The 26 Baku Commissars were
Bolshevik
The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...
and
Left Socialist Revolutionary (SR) members of the Baku Commune. The commune was established in the city of
Baku
Baku (, ; az, Bakı ) is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. Baku is located below sea level, which makes it the lowest lying national capital in the world a ...
, which was then the capital of the briefly independent
Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, and is now the capital of the
Republic of Azerbaijan. The commune, led by
Stepan Shahumyan
Stepan Georgevich Shaumian (; , ''Step’an Ge'vorgi Shahumyan''; 1 October 1878 – 20 September 1918) was a Bolshevik revolutionary and politician active throughout the Caucasus. Arzumanyan, M. Շահումյան, Ստեփան Գևորգի. ...
, existed until 26 July 1918 when the Bolsheviks were forced out of power by a coalition of
Dashnaks
The Armenian Revolutionary Federation ( hy, Հայ Յեղափոխական Դաշնակցութիւն, ՀՅԴ ( classical spelling), abbr. ARF or ARF-D) also known as Dashnaktsutyun (collectively referred to as Dashnaks for short), is an Armenian ...
,
Right SRs, and
Mensheviks.
After their overthrow, the Baku
commissar
Commissar (or sometimes ''Kommissar'') is an English transliteration of the Russian (''komissar''), which means 'commissary'. In English, the transliteration ''commissar'' often refers specifically to the political commissars of Soviet and Eas ...
s attempted to leave Baku but were captured by the
Centrocaspian Dictatorship and imprisoned. On 14 September 1918, during the
fall of Baku to Ottoman forces,
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...
soldiers broke into their prison and freed the commissars; they then boarded a ship to
Krasnovodsk, where they were promptly arrested by local authorities and, on the night of 20 September 1918, executed by a firing squad between the stations of Pereval and Akhcha-Kuyma on the
Transcaspian Railway by soldiers of the
Ashkhabad Committee. They were executed for essentially letting
Islamic Army of the Caucasus seize Baku.
Baku Commune
The Baku Commune lasted from 13 April to 25 July 1918. It came to power after the bloody confrontation with the
Muslim
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
population, known as the
March Days in Baku. During its brief existence the Commune had to face several problems: from the shortage of food and supplies to the threat of a strong
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
Army which wanted to attack Baku. Despite the difficult conditions, the Commune carried out several social reforms, such as the
nationalization
Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to pri ...
of the oil industry. This is how the writer
Victor Serge described the situation in May, June and July and the state of the small Red Army of Baku:
On April 25, 1918, at a meeting of the Baku Council, the Baku Council of People's Commissars (Sovnarkom) was formed, consisting of
Bolsheviks
The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...
and
Left Social Revolutionaries
The Party of Left Socialist-Revolutionaries (russian: Партия левых социалистов-революционеров-интернационалистов) was a revolutionary socialist political party formed during the Russian Revo ...
. The Bolsheviks entered the Baku Council of People's Commissars:
Stepan Shaumyan
Stepan Georgevich Shaumian (; , ''Step’an Ge'vorgi Shahumyan''; 1 October 1878 – 20 September 1918) was a Bolshevik revolutionary and politician active throughout the Caucasus. Arzumanyan, M. Շահումյան, Ստեփան Գևորգի. ...
(Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars and People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs),
Prokopius Dzhaparidze (People's Commissar for Internal Affairs),
Yakov Zevin
Yakov Davidovich Zevin (1888–1918) was a Communist activist and one of the Bolshevik Party leaders in Azerbaijan during the Russian Revolution. Zevin was born in Krasnapolle, a town in nowadays Mahilyow Voblast, Belarus. He became a member of Ru ...
