The Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic (Transcaucasian SFSR or TSFSR), also known as the Transcaucasian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, was a constituent republic of the Soviet Union that existed from 1922 to 1936. It embraced Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia. As they were separated from Russia by the Caucasus Mountains, they were known traditionally as the Transcaucasian Republics. Created ostensibly to consolidate the economic situation of the region, the TSFSR was also useful in consolidating Bolshevik control over the states. It was one of the four republics to sign the treaty establishing the Soviet Union in 1922.
It was a continuation of the short-lived Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic; in 1918 its Comissariat issued paper money denominated in rubles: Ruble Transcaucasian Commissariat. This ruble was equivalent to the Russian ruble. The notes bore Russian text on the obverse, with Armenian, Azerbaijani and Georgian texts on the reverses. Denominations were 1, 3, 5, 10, 50, 100 and 250 rubles.
Between 1919 and 1922/3, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia issued their own currencies, the Armenian ruble, Azerbaijani manat and Georgian maneti, which replaced the Transcaucasian ruble at par. |
