Georgian-Ossetian conflict (1918-1920)
Encyclopedia
The Georgian–Ossetian conflict (1918–1920) comprised a series of uprisings
, which took place in the Ossetian
-inhabited areas of what is now South Ossetia
, a breakaway republic in Georgia
, against the Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic
and then the Menshevik
-dominated Democratic Republic of Georgia
which claimed several thousand lives and left painful memories among the Georgian
and Ossetian communities of the region.
During its brief tenure, the Menshevik government of Georgia came across significant problems with ethnic Ossetians who largely sympathized with the Bolsheviks and Soviet Russia. The reasons behind the conflict were complicated. An overdue land reform and agrarian disturbances in the poor Ossetian-populated areas intermingled with an ethnic discord and the struggle for power in the Caucasus
.
that resulted in the abdication of Tsar
Nicholas II of Russia
, the Ossetians set up a National Council of Ossetians which convened in Java
in June 1917 and advocated the creation of organs of self-rule in Ossetian-inhabited areas on the both sides of the Caucasus. The Council was internally divided along the ideological lines and soon became dominated by the Bolsheviks who called for the incorporation of South Ossetia into Soviet Russia.
Already in February 1918, there were numerous outbreaks of disobedience among the Ossetian peasants who refused to pay taxes to the Tiflis-based Transcaucasus government. On March 15, 1918, the Ossetian peasants rose in rebellion and managed to hold off an offensive by a Georgian People’s Guard punitive detachment commanded by an ethnic Ossetian officer, Kosta Kaziev. The fighting culminated in the town of Tskhinvali
which was raided by the rebels on March 19, 1918. Tskhinvali’s Georgian population was massacred and the town was looted. The People’s Guard regained the control of Tskhinvali on March 22. The uprising was finally suppressed and harsh repressive measures established in the region, generating resentment against the Mensheviks, being now equated, in the eyes of the Ossetians, with Georgians. This also opened the way for strong pro-Bolshevik sentiments among the Ossetians.
proclaimed the establishment of Soviet power and began advancing toward Tskhinvali, but suffered defeat and retreated in the Soviet-controlled Terek
district.
The year 1919 also saw a series of fruitless discussions concerning the status and governance of the region. Ossetians demanded a degree of autonomy comparable with the one granted to the Abkhazia
ns and Muslim
Georgians in Adjara
. However, no final decision was made, and the Georgian government outlawed the National Council of South Ossetia, a Bolshevik-dominated body, and refused any grant of autonomy. Bolsheviks fully exploited the tensions and the Menshevik mistakes to further strengthen their influence among the Ossetians.
, the capital of modern-day Republic of North Ossetia-Alania, Russian Federation. Despite assurance of respecting Georgia’s territorial integrity in the Treaty of Moscow
of May 7 1920, Soviet Russia demanded Georgia call back its troops from Ossetia. On May 8, the Ossetians declared a Soviet republic in the Roki area on the Russian-Georgian border. A Bolshevik force from Vladikavkaz crossed into Georgia and helped the local rebels to defeat a Georgian force in the Java district
. The rebellious areas were effectively incorporated into Soviet Russia. However, Lenin’s desire to keep peace with Georgia at that time and eventual military failures of the rebels forced the Bolsheviks to distance themselves from the Ossetian struggle. The Georgian People’s Guard under Valiko Jugheli
crushed the revolt with great violence, defeating the insurgents in a series of hard-fought battles. Several villages were burned down and some 3,000 to 7,000 were killed during the hostilities. About 20,000 Ossetians were forced to seek refuge in Soviet Russia.
which brought Georgia’s independence to an end. In April 1922, newly established Soviet Georgian government rewarded the Ossetian service with the establishment of the South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast
which included not only Ossetian and mixed Georgian-Ossetian, but also purely Georgian villages and had Tskhinvali, where the Ossetians were in minority at that time, as its capital.
in contrast to Georgia’s other ethnic troublespot, Abkhazia
, where ethnic discord was much more profound and potentially inflammable.
