SOVIET-GEORGIAN WAR AND SOVIETIZATION OF GEORGIA, II-III. 1921
By Andrew Andersen, George Partskhaladze
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Monday, 02 July 2007
In the year 1918, Georgia restored her independence from Russia. This
became possible as a result of World War I and disintegration of the
Russian Empire due to its failure to withstand a tremendous pressure
endorsed by the war effort. During its three years of independence,
Georgia’s moderate socialist leadership was rather successful in the
establishment of a democracy-track society. However, the development of
democratic processes in the First Republic faced a number of challenges
that included involvement in military conflicts with Turkey, Armenia,
as well as the "Reds" and the "Whites" of Southern Russia, economic
blockade by Western powers, delay of international recognition,
internal conflicts and subversive activities of local Bolsheviks
encouraged by the Bolshevik regime in Moscow.
By the end of February, 1920, an alliance was formed between the
Kemalist government of Turkey and the Soviet leadership of Russia. The
new allies required a stable land-bridge between the two countries. In
order to achieve that goal, the three independent states of the South
Caucasus – namely Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia – were to be taken
over and partitioned between Soviet Russia and Turkey. By 31.05.1920,
Azerbaijan was invaded and Sovietized by Russia’s 11th Red Army. Four
months later, Armenia was invaded by the Kemalist Army of Karabekir
Pasa and partitioned between Turkey and Russia. The last independent
country believing to be a bastion of the West squeezed between the
Kemalists and the Soviets was Georgia, and it was to fall as well in
order to finalize Soviet-Turkish project in the Caucasus.
This paper provides comprehensive coverage of the Soviet military
campaign against Georgia that was launched on February 11th, 1921, in
breach of a non-aggression treaty. It contains a detailed analysis of
the major military operations of the campaign as well as a comparison
of military might of both conflicting parties. This paper is one
of the first attempts to cover the above-mentioned historical event
which can be found especially interesting nowadays when Georgia and
Russia are once again balancing at the brink of military conflict.
The paper is accompanied by 4 full-color maps and 2 color diagrams.