The Short Lived Democratic Republic of Georgia

By | June 4, 2019

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Tbilisi, Georgia. Source: (gettyimages.com)

The Republic of Georgia, a small country roughly the size of West Virginia sandwiched between Russia and Turkey, is one of the new states that emerged after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. Most commonly known as the birthplace of one of the 20th century’s most infamous dictators, Joseph Stalin, Georgia also experienced one of the most repressive and brutal occupations of all the Soviet Republics.

But Georgia was not always a puppet state of its large neighbor to the north. In fact, between May 1918 and February 1921, there existed an independent Georgian state for the first time since its annexation into the Russian Empire in 1801. The Democratic Republic of Georgia was established on May 26th, 1918 and with it began a short but formative chapter in Georgian self-governance that colored the sentiments and spirit of its people until independence was finally regained in 1991. 

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Georgian Flag. Source: (gettyimages.com)

Formation of the Democratic Republic of Georgia

During the turmoil and strife of the First World War and the Russian revolutions and civil war of 1917, Georgian dissidents saw an opportunity to realize their dreams of an independent nation. The ruling Social Democratic Party of Georgia was committedly Marxist but, at best, ambivalent to the question of independence. However, they adhered tightly to the Menshevik line during the fractious period of early Soviet political division, and this misalignment ultimately provided the spark for action.

After the Bolsheviks’ consolidation of power during the October Revolution, the Georgian people saw the SDPG as their last best hope for resistance. The party refused to recognize Vladimir Lenin’s legitimacy, and after a failed experiment in broader Caucasian self-governance, the Democratic Republic of Georgia was born, along with independent sister-republics in Armenia and Azerbaijan.