Revolution Ë 85
Fig. 4.4.The delegation of Union of the United Mountaineers in Istanbul, 1918.
clared independence from the newly minted state, eectively destroying it. On 26 May
1918 the Sejm dissolved itself, and Georgia declared the formation of the Georgian
Democratic Republic. The government was headed by Menshevik Noe Ramishvili as
prime minister, with Chkhenkeli serving as foreign minister. Berlin, Istanbul, Paris, Vi-
enna, London, Rome, Washington, Moscow, So a, Tokyo, Bucharest, Tehran, Madrid,
The Hague, Kyiv, Stockholm, Copenhagen, and Kristiania (Oslo) were noti ed.⁴⁵Two
days later Armenia and Azerbaijan followed suit, declaring independence with Ere-
van and Ganja as their respective capitals. Within a week the three independent states
signed peace treaties with Turkey, who largely dictated the terms.⁴⁶
The Northern Caucasus, bordering on Russia, faced threats not from the Ottomans
but from Russia, both Red and White. After the Bolshevik seizure of power in the cap-
ital, the Union of the United Mountaineers cut its ties to the Bolshevik government,
although the Union itself fragmented politically. Whereas the Union adhered to the
45 Dokumenty i mater’ialy po vneshnei politike Zakavakz’ia i Gruzii, 330–31, 335, 338. Two months later
Noe Zhordania became prime minister, and Ramishvili minister of internal aairs.
46 For the Turkish territorial gains, see the map on p. 36 of Richard G. Hovannisian,The Republic
of Armenia. Vol, 1: The First Year, 1918–1919(Berkeley-Los Angeles, CA: The University of California
Press, 1971).