grown increasingly disillusioned with the Müsavat Party's increasingly Azerbaijani nationalist ideals, left the party to form the Geyrat Party, while the Hümmat Party would go on to form a coalition with the peasant oriented Ahrar Party alongside some independent politicians.
Rise of German influence[]
The following months would see the slow implementation of various land reform policies, as well as a crackdown on the power of foreign oil companies. Germany, seeing this as a threat to their interests in the region, started bribing members of parliament into opposing the proposals of Himmat. Eventually the German strategy proved successful and by March 1933 the parliament was deadlocked and the political scene became more intense as time went on. Eventually tensions came to a breaking point with the foundation of the Kesbkarliq Party in June. The party was made up of members of the Ahrar Party more sympathetic to German interests. This would lead to the collapse of the ruling coalition and the calling of new elections in August. thanks to substantial German backing, the Müsavat Party once again became the largest party in parliament, forming a coalition with the Kesbkarliq Party alongside some independents. While the Himmat Party has lost much of its previous support, it has gradually been rebranding itself as the primary party in Azerbaijan to oppose German influence in the country. Thanks to German investments and the exploitation of the Baku oil fields, Azerbaijan has become the largest oil producing state in the region, a rival even to Ploesti. However this continued prosperity may be the country's undoing. In an age where the consumption of oil has become the dominant resource for an industrial society and of modern warfare, Azerbaijan is increasingly finding herself the battleground of both corporate and foreign interests.
Politics[]
In 1936 Azerbaijan starts with Social Conservative party of Müsavat ("Equality") in charge of the government. Elections happen every 4 years, with the next one set in November 1937. Azerbaijan doesn't start with active Balance of Power mechanic.
Speaker of the National Assembly of Azerbaijan: Mammad Yusif Jafarov
Prime Minister: Nasib Yusifbeyli
Foreign Minister: Mammad Yusif Jafarov
Minister of Commerce and Industry: Abdulali bey Amirjanov Abdulali bey Amirjanov
Minister of Internal Affairs: Behbud Khan Javanshir
Military[]
Army[]
In the current version, Azerbaijan starts with 3 half-equipped infantry divisions. Azerbaijan only has two pre-determined sets of templates.
"Piyada Diviziyası" (Infantry Division) template has 9 INF, while "Dağ Diviziyası" (Mountain Division) template consists of 8 MTN.
[]
In the current version, Azerbaijan neither starts with active ships nor with the available admirals, as Caspian Sea is not available for use as a valid naval zone.
Air Force[]
In the current version, Azerbaijan starts with no active air force.
Culture[]
Ever since its split from the Russian empire, Azerbaijani literature and music have flourished, the composer Üzeyir Hajibeyov (Who also wrote the national anthem) is known for his great music which is always sponsored by the government. Writers like Hüseyn Javid and Mikayil Mushfig are constantly writing new poems and plays which are widely enjoyed by the population. The capital, Baku, is a mix of both eastern and western architecture known for having some of the east's finest theatres. The influence of religion has greatly diminished during the 20th century, especially after Independence with women having the right to vote.
Foreign Relations[]
Azerbaijan starts as a member of Mitteleuropa,
As a Social Conservative country at the start, Azerbaijan has high opinions with the rest of the democratic nations of the world.
Azerbaijan has friendly relations with the German Empire and the Ottoman Empire.
Azerbaijan has unfriendly relations with Russia, as the latter has their own designs in regards to Azerbaijan.
Despite their initial good relations with Persia, Azerbaijan claims the province of Tabriz, under the reign of the ruling Qajar dynasty.