Republic of Georgia (1990–1992)

Republic of Georgia საქართველოს რესპუბლიკა (Georgian) Sakartvelos Resp'ublik'a
1990–1992
Flag Coat of arms
Motto: ძალა ერთობაშია Dzala ertobashia "Strength is in Unity"
Anthem:  დიდება Dideba "Glory"
Georgia before December 1991 (De-jure)   De-facto borders in 1992
Capital	Tbilisi
Official languages	Georgian
Recognised regional languages	Abkhaz (in the Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia)
Government	Unitary parliamentary republic
President
• 1990–1992	Zviad Gamsakhurdia
Prime Minister
• 1990–1991	Tengiz Sigua
• 1991–1992	Besarion Gugushvili
Legislature	Supreme Council
Historical era	Post-Soviet era
• Proclamation of the Republic	14 November 1990
• Abolishment of the South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast	11 December 1990
• First South Ossetia War	5 January 1991
• Act of Restoration of State Independence of Georgia	9 April 1991
• Zviad Gamsakhurdia wins presidential election	26 May 1991
• The South Ossetia declares independence	28 November 1991
• Georgian Civil War	22 December 1991
• Coup d'état, establishment of the Military Council of Georgia	6 January 1992
Area
• Total	69,700 km2 (26,900 sq mi)
Currency	Russian ruble (RUB)
Time zone	GET
Calling code	+995
ISO 3166 code	GE
Preceded by Succeeded by Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic Military Council (Georgia) South Ossetia
Today part of	Georgia Abkhazia South Ossetia

The Republic of Georgia, was the governmental entity that under the presidency of Zviad Gamsakhurdia, ruled the Georgian SSR from 1990 up to the Act of Restoration of State Independence of Georgia on April 9, 1991, and from then on, it ruled Independent Georgia, up to January 1992, which is when it went through a coup d'état by pro-Soviet generals, which dissolved the government and replaced it with a Military Council.

In the USSR, Georgia was ruled by the Supreme Council of the Republic of Georgia (Georgian: საქართველოს რესპუბლიკას უმაღლესი საბჭოთა, romanized: Sakartvelos resp'ublikas umaghlesi sabch'ota). This council ended up with the majority in its elections being given to Round Table—Free Georgia. This was the first time in any union republic, where a non-Communist party got a majority in its Supreme Soviet.

Background

See also: History of Georgia (country)

Georgia's modern history begins with the independence of the Democratic Republic of Georgia in 1918. This state was established during the Russian Civil War, and drafted its own constitution on 21 February 1921, which was the first fundamental law to be made in the history of Georgia. However, from 12 February–17 March 1921, the DRG entered into a war with the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, which the DRG lost, and thus, it's government was toppled to make way for the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic.

On 30 December 1922, Georgia joined the Soviet Union, becoming a federal subject of the Transcaucasian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (TSFSR); a founding republic of the Soviet Union. But, from 28 August–5 September 1924, the Georgians rebelled in the August Uprising. The insurrection failed, and the TSFSR remained part of the USSR. On 5 December 1936, the TSFSR was split into its constituent states again: Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Following that, the Soviet Union began pursue a program of suppressing Georgian nationalism. Several Georgian territories were given to the SSRs of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Russia and neighboring Turkey. Adjara was turned into Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic due to being predominantly Muslim at the time, and due to the Treaty of Kars, of which saw Turkey settle borders with Transcaucasian states. That treaty also ceded Adjara to Georgia, however under the condition that Adjara was to be given autonomy. South Ossetia was given an autonomous oblast, on ethnic grounds due to loyalty in the Soviet invasion of Georgia.

Abkhazia was declared to be its own SSR due to the ethnic group of majority (the Abkhaz), had acquired the desire of self-determination, due to the Georgian Mensheviks acquiring the belief of chauvinism.

