The last decade of the 20th century proved to be extremely tense for Georgia. Ethnic conflicts and civil wars, combined with severe economic and political crises, had devastated the country, turning it from one of the most prosperous Soviet republic into one of the poorest and underdeveloped states in Europe. Georgia’s political development during these years of turmoil and her struggle to maintain independence vis-à-vis the neo-imperialist aspirations of Russia, are very complicated and difficult to illustrate.

The success of the Georgian national-liberation movement, which culminated in the Georgian declaration of independence in 1991, soon proved to be bittersweet. President Zviad Gamsakhurdia’s anti-Russian and nationalistic policies, and increasingly authoritarian rule led to an acute political conflict in Georgia in 1990-1991. The government adopted the doctrine of “hosts and guests” and threatened national minorities residing in Georgia. Gamsakhurdia himself saw enemies everywhere around him and denounced his political opponents as “agents and stooges of the Kremlin.” The new president’s erratic policies soon led to the resignation of several key government members, including Prime Minister Tengiz Sigua and Foreign Minister Giorgi Khoshtaria.

In the fall of 1991, demonstrations against Gamsakhurdia’s government regularly took place in Tbilisi. Georgian society, including national security forces, became split into two opposing sides. As clashes escalated in Tbilisi, Gamsakhurdia declared a state of emergency and cracked down on the opposition. Some units of the National Guard, led by Tengiz Kitovani, withdrew to the outskirts of the Georgian capital, where they defied orders to disband and began preparations for a military coup. Gamsakhurdia’s former allies joined forces with the opposition, which now included the National Independence Party (Irakli Tserteli), Popular Front (Nodar Natadze), Rustaveli Society (Akaki Bakradze), National Democratic Party (Giorgi Chanturia), etc.

In late December 1991, Kitovani’s forces launched an assault on Tbilisi and were supported by the Mkhedrioni paramilitary units led by Jaba Ioseliani. By 22 December, the rebels besieged the Parliament building, where Gamsakhurdia and his loyal troops put up a fierce resistance. The resulting fighting led to many deaths and destruction of the central district of Tbilisi. On 6 January 1992, Gamsakhurdia finally broke through the blockade and escaped to Armenia and then to Chechnya, where he organized his government in exile. Kitovani and Ioseliani, with support of former Prime Minister Tengiz Sigua, established an interim government, the Military Council. To legalize their coup against a democratically elected president, the members of the Military Council invited Eduard Shevardnadze, whose international clout was imperative to decriminalize the new authorities. In March 1992, Shevardnadze became the head of the State Council.

Meanwhile, the situation in Georgia escalated and led to ethno-territorial conflicts that plunged the country in the abyss of civil war and economic collapse. In February 1992, fighting intensified in South Ossetia, where Russia provided covert support for separatists. Shevardnadze was forced to make concessions and signed an armistice in July 1992 that established the Joint Control Commission to regulate the conflict. Fighting in Ossetia was barely over when tensions in secessionist Abkhazia, also supported by Russia, led to violence in August 1992. Georgian authorities dispatched the National Guard and paramilitary units and the sporadic clashes soon escalated into a major war between the Russian-backed separatists and Georgian forces. Within a year, Georgian troops were routed and some 300,000 Georgian and other residents of Abkhazia expelled in a widespread ethnic cleansing of the region.

The entanglement of official Tbilisi in Abkhazia encouraged Zviad Gamsakhurdia to return to Georgia, where he rallied forces in his native region of Mingrelia (Samegrelo) and in Tbilisi. In June 1992, Zviadists seized the state television center in Tbilisi, but were driven out by the National Guard. In 1993, the pro-Gamsakhurdia forces under Colonel Loti Kobalia launched a surprise attack against the government troops in Mingrelia and occupied strategic positions in the regions. Their actions played a crucial role in the failure of Georgian forces in Abkhazia since reinforcements were delayed or diverted to fight the insurgency. Threatened on both fronts, Shevardnadze was forced to make concessions to Russia and join the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) in return for Russian military support against the rebels. In October 1993, Georgian government forces, supported by the Russian troops, launched a counterattack against Gamsakhurdia’s forces; the Russian navy landed troops to secure the strategic port of Poti. Heavy fighting took place around Samtredia, Khobi, Senaki and Zugdidi; the combat was particularly savage in Mingrelia (Samegrelo) proper, where the Mkhedrioni paramilitary units went on a rampage. These atrocities contributed to the eventual antagonism of Mingrelians towards Shevardnadze and his government. By December 1993, most of Mingrelia was under government control and the pro-Gamsakhurdia leaders imprisoned; Gamsakhurdia himself was found dead under suspicious circumstances (the official version supports a suicide) near the village of Jikhashkari.

The civil war remains one of the most dramatic and decisive events in history of modern Georgia. A prosperous Soviet republic, Georgia was completely devastated during the three years of conflict, with the economy and industry shattered and the population suffering from gas and electric outages. The collapse of the central authorities led to the rise of numerous criminal gangs while the activities of Mkhedrioni paramilitary units affected thousands of citizens throughout the country. The civil war certainly contributed to the separatist movements in Ossetia and Abkhazia by radicalizing the sides involved in this conflicts and diverting much-needed Georgian resources. Other regions, notably Adjara and Javakheti, became increasingly defiant of the central authorities. Furthermore, Georgian society itself became split into two irreconcilable sides that became engaged in a vicious struggle for the next decade.

As the conflicts in Abkhazia and Ossetia subsided in 1994, Shevardnadze turned to domestic affairs and sought to restore the central authority that was gravely weakened during the turmoil. Over the next three years, he outmaneuvered his political opponents and consolidated his authority. The once powerful warlords Jaba Ioseliani and Kitovani were imprisoned and paramilitary units banned. In August 1995, a new Constitution was adopted establishing the institute of the Presidency and the Parliament. In 1995, and later in 2000, Shevardnadze was elected President of Georgia, though elections were marred by claims of widespread fraud and vote rigging. In August 1995, Shevardnadze barely survived an assassination attempt during the official signing ceremony of the Constitution on 29 August and used this event to get rid of his opposition. In early February 1998 Shevardnadze survived another attempt on his life and investigations alleged Zviadist involvement, leading to increased persecutions of Gamsakhurdia’s supporters. In October 1998, a two-day armed insurrection by pro-Gamsakhurdia troops threatened to destabilize Georgia but ended after the mutineers surrendered to government forces.

Shevardnadze’s presidency constitutes an important period in the recent history of Georgia. On his arrival, the country was ravaged by a civil war and ethnic conflicts, the economic and industrial infrastructure was largely destroyed. Georgian society itself was demoralized, divided into factions and dominated by warlords. Using his former contacts in the diplomatic world, Shevardnadze established close relations with the United States, which he perceived as a counterbalance to the Russian influence in Transcaucasia. Georgia soon became a major recipient of U.S. foreign and military aid, signed a strategic partnership with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and even declared its goal of joining NATO and the European Union (EU). One of Shevardnadze’s major achievements was showing to Western and American policymakers that Georgia can serve as a secure East-West energy corridor, which allowed Tbilisi to secure a multi-billion oil pipeline project (Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan) to transport oil from the Caspian Sea to the European markets. In 1999, Georgia celebrated another important success as it joined the Council of Europe and, in 2000, Tbilisi became the 137th member of the World Trade Organization. In 2002, Georgia announced its resolve to seek full membership in the Euro-Atlantic alliance, becoming a member of NATO’s Partnership for Peace.

However, Shevardnadze’s relative successes in foreign affairs were more than outweighed by domestic failures. While economic reforms were launched, they were not far-reaching enough and were often erratically enforced. The shadow economy accounted for as much as 60 percent of the country’s economic product as tax evasion, smuggling, extortion, bribery and rigged privatization became pervasive. Shevardnadze was unable to restore central authority in some regions, especially in Adjara. Supporters of Gamsakhurdia and other dissidents were persecuted and many imprisoned on trumped-up charges. Corruption became so rampant that Georgia became known as one of the world's most corrupt countries. Shevardnadze's closest advisers and associates, including members of his family, exerted disproportionate economic power and controlled large portions of the oil trade and media holdings. In 2001, Shevardnadze began an extensive anti-corruption reform but it proved to be an empty gesture. In October 2001, public discontent led to protests in Tbilisi, after Rustavi 2, an independent television station that had been critical of the government, was raided by security officials. Public demonstrations forced Shevardnadze to announce the dismissal of his entire government in November. In April 2002, economic woes were worsened by a natural disaster as a powerful earthquake rocked Tbilisi, causing extensive damage to some 2,500 buildings.

Irritated by Georgia’s pro-Western course, Russia actively encouraged separatism in Abkhazia and Ossetia while effectively declaring an economic blockade that resulted in widespread power and gas cuts in Georgia. The escalating war in Chechnya further deteriorated Russo-Georgian relations as Russia accused Shevardnadze of harboring Chechen guerrillas. After the terrorist attacks in the United States on 11 September 2001, Georgia became a strategic partner in the American war against international terrorism. Tbilisi offered Georgian airspace and airfields to America during the operations in Afghanistan and Iraq and contributed troops to the international contingent in Iraq. In 2002, Shevardnadze turned to the U.S. for assistance to enhance Georgia’s military preparedness and a special Train and Equip Program to train the Georgian army was launched with the financial backing from Washington.

