Bilateral relations between Georgia and Russia date back hundreds of years and remain complicated despite certain religious and historical ties that exist between the two countries and their people.Ammon, Philipp: Georgien zwischen Eigenstaatlichkeit und russischer Okkupation: Die Wurzeln des russisch-georgischen Konflikts vom 18. Jahrhundert bis zum Ende der ersten georgischen Republik (1921), Kitab, Klagenfurt 2015,
Contacts between Russia and Georgia date back to the 15th and 16th centuries, and the most important stage started in the 1580s, when the Georgian kingdom of Kakheti and the Russian Empire signed a treaty of alliance in 1587. Relations between the two countries developed vibrantly and culminated in the Treaty of Georgievsk, which established eastern Georgia as a protectorate of Russia. At that time, Georgia saw Russia as a powerful Christian and modernizing neighbor, capable of protecting Georgia from invading Muslim empires and North Caucasian raiders.W.E.D. Allen, location: 1612
Although Russia did help Georgia ward off North Caucasian invasions, it failed to protect Georgia when Persia invaded in 1795. Catherine the Great later imposed punitive measures against Persia, but they were cut short by her death. In 1800, Emperor Paul I signed a proclamation on the incorporation of eastern Georgia into the Russian Empire, which was finalized the following year by Tsar Alexander I. This was followed by the annexation by Russia of western Georgian kingdoms and principalities and their incorporation into the Russian Empire, namely the Kingdom of Imereti in 1810, the Principality of Guria in 1829, the Principality of Svaneti in 1858, and the Principality of Mingrelia in 1867.
Incorporation into the empire ended Muslim invasions and brought peace to Georgia. The Russian Empire ended the slave trade by the Ottomans in western Georgia, which saved Georgia's shrinking population from demographic catastrophe. It also provided Georgia with means for a cultural revival, such as the Tiflis Imperial Theater, which was opened in 1852 and revitalized Georgia's long-abandoned theatrical tradition. Georgian intellectuals pursued their education at the universities in Moscow and Saint Petersburg and brought new ideas to Georgia. However, the loss of sovereignty and abolition of the autocephalous status of the Georgian Orthodox Church, along with the Russification policy, gave rise to public discontent and rebellions. As a result of the Russo-Turkish wars of 1828–1829 and 1877–1878, Russia acquired the historical southern Georgian provinces, such as Adjara and Meskheti, from the Ottomans.
The unification of historical Georgian lands under the Russian Empire and the national consolidation of Georgia gave rise to Georgian nationalism, spearheaded by the "Tergdaleulebi" movement, a group of Russian-educated Georgian intellectuals led by Ilia Chavchavadze who brought modern nationalist ideas into Georgia. They campaigned against Russification and promoted national identity among Georgians through "Society for the Spreading of Literacy among Georgians" and the newspaper Iveria. Their vision did not envisage an outright revolt for independence but demanded autonomy within the reformed Russian Empire, with greater cultural freedom, promotion of the Georgian language, and support for Georgian educational institutions and the national church. This movement instilled a strong sense of national cohesiveness among Georgians, which were divided between various Georgian regional feudal kingdoms and Muslim empires throughout the Middle Ages, and paved the path to independence, which Georgia regained following the collapse of the Russian Empire in 1917. The Menshevik government of Georgia transformed the image of Bolshevik-led Russia from a source of enlightenment into an Asiatic state imbued with oriental backwardness and sought ties with the West through its links to Second International. The short-lived Georgian independence ended when Georgia was incorporated into the Soviet Union as the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1922.
When Georgia and the Russian Federation achieved independence in 1991, bilateral Russo-Georgian ties were once again strained due to Moscow's support of separatist regions within Georgia, Georgia's independent energy policies, and most recently, its intentions to join NATO. Russo-Georgian relations briefly began to improve during Eduard Shevardnadze's presidency, but they became strained again after the Rose Revolution in Georgia. The tensions led to the Russo-Georgian War in August 2008, and diplomatic relations were broken. To this day, the two countries have maintained no formal diplomatic relations.
Relations before 1991
Following the fall of Constantinople, throughout the early modern period, Georgians became politically fractured and were dominated by the Ottoman Empire and successive dynasties of Iran. Georgians started looking for allies and found the Russians on the political horizon as a replacement for their long-lost Orthodox ally, the Byzantine Empire, "for the sake of the Christian faith". The Georgian kings and Russian tsars exchanged no less than 17 embassiesW.E.D. Allen, location: 344 from the 16th to the 18th centuries, which ultimately culminated in the first formal alliance between Georgia and Russia in 1783, when King Heraclius II of Eastern Georgia (Kartli-Kakheti) signed the Treaty of Georgievsk with the Russian Empire.