With the rising of ethnic tensions in South Ossetia
in the late 1980s, the 1918–1920 thematic surfaced again, with conflicting narratives and interpretations of the conflict. The South Ossetians consider those events as part of their struggle for self-determination and claim that the Georgian reaction to the uprisings was genocide
. According to their version, 387 men, 172 women, and 110 children were killed in action or massacred; 1206 men, 1203 women, and 1732 children died during flight. The total fatalities amounted to 4812 or 5279 by another source, i.e., 6-8% of the region’s total Ossetian population. The depopulated Ossetian villages were allegedly occupied by their Georgian neighbors from the Dusheti
and K'azbegi districts. On September 20, 1990, People's Deputies' Council of South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast characterized conflict as Ossetian Genocide by the Democratic Republic of Georgia. Similar resolutions have been made by North Ossetia and some other republics of Russia’s Northern Caucasus.
Georgians deny the accusations and consider the figures exaggerated. While not denying the brutality of the fighting, they view the conflict as the first attempt by Russia to destabilize Georgia by encouraging South Ossetia to secede and explain the severity of Georgian reaction by the Ossetian pillage of Tskhinvali and the Bolsheviks’ role in the events.
Rebellion
Rebellion, uprising or insurrection, is a refusal of obedience or order. It may, therefore, be seen as encompassing a range of behaviors aimed at destroying or replacing an established authority such as a government or a head of state...
, which took place in the Ossetian
Ossetians
The Ossetians are an Iranic ethnic group of the Caucasus Mountains, eponymous of the region known as Ossetia.They speak Ossetic, an Iranian language of the Eastern branch, with most also fluent in Russian as a second language....
-inhabited areas of what is now South Ossetia
South Ossetia
South Ossetia or Tskhinvali Region is a disputed region and partly recognized state in the South Caucasus, located in the territory of the South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast within the former Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic....
, a breakaway republic in Georgia
Georgia (country)
Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...
, against the Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic
Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic
The Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic , was a short-lived state composed of the modern-day countries of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia in the South Caucasus.-...
and then the Menshevik
Menshevik
The Mensheviks were a faction of the Russian revolutionary movement that emerged in 1904 after a dispute between Vladimir Lenin and Julius Martov, both members of the Russian Social-Democratic Labour Party. The dispute originated at the Second Congress of that party, ostensibly over minor issues...
-dominated Democratic Republic of Georgia
Democratic Republic of Georgia
The Democratic Republic of Georgia , 1918–1921, was the first modern establishment of a Republic of Georgia.The DRG was created after the collapse of the Russian Empire that began with the Russian Revolution of 1917...
which claimed several thousand lives and left painful memories among the Georgian
Georgians
The Georgians are an ethnic group that have originated in Georgia, where they constitute a majority of the population. Large Georgian communities are also present throughout Russia, European Union, United States, and South America....
and Ossetian communities of the region.
During its brief tenure, the Menshevik government of Georgia came across significant problems with ethnic Ossetians who largely sympathized with the Bolsheviks and Soviet Russia. The reasons behind the conflict were complicated. An overdue land reform and agrarian disturbances in the poor Ossetian-populated areas intermingled with an ethnic discord and the struggle for power in the Caucasus
Caucasus
The Caucasus, also Caucas or Caucasia , is a geopolitical region at the border of Europe and Asia, and situated between the Black and the Caspian sea...
.
1917–1918
After the 1917 February RevolutionFebruary Revolution
The February Revolution of 1917 was the first of two revolutions in Russia in 1917. Centered around the then capital Petrograd in March . Its immediate result was the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II, the end of the Romanov dynasty, and the end of the Russian Empire...
that resulted in the abdication of Tsar
Tsar
Tsar is a title used to designate certain European Slavic monarchs or supreme rulers. As a system of government in the Tsardom of Russia and Russian Empire, it is known as Tsarist autocracy, or Tsarism...
Nicholas II of Russia
Nicholas II of Russia
Nicholas II was the last Emperor of Russia, Grand Prince of Finland, and titular King of Poland. His official short title was Nicholas II, Emperor and Autocrat of All the Russias and he is known as Saint Nicholas the Passion-Bearer by the Russian Orthodox Church.Nicholas II ruled from 1894 until...
, the Ossetians set up a National Council of Ossetians which convened in Java
Java, Georgia
Java or Dzau is a town of approximately 1,500 people in South Ossetia. According to Georgia's current official administrative division, Java is a main town of Java district in the north of Shida Kartli region. According to the South Ossetian side Dzau is an administrative center of Dzau district...
in June 1917 and advocated the creation of organs of self-rule in Ossetian-inhabited areas on the both sides of the Caucasus. The Council was internally divided along the ideological lines and soon became dominated by the Bolsheviks who called for the incorporation of South Ossetia into Soviet Russia.