The charges of dishonesty and fraud left Shevardnadze’s vulnerable during the Parliamentary elections of 2003. The officially announced results of this election favored Shevardnadze’s ruling party but were immediately denounced as rigged and unfair by the opposition and international election observers. This caused massive demonstrations, popularly known as the Rose Revolution, demanding the resignation of the president. Led by Shevardnadze’s one-time protégés, Zurab Zhvania, Nino Burdjanadze and Mikhail Saakashvili, the protesters broke into Parliament on 21 November 2003, forcing Shevardnadze to escape with his bodyguards. Pressured by foreign powers, Shevardnadze announced his resignation on 23 November and was replaced as president on an interim basis by Burdjanadze.

Thus, a powerful coalition of reformists headed by Saakashvili, Burdjanadze and Zhvania found itself at the helm of the state. In January 2004, Saakashvili won a landslide victory in the presidential elections. He pushed through constitutional amendments that strengthened the powers of the president and restored the post of prime minister for his ally Zurab Zhvania. Saakashvili’s first great success came in removing Aslan Abashidze, the defiant leader of Adjara, and bringing this region back under control of the central authorities. He sought to reconcile Georgian society by rehabilitating former President Zviad Gamsakhurdia and releasing Gamsakhurdia’s supporters who were imprisoned by the Shevardnadze government. Saakashvili also pushed through the change of state symbols and adopted new national flag and coat of arms in 2004; furthermore, in a bid to portray Georgia as a European state, the new administration had ordered the flag of European Union to be flown together with the state flag at government buildings.

Economic reforms and improvements in living standards are of great priority since almost half of the population of Georgia lives below the poverty line. The low rate of economic growth places Georgia as 100th out of the 177 countries listed in the United Nation Development Program's Human Development Report of 2005, significantly lower than most of the transitional countries. A growing gap between the rich and poor is also of great concern. Saakashvili’s government directed its efforts to fighting the widespread black economy, reforming tax codes, imposing more rigorous tax-collection and making the country more attractive for foreign investment. Georgia’s economic reforms and new round of privatization earned praise from the international community and helped secure new credit lines from the International Monetary Fund and World Bank. The military forces were substantially modernized and increased. More far-reaching, and dramatic, was the new government’s anti-corruption campaign that purged the government bureaucracy of thousands of officials. The family and clan structure of Georgian society continued to facilitate a system in which corruption could easily flourish. Thus, the watchdog Transparency International ranked Georgia on the 124th place (out of 133) in 2003 and on the 133rd place (out of 145) in 2004. It remains to be seen if the new government will be able to eradicate corruption – which is so widespread and deeply rooted in Georgian society – in the short term.

Another priority spelled out by Saakashvili after his election is bringing back the breakaway regions under Georgian authority. After restoring control of Adjara, the new presidency shifted its attention towards the separatist region of South Ossetia, which led to sharp tensions and brief clashes between the two sides. In 2006-2007, Tbilisi supported the establishment of the pro-Georgian forces in South Ossetia, where an alternative government (led by Dmitri Sanakoyev) was formed to counter-balance the separatist authorities. In May-June 2007, the Georgian government made a major push to have international community recognize Sanakoyev's government, a first step in the potential conflict resolution. In late June 2007, Sanakoyev made an unprecedented three-day visit to Brussels as part of Tbilisi’s campaign to align conflict resolution in Georgia with European, rather than Russian, interests.

In Abkhazia, after years of status-quo, political situation has slightly changed in the fall of 2006, when the Georgian authorities carried out a security operation against a rebel warlord in the Upper Abkhazia and, after securing the region, moved the seat of the Abkhazian government-in-exile there. This decision caused an outcry on the part of the Abkhaz separatists, as well as in Russia, who denounced Tbilisi's actions as a first step towards forceful resolution of the conflict. Since then, the Abkhaz authorities refuse to participate in diplomatic negotiations until Tbilisi agrees to remove the Abkhazian government-in-exile from the upper Abkhazia.

The issues of Abkhazia and South Ossetia are very sensitive indeed and cannot be seen separately from the relations with Russia, which exerts great influence in the separatist regions; as former Georgian president Eduard Shevardnadze once commented, "the keys to the conflict resolution in these regions lay in the Russian hands." Yet, Relations with Russia remain of major concern in light of Russia's continuing political, economic and military support of separatist authorities in both regions. The new government of Georgia pursues a strongly pro-Western, particularly pro-US, foreign policy and seeks Georgian membership in the NATO and the EU. After the start of the American war in Iraq, Georgia joined the coalition forces and remains one of the major contributors to the coalition in terms of a country's per capita troop deployment. In 2004, the North Atlantic Council of the NATO approved the Individual Partnership Action Plan of Georgia (IPAP). In May 2005, Georgia was visited by the U.S. President George W. Bush and greeted by tens of thousands of Georgians at the Freedom Square in Tbilisi. With the US backing, Georgia achieved a historic agreement with Russia on the complete withdrawal of Russian military bases by 2008. Such pro-Western overtures only embitter Georgia’s northern neighbor, which still perceives south Caucasia as its sphere of influence and vital to its geo-strategic interests.

In 2006, the Russo-Georgian relations hit a new low. In the spring, in the so-called “wine war,” Russia banned the imports of Georgian wine. The official explanation that the ban was motivated by health concerns was hardly convincing since Georgia had long been supplying the Russian market and sudden detection by the Russians of health hazards in Georgian wine naturally raised eyebrows. Furthermore, the ban was not followed by an order to remove Georgian wine already in Russia, which would have been a logical move to protect the Russian consumers from a detected health concern. Ironically, even after the ban, Georgian wine products continued to appear suggesting that a significant portion of the Georgian wine was produced/falsified inside Russia. Still, Russia's decision to close its market had a serious effect on the Georgian winemakers, who scrambled to seek new markets for their products. Despite initial difficulties, the Russian ban may end up benefiting the Georgian wine business since it was compelled to diversify its markets and introduce Georgian wine to new regions.

The Russo-Georgian squabbles were not limited to the "wine war" alone but the intrastate relations further deteriorated in September/October 2006 when the Georgian government arrested four Russian military officers on charges of espionage; seeking arrest of one more Russian officer, the Georgian authorities surrounded the headquarters of the Russian forces in Transcaucasia located in Tbilisi. This event brought the Russo-Georgian relations to the lowest point in over a decade. In response to Tbilisi's actions, Russia summoned its ambassador to Georgia and withdrew almost all of its embassy’s staff, and imposed a series of punitive measures on Georgia, suspending all land, see, and air transportation between Georgia and Russia, banning Georgian exports to Russia, and locating, rounding up, and deporting many legal and illegal Georgian migrants from Russia. Such persecutions led to international outcry condemning Russian authorities for their xenophobic actions.

Relations between Tbilisi and Moscow remain tense, although in June 2007, Presidents Saakashvili and Putin agreed to normalize relations and Russia pledged to lift its sanctions. Yet, another incident in early August revealed the ongoing deep conflict between Russia and Georgia. According to the findings of two international groups of experts, on 6 August, an unidentified aircraft intruded into Georgia’s airspace from Russia, fired anti-radar missile at the Georgian military radar installation and flew back to the Russian Federation. Russia vehemently denied its role in this incident and suggested the it was staged by the Georgian authorities for propaganda purposes. The incident further highlighted the gap between Russia and the US, when the official Washington sided with Tbilisi and denounced Russian actions.


Historical Dictionary of Georgia
by Alexander Mikaberidze (Author)
Series: Historical Dictionaries of Europe (Book 50)
Hardcover: 784 pages
Publisher: Scarecrow Press (March 16, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-13: 978-0810855809
ISBN-10: 0810855801

Bolshevik Invasion

By 1920, Soviet Russia actively sought to extend its hegemony to south Caucasia. Sergo Ordzhonikidze coordinated the Bolshevik policies in the region and was a fervent exponent of sovietization of Georgia. In April 1920, the 11th Red Army occupied Azerbaijan and established Soviet authority in Baku. In May, the Bolsheviks crossed the Georgian state border but were halted in their advance while the diplomatic negotiations soon led to Russia’s recognition of Georgia’s independence in May 1920. Nevertheless, in November of the same year, the Red Army occupied Armenia, where another Soviet government was proclaimed. The Bolshevik authorities in Moscow then successfully negotiated with Turkey and other powers promising concessions in return for their approval for an eventual attack on Georgia.

On 11 February 1921, the Bolsheviks incited an uprising in the Lori district of Georgia and, portraying it as the workers’ insurrection against the Menshevik government, the 11th Red Army quickly came to its aid, invading Georgia on 12 February. In late February, the 9th Red Army invaded Georgia through Abkhazia and additional Red Army brigades marched through strategic passes across the Caucasus. On 24 February, after failing to halt the Bolshevik advance, the Menshevik forces under General Giorgi Kvinitadze left Tbilisi for a last stand in Batumi; the Bolsheviks occupied the Georgian capital the following day. The situation was further complicated by Turkey’s involvement in the war as Turkish troops attempted to capture the strategic port of Batumi. Although General Kvinitadze routed the Turks in Adjara, the Menshevik government was unable to turn the tide of the war against the Bolsheviks and emigrated to Europe. By March 1921, Georgia was effectively under control of the Bolsheviks.

