In 1918, with the Soviet area of the Caucasus threatened by Turkish troops, the Mensheviks and nationalists used their majority in the Baku Soviet to invite the intervention of British imperialism against the Turkish advance. The Bolshevik Commissars, led by Stepan Shaumyan and supported by some Left Socialist- Revolutionaries, resigned in protest. When shortly afterwards the British abandoned the city to the Turks, 26 Communist Commissars sought refuge but fell into the hands of the British. With the connivance of the White and Socialist-Revolutionary government of Ashkhabad, the 26 Commissars were transported to a remote spot in the desert where at about 6.30 a.m. on September 20, they were marched out in three groups and shot.