Georgian-Russian relations

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Georgian-Russian relations
Location of Georgia and Russia
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Georgia Russia

The relations between Georgia and the Russian Federation are excited, since Georgia is trying to stay out of the Russian sphere of influence, especially since the invasion of the Russian army under Vladimir Putin in the wake of the war in 2008 . There have been no diplomatic relations since then.

history

In the 18th century, the South Caucasus had been an integral part of Persia for a few hundred years, so that every Persian ruler had the right to exercise power over Georgia. Under Peter the Great , Russia challenged the Persian Shah for control of the Caucasus for the first time. The Georgian King Vakhtang VI. who had been mistreated by the Shah and had broken with him, sent an envoy to Peter the Great to propose a common campaign against Persia, whose Safavid dynasty was in decline. Russia wanted to prevent the weakened Persia from being annexed by the Ottoman Empire , especially Peter the Great wanted the Turks fromKeep away from the Caspian Sea . The plan was for Russian troops to land on the Caspian coast with their newly built Caspian fleet and move inland from there. There should Wachtang VI. join the Russians with 30,000 Georgians and 10,000 Armenians. Together they wanted to take action against Daud Khan, who sacked and captured the city of Şamaxı in 1721 and then declared himself a follower of the Ottoman Empire. However, the Russian forces encountered numerous problems and withdrew to Astrakhan . Watchtang VI. had to take his Georgian-Armenian army alone against Daud Khan, which failed, cost him the throne and ended his dynasty. Peter gave up his plans to conquer Şamaxı. Georgia remained part of Persia, although it was defeated in the Treaty of Constantinople to the Ottoman zone of influence, because Nader Shah restored supremacy over Georgia.

Under Catherine the Great , Russian interest in the Caucasus grew again. Prince Grigory Alexandrovich Potjomkin had drawn up plans to create two bulwarks against the expanding Ottoman Empire with the states of Armenia and Georgia. The necessary military measures were canceled in 1784.

Entry of Russian troops into Tbilisi on November 26, 1799 , by Franz Roubaud , 1886

Due to the lack of leadership in Persia, the Georgian King Erekle II repeatedly urged Empress Catherine for protection from his Muslim neighbors. For Katharina, Georgia was a central element in her Caucasus politics because it could be used as a starting point for campaigns against both the Turks and the Persians. In 1783 Georgia was placed under Russian protection with the Treaty of Georgievsk signed on the fortress Georgievsk , Russian troops marched into Tbilisi and King Erekle II swore his allegiance to Catherine. The Russian troops were withdrawn again in 1787 because of the Russo-Austrian Turkish War ; Erekle had to organize the defense of Georgia himself. Even in 1791, when the Aga Mohammed Khan was in Tabriz , the Russians were not ready to come to the aid of the Georgians. In 1795 Georgia was defeated and annexed by Aga Mohammed Khan at the Battle of Krtsanisi , Tbilisi was sacked for nine days, and the recapture was accompanied by terrible massacres. General Ivan Wassiljewitsch Gudowitsch , who was responsible for the Caucasus, believed that the Georgians themselves were to blame. Plans for an invasion of Persia, which Valerian Alexandrovitch Subov was to lead, were abandoned in 1797 after the death of the Russian empress.

Catherine's heir to the throne, Paul I, tried to improve relations with Persia under Fath Ali Shah while protecting Georgia. It was clear that the Shah would lead to war without giving up Georgia, meanwhile it was unthinkable that Persia would give up its rule over Georgia. In 1798, the Shah asked King Giorgi XII. the allegiance, while Giorgi in turn asks the Russian emperor for protection. In November 1799, Russian troops enter Tbilisi. The Russian governor Peter Ivanovich Kovalensky took over the foreign affairs of Georgia and informed the Shah that Russia would defend Georgia. However, Ibrahim Khan Kalantar reiterated Persia's will to maintain sovereignty over Georgia. When Russia abolished the Georgian monarchy and annexed the country after Giorgi's death, Persia interpreted this as a Russian attack.

Relations since the collapse of the Soviet Union

The two first presidents of Georgia, Zviad Gamsakhurdia and Eduard Shevardnadze, tried to maintain Georgia's independence and evade Russian influence. Russia, on the other hand, tried to re-bind the Caucasus states after 1992. It was directly or indirectly involved in all conflicts in the Caucasus. In 1992, Russia managed to dictate the terms of a partnership to Armenia. Under both Gamsakhurdia and Shevardnadze, Georgia refused to join the Commonwealth of Independent States , which they saw as a new edition of the Soviet Union. For its part, Russia feared that Turkey would have greater influence in the Caucasus and did not want to lose control of the Black Sea . Russia was heavily involved in the conflict over South Ossetia and repeatedly threatened Georgia with military strikes. A ceasefire was agreed in July 1992, as a result of which South Ossetia became de facto independent. Shevardnadze turned down the Russian offer to support Georgia in South Ossetia if Georgia joins the CIS in return , allows Russian military bases on its territory and the Russian military is allowed to guard Georgia's external borders.