The government in exile continued its struggle for decades to come, but it was an uphill battle. Some Georgian statesmen succumbed to the pressure and committed suicide while others were assassinated by the Soviet secret service. In 1932, the Soviet Union and France signed an agreement that banned anti-Soviet émigré groups in France and led to the closure of the remaining Georgian embassy in Paris. The émigré community, however, continued its resistance. In 1934, émigré politicians from Georgia, Azerbaijan and North Caucasus organized the Council of Transcaucasian Confederation that was to coordinate national-liberation movements in their respective countries. In late 1930s and early 1940s, several Georgian émigré organizations blossomed in Germany and the Baltic states, including the Tetri Giorgi paramilitary unit.

After the coup against the Menshevik government, the Bolsheviks established the Revolutionary Committee under Philipe Makharadze as the supreme authority in Georgia. In February 1922, first congress of Soviets of Georgia was summoned in Tbilisi and adopted the Constitution of the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic. The new authorities struggled to establish themselves as a guerilla war began in various regions. In the summer of 1921, a rebellion in Svaneti was harshly suppressed but instigated further anti-Bolshevik outbreaks. In 1922, guerrilla units, led by Kakutsa Cholokashvili and his shepitsulebi (men of the oath), operated in Kartli, Guria, Khevsureti, Kakheti and Mingrelia. The same year, Georgian political parties united their efforts forming an Independence Committtee and a host of regional organizations. However, the underground organization had been penetrated by the secret police and, in February 1923, police arrested committeee members and shut down the underground press. In the subsequent repriasals, hundreds Georgians, including Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia Ambrosi, were arrested and exiled, numerous churches and monasteries closed. In August 1924, a major uprising began in Georgia but lack of organization and ineffective cooperation between the rebels precipitated their defeat in bloody clashes with the Soviet authorities. The uprising was ruthlessly crushed and the Bolsheviks seized an opportunity to exterminate any potential threats, exiling or executing hundreds.

The sovietization of Georgia under Joseph Stalin and Sergo Ordzhonikidze was so brutal that even Lenin opposed its radicalism in the so-called Georgian Affair, but the process continued after his death unabated. Collectivization was carried out ruthlessly throughout the 1920s and, in the 1930s, widespread purges of Georgian society were perpetrated by Stalin’s local lieutenant Lavrentii Beria, head of the Soviet state security apparatus in Georgia. The impact of sovietization on the Georgian culture and social environment was severe and it inculcated a conformist tendency with the Soviet Communist Party among the survivors. Between 1922 and 1936, Georgia was part of the Transcaucasian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic (ZKFSR), which also included the neighboring Armenia and Azerbaijan. In 1936, the new Constitution of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) made Georgia one of the constituent republics of the USSR.

Despite its oppressive nature, the new Soviet regime also brought rapid development of Georgian science, culture and economy. Georgia’s agricultural output greatly increased and new industrial facilities were built in Rustavi, Chiatura, Zestaponi, Batumi, Tkibuli and others towns. Several hydro-electric stations, notably Zemo-Avchala and Rioni, were constructed and provided much-needed electricity. The railroad network was repaired and expanded throughout the country. After Tbilisi State University was established by the Menshevik government in 1918, the Soviet authorities founded the Georgian Polytechnic Institute, Georgian Agricultural Institute, Tbilisi Medical Institute, pedagogical institutes in Tbilisi, Kutaisi and Batumi, Institute of Mathematics, Institute of Physics, Tbilisi Academy of Arts, etc. In 1946, the Georgian Academy of Sciences was established as the premier center of scientific research in Georgia. In 1930-1934, universal mandatory education was introduced and three stage education system established.


Georgians in World War II

During the World War II, Georgia mobilized almost 700,000 Georgian residents (out of total population of 3.5 million), who served with the Red Army on all fronts of the war; some 350,000 of them perished in the war, exceeding the war losses of such major powers as the United States and Britain. Over 240,000 Georgians received various medals and orders for their actions during the war and 137 of them were conferred the highest award of the Hero of the USSR. The home front concentrated on the production of mineral resources and increased the output of manganese at the Chiatura mining plants, coal at Tkibuli and Tkvarcheli plants and metals at the Zestaponi factory. In 1941, Tbilisi Aviation Factory was established and began producing fighter planes for the Red Army. Georgia also served as an evacuation center for thousands of refugees from German-occupied areas in Byelorussia and Ukraine. In 1943, three Georgian divisions participated in vicious battles in the Crimea and the Caucasus and several Georgian officers rose to prominence, among them Konstantine Leselidze, Vladimir Naneishvili, Ermaloz Koberidze, Porpirius Chanchibadze, etc. Georgians also took active part in the guerilla warfare and commanded units throughout western USSR and Eastern Europe, notably David Bakradze, Ivane Shubitidze and Vladimir Talakvadze’s units in Ukraine and Byelorussia, those of Vladimir Dzneladze and Shalva Kobiashvili in Poland, of Stefane Khatiashvili, Nikoloz Tabagua and Otar Chkhenkeli in France, and of Pore Mosulishvili and Noe Kublashvili in Italy.

At the same time, the Georgians also fought in the ranks of the German Wehrmacht. The Georgian social-democrats, who escaped the rigors of sovietization in Georgia, rallied in Germany and, ignoring the dangers of German national socialism, they sought to use the German war machine to liberate Georgia. Members of the intelligentsia in Georgia also considered cooperating with the Nazi authorities in order to overthrow the Soviet regime. However, the Soviet secret service effectively suppressed them and, between 1941-1942, widespread arrests were made leading to the execution of ringleaders. In 1942-1943, as the number of captured Georgian troops increased, the German command established the so-called Georgian Legion under the leadership of Major General Shalva Maghlakelidze as part of the Eastern Legions (Ostlegionen). The Legion eventually consisted of 8 Georgian battalions participating in campaigns in the Caucasus, Ukraine and Byelorussia; one of them was later deployed on the strategic island of Texel in the German “Atlantic Wall,” where it fought what is often described as Europe's last battle in late May 1945.

After the war, the Soviet authorities intensified political repression on the Georgian intelligentsia, especially the dissident groups that demonstrated nationalistic tendencies. In 1948, several students of Tbilisi State University were arrested for conspiring against the Soviet government and nine of them were sentenced to 25 years in Siberia. On 25 December 1951, some 20,000 Georgians, who allegedly had acted against the Soviet regime, were loaded on railway wagons and resettled to desolate regions of northern Central Asia, where many of them died; the survivors managed to return to Georgia in 1954. In late 1951, at Stalin’s orders, the so-called Mingrelian Case was instigated against Lavrentii Beria and claimed many innocent Georgians who were accused of Mingrelian nationalism and anti-government activities.


Georgia in 1950s through 1970s

The death of Joseph Stalin led to a power struggle in the Kremlin. In the new triumvirate, the Georgian Beria enjoyed enormous power controlling the Ministries of Internal Affairs and of State Security. However, in June 1953, Beria was arrested on charges of foreign espionage and treason and executed. The new Soviet Premier Nikita Khurschev made key changes in the Communist leadership of Georgia, appointing his protégé Vasili Mzhavanadze as the secretary of the Central Committee of the Georgian Communist Party, dismissing the first secretaries in Batumi and Sukhumi and some 2,000 party officials in other positions. Stalin’s death also ushered in the so-called “Thaw” period in the USSR and Khruschev began de-Stalinization process. In February 1956, he made the famous speech at the 20th Congress of the Communist Party and denounced Stalin’s policies and the “cult of personality.” The speech was supposed to be secret but rumors about its content leaked.

To the majority of Soviet citizens such revelations came as a great surprise and it was particularly true in Georgia, where attacks on Stalin often stressed his ethnicity and gradually evolved into charges against the entire Georgian nation. The Georgian youth, raised under the Stalinist regime, came to idolize the late Soviet leader and Khruschev’s sudden criticism of Stalin was met with deep resentment. Following Khruschev’s speech, on 5 March 1956, a demonstration was organized near the Stalin monument on the bank of the Kura River to mark the third anniversary of Stalin’s death. The situation gradually spiraled out of control and the protesters rapidly grew in numbers, with their slogans becoming more and more radical. Students played an important role in mobilizing demonstrators and pushing a more nationalistic program of demands. As demonstrations paralyzed the entire Tbilisi, the Georgian Communist leadership was unable to cope with situation and turned to the Soviet military for help. On 9 March 1956, the Soviet armed forces opened fire and launched a bloody crackdown on protesters. The exact number of casualties remains unclear but estimates indicate some 150 killed and hundreds more wounded and arrested.

The event was quickly covered up without the rest of the Soviet Union learning about it for years. Following the events of 1956, the issues of the language and culture assumed unprecedented importance in Georgia, where Georgian sense of identity merged with the determination to preserve the Georgian language and culture from foreign domination. Immediately after the massacre, several national-patriotic groups were established. Merab Kostava and Zviad Gamsakhurdia organized the underground Gorgasliani, which began publishing anti-Soviet pamphlets and newspapers. Sighnaghi Youth Guard was set up in Kakheti and published several issues of Simebi, its antiestablishment journal. In 1960s, the Union for the Freedom and Independence of Georgia was established in Tbilisi with the main goal of proclaiming an independent democratic republic.