(People's Commissar of Labor),
Meshadi Azizbekov (provincial Commissar),
Grigory Korganov (People's Commissar for Military and Naval Affairs),
Nariman Narimanov (People's Commissar of Municipal Economy),
Ivan Fioletov (People's Commissar of the National Economy), A.B. Karinyan (People's Commissar of Justice), N N. Kolesnikova (People's Commissar of Education); and the left SRs:
Mir Hasan Vezirov (People's Commissar of Agriculture), I. Sukhartsev (People's Commissar of Railways, Sea Transport, Posts and Telegraphs). And the Chairman of the
Cheka
The All-Russian Extraordinary Commission ( rus, Всероссийская чрезвычайная комиссия, r=Vserossiyskaya chrezvychaynaya komissiya, p=fsʲɪrɐˈsʲijskəjə tɕrʲɪzvɨˈtɕæjnəjə kɐˈmʲisʲɪjə), abbreviated ...
for Combating Counterrevolution under the Baksovnarkom became the Bolshevik
Sahak Ter-Gabrielyan
Sahak Mirzayi Ter-Gabrielyan ( hy, Սահակ Միրզայի Տեր-Գաբրիելյան; 1886 – 19 August 1937) was a Bolshevik revolutionary and Soviet Armenian statesman.
Born in Shushi to the family of a tailor, he became a member of the ...
.
On 5 June 1918 the Baku Red Army repulsed an assault by overwhelming
Ottoman troops, but later it launched an unsuccessful assault on
Ganja
Ganja (, ; ) is one of the oldest and most commonly used synonyms for marijuana. Its usage in English dates to before 1689.
Etymology
''Ganja'' is borrowed from Hindi/Urdu ( hi, गांजा, links=no, ur, , links=no, IPA: aːɲd ...
, the headquarters of the
Ottoman Army of Islam
The Islamic Army of the Caucasus ( az, Qafqaz İslam Ordusu; Turkish: ''Kafkas İslâm Ordusu'') (also translated as ''Caucasian Army of Islam'' in some sources) was a military unit of the Ottoman Empire formed on July 10, 1918. The Ottoman Mi ...
, and was obliged to retreat to Baku.
At this point,
Dashnaks
The Armenian Revolutionary Federation ( hy, Հայ Յեղափոխական Դաշնակցութիւն, ՀՅԴ ( classical spelling), abbr. ARF or ARF-D) also known as Dashnaktsutyun (collectively referred to as Dashnaks for short), is an Armenian ...
, Right SRs and Mensheviks started to negotiate with General
Dunsterville, the commander of the British troops in Persia, inviting his troops to Baku in order to defend the city from an imminent Ottoman attack. The Bolsheviks and their leftist allies opposed this scheme, but on 25 July the majority of the Soviet voted to call in the British, and the Bolsheviks resigned.
The Baku Commune was imprisoned for participation in unlawful military formations and militarized robbery, particularly for the
March Days atrocities and was replaced by the Central-Caspian Dictatorship.
In contrast to what happened in many parts of Russia, where the Bolsheviks earned a reputation for ruthlessness executing those who did not support them, the Bolsheviks of Baku were not so strict. The
Cheka
The All-Russian Extraordinary Commission ( rus, Всероссийская чрезвычайная комиссия, r=Vserossiyskaya chrezvychaynaya komissiya, p=fsʲɪrɐˈsʲijskəjə tɕrʲɪzvɨˈtɕæjnəjə kɐˈmʲisʲɪjə), abbreviated ...
in Baku executed only two persons, both members of the Soviet caught in embezzling public funds: the Commissar for Finance, Aleksandr Kireev, and the commissar of the steamship ''Meve'', Sergei Pokrovskii.