Shortly after the armistice in South Ossetia, the Georgian-Abkhazian War broke out. The Abkhazians, though vastly outnumbered the Georgians, declared their independence in July 1992. As a result, undisciplined Georgian paramilitary forces occupied Abkhazia; in October of the same year, however, the Abkhazians launched a counter-offensive with heavy artillery and air support, which was obviously of Russian origin. In addition, there was the uprising of supporters of the ex-president Gamsachurdia, so that the existence of the Georgian state was in danger. Shevardnadze had to accept the Russian offer, Georgia joined the CIS and allowed Russian troops to be stationed on its territory, where up to 2007 up to 10,000 Russian soldiers were stationed. However, Russia never helped Georgia restore its territorial integrity, so in mid-1993 Russia had de facto subjugated Georgia.

The internationally respected Shevardnadze managed to develop a balanced foreign policy and to work with other states without turning Moscow against him. When Russia invaded Chechnya in 1994 and failed to gain control of the republic and the pipeline running through Chechnya from Azerbaijan to Novorossiysk , Georgia turned more towards the west. It became a member of the World Trade Organization and began to consider joining NATO.

In the wake of the Second Chechen War , Russia claimed that Georgia was supporting the breakaway Chechens and al-Qaeda terrorists in the Georgian Pankissi Valley . The Russian army bombed the regiom in 2002.

After the Rose Revolution , Mikheil Saakashvili took over the leadership of the country. He set himself the goal of working more closely with the West, in particular with NATO and the EU , and re-establishing central control over all of Georgia. This policy ran counter to Russian interests and relations deteriorated accordingly. Saakashvili tried to normalize relations with Moscow. After this failed, he pursued an explicitly pro-Western and anti-Russian policy.

In 2006 the relationship deteriorated further. Russia imposed a ban on the import of Georgian wine . In September Georgia arrested four Russian officers charged with espionage. In return, Russia withdrew diplomats from Georgia, expelled Georgians en masse and closed Georgian companies and the common border. In early 2019 , Russia was sentenced by the European Court of Human Rights to around 10 million euros in damages to 1,795 victims for the mass deportations because it violated the ban on collective deportation, the ban on inhumane treatment and the right to freedom and security.

In 2008, as part of Kosovo's declaration of independence , Russia declared that it needed to rethink its stance on former Soviet breakaway republics. Shortly afterwards, an unmanned Georgian plane was shot down over Abkhazia. The 2008 Caucasus War led to the formation of two internationally unrecognized republics ( Abkhazia and South Ossetia ) on Georgian territory and brought relations with Russia to a dead end. In the following year, Georgia withdrew from the Commonwealth of Independent States.

In 2011, in return for giving up its veto against Russia joining the WHO, Georgia had assured itself that it would create neutrally monitored trade corridors. This is because Georgia and Russia do not share a direct winter-safe border. It was only when trade between Russia and Georgia increased in 2017 that there was a first step towards two possible corridors. During these years, relations had normalized and Russian tourists had returned to the country.

In June 2019, alleged "quality defects" in Georgian wine were checked again; one of the Kremlin's usual leverage for "russophobic" behavior according to the Kremlin; Georgia was Russia's second largest wine supplier at the time, although the Russian embargo was in place from 2006 to 2013. On July 8, 2019, before the foreseeable obstacles to the wine trade, President Putin's decree ordered the suspension of direct passenger flights to Georgia. In 2018, 1.4 million Russians had visited the country as tourists. The Novaya Gazeta called the ban on flights "bombs on Voronezh", after a common phrase in Russia for actions with which the Russian government punishes its own citizens through its actions against foreign countries. The catalyst for the deterioration in relations were demonstrations in Georgia after a speech in Russian by Russian communist Sergei Gavrilov at a conference of the Interparliamentary Assembly of Orthodoxy in the Georgian Parliament. At least 240 people were injured in clashes between demonstrators and police.

literature

  • Philipp Ammon: Georgia between Statehood and Russian Occupation: The Roots of the Russian-Georgian Conflict from the 18th Century to the End of the First Georgian Republic (1921). Kitab, Klagenfurt 2015, ISBN 3-9028-7845-2 .