By the 1970s, the Georgian Communist Party had the highest percentage of members per capita of all the republican Communist Parties. Favoritism and political control facilitated the growth of black marketeering, speculation and corruption. According to the World Bank study, Georgia ranked twelfth poorest of the fifteen Soviet republics in terms of official per capita income, yet savings deposits per capita were sixth highest amongst the republics. Furthermore, bribe taking was rampant in the education system and, based on official statistics, Georgia had one of the highest numbers of advanced degrees awarded per thousand persons, especially in prestigious fields like medicine and law. Many Georgians joined the Party for no other reasons than careerism or opportunism. Party connections not only helped with promotion but also protected those involved in the shadow economy. In fact, the Georgian Communist Party had become so notoriously corrupt that even Leonid Brezhnev’ stagnant regime felt obliged to intervene and promote a new first secretary, Eduard Shevardnadze, to clean up its activities.

Shevardnadze's tenure as the first secretary (1972-1985) was marked by a vigorous, at times even ruthless, campaign against both corruption and political opposition. Shevardnadze succeeded in rising industrial and agricultural output and labor productivity in Georgia and, by 1980, Georgia was one of the few republics fulfilling its Five Year Plan targets. However, the emphasis on completion of state plans also resulted in rapid deterioration in the quality of Georgia products, especially tea and wine. Shevardnadze's efficient and heavy-handed methods were particularly effectively in disrupting the Georgian dissident movement, which posed no threat to Soviet power until Mikhail Gorbachev's reforms.


Rise of National Liberation Movement

The 1970s also saw a gradual development of the national-liberation movement led by Georgian dissidents, notably Zviad Gamsakhurdia and Merab Kostava. In 1974, the Action Group for Defense of Human Rights was established and, three years later, the Georgian Helsinki Group was founded. The power of Georgian nationalism was revealed in 1978, when the Soviet authorities decided to make an amendment to the Georgian constitution and remove an article affirming Georgian as the sole official state language of the republic. On 14 April 1978, thousands of Georgians rallied in the streets of Tbilisi and their numbers grew by the hour. As the situation escalated, First Secretary Eduard Shevardnadze personally met with demonstrators and negotiated a peaceful resolution of situation. The Soviet authorities decided against removing the disputed clause. The events clearly demonstrated the potency of Georgian nationalism and contributed to the increasing popularity of the national-liberation movement.

After Shevardnadze departed to Moscow to take up his post as Soviet foreign minister, his protégé, Jumber Patiashvili, took charge of the Georgian Communist Party. The all-Union policy of glasnost (openness) after 1985 meant that previously dormant nationalist aspirations among the Georgian people began to make themselves heard. By 1987, several groups which presented themselves as cultural but which had a strongly nationalist program had appeared. In fact, such was the popular support for unofficial groups demanding better protection for the environment or Georgian cultural monuments that the Communist Party authorities tried to establish their own parallel organizations to draw off support from the anti-establishment groups. Georgian intellectuals, especially members of the republican Writer’s Union, launched a campaign to assert national prerogatives in the face of perceived threats. They declared that as a result of the imposition of Russian as the medium of interethnic communication throughout the USSR, the Georgian language was denied its natural preeminence within home republic. Furthermore, they stressed that Georgians were forced to disregard their culture and adapt themselves constantly to the Russian language and Russian culture, which became a growing challenge for the minorities within the Republic.

The late 1980s saw dramatic events leading to the collapse of Soviet power in Eastern Europe. Communist authorities fell in Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Romania and Bulgaria and the process culminated in the unification of Germany in 1989. At the same time, national movements were on the rise within the Soviet Union, particularly in the Baltic States and the Transcaucasia. In November 1988, a massive demonstration gathered in front of government buildings on the Rustaveli Avenue in central Tbilisi protesting proposed amendments to the USSR constitution changing the status of the Georgian language and elevating Russian to the only state language of the republic. Although the amendments were soon dropped, the situation quickly escalated. Tensions between Georgians and Abkhazs spiraled out of control when the Abkhaz nationalists called for Abkhazian independence from Georgia in the early 1989. On 18 March 1989, the Popular Forum of Abkhazia (Aydgilara) organized a demonstration in Lykhny for the restoration of Abkhazia's status as an independent soviet socialist republic (SSR). In response, a series of rallies began on 25 March 1989 in Tbilisi and demands were made to contain the Abkhazian separatists; gradually the calls became more radical and eventually they also included the national independence of Georgia.


The 9th of April Tragedy

On 4 April 1989, some 150 Georgian nationalist activists began a hunger strike in front of the Supreme Soviet at Rustaveli Avenue. They demanded full independence for Georgia and complete integration of the Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia within Georgia. Two days later, tens of thousands went to the streets of the capital and demonstrated their solidarity. As the rallies increased in size, the Georgian authorities turned to the Soviet military for help. On 9 April 1989, demonstrators were attacked by Soviet troops and, in bloody fighting, 21 demonstrators, mostly women and teens, were killed while hundreds were left sick for weeks and months from toxic gases. The brutality of the Soviet forces against the peaceful demonstrators was recorded on tape and, when broadcasted later that year, it shocked the whole Soviet Union. The tragic events of April only intensified Georgian nationalism and gave greater credibility to the national-liberation movements. The nation united around the cause of independence and, in the months after the tragedy, hundreds of thousands rallied in the streets of Tbilisi, wearing black as a sign of grief and carrying national banners.

In response to the tragedy of 9 April, the Communist leadership of Georgia was replaced. The new First Secretary Givi Gumbaridze, who replaced Jumber Patiashvili, initially endeavored to calm down the situation but his attempts to delay the first free elections for the Georgian Supreme Soviet scheduled for October 1990 actually played into the hands of the opposition. The opposition parties organized the Committee of National Liberation, which united the Helsinki Union led by Zviad Gamsakhurdia (Kostava died in automobile accident in late 1989), National Democratic Party led by Giorgi Chanturia, Irakli Shengelaia’s Union of National Justice and Irakli Tsereteli’s National Independence Party. In March 1990, a special conference of opposition groups was summoned in Tbilisi and the National Forum was established. However, the opposition parties soon disagreed on a number of issues. More radical groups established Round Table-Free Georgia, uniting the Helsinki Union, Society of St. Ilia the Righteous, the Merab Kostava Society, Traditionalist Union, National-Liberal Union, etc. Other national groups formed a National Congress and began a new campaign for the national independence of Georgia.

In the elections of October 1990, the Round Table-Free Georgia bloc, led by Gamsakhurdia, won a majority of votes and formed the first non-Communist government of Georgia. Gamsakhurdia's supporters now held the majority in the Supreme Soviet and in practice the Communist and other deputies deferred to their proposals for constitutional change. On 14 November 1990, Zviad Gamsakhurdia was elected chairman of the new Georgian Supreme Soviet. The new Soviet began abolishing the vestiges of the Soviet authorities, adopted the first series of national laws and organized a special commission to draft the new constitution. In March 1991, Georgia boycotted the All-Soviet Union referendum on the preservation of the USSR and held its own referendum on the issue of secession from the Soviet Union, resulting in almost 90 percent voting in favor of independence. At 12:30 p.m. on 9 April 1991, the Supreme Soviet of Georgia adopted the Declaration of Independence of Georgia. Two months later, on 26 May 1991, Gamsakhurdia won the first contested direct elections for the presidency of Georgia, obtaining over 85 percent of the votes cast. It seemed that the goal of independent Georgian republic was finally achieved.


Historical Dictionary of Georgia
by Alexander Mikaberidze (Author)
Series: Historical Dictionaries of Europe (Book 50)
Hardcover: 784 pages
Publisher: Scarecrow Press (March 16, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-13: 978-0810855809
ISBN-10: 0810855801

The revolutionary upheaval of 1917 in Russia and the collapse of the imperial government created unexpected conditions for the outlying regions. In February 1917, leading Georgian political parties gathered in Tbilisi where the necessity to declare independence became clear. The Russian Provisional Government established the Special Transcaucasian Committee (Ozakom) to govern the region. In November 1917, the first government of the independent Transcaucasia was created in Tbilisi as the Transcaucasian Commissariat replaced Ozakom following the Bolshevik seizure of power in St. Petersburg. Headed by the Georgian Social Democrat Evgeni Gegechkori, the Transcaucasian Commissariat was anti-Bolshevik in its political goals and sought the separation of Transcaucasia from Bolshevik Russia.

In late 1917 and early 1918, the Commissariat took measures to suppress the Bolshevik influence in Georgia and ordered the seizure of the Tbilisi arsenal, the disarming of pro-Bolshevik troops, the closure of Bolshevik newspapers, etc. Among other reforms were the Commissariat’s decree on land, the abolition of social distinction, changes in labor conditions and the circulation of currency (bonds). In February 1918, the Transcaucasian Commissariat surrendered its authority to the Transcaucasian Seim that was to oversee the secession of Transcaucasia from Soviet Russia. Following the Trebizond Peace Talks with the Ottoman Empire, the Transcaucasian Seim proclaimed the establishment of the Transcaucasian Federation that united Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan. However, facing the renewed Ottoman attacks and hoping for German help, Georgia soon ceded from the Federation and the Declaration of Independence was adopted by the National Council of Georgia on 26 May 1918.

As the best organized and most numerous political party, the Social Democrats (Menshevik faction) organized the first government of independent Georgia. Based on a multiparty system, the newly established government also included the National-Democratic Party, Social-Federalists, Social-Revolutioneers and other political organizations. Although supporting internationalist ideology, the Social Democrats soon parted with their co-revolutioneers, both Mensheviks and Bolsheviks, in Russia. Thus, the actual ideological basis of the Democratic Republic of Georgia became European-style democratic socialism in contrast to the Russian model of socialism and it was oriented towards the middle classes of the Georgian society.

