Transcaucasian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic

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Transcaucasian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic

Flag of the Transcaucasian SFSR Coat of Arms of the Transcaucasian SFSR
State motto: Պրոլետարներ բոլոր երկրների, միացե'ք! (Armenian) Бүтүн өлкәләрин пролетарлары, бирләшин! (Azerbaijani) პროლეტარ ყველა ქვეყნისა, შეერთდით! (Georgian) ("Workers of the world, unite!")
The TSFSR in 1922.
Official language	None. De facto, Armenian, Azerbaijani, Georgian, and Russian.
Capital	Tbilisi
Chairman of the Supreme Council	Uknown
Established In the USSR:  - Since  - Until	November 29 1920 December 30 1922 December 5 1936
Area  - Total  - % water	Ranked 4th in former Soviet Union in 1922 and 8th in 1929 186,100 km² --
Currency	Ruble (ռուբլի, манат, მანეთი)
Time zone	UTC + 4

The Transcaucasian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic 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 countries became the Georgian, Armenian and Azerbaijan SSR respectively.

Stamps and postal history

2 gold kopecks value of 1923

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 The Federation began issuing its own stamps on September 15, 1923, and superseded the separate republics' issues on October 1.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.

See also

• Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic
• Republics of the Soviet Union

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