Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic

Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic Закавказская демократическая федеративная республика (Russian)
1918
A 1918 map of the Caucasus by the British Army. The highlighted sections show the successor states of the TDFR, which claimed roughly the same territory.[1]
Capital	Tiflis
Common languages	Georgian Azerbaijani Armenian Russian
Government	Federal parliamentary republic under a provisional government
Chairman of the Seim
• 1918	Nikolay Chkheidze
Prime Minister
• 1918	Akaki Chkhenkeli
Legislature	Transcaucasian Seim
Historical era	Russian Revolution
• Collapse of the Russian Empire	2 March 1917
• Federation proclaimed	22 April 1918
• Georgia declares independence	26 May 1918
• Independence of Armenia and Azerbaijan	28 May
Currency	Transcaucasian ruble (ru)[2]
Preceded by Succeeded by Transcaucasian Commissariat Democratic Republic of Georgia Azerbaijan Democratic Republic Republic of Armenia
Today part of	Georgia Azerbaijan Armenia Turkey

The Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic (TDFR;^[a] 22 April – 28 May 1918)^[b] was a short-lived state in the Caucasus that included most of the territory of the present-day Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, as well as parts of Russia and Turkey. The state lasted only for a month before Georgia declared independence, followed shortly after by Armenia and Azerbaijan.

The region that formed the TDFR had been part of the Russian Empire. As the empire dissolved during the 1917 February Revolution and a provisional government took over, a similar body, called the Special Transcaucasian Committee (Ozakom), did the same in the Caucasus. After the October Revolution and rise of the Bolsheviks in Russia, the Transcaucasian Commissariat replaced the Ozakom. In March 1918, as the First World War continued, the Commissariat initiated peace talks with the Ottoman Empire, which had invaded the region, but the talks broke down quickly as the Ottomans refused to accept the authority of the Commissariat. The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, which ended Russia's involvement in the war, conceded parts of the Transcaucasus to the Ottoman Empire, which pursued its invasion to take control of the territory. Faced with this imminent threat, on 22 April 1918 the Commissariat dissolved itself and established the TDFR as an independent state. A legislature, the Seim, was formed to direct negotiations with the Ottoman Empire, which had immediately recognized the state.

Diverging goals of the three major groups (Armenians, Azerbaijanis,^[c] and Georgians) quickly jeopardized the TDFR's existence. Peace talks again broke down and, facing a renewed Ottoman offensive in May 1918, Georgian delegates in the Seim announced that the TDFR was unable to continue, and declared the Democratic Republic of Georgia independent on 26 May. With the Georgians no longer part of the TDFR, the Republic of Armenia and Azerbaijan Democratic Republic each declared themselves independent on 28 May, ending the federation. Owing to its short existence, the TDFR has been largely ignored in the national historiographies of the region and has been given consideration only as the first stage towards independent states.

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