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Georgian-Ossetian conflict (1918-1920)
Date 1918–1920
Location South Ossetia, northeast Georgia
Result Georgian victory, but later the area was Sovietizated as Georgia itself
Belligerents
Pro-Bolshevik Ossetian rebels

Soviet Russia

 Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic
Democratic Republic of Georgia
Casualties and losses
4812 or 5279 dead,
unknown wounded

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 thousands of lives and left painful memory among the Georgian and Ossetian communities of the region. Year 1918 ( MCMXVIII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Year 1920 ( MCMXX) was a Leap year starting on Thursday (link will display 1920 of the Gregorian calendar South Ossetia ( or; Хуссар Ирыстон Xussar Iryston; Южная Осетия Yuzhnaya Osetiya; სამხრეთი ოსეთი Samxreti The Bolsheviks, originally also Bolshevists ( Большевик Большевист (singular, derived from bolshe, "more" were a faction The Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic (TDFR Закавказская демократическая Федеративная Республика (ЗКДФР Zakavkazskaya The Democratic Republic of Georgia ( DRG; Georgian: საქართველოს დემოკრატიული რესპუბლიკა Sakartvelos The Ossetians (ирæттæ irættæ are an Iranic Ethnic group indigenous to Ossetia, a region that spans the Caucasus Mountains South Ossetia ( or; Хуссар Ирыстон Xussar Iryston; Южная Осетия Yuzhnaya Osetiya; სამხრეთი ოსეთი Samxreti Georgia ( საქართველო, Sakartvelo) is a Transcontinental country in the Caucasus region situated at the dividing line between The Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic (TDFR Закавказская демократическая Федеративная Республика (ЗКДФР Zakavkazskaya The Mensheviks (Minority (Меньшевик) were a faction of the Russian Revolutionary movement that emerged in 1903 after a dispute between Vladimir The Democratic Republic of Georgia ( DRG; Georgian: საქართველოს დემოკრატიული რესპუბლიკა Sakartvelos The Georgians (ქართველები kartvelebi) are a Nation and Ethnic group originating in the Caucasus, the oldest group of the

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 Bolsheviks, originally also Bolshevists ( Большевик Большевист (singular, derived from bolshe, "more" were a faction 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. The Caucasus ( also referred to as North Caucasus) is a geopolitical region located between Europe Asia & Middle East

Contents

1917-1918

After the 1917 February Revolution that ousted 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. Year 1917 ( MCMXVII) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year The February Revolution (Февральская революция in 1917 in Russia was the first stage of the Russian Revolution of 1917. Tsar csar and tzar redirect here For other uses see Tsar (disambiguation. 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. Year 1918 ( MCMXVIII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Tbilisi (ˌtbiˈliːsi in Georgian: თბილისი is the capital and the largest city of the Republic of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Mt'k'vari 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. Events 44 BC - Julius Caesar, Dictator of the Roman Republic, is stabbed to death by Marcus Junius Brutus, Year 1918 ( MCMXVIII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common The fighting culminated in the town of Tskhinvali which was raided by the rebels on March 19, 1918. Tskhinvali (also spelled Cchinvali or Cxinvali; ცხინვალი t͡sxinvɑli Цхинвал or Чъреба Tskhinval or Ch'reba Events 1279 - A Mongolian victory in the Battle of Yamen ends the Song Dynasty in China. Tskhinvali’s Georgian population was massacred and the town was looted. The People’s Guard regained the control of Tskhinvali on March 22. Events 238 - Gordian I and his son Gordian II are proclaimed Roman emperor. 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. [1] 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. Year 1919 ( MCMXIX) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common On October 23, rebels in the Roki area proclaimed the establishment of Soviet power and began advancing toward Tskhinvali, but suffered defeat and retreated in the Soviet-controlled Terek district. Events 4004 BC - Creation of the world begins according to the calculations of Archbishop James Ussher 42 BC - The Roki Tunnel ( Georgian: როკის გვირაბი Ossetic: Ручъы тъунел or Roksky Tunnel ( Russian: Рокский A soviet (сове́т, "council" originally was a workers' local council in late Imperial Russia. The Terek River (Терек თერგი Tergi; Терек Terek, Chechen, Терк Terk) is a major River in the

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 Abkhazians and Muslim Georgians in Adjara. Abkhazia (Аҧсны Apsny აფხაზეთი Apkhazeti or Abkhazeti Абха́зия Abhazia) is a De facto A Muslim (مسلم pronounced Muslim, not Muzlim) is an adherent of the Religion 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. [2]

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 Vladikavkaz, the capital of modern-day Republic of North Ossetia-Alania, Russian Federation. Year 1920 ( MCMXX) was a Leap year starting on Thursday (link will display 1920 of the Gregorian calendar Vladikavkaz (Владикавка́з vladʲikaf'kas Дзæуджыхъæу ( Dzæudjyqæu) (means «Dzaug's settlement» is the capital city of the Republic The Republic of North Ossetia-Alania (Респу́блика Се́верная Осе́тия–Ала́ния Ossetic: Республикӕ Цӕгат Ирыстон — Алани Russia (Россия Rossiya) or the Russian Federation ( Rossiyskaya Federatsiya) is a transcontinental Country extending 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. The Treaty of Moscow (Московский договор Moskovskiy dogovor, მოსკოვის ხელშეკრულება Moskovis khelshekruleba Events 558 - In Constantinople, the dome of the Hagia Sophia collapses [3] On May 8, the Ossetians declared a Soviet republic in the Roki area on the Russian-Georgian border. Events 589 - Reccared summons the Third Council of Toledo 1450 - Jack Cade's Rebellion: Kentishmen 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 crashed the revolt with great violence. Vladimir “Valiko” Jugheli (ვალიკო ჯუღელი ( January 1, 1887 - January 9, 1924) was a Georgian politician The insurgents were defeated in a series of hard-fought battles. Several villages were burned down and some 3,000 to 7,000 were killed during the hostilities. [4] About 20,000 Ossetians were forced to seek refuge in Soviet Russia.

