It was well after midnight when the Seim adopted the three resolutions prepared by Zhordania. Martial law was declared, and a collegium of Chief Executive Gegechkori, Interior Affairs Commissar Ramishvili, and Finance Commissar Karjikian was entrusted with unlimited powers. 108 On the same night, the Seim printed its multilingual appeal, offering the peoples of Transcaucasia "slavery or war." In a separate plea to the workers, soldiers, and peasants of Russia, the Menshevik Social Democrats called attention to the Transcaucasian struggle for survival. Acceptance of Brest-Litovsk would signify the separation of the Caucasus from Russia and would betray the Great Revolution for whose birth the peoples of both areas had shared the privations of prison, forced labour, and exile. 109 It is highly improbable that even a few workers, soldiers, or peasants in Russia ever heard the frantic voice of the Transcaucasian Social Democracy.
During the course of the entire war, the Georgians had never been so agitated and so determined as they were on the morning of April 14. The Seim had been recessed only a few hours when Zhordania and Tsereteli, rifles slung over their shoulders, departed for Batum to participate in the defence of the city, of Georgia, and of Transcaucasia. 110 Simultaneously, Gegechkori wired Trabizond to inform Chkhenkeli of the Seim's resolution, which stated: "In view of the fact that a peaceful settlement on the question of the boundaries of Transcaucasia was not reached between Turkey and Transcaucasia, the Transcaucasian delegation is instructed to depart immediately for Tiflis." 111
The news distressed the delegation, for the confidence and enthusiasm of Tiflis were completely lacking in Trabizond. Mahmed Hasan Hajinsky angrily labelled the recall as "a scandal unequalled in history." He demanded the resignation of either the delegation or the Commissariat and Seim. Considering the latter possibly unlikely, the Musavat representative announced his immediate withdrawal from the delegation. The act initiated a round of heated recriminations, after which Hajinsky, in a near rage, exclaimed that his oratory had authorised him to depart for Constantinople to conclude a peace on behalf of the people it represented. Chkhenkeli took note of the statement and had it recorded in the official protocol. Finally, he begged the members to restrain themselves, for the spectacle they were creating on foreign soil would leave an unfavourable impression on the Turks. 112 Regaining a measure of composure, the delegation paid a farewell visit to Rauf Bey to leave a gift of twenty thousand rubles for the poor of Trabizond and to inform the Ottoman leader that the talks were being interrupted, not terminated. It was hoped that such a statement would expedite the resumption of negotiations if and when such were deemed necessary. 113 In a conversation with Rauf, however, Chkhenkeli is reported to have divulged the true contents of Gegechkori's telegram. He promised to spare no efforts after reaching Tiflis to rectify the ill-advised policy of his government. 114 Before embarking, Chkhenkeli appointed a Georgian National Democrat, Grigory Veshapeli, to serve in Trabizond as liaison with the Turks. 115 Hajinsky apparently remained behind on his own volition to fulfil his mission. 116
Thus, a month after the opening of the Trabizond Conference, the Transcaucasian delegates set sail for Batum, not knowing in whose hands they would find the harbour when they arrived. They were tired and agitated, angry with one another, with the Tiflis government, with the Turks, and with the Bolsheviks, and they were perturbed by the course of events. It probably would not have surprised them had they been told that several members of the delegation would be back at the bargaining table in a very short time, but not in Trabizond. And when that actually occurred, there was to be bitter irony, for Transcaucasia was to insist on ad beg for application of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, while the Ottoman Empire was to reject categorically such a preposterous proposal.
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