Web links

Commons : Georgian-Russian Relations  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ A deeply rooted tension. The story helps to understand the conflict between Georgia and Russia. Review of the newly published book by Philipp Ammons "Georgia Between Statehood and Russian Occupation" by Wolfgang Taus, NZZ, January 30, 2020. Accessed January 30, 2020 .
  2. ↑ a b Firuz Kazemzadeh : Iranian relations with Russia and the Soviet Union, to 1921 . In: Peter Avery, Gavin Hambly and Charles Melville (Eds.): The Cambridge History of Iran . tape 7 . Cambridge University Press, 1991, ISBN 978-0-521-20095-0 , pp. 330 .
  3. ↑ Firuz Kazemzadeh: Iranian relations with Russia and the Soviet Union, to 1921 . In: Peter Avery, Gavin Hambly and Charles Melville (Eds.): The Cambridge History of Iran . tape 7 . Cambridge University Press, 1991, ISBN 978-0-521-20095-0 , pp. 318-320 .
  4. ↑ a b Firuz Kazemzadeh: Iranian relations with Russia and the Soviet Union, to 1921 . In: Peter Avery, Gavin Hambly and Charles Melville (Eds.): The Cambridge History of Iran . tape 7 . Cambridge University Press, 1991, ISBN 978-0-521-20095-0 , pp. 328 .
  5. ↑ a b Firuz Kazemzadeh: Iranian relations with Russia and the Soviet Union, to 1921 . In: Peter Avery, Gavin Hambly and Charles Melville (Eds.): The Cambridge History of Iran . tape 7 . Cambridge University Press, 1991, ISBN 978-0-521-20095-0 , pp. 325 .
  6. ↑ Firuz Kazemzadeh: Iranian relations with Russia and the Soviet Union, to 1921 . In: Peter Avery, Gavin Hambly and Charles Melville (Eds.): The Cambridge History of Iran . tape 7 . Cambridge University Press, 1991, ISBN 978-0-521-20095-0 , pp. 327 .
  7. ↑ Firuz Kazemzadeh: Iranian relations with Russia and the Soviet Union, to 1921 . In: Peter Avery, Gavin Hambly and Charles Melville (Eds.): The Cambridge History of Iran . tape 7 . Cambridge University Press, 1991, ISBN 978-0-521-20095-0 , pp. 329 .
  8. ^ Svante E. Cornell : Azerbaijan since independence . Sharpe, Armonk, NY 2011, ISBN 0-7656-3003-6 , pp. 343 .
  9. ^ A b Svante E. Cornell: Azerbaijan since independence . Sharpe, Armonk, NY 2011, ISBN 0-7656-3003-6 , pp. 344 .
  10. ↑ a b c d e f Frederik Coene: The Caucasus: an introduction . 1st edition. Routledge, London 2010, ISBN 978-0-203-87071-6 , pp. 176 .
  11. ^ Svante E. Cornell: Azerbaijan since independence . Sharpe, Armonk, NY 2011, ISBN 0-7656-3003-6 , pp. 346 .
  12. ↑ Frederik Coene: The Caucasus: an introduction . 1st edition. Routledge, London 2010, ISBN 978-0-203-87071-6 , pp. 170 .
  13. ↑ Frederik Coene: The Caucasus: an introduction . 1st edition. Routledge, London 2010, ISBN 978-0-203-87071-6 , pp. 171 .
  14. ↑ Christian Rath: Russia has to pay Georgia ten million euros. In: taz.de . February 1, 2019, accessed February 1, 2019 .
  15. ↑ NZZ . January 15, 2018, p. 4.
  16. ↑ Russia Is Laying Groundwork for Georgian Wine Ban, Media Reports , Moscow Times, June 26, 2019
  17. ^ Kremlin Says Georgia in Grip of Russophobic Hysteria , Reuters, June 24, 2019
  18. ↑ Georgian Wine Comes Back to Russia , July 11, 2013
  19. ↑ Russian Flight Ban Could Cost Georgia $ 300M, Experts Say , Moscow Times, June 24, 2019
  20. ↑ Tbilisi - goodbye? , Novaya Gazeta, June 22, 2019
  21. ↑ Protests in Georgia are subsiding - Russia stops flights , NZZ, June 23, 2019
  22. ↑ President of Parliament resigns after mass protests in Georgia , sda, June 21, 2019
  23. ↑ That's behind the protests in Georgia. June 24, 2019, accessed August 7, 2019 .