History of Georgia by Levan Urushadze

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This is a signed article by Dr. Levan Urushadze. It may be edited for spelling errors or typos, but not for substantive content except by its author. If you have created a user name and verified your identity provided you have set forth your credentials on your user page, you can add comments to the botton of this article as Wikinfo:Peer review.

History of Georgia dates back about 4,000 years and the Georgian language is one of the oldest living languages in the world.

Contents

Prehistoric era

Paleoanthropologists and archaeologists discovered two ancient skulls in Dmanisi, about 85 kilometers southwest of the Georgian capital, Tbilisi. Based on radiometric dating of the volcanic layer underlying the fossils, paleomagnetic measurements and the presence of animal species whose age has been documented elsewhere, the team dated the skulls to around 1.8 million years ago-at least 300,000 years older than stone tools from a site in Israel called Ubeidiya that were considered the oldest undisputed traces of humans outside Africa.

Taking that into consideration, a more viable explanation for the dispersal stems from anatomical shifts rather than new technology, according to Georgian Professors Abesalom Vekua and David Lordkipanidze. The dmanisi hominids most closely resemble an early member of our genus that researchers call Homo ergaster.

It was somewhat surprising, the discoverers said, to find that the Dmanisi fossils bore so little similarity to later European lineages. Being close to the boundary between Europe and Asia, Georgia might have been a crossroads of dispersal to the west in Europe as well as to southern and eastern Asia.

Ancient and medieval Georgia

In the 1970s, the archaeological excavations on the territory of Georgia revealed a number of ancient settlements which included houses with galleries from the begining of the 5th millennium BC in Imiris Gora (Kartli region of Eastern Georgia). These dwellings were circular or oval in plan, a characteristic feature of which was the central pier and chimney. These features were completely used and further developed in building Georgian dwellings and houses of the 'Darbazi' type. The archaeological excavations have also brought to light the remains of settlements at Beshtasheni (4th-3rd millenniums BC), and barrow burials (begining of the 2nd millennium BC) in the province of Trialeti at Tsalka (Kartli region of Eastern Georgia). Together, they testify to an advanced and well-developed building and architecture culture.

Ancient proto-Georgian (or proto-Kartvelian) tribes of Asia Minor and the Caucasus of the 4th-2nd millennia BC were Tubals, Meshechs (or Mosoks), Khaldians (or Khalibs), Tibarens, Mosiniks and others.

In the 4th millennium BC the ancestors of Georgians (Tubals, Khalibs and other tribes) learned to get and use the bronze.

Most ancient Georgian states of the 2nd-1st millennias BC were Diaokhi and Kolkha.

In the 6th century BC in Western Georgia was established the Kingdom of Egrisi. The Greeks knew this kingdom as Colchis and it featured in the Greek legend of Jason and the Argonauts, who travelled there in search of the Golden Fleece. In the 4th century BC in Eastern Georgia was established the Kingdom of Iberia. It became one of the first states in the world to convert to Christianity in 317 AD, when King of Iberia Marian II established it as the official state religion.

The oldest form of the Georgian alphabet Asomtavruli was invented in 412 BC by Georgian priests of the cult of Mithras. The reformator of the Asomtavruli In 284 BC was the King of Iberia Farnavaz I.

In 809-1810 Georgia was ruled by the Dynasty of Bagrations. Founder of this Royal Dynasty was Ashot I the Great (809-826).

Although it was subsequently beset by various invaders, principally Arabs, Mongols, Persians and Turks, the Georgian kingdom retained a greater or lesser degree of independence for over 1,100 years. Greatest rulers of the united Georgian Kingdom (888-1466) were the King David the Builder (Devid IV Agmashenebeli) (reigned 1089-1125) and Queen of Georgia Tamar (1184-1213), both regarded as saints by the Georgian Orthodox and Apostolic Churh. Georgia suffered a lengthy period of decline thereafter, finding itself contested by the Ottoman and Persian empires. In 1801-1810 Georgia was occupied and annexed by the Tsarist Russian Empire.

Georgia under the Russian Empire, 1801-1918

In 1801, the Russian Tsar Alexander I abolished the Kartlian-Kakhetian Kingdom (Eastern Georgia) and exiled its Royal family. Last King of this kingdom was Giorgi XII (1798-1800). In 1810 by Russians was abolished also the Kingdom of Imereti (Western Georgia). The last King of Imereti was Solomon II (1789-1810).