The newly-born Menshevik government faced challenges from every direction. Bolshevik uprisings were instigated in various regions, particularly in Abkhazia and Ossetia, where separatist calls were made. In May-July 1918, the Georgian forces under Giorgi Mazniashvili and Valiko Jugheli defeated the insurgents and restored the central authority in Abkhazia. In 1919-1920, similar oubursts of separatism were suppressed in Ossetia. In the south, Armenian forces contested the Georgian control of the Lori region in December 1918 but were routed the following year. In Akhaltsikhe and Akhalkalaki regions, the Ottomans instigated another series of separatist movements but the insurgents were crushed by General Giorgi Kvinitadze in 1919.

The independence of Georgia was recognized by Soviet Russia on 7 May 1920 and a special treaty was signed between Tbilisi and Moscow with the consent of the Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin. This act was followed by de jure recognition by Germany, Turkey, Britain, France, Japan, Italy, etc. The three years of independence proved to be of great political and cultural significance. Major economic and educational reforms were implemented, more than a thousand schools were established, the national theater revived, Tbilisi State University, Tbilisi Opera and Conservatoire, Shota Rustaveli Theater were established. However, despite its initial success, the fledgling Georgian republic had no chance of succeeding because, as the Bolshevik government in Russia emerged victorious out of the Civil War in 1919, it turned its attention to the Transcaucasia.


Historical Dictionary of Georgia
by Alexander Mikaberidze (Author)
Series: Historical Dictionaries of Europe (Book 50)
Hardcover: 784 pages
Publisher: Scarecrow Press (March 16, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-13: 978-0810855809
ISBN-10: 0810855801

The Russian tsarist regime was thus established in Georgia. The country was divided into uezds (districts) with Russian officials responsible for maintaining law and order and Russian declared the official language of the country. However, the oppressive rule quickly led to successive uprisings. In 1802-1804, rebellions flared up in Mtiuleti, spreading to Samachablo, Pshavi, Khevsureti, and parts of Kakheti. During the Kakhetian uprising of 1812, Prince Alexander Batonishvili was proclaimed king of Georgia, but the insurgents were soon suppressed. Large peasant uprisings took place in Imereti in 1819-1820, Guria in 1841 and Mingrelia in 1856-1857. Many Georgian nobles, however, became content with their equalization in rights with the Russian aristocracy and entered Russian military service, often reaching the highest ranks. The Commander of the Caucasus Prince Paul Tsitsianov himself was the scion of the noble Georgian family of Tsitsishvili and governed the region in 1802-1806.

By the mid-19th century, Georgia was divided into two major provinces, the Tiflisskaia gubernia (Tbilisi province) comprised of nine uezds (Tbilisi, Gori, Telavi, Signaghi, Tianeti, Dusheti, Borchalo, Akhaltsikhe and Akhalkalaki) and one okrug (region) of Zakatala; and the Kutaisskaia gubernia (Kutaisi province), which initially included three uezds (Kutaisi, Shorapani and Racha) but later incorporated the districts of Ozurgeti, Zugdidi, Senaki, Lechkhumi and Sukhumi. Throughout the 19th century, the Russian Empire, seeking to extend its territory southward, was engaged in bitter conflict with the Ottomans. Defeats in the Russo-Turkish wars of 1806-1812 and of 1828-1829 forced the Ottoman Empire to surrender the historical Georgian provinces of Meskheti and Javakheti. After the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878, the Batumi region (Batumskii okrug) was annexed to Kutaisi province. Between 1878 and 1918, several other territories of the medieval Kingdom of Georgia were also incorporated and the Russian Empire, thus, inadvertently accomplished “the gathering of the Georgian lands,” the dream that guided so many Georgian kings. Georgia was initially governed by the civilian governor general, who was assisted by three departments of state, criminal and civil cases and the assembly of local nobility (sakrebulo). In 1844, this system was thoroughly revised and the governor general was replaced by namestnik or viceroy of the Russian emperor, who was given unlimited authority in the region.

The governorships of Mikhail Vorontsov (1845-1854) and the Grand Duke Michael (1862-1882) were periods of relative prosperity, educational encouragement and commercial development. Vorontsov was especially instrumental economic development of the region. He solved the divisive problem of who qualified for nobility and confirmed noble status of many claimants and granted the nobles some privileges, which encouraged them to support him and the Russian administration in general. Vorontsov helped establish the free transit of European goods and lower tariffs for imports that helped revive trade. He helped found glass, textile and silk plants and played important role in the transformation of Tbilisi into a Western-style town. On his orders, new buildings, wide avenues and squares were constructed in the old part of Tbilisi and first Georgian and Russian theaters and public library were opened between 1846 and 1850. The Russian authorities, however, established and funded a number of schools and hospitals, greatly improved communications and allowed new generations of the Georgian nobles to study in Russian and European universities. The presence of the Russian troops ended the century-long incursions of the Ottoman, Persian and the North Caucasian forces and brought relative peace and stability to the entire country.

The Russian rule also had a sinister side. The Imperial government considered Georgia a colony that was to supply raw materials and was reluctant to develop major industries in the region. Its authorities often attempted to populate Georgian provinces with loyal colonists and a Christian but non-Georgian population (Armenians, Greeks, Germans, Russian religious minorities) that was settled in Meskheti, Javakheti, Adjara, etc. In Abkhazia and Ossetia, north Caucasian tribes were allowed to move across the mountains to the fertile lowlands. By 1856, over 20 Russian military colonies were established throughout Georgia. Cultural repression became an especial cause of resentment and the suppression of the Georgian Orthodox Church in 1811 turned into a rallying cry for national loyalties. In 1830-1832, a conspiracy of Georgian nobles made the last attempt to throw off Russian rule in Georgia, but it was betrayed and, with its fall, all hopes of a Bagratid restoration ended.

The late 19th century was marked by the intensification of Pan-Slavist policies that proved ominous for the non-Russian minorities. The Russian officials never recognized the existence of a single Georgian nation and instead contrived various ethnic groups of “Kartvelian origin.” In 1872, the Russian government banned the use of the Georgian for instruction. In an effort to weaken the nationalist revival, it also tried a subtler plan of introducing teaching in the primary schools and public worship in other Kartvelian languages, Megrelian and Svan, which had never before been used for these purposes. The fulfillment of this design would have meant the fragmenting of national unity. Although the Georgian intelligentsia succeeded in undermining this policy, it appeared less successful in Abkhazia, where Russian liturgy and education resulted in the gradual Russification of the local population, which shared a common historical and cultural heritage with the Georgians.

The social structure of Georgian society also changed. In 1861, serfdom was abolished in Russia and, after prolonged preparations, the peasant reform was implemented in Kartli-Kakheti in 1864, in Imereti in 1865, in Mingrelia in 1867, in Abkhazia in 1870, and in Svaneti in 1871. The reform made things harder for the peasantry that lost lands and suffered under higher taxes. The Georgian middle class and nobility was also disgruntled since the bureaucracy in Georgia was usually staffed by Russians, Russified Germans and Poles while trade remained the monopoly of the Armenians. The latter fact led to the economic dominance of the Armenians and caused ethnic-based tensions with the impoverished Georgian nobility, who still had a feudal mentality but became dependent on Armenian creditors and blamed them for many misfortunes.

Despite the Russian oppression, Georgian scholarship and literature still enjoyed a revival and greatly contributed to the emergence of a national consciousness. Alexander Chavchavadze, Grigol Orbeliani, Nikoloz Baratashvili and others introduced Romanticism into Georgian literature and had close contacts with their Russian colleagues, including Alexander Griboyedov, Alexander Pushkin, Mikhail Lermontov, Leo Tolstoy, etc. In the late 19th century, the Tergdaleulni group, the young men who crossed the Tergi (Terek) River to study in Russia, played a significant role in these processes as Ilia Chavchavadze, Akaki Tsereteli, Niko Nikoladze and others devoted their efforts to awaken the Georgian national awareness and bring about reforms in society. The Society for Advancement of Literacy Among the Georgians proved effective in its campaign for the revitalization of the Georgian language and culture. This period saw an expansion in the number of Georgian magazines, books and newspapers being published while the works of Ilia Chavchavadze, Akaki Tsereteli, Rapiel Eristavi, Giorgi Tsereteli, Alexandre Kazbegi, Vazha Pshavela and others raised Georgian literature to new heights.

By the late 19th century, migration from rural areas and the growth of manufacturing had generated a fairly large and cohesive working class. Georgia was greatly affected by the industrial crisis of the early 20th century and thousands of men lost their jobs. As social and political conditions deteriorated, people became more susceptible to revolutionary causes and the political culture evolved rapidly. The population of western Georgia was politically more active than in other regions and Guria, in spite of large peasant population, was particularly seized by social democratic ideas. Among the rising political factions was the social-democratic Mesame Dasi, established in 1892-1893, to propagate Western European social democratic ideals. Initially influenced by the Russian revolutionaries, especially by the ideas of Vladimir Lenin, the Georgian social democrats eventually espoused less radical approach and, in a subsequent split between the Bolsheviks and Mensheviks, Georgia became a Menshevik stronghold.

