Modern · a Light

Azerbaijan gave women the vote before Britain did

On 28 May 1918 the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic declared independence, the first secular parliamentary republic in the Muslim world. Its electoral law gave the vote to all citizens over twenty regardless of sex, religion or ethnicity, which put Azerbaijani women at the ballot box before women in Britain had equal franchise, which came in 1928, and before women in the United States, who got it in 1920. The parliament included Armenian, Russian, Jewish and Georgian members. The republic lasted twenty three months before the Red Army entered Baku in April 1920. Its flag and its independence day were both taken up again when Azerbaijan became independent a second time in 1991.

Azerbaijan Democratic Republic · 28 May 1918