The executions
After the
fall of the Baku Soviet in July 1918, the Bolshevik leaders and some loyal troops tried to reach
Astrakhan, the only
Caspian Caspian can refer to:
*The Caspian Sea
*The Caspian Depression, surrounding the northern part of the Caspian Sea
*The Caspians, the ancient people living near the Caspian Sea
*Caspian languages, collection of languages and dialects of Caspian peopl ...
port still in Bolshevik hands. However, their ship was intercepted by the military vessels of the
Caspian fleet
Kaspiyskaya flotiliya
, image = Great emblem of the Caspian Flotilla.svg
, image_size = 150px
, caption = Great emblem of the Caspian Flotilla
, dates = No ...
and after undergoing an hour's bombardment in mid-sea they surrendered and returned to Baku. Most of the Bolshevik militants were arrested and remained in prison until, after the fall of Baku to the Turks, a commando unit led by
Anastas Mikoyan
Anastas Ivanovich Mikoyan (; russian: Анаста́с Ива́нович Микоя́н; hy, Անաստաս Հովհաննեսի Միկոյան; 25 November 1895 – 21 October 1978) was an Armenian Communist revolutionary, Old Bolshevik an ...
freed them from their prison.
Shahumyan, Dzhaparidze, Azizbekov, and their comrades, along with Mikoyan, then boarded the ship ''Turkmen'', intending to reach Astrakhan by sea. According to recent historians, the sailors chose instead to sail to
Krasnovodsk for fear of being arrested in Astrakhan. At Krasnovodsk the commissars were arrested by the town's commandant who requested further orders from the "
Ashkhabad Committee", led by the Socialist Revolutionary
Fyodor Funtikov
Fyodor Adrianovich Funtikov (Russian: Фёдор Адриа́нович Фу́нтиков; 1875/76 – 5 May 1926) was Chairman of Provisional Executive Committee of the Transcaspian Region Soviet during the period July 1918 – Jan 1919. He was ...
, about what should be done with them. Three days later, British Major-General
Wilfrid Malleson, on hearing of their arrest, contacted Britain's liaison-officer in Ashkhabad, Captain
Reginald Teague-Jones, to suggest that the commissars be handed over to British forces to be used as hostages in exchange for British citizens held by the Soviets. That same day, Teague-Jones attended the committee's meeting in Ashkabad which had the task of deciding the fate of the Commissars. For some reason Teague-Jones did not communicate Malleson's request to the committee, and claimed he left before a decision was made. He further claimed that next day he discovered the committee had eventually decided to issue orders that the commissars should be executed. According to historian Richard H. Ullman, Teague-Jones could have stopped the executions if he wanted since the Ashkabad Committee was dependent on British support and could not refuse a request from its powerful ally, but he decided not to do so.
On the night of 20 September, three days after being arrested, twenty-six of the commissars were executed by a firing squad between the stations of Pereval and Akhcha-Kuyma on the
Trans-Caspian railway. How Anastas Mikoyan, who was part of the group, managed to survive is still uncertain, as is the reason why his life was spared. In 1922, V. Chaikin, a Socialist Revolutionary journalist, published a description of the moments before the execution.
Impact
Soviet officials later blamed the executions on British agents acting in the Baku area at the time. When Soviet rule was established in the whole Caspian area, Funtikov, the head of the Ashkhabad 'Directorate' responsible for the executions, was imprisoned. Funtikov put all blame for the executions onto Britain, and in particular Teague-Jones who, he claimed, had ordered him to have the commissars shot. Funtikov was tried and shot in Baku in 1926. Britain denied involvement in the incident, saying it was done by local officials without any knowledge of the British.
This accusation caused a further souring of relations between Britain and the fledgling Soviet government and helped lead to the confrontational attitude of both sides in the coming years.
According to
Soviet historiography, two British officers on board the commissars' ship ordered it to sail to Krasnovodsk instead of Astrakhan, where they found a government led by SRs and British officers who immediately ordered the arrest of the commissars. The Soviets would later immortalize the death of the 26 commissars through, among other things, movies, artwork, stamps, and public works including the
26 Commissars Memorial
The 26 Baku Commissars Memorial was a Soviet-era monument located in Baku, Azerbaijan, that paid tribute to the 26 Baku Commissars from the Baku commune. The commune was overthrown in 1918 and the commissars later executed near Krasnovodsk (now T ...
in Baku. In Isaak Brodsky's famous painting, British officers are depicted as being present at the executions.
