As Russian power collapses, Georgia (26 May) and then Armenia and Azerbaijan (28 May) declare independence. The three republics immediately dispute the mixed districts between them — Karabakh, Zangezur, Nakhchivan, Lori — fighting local wars complicated by Ottoman and British intervention.
Why it mattersThe 1918–20 disputes are the direct ancestors of every later Armenia–Azerbaijan war: the same territories, the same demographic arguments, the same search for outside patrons. Independence lasted less than three years, but the questions it raised lasted a century.
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