November 14, 1920, the Soviet government decided that the previous technical school "Baku Polytechnic" would be closed and replaced by the Baku Polytechnic Institute. The new school focused on training engineers in such sectors as agriculture, civil engineering, electromechanics, economics, and oil. In 1923, the school changed its name to the Azerbaijan Polytechnic Institute. In March 1929 the Communist Party of Azerbaijan decided that the school would be divided into three independent schools covering agriculture, economy, and oil. However, the growing demands of engineers in other areas outside of oil led to the expansion of the school curriculum, and the school again changed its name in 1934, this time to the Azerbaijan Industrial Institute (AZPI), since it was combined with civil engineering. The Second World War taxed the Soviet Union, and schools like AzPI tried to remain open. In 1950, the government established a separate Azerbaijan Polytechnic Institute (AzPI) and transferred non-petrochemical curricula to a new school so that Az. I.I. can focus on the oil industry. (AzPI continued to eventually become the Azerbaijan State Oil Academy.) In 1970, the branch of AzPI was established in Ganja. In 1993, AzPI changed its status and became the Azerbaijan Technical University.