Soviet investigations
Boris Vladimirovich Sennikov published a book in 2004 about his findings on the
Tambov Rebellion where he mentioned several facts about the event.
Sennikov claims that the famous Brodsky's painting is an invention of the Soviet historiography. The truth was established by the special commission of the
All-Russian Central Executive Committee
The All-Russian Central Executive Committee ( rus, Всероссийский Центральный Исполнительный Комитет, Vserossiysky Centralny Ispolnitelny Komitet, VTsIK) was the highest legislative, administrative and r ...
(VTsIK) that arrived from Moscow. The commission was headed by
Vadim Chaikin (
PSR). The commission also consisted of a big group of a high-ranking Moscow's
Cheka
The All-Russian Extraordinary Commission ( rus, Всероссийская чрезвычайная комиссия, r=Vserossiyskaya chrezvychaynaya komissiya, p=fsʲɪrɐˈsʲijskəjə tɕrʲɪzvɨˈtɕæjnəjə kɐˈmʲisʲɪjə), abbreviated ...
officers headed by
Yakov Peters, an international criminal associated with the
Siege of Sidney Street
The siege of Sidney Street of January 1911, also known as the Battle of Stepney, was a Shootout, gunfight in the East End of London between a combined police and army force and two Latvians, Latvian revolutionaries. The siege was the culminati ...
. Sennikov also brings up a quote of Chaikin in the article of
Suren Gazaryan
Suren Gazaryan (born Suren Vladimirovich Gazaryan, Russian: Сурен Владимирович Газарян) (born 8 July 1974) is a Russian zoologist, dissident, public figure, and former member of The Environmental Watch on North Caucasus. ...
"That should not be repeated" in the Leningrad magazine "
Zvezda": "The painting of Brodsky ''Execution of the 26 Baku Commissars'' is historically false. They were not shot, but rather
decapitated. And the executioner of the penalty was a single man - a
Turkmen
Turkmen, Türkmen, Turkoman, or Turkman may refer to:
Peoples Historical ethnonym
* Turkoman (ethnonym), ethnonym used for the Oghuz Turks during the Middle Ages
Ethnic groups
* Turkmen in Anatolia and the Levant (Seljuk and Ottoman-Turkish desc ...
, a gigantic strength
bogatyr. That Turkmen by himself with his own hands using a
shashka beheaded all of them." The pit with remains of the commissars and their heads was uncovered under the surveillance of the VTsIK special commission and representatives of
Cheka
The All-Russian Extraordinary Commission ( rus, Всероссийская чрезвычайная комиссия, r=Vserossiyskaya chrezvychaynaya komissiya, p=fsʲɪrɐˈsʲijskəjə tɕrʲɪzvɨˈtɕæjnəjə kɐˈmʲisʲɪjə), abbreviated ...
. The report on the death of Baku commissars was sent by the commission to VTsIK,
Sovnarkom
The Councils of People's Commissars (SNK; russian: Совет народных комиссаров (СНК), ''Sovet narodnykh kommissarov''), commonly known as the ''Sovnarkom'' (Совнарком), were the highest executive authorities of ...
, and the
Central Committee
Central committee is the common designation of a standing administrative body of Communist party, communist parties, analogous to a board of directors, of both ruling and nonruling parties of former and existing socialist states. In such party org ...
of
RKP(b).
In 1922 Vadim Chaikin published his book ''To the history of the Russian Revolution'' through the Grazhbin Publishing (
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
) commemorating the first part "Execution of 26 Baku Commissars" to the event. After serving time in the
Oryol Prison
The Oryol Prison has been a prison in Oryol since the 19th century. It was a notable place of incarceration for political prisoners and war prisoners of the Second World War.
The building of prison, built in 1840, is one of the oldest buildings ...
