Transcaucasian Soviet Federative
Socialist Republic
Закавказская Советская Федеративная
Социалистическая Республика</br> |
<tr><td align="center" colspan="2">
</td></tr>
|
|
State motto:
Georgian: პროლეტარ ყველა ქვეყნისა,
შეერთდით!
Armenian: Պրոլետարներ բոլոր երկրների, միացե'ք!
Azerbaijani: Бүтүн өлкәләрин
пролетарлары, бирләшин!
Russian: Пролетарии всех стран, соединяйтесь!
Translation: Workers of the world, unite!</font> |
<tr><td align=center colspan=2> Image:SovietUnionTranscaucasia.png</td></tr>
<tr><td>Capital</td><td>Tbilisi</td></tr>
<tr><td>Official language</td><td>Georgian, Azerbaijani, Armenian, and Russian</td></tr>
<tr><td>Established
In the USSR:
- Since
- Until
</td><td>March 12, 1922
December 30, 1922
December 5, 1936</td></tr>
<tr><td> Area
- Total
- Water (%)
</td><td>Ranked 4th in 1922 and 6th in 1929 in the USSR
186,100 km²
4.7% </td></tr>
<tr><td>Currency</td><td>Ruble (ռուբլի, манат, მანეთი)</td></tr>
<tr><td>Time zone
</td><td>UTC + 3 to + 5</td></tr>
</table>
The Transcaucasian SFSR (also known as the Transcaucasian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic or the Transcaucasian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic) (Закавказская Сове́тская Федерати́вная Социалисти́ческая Респу́блика, ЗСФСР) was a short-lived (1922–1936) Soviet republic, consisting of Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan, which were traditionally known as the Transcaucasian Republics in the Soviet Union. The capital of the Republic was Tbilisi.
The republic's roots date back to the dissolution of the Russian Empire in 1917, during the Russian Revolution, when the provinces of the Caucasus seceded and attempted to form their own federal state called the Transcaucasian Federation. Competing national interests and war with Turkey led to the disbanding of the republic half a year later, in April 1918.
In the following years, the three constituent territories went through the civil war with heavy involvement of the Red Army, and emerged as Soviet Republics. In March 1922, the area was reunited as a union of Soviet republics. It was reorganized as a single republic in December of that year. In 1936, the republic was dissolved and the three regions became the Georgian, Armenian and Azerbaijan SSR respectively.
[edit] Stamps and postal history
Before 1923, each of Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan issued its own postage stamps. The Federation began issuing its own stamps on September 15, 1923, and superseded the separate republics' issues on October 1. The first issues consisted of some of the stamps of Russia and Armenia overprinted with a star containing the five-letter acronym of the federation inside the points. Massive inflation having set in, this was followed by an issue of the Federation's own designs, four values of a view of oil fields, and four with a montage of Soviet symbols over mountains and oil derricks, values ranging from 40,000 to 500,000 rubles. The 40,000r and 75,000r were then surcharged to 700,000 rubles. On October 24, the stamps were re-issued with values from 1 to 18 gold kopecks. Starting in 1924, the Federation used stamps of the Soviet Union.
Most of the stamps of the Federation are not especially rare today, with 1998 prices in the US$1-2 range, although the overprints on Armenian stamps range up to US$200. As might be expected from a short period of usage, used stamps are less common than unused, and covers are not often seen.
[edit] See also