Georgian dissatisfaction with Tsarist autocracy and Armenian economic domination led to the development of a national liberation movement in the second half of the 19th century. A large-scale peasant revolt occurred in 1905 which led to political reforms that eased the tensions for a period. During this time, the Marxist Social Democratic Party became the dominant political movement in Georgia, occupying all the Georgian seats in the Russian State Duma established after 1905.

Independent Georgia in 1918-1921

The Russian Revolution of October 1917 plunged Russia into a bloody civil war during which several outlying Russian territories declared independence. Georgia was one of them, proclaiming the establishment of the independent Democratic Republic of Georgia (DRG) on May 26, 1918. The new country was ruled by the Social Democratic (Menshevik) Party, which established a multi-party system in sharp contrast with the "dictatorship of the proletariat" established by the Bolsheviks in Russia. In the Parliament of the DRG ("Sakartvelos Dampudznebeli Kreba") were represented major political organizations of Georgia ("Social Democratic Party" of Georgian Mensheviks, the "National-Democratic Party", Party of Georgian Social-Federalists", "Democratic Party", etc.).

Democratic Republic of Georgia was de jure recognised as independent by the major European powers in 1918-1920 and by Russia in May, 1920. On February 21, 1921 by the Parliament was adopted the Constitution of Georgia.

Georgia under the Soviet Union, 1921-1990

In February 25, 1921 the Russia's Red Army occupied Georgia and forcibly incorporated it into a Transcaucasian Federative Soviet Socialist Republic (TFSSR) comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia. Soviet rule was harsh: about 30,000 people were executed and killed in 1921-1924, more than 50,000 were purged under Stalin and his secret police chief, the Georgian Lavrenty Beria in 1935-1938, 1942 and 1945-1950. In 1936, the TSFSR was dissolved and Georgia became the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic.

Reaching the Caucasus oilfields was one of the main objectives of Hitler's invasion of the USSR in August 1941, but the armies of the Axis powers did not get as far as Georgia. In 1956, hundreds of Georgians were killed when they demonstrated against Khrushchev's policy of de-Stalinization.

Appointment of Eduard Shevardnadze (1st Secretary of the Communist Party of Georgia in 1972-1985) as Soviet Foreign Minister in 1985 caused him to be replaced as Georgian leader by Jumber Patiashvili, a conservative and generally ineffective Communist who coped poorly with the challenges of perestroika. Towards the end of the late 1980s there were increasingly violent clashes between the Communist authorities, the resurgent Georgian nationalist movement and nationalist movements in Georgia's minority-populated regions (notably former 'South Ossetian Autonomous District'). On April 9, 1989, Soviet troops were used to break up a peaceful demonstration at the government building in Tbilisi. Twenty Georgians were killed. The event radicalised Georgian politics, prompting many - even some Georgian communists - to conclude that independence was preferable to continued Soviet rule.

Opposition pressure on the communist government was manifested in popular demonstrations and strikes, which ultimately resulted in an first open, multiparty and democratic parliamentary election being held on October 28, 1990. They were won by the "Mrgvali Magida - Tavisupali Sakartvelo" ("Round Table-Free Georgia") Coalition headed by the leader of the National-Liberation movement of Georgia, Dr. Zviad Gamsakhurdia, who became the head of the Supreme Council of the Republic of Georgia on November 14, 1990. On March 31, 1991 Gamsakhurdia wasted no time in organising a referendum on independence, which was approved by 98.9% of the votes. Formal independence from the Soviet Union was declared on April 9, 1991. Since August, 1991 the independence of Georgia was widely recognised by outside powers. Gamsakhurdia's government strongly opposed any vestiges of Russian dominance, such as the remaining Soviet military bases in the republic, and (after the collapse of the Soviet Union) his government declined to join the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).

Post-communist Georgia, 1990 - 2003

Zviad Gamsakhurdia was elected President on May 26, 1991 with 86% of the votes.

By the Supreme Council of the Republic of Georgia were adopted many important, democratic Legal Acts. Were established close contacts with various foreign countries. In August-December, 1991 the state independence of the Republic of Georgia was de-jure recognized by Romania, Turkey, Ukraine, Canada, Finland, Lithuania, the USA, Switzerland, Sweden, Germany, Poland, India, Israel, Pakistan, Iran and other countries.

Certain organizations abroad criticized Gamsakhurdia's authority for violation of Human Rights but, unfortunately, they did not foresee the heaviest legacy of the Soviet autoritarian system. It must foresee also that the former communist part-nomenclature and so-called red-inteligentsia furiously struggled for return of the loss positions and for revange.

