Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. The 26 Baku Commissars were Bolshevik and Left Socialist Revolutionary (SR) members of the Baku Soviet Commune. The commune was established in the city of Baku (the capital of the briefly independent pre-Soviet Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, now the Republic of Azerbaijan). The commune, led by Stepan Shahumyan, existed until 26 July 1918 when the Bolsheviks were forced out of power by a coalition of Dashnaks, Right SRs, and Mensheviks. After their overthrow, the Baku commissars attempted to leave Baku but were captured by the Centrocaspian Dictatorship and imprisoned.