Already in February 1918, there were numerous outbreaks of disobedience among the Ossetian peasants who refused to pay taxes to the Tiflis-based Transcaucasus government. On March 15, 1918, the Ossetian peasants rose in rebellion and managed to hold off an offensive by a Georgian People’s Guard punitive detachment commanded by an ethnic Ossetian officer, Kosta Kaziev. The fighting culminated in the town of Tskhinvali
Tskhinvali
Tskhinvali , is the capital of South Ossetia, a disputed region which has been recognised as an independent Republic by Russia, Venezuela, Nicaragua and Nauru, and is regarded by Georgia and the rest of the world as part of the Shida Kartli region within Georgian sovereign territory.It is located...
which was raided by the rebels on March 19, 1918. Tskhinvali’s Georgian population was massacred and the town was looted. The People’s Guard regained the control of Tskhinvali on March 22. The uprising was finally suppressed and harsh repressive measures established in the region, generating resentment against the Mensheviks, being now equated, in the eyes of the Ossetians, with Georgians. This also opened the way for strong pro-Bolshevik sentiments among the Ossetians.
1919
In October 1919, revolts against the Mensheviks broke out again in several areas. On October 23, rebels in the Roki areaRoki Tunnel
The Roki Tunnel is a mountain tunnel of the Transkam road through the Greater Caucasus Mountains, north of the village Upper Roka. It is the only road joining North Ossetia-Alania in the Russian Federation into South Ossetia, a breakaway republic of Georgia...
proclaimed the establishment of Soviet power and began advancing toward Tskhinvali, but suffered defeat and retreated in the Soviet-controlled Terek
Terek
The Terek River is a major river in the Northern Caucasus, flowing through Georgia and Russia into the Caspian Sea. It rises in Georgia near the juncture of the The Greater Caucasus Mountain Range and the Khokh Range, to the southwest of Mount Kazbek, then flows north through North Ossetia and...
district.
The year 1919 also saw a series of fruitless discussions concerning the status and governance of the region. Ossetians demanded a degree of autonomy comparable with the one granted to the Abkhazia
Abkhazia
Abkhazia is a disputed political entity on the eastern coast of the Black Sea and the south-western flank of the Caucasus.Abkhazia considers itself an independent state, called the Republic of Abkhazia or Apsny...
ns and Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
Georgians in Adjara
Adjara
Adjara , officially the Autonomous Republic of Adjara , is an autonomous republic of Georgia.Adjara is located in the southwestern corner of Georgia, bordered by Turkey to the south and the eastern end of the Black Sea...
. However, no final decision was made, and the Georgian government outlawed the National Council of South Ossetia, a Bolshevik-dominated body, and refused any grant of autonomy. Bolsheviks fully exploited the tensions and the Menshevik mistakes to further strengthen their influence among the Ossetians.
1920
In 1920, a much larger Ossetian uprising took place, which was supported by the regional committee of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks) (RCP (b)), which had gathered a military force in VladikavkazVladikavkaz
-Notable structures:In Vladikavkaz, there is a guyed TV mast, tall, built in 1961, which has six crossbars with gangways in two levels running from the mast structure to the guys.-Twin towns/sister cities:...
, the capital of modern-day Republic of North Ossetia-Alania, Russian Federation. Despite assurance of respecting Georgia’s territorial integrity in the Treaty of Moscow
Treaty of Moscow (1920)
The Treaty of Moscow , signed between Soviet Russia and the Democratic Republic of Georgia in Moscow on May 7, 1920, granted Georgia de jure recognition of independence in exchange of the promise not to grant asylum on Georgian soil to troops of powers hostile to Bolshevik Russia.- Background...
of May 7 1920, Soviet Russia demanded Georgia call back its troops from Ossetia. On May 8, the Ossetians declared a Soviet republic in the Roki area on the Russian-Georgian border. A Bolshevik force from Vladikavkaz crossed into Georgia and helped the local rebels to defeat a Georgian force in the Java district
Java, Georgia
Java or Dzau is a town of approximately 1,500 people in South Ossetia. According to Georgia's current official administrative division, Java is a main town of Java district in the north of Shida Kartli region. According to the South Ossetian side Dzau is an administrative center of Dzau district...
