troops are still serving in Afghanistan. Despite the rise in Azerbaijan's defence budget, the armed forces were assessed in 2008 as not having a high state of battle readiness and being ill-prepared for wide scale combat operations. However, in 2017 Global Firepower ranked Azerbaijan 59th among 127 countries for its military strength. It was the best performance among the countries of South Caucasus. History of the Azerbaijani armed forces Azerbaijan Democratic Republic The history of the modern Azerbaijan army dates back to Azerbaijan Democratic Republic in 1918, when the Armed Forces of the Republic of Azerbaijan were created on 26 June 1918. First de facto Minister of Defense of ADR was Dr. Khosrov bey Sultanov. When the Ministry was formally established Gen. Samedbey Mehmandarov became the minister, and then Lt-Gen. Ali-Agha Shikhlinski his deputy. Chiefs of Staff of ADR Army were Lt-Gen. Maciej Sulkiewicz (March 1919 – 10 December 1919) and Maj-Gen. Abdulhamid bey Gaitabashi (10 December 1919 – April 1920). The Red Army invaded Azerbaijan on 28 April 1920. Although the bulk of the newly formed Azerbaijani army was engaged in putting down an Armenian revolt that had just broken out in Karabakh, the Azerbaijanis did not surrender their brief independence of 1918–20 quickly or easily. As many as 20,000 of the total 30,000 soldiers died resisting what was effectively a Russian reconquest. The national Army of Azerbaijan was abolished by the Bolshevik government, 15 of the 21 army generals were executed by the Bolsheviks. Russian Civil War After the Sovietisation of Azerbaijan, the newly formed Azerbaijani Red Army replaced the previous army, taking part in the Russian Civil War, and the invasion of Georgia. World War II During World War II, Azerbaijan played a crucial role in the strategic energy policy of Soviet Union. Much of the Soviet Union's oil on the Eastern Front was supplied by Baku. By a decree of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR in February 1942, the commitment of more than 500 workers and employees of the oil industry of Azerbaijan was recognised with orders and medals. Operation Edelweiss carried out by the German Wehrmacht targeted Baku because of the importance of its oil fields to the USSR. Some 800,000 Azerbaijanis fought within the ranks of the Soviet Army of which 400,000 died. Azerbaijani national formations of the Red Army included the 223rd, 227th, 396th, 402nd, and 416th Rifle Divisions. Azerbaijani Major-General Hazi