In February 1921, many Ossetians joined the advancing Red Army which brought Georgia’s independence to an end. Year 1921 ( MCMXXI) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display full 1921 calendar of the Gregorian calendar The Red Army invasion of Georgia also known as the Soviet-Georgian War ( February 15 – March 17 1921) was a military campaign by the Soviet 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,[5] as its capital. Year 1922 ( MCMXXII) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. The South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast ( Ossetian: Хуссар Ирыстоны автономон бӕстӕ სამხრეთ ოსეთის ავტონომიური

Assessment

Despite this bloody conflict and painful memories left by it,[6] the relations between Georgians and Ossetians remained peaceful throughout the Soviet period in contrast to Georgia’s other ethnic troublespot, Abkhazia, where ethnic discord was much more profound and potentially inflammable. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR was a constitutionally Socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991 Abkhazia (Аҧсны Apsny აფხაზეთი Apkhazeti or Abkhazeti Абха́зия Abhazia) is a De facto

With the rising of ethnic tensions in South Ossetia in the late 1980s, the 1918-20 thematic surfaced again, with conflicting narratives and interpretations of the conflict. The 1980s was the decade spanning from January 1 1980 to December 31 1989. 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 is the deliberate and systematic destruction in whole or in part of an ethnic racial religious or national group 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. Dusheti (დუშეთი is a town in Georgia, situated in the Mtskheta-Mtianeti region, 54 km northeast of the nation’s capital of Tbilisi Stepantsminda (სტეფანწმინდა formerly Kazbegi, ყაზბეგი is a small town in the Khevi region of northern Georgia. [7] On September 20, 1990, People's Deputies' Council of South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast characterized conflict as Ossetian Genocide by the Democratic Republic of Georgia. Events 451 - The Battle of Chalons takes place in North Eastern France. Year 1990 ( MCMXC) was a Common year starting on Monday (link displays the 1990 Gregorian calendar) Similar resolutions have been made by North Ossetia and some other republics of Russia’s Northern Caucasus. The North Caucasus, also Ciscaucasus, Ciscaucasia or Forecaucasia, is the northern part of the Caucasus region between Europe [8]

Georgians deny the accusations and consider the figures exaggerated. While not denying the brutality of the fighting,[9] 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. [10]

Notes

  1. ^ Cornell, p. 141.
  2. ^ Lang, p. 228.
  3. ^ Cornell, p. 188
  4. ^ Lang, p. 228.
  5. ^ Cornell, p. 144
  6. ^ The events were described by a number of authors, eyewitnesses and participants of the conflicts. Among them are the Ossetian writers, Arsen Kotsoyev and Tsomak Gadiev, as well as the Georgian Bolshevik Filipp Makharadze, the Menshevik Valiko Jugheli and several Georgian political émigrés to Europe. Arsen Kotsoyev (Коцойты Арсен ( January 15, 1872 - February 4, 1944) is one of the founders of Ossetic Prose, who Filipp Makaradze ( Georgian: ფილიპე მახარაძე Russian: Филипп Махарадзе (1868–1941 was President of the Georgian Vladimir “Valiko” Jugheli (ვალიკო ჯუღელი ( January 1, 1887 - January 9, 1924) was a Georgian politician
  7. ^ After the Sovietization of Georgia, however, many Ossetian refugees returned to their homes. Sovietization is term that may be used with two distinct (but related meanings the adoption of a political system based on the model of soviets (workers' councils The rest refugees mingled with the North Ossetian population. The Republic of North Ossetia-Alania (Респу́блика Се́верная Осе́тия–Ала́ния Ossetic: Республикӕ Цӕгат Ирыстон — Алани The Soviet authorities also pursued an active urbanization policy which helped to make Tskhinvali a largely Ossetian town. Urbanizationn (also spelled urbanisation) is the physical growth of Urban areas into rural or natural land as a result of population in-migration to an existing Cornell, p. 145.
  8. ^ (Russian) Парламент Южной Осетии дал политическую оценку событий 1918-1920 годов.
  9. ^ Georgia: Academics, Politicians Counter Putin's Ossetia Claims, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, October 30, 2006. This article is about the radio broadcast service For the REM Events 637 - Antioch surrenders to the Muslim forces under Rashidun Caliphate after the Battle of Iron bridge. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Retrieved on November 17, 2006. Events 284 - Diocletian is proclaimed emperor by his soldiers Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar.
  10. ^ The Georgian - South Ossetian Conflict, chapter 4, Danish Association for Research on the Caucasus. Retrieved on November 17, 2006. Events 284 - Diocletian is proclaimed emperor by his soldiers Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar.

References

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