A tense situation was worsened by the large amount of ex-Soviet weaponry available to the quarreling parties and by the growing power of paramilitary groups. The situation came to a head on December 22, 1991, when armed opposition groups launched a violent military coup d'etat, besieging Gamsakhurdia and his supporters in government buildings in central Tblisi. Gamsakhurdia managed to evade his enemies and fled to the Chechen Republic on January 6, 1992.

The new government invited Eduard Shevardnadze to become the head of a State Council - in effect, president - in March 1992, putting a moderate face on the somewhat unsavoury regime that had been established following Gamsakhurdia's ouster. In August 1992, a separatist dispute in the Georgian autonomous republic of Abkhazia escalated when government forces and paramilitaries were sent into the area to quell separatist activities. The Abkhaz fought back, and in September 1993 the government forces suffered a catastrophic defeat which led to them being driven out and the entire Georgian population of the region being expelled. Around 10,000 people died and another 300,000 were forced to flee.

Ethnic violence also flared in so-called "South Ossetia" but was eventually quelled, although at the cost of several hundred casualties and more than 25,000 Georgian refugees fleeing into other parts of Georgia.

On September 24, 1993, in the wake of the Abkhaz disaster, Zviad Gamsakhurdia returned to Georgia (in Samegrelo region of Western Georgia) from exile to organise an uprising against the illegal government of Shevardnadze. Gamsakhurdia's supporters were able to capitalise on the disarray of the government forces and quickly overran much of western Georgia. This alarmed Russia and units of the Russian Army were sent into Georgia to assist Shevardnadze. Zviad Gamsakhurdia's rebellion was collapsed and he died in the village Jikhashkari (Samegrelo region of Western Georgia) on December 31, 1993, apparently after being cornered by his enemies.

A powerful coalition of reformists headed by Mikheil Saakashvili united to oppose Shevardnadze's government in the November 2, 2003 parliamentary elections. The results of the elections were totally falsificated. The united opposition organised massive demonstrations in Tblisi and regions of Georgia. After "Georgia's Rose Revolution" (November 21-23, 2003) Shevardnadze was resigned on November 23, 2003 and was replaced as president on an interim basis by Nino Burjanadze.

Georgia after Shevardnadze

On January 4, 2004 Mikheil Saakashvili won the Presidential Elections with a huge majority of 96% of the votes cast. He was inaugurated on January 25, 2004. New President of the Republic of Georgia faces many problems on coming to office. More than 230,000 internally displaced persons put an enormous strain on the economy. Peace in the separatist areas of Abkhazia and so-called "South Ossetia", overseen by Russian and United Nations peacekeepers and international organizations, remains fragile and will require years of economic development and negotiation to overcome local enmities. Considerable progress has been made in negotiations on the Ossetian-Georgian conflict, and negotiations are continuing in the Georgia-Abkhazia conflict.

On January 26, 2004 the major road of Tbilisi was oficially renamed after Zviad Gamsakhurdia. 32 political prisoners (supporters of the first President of Georgia) were released.

Georgia remains a very poor country by European standards, not least because of its widespread corruption. The Georgian Government is committed to economic reform in cooperation with the IMF and World Bank, and stakes much of its future on the revival of the ancient Silk Road as the Eurasian corridor, using Georgia's geography as a bridge for transit of goods between Europe and Asia. Saakashvili has pledged to improve the economy in general and specifically to raise pay and pensions, as well as to crack down on corruption and retrieve the ill-gotten gains of figures in the previous government.

The Parliamentary Elections, according to the "Electoral Code of Georgia", was held on March 28, 2004.

See also

Links

Literature

  • Pavle Ingorokva. "Giorgi Merchule, the Georgian writer of the 10th century" (a monograph), Tbilisi, 1954, 1124 pp (in Georgian)
  • Ivane Javakhishvili. Works, Vol. I-XI, Tbilisi, 1977-2002 (in Georgian)
  • Giorgi Melikishvili. "About the History of ancient Georgia" (a monograph), Tbilisi, 1959, 500 pp (in Russian)
  • Kalistrate Salia. "History of Georgia" (a monograph), Paris, 1980, 500 pp (in English)
  • Mariam Lordkipanidze. "Georgia in the 11th-12th centuries" (a monograph), Tbilisi, 1987, 185 pp (in English)
  • Levan Urushadze. "The problems of the history of Georgia in the 20th century Turkish historiography" (a monograph), Tbilisi, 1994, 215 pp (in Georgian, English summary)
  • Levan Urushadze. "Bolshevism-Menshevism and the Democratic Republic of Georgia (1918-1921)" (a monograph), Tbilisi, 1991, 51 pp (in Georgian)
  • "Global Positioning. New fossils revise the time when humans colonized the earth".- "Scientific American", August, 2000
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