Chaikin on 11 September 1941 he was
executed by a firing squad along with 156 other Oryol prison inmates during the
Medvedev Forest massacre.
The Commissars
The twenty-six "Baku Commissars" were not all commissars and were not all Bolsheviks; some of them were Left SRs and
Dashnaks. There were many ethnicities among them:
Greek,
Latvian,
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
,
Russian,
Georgian
Georgian may refer to:
Common meanings
* Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country)
** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group
** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians
**Georgian scripts, three scrip ...
,
Armenian
Armenian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent
** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...
and
Azerbaijani.
The 26 "commissars" were:
*
Stepan Shaumian
Stepan Georgevich Shaumian (; , ''Step’an Ge'vorgi Shahumyan''; 1 October 1878 – 20 September 1918) was a Bolshevik revolutionary and politician active throughout the Caucasus. Arzumanyan, M. Շահումյան, Ստեփան Գևորգի. ...
– Chairman of the Baku
Council of the People's Commissars
The Councils of People's Commissars (SNK; russian: Совет народных комиссаров (СНК), ''Sovet narodnykh kommissarov''), commonly known as the ''Sovnarkom'' (Совнарком), were the highest executive authorities of ...
, Commissar Extraordinary for the Caucasus
*
Meshadi Azizbekov – Deputy People's Commissar of Internal Affairs, gubernial commissar for Baku
*
Prokopius Dzhaparidze – Chairman of the executive committee of the Baku Soviet
*
Ivan Fioletov – Chairman of the Soviet of National Economy
*
Mir-Hasan Vazirov – People's Commissar for Agriculture
*
Grigory Korganov – People's Commissar for Military and Navy Affairs
*
Yakov Zevin
Yakov Davidovich Zevin (1888–1918) was a Communist activist and one of the Bolshevik Party leaders in Azerbaijan during the Russian Revolution. Zevin was born in Krasnapolle, a town in nowadays Mahilyow Voblast, Belarus. He became a member of Ru ...
– People's Commissar for Labor
*
Grigory Petrov
Grigory Constantinovich Petrov (russian: Григорий Константинович Петров) (1892-20 September 1918) was a Russian Left Socialist-Revolutionary activist in Baku, Azerbaijan, during the Russian Civil War. Petrov became on ...
–
Military Commissar
Commissar (or sometimes ''Kommissar'') is an English transliteration of the Russian (''komissar''), which means 'commissary'. In English, the transliteration ''commissar'' often refers specifically to the political commissars of Soviet and Eas ...
of the Baku region from the
Sovnarkom
The Councils of People's Commissars (SNK; russian: Совет народных комиссаров (СНК), ''Sovet narodnykh kommissarov''), commonly known as the ''Sovnarkom'' (Совнарком), were the highest executive authorities of ...
of the
Russian SFSR
The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR or RSFSR ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...
* Ivan Malygin – Deputy Chairman of the
Military Revolutionary Committee of the Caucasian Army
* Arsen Amiryan – Chief Editor of Baku Worker newspaper
*
Meyer Velkovich Basin – Member of the Military Revolutionary Committee
* Suren Osepyan – Chief Editor of ''Izvestia of the Baku Council'' newspaper
* Eizhen Berg – Sailor
* Vladimir Polukhin – Collegiate Commissar for Military and Navy Affairs of the Russian SFSR
* Fyodor Solntsev – Commissar of the military instruction school
* Armenak Boriyan – Journalist
* Ivan Gabyshev –
Political commissar of a brigade
* Mark Koganov – Member of the Military Revolutionary Committee
* Bagdasar Avakyan – Military Commandant of Baku
* Irakly Metaksa – Shahumyan's bodyguard
* Ivan Nikolayshvili – Dzhaparidze's bodyguard
* Aram Kostandyan – Deputy People's Commissar for Agriculture
* Solomon Bogdanov – Member of the Military Revolutionary Committee
* Anatoly Bogdanov – Clerk
* Isay Mishne – Secretary of the Military Revolutionary Committee
* Tatevos Amirov – Commander of a cavalry unit, member of
Dashnaktsutiun
The Armenian Revolutionary Federation ( hy, Հայ Յեղափոխական Դաշնակցութիւն, ՀՅԴ ( classical spelling), abbr. ARF or ARF-D) also known as Dashnaktsutyun (collectively referred to as Dashnaks for short), is an Armenian ...
