Council of People's Commissars of Azerbaijan

The Council of People's Commissars of Azerbaijan (Azerbaijani: Azərbaycan SSR Xalq Komissarları Soveti) was established as the governing body of the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic. Accounts differ as to whether it was formed on 28 April 1920 (Mil'man and Guliev) or at the First All-Azerbaijan Congress of Soviets, 6-19 May (Kharmandarian).[1]^:267 The 11th Red Army had moved into north Azerbaijan following the defeat of General Anton Denikin's Volunteer Army. The Baku Bureau of Kavkraikom (the Caucasian Regional Committee) of the Russian Communist Party (Bolshevik) had held a joint meeting with the Communist Party of Azerbaijan on 27 April at which they formed the Azerbaijan Revolutionary Committee (Azrevkom).[1]^:108 This new body issued an ultimatum to the government of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, who immediately surrendered:[2] The Red Army had sent an armoured train directly to Baku which arrived on 28 April.[3] The terms of the surrender passed lawful power to Azrevkom, to whom several key figures had been appointed in their absence. In particular Nariman Narimanov was absent having travelled to Moscow to see Lenin and Stalin and only arrived in Baku on 16 May. Thus although he was declared the chairperson of the AzSovnarkom, this was a role he could only truly assume when he arrived in the middle of the First All-Azerbaijan Congress of Soviets. The senior Bolsheviks responsible for stage managing the foundation of the AzSovnarkom were Sergei Kirov and Grigoriy Ordzhonikidze.[1]

Bolshevik rally in Baku, 1920 with both the 11th Red Army and the local public