By the beginning of the war, Baku's population exceeded 215,000, comprising 36% Russians, 34% Azerbaijanis, 19% Armenians, and 4.5% Jews.
[10] In February 1918, the Transcaucasian Sejm was established[11] As a result of the March 1918 genocide committed by the Armenian-Bolshevik armed groups, more than 12 thousand Azerbaijanis were killed in Baku.
The former authorities were replaced by new ones: the workers'-and-peasants' militia, the Military Tribunal, the extraordinary Committee for combating counter-revolution, the city, circuit, and district people's courts, and so on.
[16][17] The battles for Baku that began in August ended with the liberation of the city by the Caucasian Islamic army on September 15, 1918.
[18] On September 17, 1918, the national government of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic with its center in Ganja was transferred to Baku.
[9][19] In the spring of 1916, at the initiative of the bolsheviks, “Adalat” (“Justice”) organization was established in Baku to assist workers from southern Azerbaijan.
[20] On March 17, 1917, the Executive Committee of public organizations was established in the city, which was the local authority of the Provisional government.
[24] In 1915, the leader of the Musavat party, M. E. Rasulzade, launched the publication of the daily Turkic newspaper “Achig soz".