In 1901-1904, several strikes and demonstrations were organized in Tbilisi and Batumi. The growing revolutionary movement led to the amalgamation of social-democratic organizations and Congress of Caucasian Social-Democratic Organizations was held in March 1903 and established the Caucasian Joint Committee of the Russian Social-Democratic Worker's Party (RSDRP). After the second congress, the members of the Mesame Dasi took a Menshevik stand and opposed the more revolutionary-minded Bolsheviks. In January 1905, a major strike in Tbilisi spread to other industrial centers, including Kutaisi, Poti, Tkibuli, Chiatura and Shorapani, and threatened to grow into a general uprising before it was brutally suppressed. Hundreds of Georgian activists were arrested and exiled. In 1904-1909, Georgian social democrats organized massive support among workers and peasants, especially in Guria, which became a hotbed of revolutionary activities.

In 1905, facing increasing revolutionary activity, the Imperial government made a series of concessions. The State Duma was summoned in St. Petersburg and a Georgian delegation of deputies, including Noe Zhordania, Isidore Ramishvili, Joseph Baratashvili and others, attended its sessions. Emperor Nicholas II also restored the position of viceroy of Georgia and appointed Count Vorontsov-Dashkov, giving him extended military and civil authority. Georgian social democrats were persecuted and many of them arrested and exiled. One of the most historic events of this period was the assassination of Ilia Chavchavadze near Tsitsamuri on 30 August 1907, which shocked the entire nation. In 1910, another cycle of strikes began and the revolutionary movement gained momentum in 1913, when the workers of the Chiatura manganese mines were joined by their comrades in Zestaponi, Batumi and Poti. By 1914, Tbilisi and other industrial centers in Transcaucasia were on strike. The spread of the revolution was briefly halted by the outbreak of World War I, but as the war dragged on, revolutionary sentiments spread among the troops as well.


Historical Dictionary of Georgia
by Alexander Mikaberidze (Author)
Series: Historical Dictionaries of Europe (Book 50)
Hardcover: 784 pages
Publisher: Scarecrow Press (March 16, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-13: 978-0810855809
ISBN-10: 0810855801

The 15th century brought dramatic changes to the geopolitical situation of Georgia, as a new powerful state of the Ottoman Turks emerged in Anatolia. In 1453, they finally captured Constantinople and destroyed the Byzantine Empire. Another Christian power and former Georgian ally, the Empire of Trebizond, fell in 1461 while the Khanate of the Crimea was established as an Ottoman vassal in 1475. Georgia thus found itself surrounded by hostile powers in every direction and was isolated from new international trade routes and direct contacts with European culture. Continuous raids and incursions destroyed the local economy, commerce and crafts fell into decay and some cities disappeared. The separatist tendencies of individual feudal lords increased and the disintegration process accelerated. In Western Georgia, the Kingdom of Imereti waned and the principalities of Odishi, Svaneti, Guria and Abkhazia emerged.

In the late 15th century, the powerful confederations of the Aq-Qoyunlu and Qara-Qoyunlu Turkman tribes launched numerous raids against Georgia that earned their leaders the title of ghazi and enormous wealth. However, internal dissension soon weakened them and the Aq-Qoyunlu were defeated by the Qizilbash led by Ismail Safavid in early 16th century. The new century saw Georgia once again in the precarious middle ground between two powerful enemies, the Ottoman Turks to the west and the Persian Safavids to the east. Shah Ismail I (1501-24), the founder of the Safavid dynasty of Persia, led many raiding expeditions into Georgia in 1510s. His successor Shah Tahmasp I (1524-76) fought four major campaigns against Georgia in 1540-1554 and began the systematic extension of his control over eastern Caucasia. King Luarsab I (1527-1556) of Kartli led local resistance and won an important victory over the Persian army at Garisi in 1556, although he personally died in action. Persian campaigns resulted in the resettlement of a large numbers of Georgians to Persia, whose subsequent role in the Persian army and civil administration led to significant changes in the character of Safavid society.

The Persian-Ottoman struggle for the control of the Caucasus was temporarily interrupted by the Treaty of Amassia in 1555. The peace agreement divided the region between the two rivals, with Kartli, Kakheti, and eastern Samtskhe in the Persian sphere of influence, and western Georgia and western Samtskhe under the Ottomans. Safavids tightened their predominance in eastern Georgia by imposing Persian social and political institutions and appointing Georgian converts to Islam to the leading positions in Kartli and Kakheti. King Simon I attempts to resist proved futile when he was betrayed and captured in 1569. He was released only nine years later when the Persians suffered reverses at the hands of the Ottomans. In 1578, Simon’s energetic actions led to the liberation of key fortresses, including Tbilisi. In 1582, the Georgians routed a large Ottoman army on the Mukhrani Valley and, six years later, King Simon negotiated a peace treaty with the Ottomans, who recognized him as the Christian king of Kartli and pledged not to interfere in his affairs. Simon then turned to his quest of uniting Georgia and campaigned twice in Imereti in 1588-1590. Despite his initial successes, he ultimately failed in this ambition. In 1595, he joined an anti-Ottoman alliance, but was defeated and captured at Nakhiduri in 1600, spending the rest of his life at the Yedikule Kapi prison in Istanbul.

Meanwhile, the rulers of Kakheti preferred diplomatic solutions to conflicts and were prepared to make concessions and pay tribute to avoid open confrontation. King Alexander of Kakheti (1476-1511) negotiated with his enemies and often agreed to recognize their supremacy and pay a small tribute, saving his realm from destruction. He became the first Georgian ruler to establish formal diplomatic contacts with the Russian principalities when, in 1483 and 1491, he dispatched two embassies to Grand Duke Ivan III of Moscow. In 1563, King Levan of Kakheti (1518-1574) appealed to the Russian rulers to take his kingdom under their protection. Tsar Ivan the Terrible responded by sending a Russian detachment to Georgia, but Levan, pressured by Persia, had to turn these troops back. King Alexander II (1574-1605) also appealed for Russian support against the Persians and the Ottomans. In September 1587, he negotiated the Book of Pledge, forming an alliance between Georgian and Russian kingdoms. However, as the Times of Troubles began in Russia, Georgian principalities could not count on foreign assistance in their struggle for independence.

Western Georgia was also in disarray with local principalities feuding with each other and often assisting the Ottomans in their conquests. Thus, Atabeg Mzechabuk of Samtskhe allowed the Ottoman troops to pass through his realm to attack his rival King Bagrat (1510-1565) of Imereti in 1510. The latter responded with a punitive expedition against Samtskhe in 1535, when he annexed this region to Imereti. Local nobles then invited the Ottomans to drive the Imeretians out of Samtskhe and King Bagrat was defeated in the decisive battle at Sokhoistas in 1545. The Turks began introducing Turkish customs and converting the local population of Samtskhe Saatabago, which soon turned into the Gurjistan vilayet of the Ottoman Empire. Thus, the Georgian regions of Samtskhe, Adjara and Chaneti remained under Ottoman dominance for the next three centuries.

In the 17th century, Persia emerged as a powerful state under the capable leadership of Shah Abbas I of the Safavid dynasty. Persians successfully engaged the Turks in southern Transcaucasia, gradually replacing the Ottoman yoke with that of Persia. Attempts of Giorgi Saakadze, the great mouravi of Kartli, to unite Georgian forces against foreign threats failed due to the internal feuds of nobility and he was forced to flee to Persia. In 1614-1617, Shah Abbas I launched several campaigns against Kakheti, razing numerous towns, fortresses and monasteries; some 200,000 Georgians were taken into captivity and resettled into Persia, where they helped to develop the local agriculture and industry. Shah Abbas sought to populate the eastern Georgian principalities with the Turkoman tribes and turn them into dependable bulwarks. In 1625, Giorgi Saakadze raised a rebellion in Kartli and annihilated a Persian army in the battle of Martkopi on 25 March. He then quickly captured Tbilisi and campaigned in Kakheti, Ganja-Karabagh and Akhaltsikhe. King Teimuraz I of Kakheti was invited to take the crown of Kartli and, thereby, both principalities were united. Although the Georgians suffered a defeat in the subsequent battle of Marabda in late 1625, Saakadze turned to guerrilla war, eliminating some 12,000 Persians in the Ksani Valley alone. His successful resistance frustrated Shah Abbas’ plans of destroying the Georgian states and setting up Qizilbash khanates on Georgian territory. Failing to win a war, Shah Abbas turned to diplomacy, reviving feuds between the Georgian nobles, which led to a civil war in the fall of 1626.

From 1632 to 1744, the Persian shahs ruled Kartli through Georgian walis or viceroys, who established relative peace and prosperity in the country, especially during the reign of Rostom Khan (1634-1658), who was brought up in Persia, served as qullar-aghasi (commander of the Persian guard) and introduced many Persian manners and tradition to Kartli. He was succeeded by his son Vakhtang (Shah Nawaz I), who continued his father’s Persophile policy. In Kakheti, the Persian policies of settling Qizilbash tribes soon backfired causing the Bakhtrioni rebellion led by Eristavs Shalva and Elizbar of Ksani and Prince Bidzina Choloqashvili in 1659-1660, which drove the Qizilbash tribes out of Kakheti. Meantime, the part played by the Georgians in the political and social life of Persia also increased. Shah Abbas’ successors often owed their thrones to the support of the Georgians ghulams who occupied key military and court positions.