Georgian anti-nationalism became more pronounced after the death of Joseph Stalin in 1953. As Stalin was ethnically Georgian, his successor Nikita Khrushchev played an active role in reducing Georgian nationalist movements during the period of de-Stalinization. The emergence of a pro-independence party can be seen in the March 1956 demonstrations in the Georgian SSR, of which at first started as a response to the de-Stalinization policies Nikita was implementing, and eventually demands for change of the government of the USSR, and independence of Georgia from the USSR started appearing, and finally ended in tragedy with a police raid killing 22 people and injuring 47. This turning point in Georgia's Soviet history also saw the development of dissident movements in certain cultural circles, mainly in the 1960s. Among the most famous dissidents were musician Merab Kostava, writer Zviad Gamsakhurdia and others. Georgian nationalism was also victorious during the April 1978 demonstrations to protect the unique status of the Georgian language within the republic, demonstrations which nonetheless alienated the non-Georgian ethnic groups living on the country's territory, notably the Abkhazians and Ossetians.

With the policy of liberalization that began in the Soviet Union in the second half of the 1980s, Georgians faced a number of major challenges in terms of relations between Tbilisi and the autonomous regions dependent on it. The situation became tense, and a political class began to assert that ethnic tensions had been created at Moscow's instigation. Protests multiplied and a large part of the population demanded separation from the Union. In a final attempt to regain control over the situation, the Soviet army once again brutally repressed demonstrators in Tbilisi on April 9, 1989, a date symbolizing the definitive change in Georgia's political orientation towards the Soviet world.

History

See also: History of Georgia (country) and Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic

Map of the proposed Paris Peace Conference borders of the Democratic Republic of Georgia, and what became part of other countries

Formation

The tragedy of Tbilisi marked the beginning of the end of Soviet rule in Georgia. Not only was the Georgian population massively dissatisfied with the events, but the Communist political class itself soon began to take steps towards eventual separation from Moscow. On 9 March 1990, the Supreme Soviet of the Georgian SSR adopted a series of anti-Soviet resolutions: the proclamation of the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic by the Georgian Revcom of 25 February 1921 was condemned as an intervention and occupation of Georgia by the RSFSR, the Union Agreement of March 12, 1922 establishing the TSFSR was deemed invalid, and the Treaty on the Creation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics of 30 December 1922 was also declared illegal, and finally, the Supreme Soviet pledged to “protect the state sovereignty of Georgia”.

Zviad Gamsakhurdia and Merab Kostava

Parallel to these events, dissident and nationalist movements came together to form a political organization. In March 1990, a national forum bringing together a large number of political parties officially banned by the Soviet authorities was convened, and succeeded in convincing the Supreme Soviet to postpone the parliamentary elections of 25 March until later in the year. After much debate on the country's political future, this national forum split into several ideological fractions, however Round Table—Free Georgia, led by Zviad Gamsakhurdia, Merab Kostava and Akaki Assatiani, managed to distinguish itself from the others. Soon, the Supreme Soviet decided to grant the opposition multi-party elections for October, the first democratic elections in the Soviet world.

On 28 October 1990, parliamentary elections were held freely; however just 2 months beforehand, Georgia banned parties that operated in one specific part of the country. Almost 70% of the electorate took part in the vote, choosing between no fewer than 3,400 candidates for 250 deputy seats. The vast majority of the population voted for the Round Table—Free Georgia, which received 155 seats on the Supreme Soviet (whose name was changed to the Supreme Council), compared with just 64 mandates for the Communist Party. The People's Front received 12 seats, the Democratic Georgia bloc received 4, and finally, the Liberation and Economic Revival bloc, and the All-Georgian Rustaveli Society only received 1 seat.

The newly elected Supreme Council met for the first time on November 14, 1990, in a session highly anticipated throughout the nation and blessed by the Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia Ilia II. The Council immediately passed a number of important resolutions for the fate of the country, including the replacement of Soviet emblems with those of the Democratic Republic of Georgia, those being, the flag, coat of arms, and national anthem, and elected Zviad Gamsakhurdia, leader of Round Table—Free Georgia, as Chairman of the Supreme Council and, consequently, the country's Head of State. The very first law passed by the Supreme Council concerns the country's name, changing it from the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic to the Republic of Georgia. The second law approved declares a national transition period of indefinite duration for Georgia, intended to prepare the nation for the restoration of state sovereignty.

