Azerbaijan - Show them Here

kacyds - thanks for starting this.

Before I show the stamps, I want to share a short history, which will help better understand the stamps.   

• With the fall of the Russian Empire in 1917 and the subsequent October Revolution, the provinces of the Caucasus region (Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia) seceded from the Empire.  After unsuccessfully trying to form a joint Transcaucasian Federation, each of the countries declared separate independence in May, 1918. 
  
  The Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (ADR) was formed, and almost never had a chance.  Numerous territorial disputes with its neighbors, and the fact that Azerbaijan held some of the richest oil fields in the region, made the ADR a target for many enemies. 
  
  Beginning in the Summer of 1918, the Armenians, supported by the British, fought the Turkish Army in the Battle of Baku, which didn’t allow the ADR to actually have a capital until Sept 1918.  Baku was then occupied by the British until mid 1919, where things began to offer a glimmer of stability.
  
  Azerbaijan tried to remain neutral with regards to the Russian Civil War, even signing a defensive treaty with Georgia on Jun 16, 1919 against the White Army of General Anton Denikin,  who were threatening to start an offensive against the Soviet Reds on their borders.  Eventually British forces left Baku in Aug, 1919, and Denkin's White army was completely defeated in January 1920.  By March 1920, fresh from the victory over the Whites, it was obvious that the emerging Soviet Russia was setting their sites on Azerbaijan.  Vladimir Lenin publically declared that the invasion was justified by the fact that Soviet Russia could not survive without Baku oil. 
  
  On Apr 25, 1920, the Russian Red Army invaded Azerbaijan; marching into Baku two days later demanding the dissolution of the Azerbaijani Parliament. On Apr 28th, the ADR complied and the Republic ceased to exist. Immediately, the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic (Azerbaijan SSR) was formed.

I will now show the stamps of the ADR in the next few posts:

This is the second design.  Azerbaijan is still using the currency of the region (kopeks and rubles),  which is becoming greatly inflated due to the ongoing civil war.