In the 18th century, the political situation in Georgia improved relatively. During the reign of King Vakhtang VI (1703-1724) of Kartli, depopulated lands were resettled, irrigation canals and roads repaired and commerce and crafts revived and expanded. In 1709, a printing press - the first in the Transcaucasia - opened in Tbilisi. Three years later, Shota Rustaveli’s epic poem The Knight in the Tiger’s Skin was printed for the first time. The king was assisted in his reforms by Sulkhan-Saba Orbeliani (1658-1725), an outstanding figure in the history of Georgia, whose humanistic ideas left an indelible trace on the Georgian culture. Orbeliani produced the first dictionary of the Georgian language, Sitkvis kona, which still remains relevant today, and authored many didactic fables, including Sibrdzne Sitsruisa and Stsavlani. One of the greatest academic achievements of this period was the establishment of a commission of scholars to collect historical documents and manuscripts. The commission compiled documents on the history of Georgia from the 14th to the 18th century into Akhali Kartlis Tskovreba while Prince Vakhushti Bagration’s Description of Georgia laid foundation for the critical study of Georgian history.

After the Afghan victory at Gulnabad in 1722, the Persian Shah Husayn sought help from King Vakhtang, but in November 1721, the latter negotiated a joint military operation against Persia with Tsar Peter the Great of Russia. The Russian army reached Darband but then returned to Russia, leaving Georgia to face Persian retaliation. The Ottomans, taking advantage of the turmoil in eastern Georgia, also marched into Kartli the same year. The deposed King Vakhtang fled to Russia with a retinue of 1,400 men in August 1724. The same year, the Russo-Turkish Treaty was concluded in Istanbul according to which Russia kept Daghestan and the narrow strip of the Caspian coastline, while Turkey obtained virtually all of Transcaucasia. In 1728, the Ottoman authorities divided Kartli between the Georgian nobles, whose constant feuding made it easy for the Ottomans to control them. The period of Turkish domination (1723-1735), known as Osmaloba in Georgia, resulted in a heavy tax burden on the population and led to a rapid deterioration of the local economy and cultural life.

In 1735, Nadir Khan, a maverick Persian commander, launched his conquest of Transcaucasia and was assisted by some Georgian nobles, among which Prince Teimuraz of Kakheti had the most importance and privileges. Georgian hopes of gaining independence by turning Persia against the Turks were dashed when Nadir, who crowned himself shah in 1736, began establishing a Persian administration in eastern Georgia. Thus, the Osmaloba was replaced by the Qizilbashoba or the Persian yoke. The exorbitant taxes, levied by Nadir Shah, soon provoked an uprising in Kartli and Kakheti, forcing the shah to make concessions. In 1744, he gave the throne of Kakheti to Teimuraz II and that of Kartli to his son Erekle II. On 1 October 1745, the Svetitskhoveli Cathedral held the first Christian coronation of a Georgian king in over a century.

The death of Nadir Shah in 1747 led to a civil war in Persia allowing Kings Teimuraz and Erekle to secure a respite for eastern Georgia. Their reign proved to be one of the more successful periods in the history of Georgia. Both kings conducted numerous expeditions into Transcaucasia and played an important role in the ongoing civil strife in Persia. In 1752, King Erekle routed the Afghan Azad Khan, a rival of the Persian Zand dynasty, near Yerivan and later captured him at Kazakh in 1760. Georgians successfully campaigned in Armenia in 1765, 1770 and 1780 and drove back the annual incursions of the raiding bands from Daghestan. In 1762, after the death of Teimuraz II, Erekle proclaimed himself King of Kartli and Kakheti, thereby uniting eastern Georgia. The reign of King Erekle revived the country, as measures were taken to settle the depopulated areas and restore industry and trade. Erekle strove to introduce Western-style industry in Georgia, inviting specialists from Europe and sending Georgians abroad to master various trades.

In spite of this success, the situation in Georgia remained precarious and Georgian monarchs continued to seek assistance from Russia. King Teimuraz traveled to Russia in 1760, but arrived a few days after the death of the Empress Elizabeth and could not negotiate in the ensuing turmoil at the Romanov court. King Erekle was more successful in his rapprochement with Russia. At the beginning of the Russo-Turkish War in 1769, a Russian force, under the command of General Totleben, arrived in Georgia and a joint Russo-Georgian campaign was planned to seize the Akhaltsikhe vilayet. In 1770, the Russian and Georgian troops besieged the Atskuri fortress but during the fighting Totleben deserted the Georgians on the battlefield and withdrew his troops. Nevertheless, on 20 April 1770, Erekle won a decisive victory over the Turks near Aspindza and, with King Solomon I of Imereti, he besieged the key fortress of Akhalkalaki. The Russo-Turkish Treaty of Küčük-Kaynardja of 1774 brought no territorial change to the lands of Georgia, but the Porte renounced the tribute it collected from Georgia. To prevent any future foreign threats, King Erekle appealed to St. Petersburg for protectorate and the treaty between Georgia and Russia was signed on 24 July, 1783 at Georgievsk. According to this document, the Kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti recognized the supremacy of the Russian rulers, who, in turn, pledged to safeguard the unity of the kingdom. King Erekle II and his heirs were guaranteed the throne and the Georgian church was allowed to remain independent.

The Russian orientation of Erekle II and the arrival of Russian troops in Georgia alarmed the neighboring powers. The Ottoman Empire sought to have the Treaty of Georgievsk annulled and instigated the devastating incursions of Omar Khan of Avaria in 1785. Two years later, the Porte presented Russia with an ultimatum, demanding the withdrawal of Russian troops from Georgia and later that year, it declared war. Russia faced a precarious situation, fighting on several fronts against Sweden, Turkey and Poland. In these circumstances, the St. Petersburg court was unable to fulfill the terms of the Treaty of Georgievsk and recalled Russian forces from Georgia.

During this period, the Qajar dynasty had ascended the throne of Persia and Agha Muhammad Khan brought most of the Persian lands under his sway. He demanded from King Erekle II to denounce the Treaty of Georgievsk and recognize Persian suzerainty. Erekle refused the Persian ultimatum, remaining faithful to the alliance with Russia. Nevertheless, the latter did not send any troops to support her ally and left the Georgians alone in the face of Persian aggression. In early fall of 1795, Agha Muhammad Khan attacked eastern Georgia, where King Erekle made a desperate attempt to halt the invaders but managed to rally only some 5,000 men against 35,000 Persians. In a pitched battle at Krtsanisi on 11 September 1795, the Georgian forces were defeated and Tbilisi was taken and pillaged in dreadful fashion. The Persian invasion was followed by the Daghestanian raids that further devastated Kartli-Kakheti. In response to Erekle’s pleas for help, two Russian battalions finally arrived in Georgia in late 1795 and Russia declared war on Persia in March 1796. However, in November, Empress Catherine II died and her son Paul I recalled the Russian troops from Transcaucasia at once. Agha Muhammad Khan set out for Georgia again but was assassinated near Shusha in June 1797.

The death of King Erekle on 23 January 1798 was a turning point in the history of eastern Georgia. His successor, King Giorgi XII, proved to be a feeble and incompetent ruler and dynastic intrigues undermined the crown. In September 1801, following the death of King Giorgi and in complete breach of the Treaty of Georgievsk, Emperor Alexander of Russia unilaterally abolished the Georgian kingdoms of Kartli-Kakheti and had them annexed to the empire as gubernias (province). The Bagrationi royal family was detained and exiled, and the autocephaly of the Georgian church abolished.

Western Georgia remained under the Ottoman influence throughout the 17th-18th century and Georgian rulers incessantly sought ways to reduce foreign encroachments. In 1703, a large Ottoman army occupied Imereti, Guria and Mingrelia but subsequent turmoil in the Ottoman empire helped the Georgian to drive them back. However, Ottoman garrisons remained in strategic places and along the coastline. In 1738, King Alexander V of Imereti unsuccessfully tried to gain military support from Russia. As the royal authority declined, grand nobles (tavadis) gained in power and their incessant intrigues and struggles only weakened western Georgian principalities. In 1752, Solomon I ascended the Imeretian throne. Surrounding himself with lesser tavadis and aznaurs, he sought to curb the power of great nobles and drive the Ottoman forces out of western Georgia. On 14 December 1757, he gained a decisive victory over the Ottoman army at Khresili, and the following year, he negotiated a military alliance with Kartli-Kakheti. In 1759, he prohibited the slave trade, perpetuated by many nobles, and ruthlessly persecuted any disobedient elements.

Solomon’s far-reaching policies soon produced results and led to a temporary peace with the Ottoman Empire in 1767. The following year, the Imeretian king appealed to Russia for help against the Turks. Although a Russian detachment under General Gotlib Totleben arrived in Imereti in late 1769, the Russian involvement produced no result by the time they left three years later. In 1770s, the united forces of Imereti and Mingrelia repelled several Ottoman invasions and celebrated victories at the Chkherimela River (1774) and Rukhi (1779). Solomon I’s death in 1784 led to a struggle for the crown that continued for five years and destabilized western Georgia. The new Imeretian king, Solomon II, faced serious problems both within his realm and from abroad. Great nobles continued to defy his authority and Solomon II’s attempts to extend his power to the rest of western Georgia only antagonized the powerful rulers of Mingrelia and Guria. In 1803-1809, the western Georgian principalities were annexed to the Russian Empire while the kingdom of Imereti was taken by force of arms in 1810, when the last Bagration ruler, King Solomon II, was forced into exile in the Ottoman Empire. The remaining principalities had no other choice but to enter the empire to preserve some vestiges of autonomy, with Guria until 1828, Mingrelia until 1857, Svaneti until 1858 and Abkhazia until 1864.