End of Soviet Rule

The transition period proclaimed by the new government soon met with great success among all the country's political waves. Even the Georgian Communist Party declared its separation from the Communist Party of the Soviet Union on 8 December 1990, thus breaking all political ties between Georgia and Moscow. The center opposed these moves towards independence and tried to put pressure on the nationalist government. Mikhail Gorbachev went so far as to threaten Georgia with serious territorial and economic problems if it decided to leave the “brotherly union”, and warned Tbilisi about Soviet involvement in possible conflicts in Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

Act of Independence of Georgia - 1918

Despite this, the Georgian government continued its policy of national transition. The Supreme Council actively began to abolish Soviet institutions in the country, replacing them with democratic national bodies. On 20 December 1990, the National Guard of Georgia was formed. On 29 January 1991, the system of local Soviets was abolished throughout Georgia, cancelling their full powers, before the Gamsakhurdia administration undertook to disintegrate the collective farms. Capitalism was introduced in the region following the privatization of many small businesses, while the market became free and private banks appeared; the number of independent newspapers and media multiplied.

The next stage of the transitional period turned into a "war of laws" against the Kremlin. The Supreme Council revoked federal laws that ran counter to Georgian sovereignty. Soviet military service was abolished. On 30 April 1991, nationwide local elections were held to end the vacancy in local government that had arisen following the dissolution of the local soviets. The Georgian constitution is also amended, and democratic additions leading the country towards independence are added. Each of these laws was simultaneously annulled by Moscow.

In a bid to save the state of the Soviet Union, the central government decided to hold a referendum on federalising the union, and changing the name to “Union of Sovereign Soviet Republics”. Georgia, along with several other Soviet republics, refused to take part in the referendum, scheduled for 17 March 1991. It instead decided to organise a referendum for independence itself on 31 March. The question was "Do you support the restoration of the independence of Georgia in accordance with the Act of Declaration of Independence of Georgia of 26 May 1918?" Over 3,300,000 citizens took part in the elections, and no less than 99% gave a positive answer to the question. South Ossetia and Abkhazia did not take part in the ballot because of ethnic conflicts, and took part in the Soviet referendum of 17 March instead.

As a result, the Georgian administration at the time was confident that the people would regain the independence they had lost in 1921. Based on the results of the referendum, the Supreme Council voted unanimously on 9 April 1991, to enact the Act of Restoration of State Independence of Georgia, definitively separating Georgia from the USSR. Less than a week later, on April 14, the Supreme Council elected Zviad Gamsakhurdia, former Soviet dissident and head of the Supreme Council, as interim President on the same day, as President of Georgia, and Akaki Asatiani became chairman of the council, with a new government being formed.

Independent Georgia

On 26 May, Georgia held its first elections, and Zviad Gamsakhurdia was confirmed as head of state with ~86% of the vote. However, the nationalist government of the first President of the Republic of Georgia soon turned increasingly authoritarian, with human rights abused directed at the South Ossetians. What's more, his administration had to contend with a terrible national economic crisis that stemmed from the USSR's economic crisis, which affected Mikhail Gorbachev's government. For all these reasons, strong opposition arose in the early months of the Republic, and on August 19, Prime Minister Tenguiz Sigoua resigned from his post, which he had held since November 15, 1990. On August 23, the National Guard was disarmed and its commander Tengiz Kitovani joined the opposition, this time creating an armed front of protesters, who took refuge in the suburbs of Tbilisi, before attempting to organize a coup d'état.

