On this day in 1920 the League of Nations recognized a collection of small states that had once been part of the Russian Empire and which had declared their independence in the wake of the collapse of that empire.
These were Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia.
All three would prove to be examples of how Soviet Russia was just as much of a despotic empire as any old regime empire ever had been.
The Azerbaijani Democratic Republic would be invaded by the USSR on April 28 of the same year, after having surrendered the day prior under threats from its own Communist Party which made it clear a violent Soviet invasion would be coming if it didn't do so. The Soviets promised independence for the country and then broke the promise.
Armenia also was invaded by the Soviets in 1920 but some ares held out until 1921, bringing to a temporary end the republic of a nation that dated back into antiquity but which has repeatedly suffered due to the actions of larger neighbors.
Georgia would be invaded in 1921, after several putative prior Soviet efforts.
It'd take the fall of the Soviet Union to restore the independence of all three nations.
All three countries had plenty of problems during their brief existence, including simply being next to their large former imperial master which was engaged in civil war. They all engaged in wars over their borders. They were beset by internal Communist who sought to bring them down and unite them with Soviet Russia. But, in spite of that, they had emerged as real states until the Soviet Union, which theoretically recognized the rights of small nations, terminated their statehood.
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