Despite Russia's vowing to defend Eastern Georgia, it rendered no assistance when the Persians invaded in 1795, as they sought to reestablish their traditional suzerainty over the region. It was only belatedly that Catherine the Great of Russia put in place punitive measures against Persia, only to be cut short by her death and the enthronement of Paul against the Empress' wishes. Lacking his mother's experience and tactfulness, in December 1800, Paul signed the proclamation on the annexation of Georgia to the Russian Empire, which was finalized by a decree on January 8, 1801,Gvosdev, Nikolas K.: Imperial policies and perspectives towards Georgia: 1760–1819, Macmillan, Basingstoke 2000, , p. 85Avalov (1906), p. 186 and confirmed by Tsar Alexander I on September 12, 1801.Gvosdev (2000), p. 86Lives and Legends of the Georgian Saints, St Vladimirs Seminary Pr; N.e.of 2r.e. edition (March 1997) by David Marshall Lang, p. 249 The Georgian ambassador in Russia reacted with a note of protest that was presented to the Russian vice chancellor Prince Kurakin,Lang (1997), p. 251 but despite this, in May 1801, Russian General Karl Knorring officially enforced Russian control of the kingdom and instituted a government headed by General Ivan Petrovich Lasarev.Lang (1997), p. 247 By this, Persia officially lost control over the Georgian lands it had been ruling for centuries.
The Georgian nobility did not accept the decree until April 1802, when General Knorring surrounded the nobility in Tbilisi's Sioni Cathedral and forced them to take an oath on the Imperial Crown of Russia. Those who disagreed were temporarily arrested.Lang (1997), p. 252 This was followed by the dethronement and exile of the Georgian monarch, as well as the head of the church, to St. Petersburg in what was viewed in Georgia as a violation of the Georgievsk Treaty.
Having spent more than a century as part of the Russian Empire, in 1918 Georgia regained independence and established the First Republic. In 1921, Georgia was invaded and occupied by Bolshevik Russia to form the Soviet Union in 1922. Georgian Joseph Stalin was the leader of the USSR from 1928 to 1953.
Relations from Georgian independence to the Rose Revolution (1991–2003)
In a March 1991 referendum, Georgia voted for independence by an overwhelming margin. However, the vote was largely boycotted by non-Georgians in South Ossetia and Abkhazia, inflaming the existing war in South Ossetia, and setting the stage for the forthcoming war in Abkhazia. Georgia declared independence from the USSR on 9 April 1991.
South Ossetia war (1991–1992)
The South Ossetian Oblast Soviet, a local government body, had preemptively declared independence from Georgia in March 1990, within the framework of the USSR. The declaration was immediately denounced by the leadership of the Georgian SSR.
Ethnic violence pitting Georgians against South-Ossetians escalated around December 1990. The most intense period of fighting, in March and April 1991, begun before the referendum, and continued after the declaration of independence.
Georgian forces were ultimately were beaten back by local fighters backed by "irregulars from the Russian Federation, and stranded ex-Soviet soldiers who found themselves stuck in the middle of someone else's civil war and chose to fight on behalf of the secessionists."
War in Abkhazia (1992–1993)
The tensions between Georgia and Russia, which had been heightened even before the collapse of the Soviet Union, climaxed during the secessionist conflict in Abkhazia in 1992–93. Support for the Abkhaz from various groups within Russia, such as the Confederation of Mountain Peoples of the Caucasus and Cossacks, as well as Russian regular military units stationed in Abkhazia, contributed to the worsening of Georgia–Russia relations.
On September 3, 1992, Russia invited both sides of the conflict to take part in the negotiations in Moscow. Formally, it was a negotiation between Russia and Georgia, two sovereign states. However, it served as a forum for the Abkhaz and Georgian sides to discuss the ongoing conflict, while Russia saw its role as a mediator, not a party. Russian president Boris Yeltsin and Head of State Council of the Republic of Georgia Eduard Shevardnadze signed an agreement, formally known as the Summary Document of the Moscow Meeting. According to the agreement, a Monitoring and Inspection Commission composed of representatives appointed by the authorities of Georgia, including Abkhazia, and Russia should have been established. Russian military forces stationed in Abkhazia should have maintained neutrality throughout the conflict. The Abkhaz militias should have been disbanded. Only the agreed level of Georgian troops should have remained in the conflict zone required for the protection of the railway and certain other installations.
Georgian troops began leaving the conflict area. In the meantime, however, on September 25, the Supreme Council of the Russian Federation adopted a resolution proposed by Sergey Baburin, which denounced Georgia's policy in Abkhazia. Russia suspended the delivery of weapons and equipment to Tbilisi. Georgia's leadership identified this resolution as interference in Georgia's internal affairs. The resolution is considered to have encouraged an Abkhaz offensive in October in violation of the September 3 agreement. However, the Abkhaz side blamed Georgia for violating the ceasefire first and claimed that it only acted in self-defense.
After the Battle of Gagra in October 1992, military operations resumed. Shevardnadze denounced "reactionary forces" in Russia for encouraging the Abkhaz offensive. Yeltsin rejected Georgian charges of Russian interference in Georgia's internal affairs but warned that Russia will take action if Russian lives and property are threatened.
On December 17, 1992, the Georgian parliament blamed the Russian Federation for interfering in Georgia's internal affairs. It was noted that Russian troops took part in the bombing of Sokhumi and its outskirts on December 2 and 9. They also downed a helicopter of Georgian air forces on October 5 and Georgia's Su-25 on October 13. Other facts concerning Russian involvement in the conflict were also mentioned. It was the first occasion when Georgia officially noted that Russian armed forces stationed in Abkhazia were involved in the conflict on the Abkhaz side and fought against the territorial integrity of Georgia.