. The rebellious areas were effectively incorporated into Soviet Russia. However, Lenin’s desire to keep peace with Georgia at that time and eventual military failures of the rebels forced the Bolsheviks to distance themselves from the Ossetian struggle. The Georgian People’s Guard under Valiko Jugheli
Valiko Jugheli
Vladimir “Valiko” Jugheli was a Georgian politician and military commander.He was involved in the Marxist movement in Georgia at the beginning of the 20th century...
crushed the revolt with great violence, defeating the insurgents in a series of hard-fought battles. Several villages were burned down and some 3,000 to 7,000 were killed during the hostilities. About 20,000 Ossetians were forced to seek refuge in Soviet Russia.
Aftermath
In February 1921, many Ossetians joined the advancing Red ArmyRed Army invasion of Georgia
The Red Army invasion of Georgia also known as the Soviet–Georgian War or the Soviet invasion of Georgia was a military campaign by the Soviet Russian Red Army against the Democratic Republic of Georgia aimed at overthrowing the Social-Democratic government and installing the Bolshevik regime...
which brought Georgia’s independence to an end. In April 1922, newly established Soviet Georgian government rewarded the Ossetian service with the establishment of the South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast
South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast
The South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast was an autonomous oblast of the Soviet Union created within the Georgian SSR on April 20, 1922. Its autonomy was revoked on December 10, 1990 by the Supreme Soviet of the Georgian SSR, leading to the First South Ossetian War...
which included not only Ossetian and mixed Georgian-Ossetian, but also purely Georgian villages and had Tskhinvali, where the Ossetians were in minority at that time, as its capital.
Assessment
Despite this bloody conflict and painful memories left by it, the relations between Georgians and Ossetians remained peaceful throughout the Soviet periodSoviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
in contrast to Georgia’s other ethnic troublespot, Abkhazia
Abkhazia
Abkhazia is a disputed political entity on the eastern coast of the Black Sea and the south-western flank of the Caucasus.Abkhazia considers itself an independent state, called the Republic of Abkhazia or Apsny...
, where ethnic discord was much more profound and potentially inflammable.
With the rising of ethnic tensions in South Ossetia
Georgian-Ossetian conflict
The Georgian–Ossetian conflict refers to the ethno-political conflict in Georgia's autonomous region of South Ossetia, which evolved in 1989 and developed into a 1991–1992 South Ossetia War. Despite a declared ceasefire and numerous peace efforts, the conflict remains unresolved, and minor armed...
in the late 1980s, the 1918–1920 thematic surfaced again, with conflicting narratives and interpretations of the conflict. The South Ossetians consider those events as part of their struggle for self-determination and claim that the Georgian reaction to the uprisings was genocide
Genocide
Genocide is defined as "the deliberate and systematic destruction, in whole or in part, of an ethnic, racial, religious, or national group", though what constitutes enough of a "part" to qualify as genocide has been subject to much debate by legal scholars...
. According to their version, 387 men, 172 women, and 110 children were killed in action or massacred; 1206 men, 1203 women, and 1732 children died during flight. The total fatalities amounted to 4812 or 5279 by another source, i.e., 6-8% of the region’s total Ossetian population. The depopulated Ossetian villages were allegedly occupied by their Georgian neighbors from the Dusheti
Dusheti
Dusheti is a town in Georgia, situated in the Mtskheta-Mtianeti region, 54 km northeast of the nation’s capital of Tbilisi.Dusheti is located on both banks of the small mountainous river of Dushetis-Khevi at the foothills of the Greater Caucasus crest at an elevation of 900 m above sea level...
and K'azbegi districts. On September 20, 1990, People's Deputies' Council of South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast characterized conflict as Ossetian Genocide by the Democratic Republic of Georgia. Similar resolutions have been made by North Ossetia and some other republics of Russia’s Northern Caucasus.
Georgians deny the accusations and consider the figures exaggerated. While not denying the brutality of the fighting, they view the conflict as the first attempt by Russia to destabilize Georgia by encouraging South Ossetia to secede and explain the severity of Georgian reaction by the Ossetian pillage of Tskhinvali and the Bolsheviks’ role in the events.