🇬🇧 OZAKOM - Special Transcaucasian Committee was created. The First Republic of Armenia

The First Republic of Armenia

A group of generals and members of the Special Transcaucasian Committee at the Tiflis railway station. From the left: V. A. Kharlamov (3), M. Y. Jafarov (4), and P. N. Pereverzev (5).

Special Transcaucasian Committee (OZAKOM)

The Special Transcaucasian Committee (OZAKOM), established on March 9, 1917, by the Provisional Government of Russia, became the first multinational civil administrative body in Transcaucasia after the February Revolution. It included representatives of the region's main political and national forces: Russian Cadets, Armenian Dashnaks, Georgian Social-Federalists and Mensheviks, as well as Azerbaijani Musavatists. The Armenian side played an active role in OZAKOM’s activities: the Dashnaktsutyun party sought to create Armenian administrative units, such as the Alexandropol and Ganja governorates, and to appoint Armenian commissioners in the Western Armenian provinces under the control of Russian troops.

The Transcaucasian Commissariat and the Struggle for Independence

After the October Revolution and the overthrow of the Provisional Government, OZAKOM was replaced by the Transcaucasian Commissariat, established on November 28, 1917, in Tiflis. This coalition body, which included Georgian Mensheviks, Armenian Dashnaks, and Azerbaijani Musavatists, refused to recognize Bolshevik authority and aimed for the independence of Transcaucasia. The Commissariat relied on national councils and armed formations, extending its authority across the entire region, except for Baku, where Soviet power was established.

The Formation of Independent States

Thus, OZAKOM, the Transcaucasian Commissariat, and the Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic (TDFR) represented successive stages in the process of establishing independent states in the South Caucasus, formerly part of the Russian Empire. At each stage, the Armenian side actively participated in forming governing bodies and striving to realize national interests, ultimately leading to the creation of an independent Armenian Republic.