Baku, Azerbaijan, May 27
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Azerbaijan marks Day of Republic.
In a sad chapter of its long history Azerbaijan was for all intents and purposes akin to a colony of Russia for a number of years. Still, the Azerbaijani people never gave up and continued to struggle for freedom and independence.
The 20th century became known in history not only as the age of science and technology but also as the age of liberation from colonization and the establishment of national states.
The 1917 Russian Revolution put an end to the rule of the Romanovs and the saw the collapse of the Russian Empire. Shortly thereafter, on May 28, 1918, patriotic leaders in Azerbaijan founded the Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan.
The Azerbaijani Democratic Republic was the first democratic republic to be established in the in the East. ADR was a parliamentary state, with all the associated attributes. It had a flag, an anthem and an army.
The tri-colored flag symbolized Turkism, Islamism and European tendency. The ADR existed only 23 months. On April 28, 1920 the Bolchevics 11th Army occupied Azerbaijan and the republic collapsed.
The Day of the Republic - the day of regaining state independence has been celebrated as a state holiday since 1990.