1958 - 40th Anniversary of Death of 26 Baku Commissars

ANRO-471; Shkurko-144

Obverse: В ПАМЯТЬ 40-ЛЕТИЯ СО ДНЯ ГИБЕЛИ 26- ти БАКИНСКИХ КОМИССАРОВ 1918
Reverse: ВЕЧНАЯ СЛАВА 26-ти БАКИНСКИМ КОМИССАРАМ! 1958 / A woman kneeling down
Specifications: 65mm; Copper-Zinc alloy
Engraver: Marina Efremovna Eshba (Эшба Марина Ефремовна) was born in 1924. She was a sculptor and an Honored Artist of the Georgian SSR.
Mint: Leningrad mint
Mintage: 3,634 pcs.
Reference: Shkurko-144; Soviet Znak-1934a

The death of the 26 Baku Commissars is a tragic event that took place during the Russian Civil War and the struggle for power in the Caucasus region. The 26 Baku Commissars were a group of Bolshevik leaders, including the prominent Armenian revolutionary Stepan Shahumyan, who played a key role in establishing Soviet power in the region, particularly in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan.

In 1918, the Baku Commune was established as a short-lived Soviet government in Azerbaijan after the collapse of the Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic. The commune was headed by Stepan Shahumyan and included other notable Bolshevik figures such as Prokopius Dzhaparidze, Meshadi Azizbekov, and Ivan Fioletov.

However, the Baku Commune faced numerous internal and external challenges, including counter-revolutionary forces, nationalist groups, and foreign intervention, particularly by the Ottoman Empire, which aimed to gain control over the oil-rich region. As the situation deteriorated, the 26 Baku Commissars decided to evacuate the city in August 1918.

They boarded a ship called the "Turkmen" and sailed across the Caspian Sea towards the city of Krasnovodsk (now Turkmenbashi, Turkmenistan). Upon their arrival, they were arrested by local authorities, who were under the control of the anti-Bolshevik White Army and the British forces present in the region.

The fate of the 26 Baku Commissars was uncertain for a while, as negotiations took place between different parties involved. However, on September 20, 1918, they were executed by a firing squad under mysterious circumstances. The exact details of their deaths remain a subject of debate and controversy.

The deaths of the 26 Baku Commissars were later commemorated by the Soviet government as an example of Bolshevik martyrdom. Streets, squares, and monuments were dedicated to their memory in various Soviet cities, and their story became an integral part of Soviet history, symbolizing the sacrifices made by the Bolsheviks during the struggle for power in the region.

These are the names of the Armenian Commissars:
Stepan Shahumyan (Stepan Georgevich Shaumian) - Chairman of the Baku Commune
Aram Kostandyan (Aram Kostandian) - People's Commissar of Agriculture
Bagdasar Avakyan (Bogdan Avakian) - People's Commissar of War