Demonstrations took place in Tbilisi on 2 September, while at the same time, the situation was deteriorating in South Ossetia, which had been at war with the central government in Tbilisi since 5 January. On 21 December, the former Autonomous Oblast, of which had already declared itself to be the "South Ossetian Soviet Democratic Republic" declared its independence from Georgia, and a constitution was adopted. The opposition was inflamed by this new defeat, and on 22 December, Kitovani's armies returned to the Georgian capital, aided by Soviet troops. He joined forces with the leader of the paramilitary militia, Djaba Iosseliani, and began to lay siege to the Parliament where Gamsakhurdia had taken refuge with his last loyalists. Meanwhile, Georgia had managed to gain de facto recognition from the international community following the official dissolution of the USSR on 26 December. For two weeks, fighting raged in the Georgian capital, and on 6 January, 1992, the rebels destroyed and captured Parliament, forcing Zviad Gamsakhurdia to leave Tbilisi, and flee to Armenia and, afterwards, Chechnya, to form a government-in-exile. The Constitution was suspended, the Republic abolished and a Military Council proclaimed.

Ethnic conflicts

See also: Georgian–Ossetian conflict, South Ossetia war (1991–1992), and Abkhazia conflict

As the Georgian population prepared for Georgia's exit from the Soviet Union, the autonomous regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia came into open conflict with Tbilisi over their status within the republic. These events were linked to a number of factors, including Zviad Gamsakhurdia's hostile policy towards the Ossetians, whom he called “ungrateful guests”, and to a certain extent, Moscow's interests in the region. Hostilities between Tbilisi and Tskhinvali thus began at the start of Gamsakhurdia's presidency in 1990.

Hostilities began on the legislative front. Already during the Soviet period, the status of the South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast was a controversial issue. In a tense and violent situation, the regional Supreme Soviet repeatedly voted to change the region's status to that of an Autonomous Republic or even a Soviet Democratic Republic, decisions overturned each time by Tbilisi. Once in power, the newly elected Georgian government in turn annulled a South Ossetian resolution making the Autonomous Oblast a sovereign republic, deeming it illegal on 22 November 1990. Tbilisi went a step further, annulling South Ossetia's autonomy and incorporating it into Shida Kartli on December 11, although the Kremlin ordered Georgia to give back the region's autonomy on 7 January 1991, but to no avail.

Tensions between the two parties escalated into armed combat. and, eventually, Tbilisi decided to take a direct part in the conflict by sending 3,000 National Guard soldiers into Tskhinvali on January 5, 1991. After several days of street fighting, the city was divided into western (Ossetian) and eastern (Georgian) parts, and around January 25, the Georgians withdrew from the regional capital and settled on the heights surrounding the city. However, the economic blockade of South Ossetia was kept in place. Despite a ceasefire brokered by Russia, the conflict remained unresolved when, on January 29, Georgian police arrested Torez Kulumbegov, President of the Supreme Soviet, who was taking part in negotiations in Tbilisi.

This situation persisted for several months, while Zviad Gamsakhurdia's government tried to ally itself with Boris Yeltsin's Russia in the conflict. On March 23, 1991, Gamsakhurdia and Yeltsin met in Kazbegi, and agreed to push for withdrawal of Soviet troops from South Ossetia, and make a joint Russo-Georgian peacekeeping operation to restore peace to the region. According to official South Ossetian sources, a total of 117 villages and hamlets were destroyed during the war, a figure that probably includes both Ossetian and Georgian communities. Approximately 1,000 people died, 100 people were missing, and ~100,000 people fled from South Ossetia.

Meanwhile, in north-west Georgia, Abkhazia also became engulfed in separatist conflict. The difference between South Ossetia and Abkhazia, however, lies in the status of the two regions. South Ossetia's autonomy was dissolved after it had declared its independence from Georgia. On the contrary, Zviad Gamsakhurdia agreed on an agreement with Abkhazia to make a wide over-representation for the Abkhazians; despite being only 17.8% of the population, they had 28 seats reserved for them in the Supreme Council, the largest out of any ethnic group, including the Georgians themselves. On 17 March 1991, he got Abkhazia to take part in Soviet referendum of 1991, and even went so far as to support the hard-line instigators of the USSR Communist Party during the August Coup of 1991.