ORDER OF BATTLE // January 1, 1920
Red Army invasion of Azerbaijan
Estimated force strength by side, with confidence labels per surviving record.
Forces engaged
2 sides catalogued · combined 60,000 estimated
République socialiste fédérative soviétique de Russie
30,000
Medium-confidence figure
République démocratique d'Azerbaïdjan
30,000
Medium-confidence figure
Battle context
The Red Army invasion of Azerbaijan in April 1920 was a decisive campaign by Soviet Russia's 11th Army to eliminate one of the independent successor states that had emerged from the collapse of the Russian Empire. The operation coincided with an internal insurrection organized by local Azerbaijani Bolsheviks in Baku, combining external military pressure with internal subversion. The result was the dissolution of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic and the establishment of the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic, extending Soviet control over the South Caucasus and its strategically significant oil resources. The campaign formed part of the broader Soviet effort during the Russian Civil War to reincorporate former imperial territories under Bolshevik governance.
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