State in Transcaucasia formed after the collapse of the Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic.

 

The leading role in the political life of the Republic was played by the Georgian Mensheviks, members of the Social Democratic Party of Georgia. Their representatives (Noe Ramishvili, Evgeny Gegechkori, Noe Zhordania, Akaki Chkhenkeli, Irakli Tsereteli), as well as the Socialists-Federalists and National Democrats, were included in the first government. In February 1919, following general elections, the Georgian Mensheviks formed a one-party government headed by Noe Zhordania. In March 1919, the Constituent Assembly (Chairman Nikolay Chkheidze) of 130 deputies, 109 of whom were Mensheviks, assumed the role of Parliament in Georgia.

 

In the first months of its existence, Georgia received military and political support and assistance from Germany. The presence of German forces in Georgia saved it from Turkish occupation. Nevertheless, under the Batumi Treaty of June 4, 1918, part of the Georgian lands (Adjara and others) was transferred to the Ottoman Empire. After the end of the World War I, German troops were withdrawn from Georgia. The British occupation of Transcaucasia, particularly Georgia, began in December 1918 and ended in September 1919 (except for the Batumi region, where the British remained until the summer of 1920).

 

During its existence, the Democratic Republic of Georgia took part in armed conflicts with Abkhazia, the Armed Forces of South Russia (AFSR), and the Republic of Armenia. In early July 1918, Georgian troops crossed the border of the Sochi district and began occupying Russian territory. The coastal territory was occupied by September 1918 and declared “temporarily annexed to Georgia”. On February 6, 1919, troops of the AFSR recaptured Sochi. The Georgian-Armenian war took place in December 1918 over disputed territories populated by Armenians. The conflict was settled in January 1919 with the mediation of Great Britain: the northern part of Borchaly district was given to Georgia, the southern part to Armenia, and the middle part (where the Alaverdi copper mines were located) was declared a neutral zone and administratively subordinated to the British Governor-General. Georgia was on the verge of war with the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (ADR) due to the dispute over the Zakatal district (the majority of the population of this district were Muslims, who in June 1918 expressed their desire to become part of the ADR, to which Georgia had to agree).

 

After the proclamation in 1920 of Azerbaijan (April) and Armenian (November) Socialist Soviet Republics, Georgia remained the last democratic republic in Transcaucasia. On February 12, 1921, a Bolshevik uprising began in Georgia. On February 16, the Revolutionary Committee of Georgia, headed by Georgian Communists, was established in the city of Shulaveri. The Committee proclaimed Soviet rule in the country and appealed for assistance to the Council of People’s Commissars of the Russian SFSR. Units of the 11th Army of the Red Army entered Georgia and occupied Tiflis (Tbilisi) on February 25. On the same day, the Georgian Socialist Soviet Republic was proclaimed. On March 18, the Sovietization of the country was completed: in Kutaisi, representatives of the Menshevik government concluded an agreement to end hostilities and transfer Batumi to the Revolutionary Committee of Georgia. The Democratic Republic of Georgia ceased to exist; the Menshevik government continued its activities in exile.