Historical Dictionary of Georgia
by Alexander Mikaberidze (Author)
Series: Historical Dictionaries of Europe (Book 50)
Hardcover: 784 pages
Publisher: Scarecrow Press (March 16, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-13: 978-0810855809
ISBN-10: 0810855801

Georgia’s golden age ended in the early 13th century with the arrival of the Mongol hordes led by Chenghiz Khan. Following their conquest of China and southeastern Asian states, the Mongols attacked Khwarazm in Central Asia. Chenghiz Khan then dispatched a Mongolian corps on a reconnaissance mission to the east. The Georgian army under King Giorgi IV Lasha, the son of Queen Tamar, suffered a defeat but it had no immediate effect because the Mongols quickly left Georgia and moved across the Caucasus Mountains. More significant in its consequences was the arrival of Prince Jalal al-Din, the son of the last ruler of Khwarazm, who was defeated by the Mongols and now led his Khwarasmian army to Transcaucasia.

The Kingdom of Georgia itself was torn by internal dissent and was unprepared for such an ordeal. The struggle between the nobility and the crown increased. In 1222, King Giorgi appointed his sister Rusudan as a co-regent and died later that year. Queen Rusudan (1223-1245) proved a less capable ruler and domestic discord intensified on the eve of foreign invasion. In 1225, at the head of an army of some 200,000 Turkmens and various mercenaries, Jalal al-Din invaded Georgia and defeated the 70,000 strong Georgian-Armenian army commanded by Ivane Mkhargrdzeli at Garhni in November 1225. This was followed by the capture of Tbilisi, where a frightful massacre of tens of thousands of Christians ensued. Jalal al-Din continued devastating Georgian and Armenian regions until 1230, when the Mongols finally defeated him. His continuous raids and devastations brought not only mass destruction of human life and property, but also famine and pestilence which seriously weakened Georgia and left it without any resources to defend itself from attackers at the very moment when it was needed the most.

In 1235-1236, Mongol forces, unlike their first raid in 1221, appeared with the sole purpose of conquest and occupation and easily overran the already devastated principalities of Armenia and Georgia. Queen Rusudan fled to the security of western Georgia, while the nobles secluded themselves in their fortresses. The Mongol conquest of eastern Georgia continued until 1242, when Georgian rulers finally gave in and accepted the Mongol yoke. The Mongols initially kept the Georgian monarchy and local administration intact but imposed monetary taxes and military duty. Following the death of Queen Rusudan in 1245, they reorganized the administrative division of Georgia and the neighboring countries. The south Caucasia formed a single administrative unit composed of five vilayets, with Georgia constituting the first or Gurjistani (Georgian) vilayet of eight tumans or districts, each required to provide 10,000 soldiers.

The Georgian aristocracy was discontented with the foreign oppression, but a conspiracy organized at Kokhtastavi had failed. The situation was further worsened by the lack of strong leadership because two candidates – the sons of King Lasha-Giorgi and Queen Rususan, both named David – claimed their rights to the Georgian throne. The Mongols took advantage of this circumstance to weaken Georgian opposition and recognized both candidates, appointing David, the son of King Giorgi IV, as ulu or senior and David, the son of Queen Rusudan, as narin or junior ruler.

After the accession of the Great Khan Mongke (1251-39), a thorough census was made of all parts of the empire in 1252-57 and Georgia was ordered to provide one soldier per nine souls for a total of 90,000 soldiers. New taxes were imposed on agriculture and industry. The establishment of the Mongol Il-Khanid state in 1256 brought another change to Georgia. Georgians were obliged to participate in military ventures of the Il-Khans on a regular basis, providing a specified number of troops. Georgian, and Armenian contingents fought in all the major Mongol campaigns in Syria, Iraq and Palestine from 1256 onward, distinguishing themselves during the assault on Baghdad in 1258 and in the campaigns against the Mamluks in 1259-1260s. This forced participation resulted in the deaths of thousands of Georgians and their absence from Georgia, where they were needed to protect their families and native land from persistent raids.

Heavy taxation and the burden of military service naturally led to disgruntlement and rebellion. Several uprisings, led by both Georgian kings, occurred between 1259 and 1261, but the Mongols suppressed all of them; King David Narin fled the persecution to western Georgia, where he established an independent kingdom, splitting the Georgian realm in half. Simultaneously, Georgia became a theater of war between the Il-Khans and yet another Mongol state, the Golden Horde, centered in the lower Volga. In 1265, Berke Khan (1257-66) of the Golden Horde invaded Georgia and ravaged the Iori and Mtkvari valleys as the Georgian troops fought for the Il-Khans against him.

The death of King David Ulu set in motion the nominal partition of Georgia into several principalities. King David Narin already claimed royal authority in western Georgia. The Mongols appointed David Ulu’s son Demetre II (1270-1289) as the king of eastern Georgia, but they also carved out the region of Samtskhe (in southwestern Georgia) and placed it under the direct control of the Il-Khans. In 1289, when Arghun Khan crushed a plot against him, he summoned King Demetre II, who had been wrongly implicated in the conspiracy. To avert destruction of his native land that was imminent if he refused, King Demetre rejected suggestions to flee to western Georgia and appeared in front of the khan, who had him tortured and executed on 12 March 1289. Such devotion to the national cause earned the king the title of tavdadebuli (self-sacrificing).

In the first half of the 14th century, King Giorgi V Brtskinvale (the Resplendent) (1314-1346) pursued a shrewd and flexible policy aimed at throwing off the Mongol yoke and restoring the Georgian kingdom. He established close relations with the Mongol khans and succeeded in acquiring authority to personally collect taxes on their behalf. Using Mongol force to his advantage, he suppressed defiant feudal lords and restored royal authority in western Georgia in 1329 and in Samtskhe five years later. He took advantage of the civil war in the Il-Khanate, where several khans were overthrown between 1335 and 1344, and drove the last remaining Mongol troops out of Georgia.

The respite from the foreign invasion proved to be brief. Barely recovering after the horror of the Black Death, Georgia was subjected to one of the most dreadful invasions yet as the Mongol warlord Timur (Tamerlane) began carving out his empire and invaded Georgia eight times in 1386-87, 1394-96 and 1399-1403. During the first Timurid invasion of 1386-87, Tbilisi was sacked and King Bagrat V (1360-1393) captured. The country had hardly recovered when Timur returned in 1394 and devastated central Kartli, despite efforts of the new King Giorgi VII (1393-1407). Two years later, King Georgi VII helped the neighboring Armenians and earned the wrath of Timur, who began the systematic destruction of southern Georgia in 1399. Tens of thousands of Georgians and Armenians were pressed into slavery and some Georgian regions were completely depopulated. However, the Georgians continued their struggle and King Giorgi VII refused to submit. Following his victory over the rising Ottoman state in 1402, Timur returned to Georgia again in 1403, spreading death and destruction to the already desolate countryside. Later that year, peace was finally signed between King Giorgi VII and Timur, removing the Mongolian warlord from Georgia for the last time.

Timur’s campaigns in Georgia wrought destruction on an unprecedented scale. Major cities lay in ruins and tens of thousands of Georgians were massacred or taken into captivity; incalculable losses were inflicted on property and livestock, while society was in disarray and the royal authority weakened. The burden of rebuilding the country fell on the shoulders of King Alexander I (1412-1442). He overcame the initial opposition of the powerful lords of Dadiani, Jakeli and Sharvashidze in 1412-1415, revived many towns and repaired monasteries and churches, including the Svetitskhoveli Cathedral and the Ruisi Monastery. In 1425, he established a temporary tax that remained in force for the next 15 years and helped to fund the rebuilding process. To increase the population of his realm, he encouraged the immigration of the Armenians, who enjoyed trading privileges in Georgia. He reorganized the Georgian Orthodox Church and provided large subsidies to repair and maintain Georgian monasteries in the Holy Land. King Alexander also pursued an aggressive foreign policy aimed at recovering the lost territories, expanding his sphere of influence into southern Armenia by 1435. However, his most crucial mistake was in appointing his sons to principal positions in the kingdom. These crown princes soon gained too much power and became surrounded by feuding factions of nobles who intrigued for the ultimate prize of placing their candidate on the throne. The last king of the united Kingdom of Georgia, Giorgi VIII (1446-1466), faced successive uprisings of powerful lords, most notable among them Atabeg Kvarkvare of Samtskhe and Eristavi Bagrat of Imereti, who defeated the royal armies at Chikhori (1463) and the Paravani Lake (1465). The last battle was particularly consequential because King Giorgi VIII himself was captured, an event that accelerated the breaking up of the united kingdom into separate principalities. Thus, by late 15th century, Georgia was split yet again into the three kingdoms of Kartli, Imereti and Kakheti and the independent Samtskhe Saatabago.


Historical Dictionary of Georgia
by Alexander Mikaberidze (Author)
Series: Historical Dictionaries of Europe (Book 50)
Hardcover: 784 pages
Publisher: Scarecrow Press (March 16, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-13: 978-0810855809
ISBN-10: 0810855801