Demolition of the 26 Commissars Memorial and reburial
In January 2009, the
Baku
Baku (, ; az, Bakı ) is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. Baku is located below sea level, which makes it the lowest lying national capital in the world a ...
authorities began the demolition of the city's
26 Commissars Memorial
The 26 Baku Commissars Memorial was a Soviet-era monument located in Baku, Azerbaijan, that paid tribute to the 26 Baku Commissars from the Baku commune. The commune was overthrown in 1918 and the commissars later executed near Krasnovodsk (now T ...
.
This was the latest monument of several that had been built to commemorate the Commissars erected in that park during the Soviet period. This last monument itself had been fenced-off since July 2008.
The remains of the commissars were reburied at
Hovsan Cemetery on 26 January 2009, with participation of Muslim, Jewish and Christian clergy, who conducted religious ceremonies.
The dismantling was opposed by some local
left-wingers and by the
Azerbaijan Communist Party in particular.
It also upset Armenia as the Armenian public believed that the demolition and reburial was motivated by the reluctance of the Azerbaijanis, after the
Nagorno-Karabakh War to have ethnic Armenians buried in the center of their capital.
Another scandal happened when Azerbaijani press reports claimed that during the exhumation only 21 bodies were discovered and that "Shahumyan and four other Armenian commissars managed to escape their murderers".
This report was questioned by Shahumyan's granddaughter Tatyana, now living in
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
, who told the
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
n daily
Kommersant that:
Almost all monuments in Azerbaijan dedicated to the commissars including Shahumyan, Azizbekov, Dzhaparidze and Fioletov, have been demolished. Most streets named after the commissars have been renamed.
Trivia
Russian prominent poet
Sergei Yesenin
Sergei Alexandrovich Yesenin ( rus, Сергей Александрович Есенин, p=sʲɪrˈɡʲej ɐlʲɪkˈsandrəvʲɪtɕ jɪˈsʲenʲɪn; ( 1895 – 28 December 1925), sometimes spelled as Esenin, was a Russian lyric poet. He is one o ...
wrote "Ballad of the Twenty-six" to commemorate the Baku Commissars, poem first published in ''The Baku Worker'', 22 September 1925.
[Peter Hopkirk, ''On Secret Service East of Constantinople: The Plot to Bring Down the British Empire'', Oxford University Press, 1994, .]
Russian band
WOMBA named one of its albums ''The 27th Baku Commissar''.
Italian prominent writer
Tiziano Terzani
Tiziano Terzani (; 14 September 1938 – 28 July 2004) was an Italian journalist and writer, best known for his extensive knowledge of 20th century East Asia and for being one of the very few western reporters to witness both the fall of Saigon ...
wrote about the Baku Commissars in his book ''Buonanotte, signor Lenin'' (''Goodnight, Mr Lenin: A Journey Through the End of the Soviet Empire'', 1992).
A street in southwest-central Moscow is named after the 26 Baku Commisars Ulitsa 26 Bakinskikh Komissarov]
See also
*
Transcaspian Government
References
Further reading
*
External links
Nine Photos of past monuments dedicated to the 26 Baku Commissars, plus photo of the funeral
Azerbaijan International, Vol. 15:2–4 (2011) pp. 167–169.
{{Political activity in Azerbaijan until 1920
Leninism
Executed politicians
1918 in Azerbaijan
Commissars
Articles containing video clips
Communism in Azerbaijan