Georgian SSR history. Encyclopedia

Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic

The Georgian SSR (Georgia) is located in the central and western part of Transcaucasia. Borders on the southwest. with Turkey. In the west it is washed by the Black Sea. Area 69.7 thousand. km 2. Population 4954 thousand people. (as of January 1, 1976). National composition (according to the 1970 census, thousand people): Georgians 3131, Ossetians 150, Abkhazians 79, Armenians 452, Russians 397, Azerbaijanis 218, Greeks 89, Jews 55, Ukrainians 50, etc. Average population density 71.1 people. by 1 km 2(as of January 1, 1976). The capital is Tbilisi (1,030 thousand inhabitants as of January 1, 1976). Large cities (thousands of inhabitants): Kutaisi (177), Sukhumi (118), Batumi (117). New cities have grown: Rustavi (127), Tkvarcheli, Chiatura, Zestafoni, Tkibuli, Vale, Kaspi, etc. Georgia includes the Abkhaz Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, the Adjarian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, and the South Ossetian Autonomous Okrug. There are 66 districts, 51 cities and 60 urban-type settlements in the republic.

Nature. Up to 2/3 of the territory is occupied by mountains and foothills. In the north is the Greater Caucasus mountain system (the highest points are the city of Shkhara, 5068 m, Kazbek, 5033 m), in the south - the Lesser Caucasus (South Georgian Highlands). Between them are intermountain lowlands - the Colchis Lowland, the Inner Kartli, Lower Kartli and Alazani plains and the Iori Plateau. Minerals: coal, oil, manganese, copper and polymetallic ores, barite. The climate and soil and vegetation cover are characterized by altitudinal zonation. In the western part the climate is humid-subtropical. Average January temperature (up to a height of 500-600 m) 3-7 °C, August 23-26 °C; precipitation up to 3000 mm in year. In Eastern Georgia, on the plains and plateaus, the average temperature in July is 24-25 °C, in January from 0 to -3 °C; precipitation from 300 to 1000 mm per year, in the mountains - up to 1800 mm. Main rivers: Kura, Rioni. Lakes - Paravani, Ritsa, etc. In the coastal zone, the soils are subtropical podzolic, red soil and yellow soil; in the lowland part of Eastern Georgia - chernozems, chestnut and brown. In the mountains there are brown, brown forest, humus-carbonate and mountain-meadow soils. About 39% of the territory is occupied by forests (mainly on the mountain slopes) - broad-leaved (beech, chestnut, oak, hornbeam) and coniferous (spruce, fir, pine). In certain regions of the republic, Pitsunda and Eldar pine, yew, boxwood, and zelkova have been preserved. A significant territory of the eastern part of Georgia is occupied by steppes and thickets of thorny bushes. In the high mountain zones of the Greater Caucasus and the South Georgian Highlands there are subalpine and alpine meadows.

Historical reference. Class society on the territory of Georgia arose at the beginning of the 1st millennium BC. e. In the 6th century. BC e. There was a slave-owning kingdom of Colchis in the 4th-3rd centuries. BC e. Iberia. At the beginning of the 6th - beginning of the 10th centuries. n. e. the territory was under the rule of the Iranian Sassanids, Byzantium and the Arab Caliphate. In the 6th-10th centuries. The Georgian nationality was mainly formed. In the 8th - early 9th centuries. The Kakheti, Ereti, Tao-Klarjet feudal principalities and the Abkhazian kingdom arose. 11th-12th centuries were characterized by the economic and cultural prosperity of Georgia. By the 13th-14th centuries. include the invasions of the Mongol-Tatars and Timur. In the 15th - early 17th centuries. independent kingdoms and principalities were formed: Kartli, Kakheti, Imereti, Samtskhe-Saatabago, Megrelia, Guria and Abkhazia. In the 16th-18th centuries. the territory was the object of a struggle between Iran and Turkey; During this period, anti-feudal and people's liberation movements took place against the Iranian-Turkish yoke (in 1625 under the leadership of G. Saakadze, the uprising of 1659, etc.). In 1801 Eastern, in 1803-64 Western Georgia was annexed to Russia (Tiflis and Kutaisi provinces). The people opposed social and national oppression (the Gurian uprising of 1841, the Megrelian uprising of 1857, etc.). The peasant reform of 1864 accelerated the development of capitalism; in the 90s 19th century The first social democratic organizations appeared. The proletariat waged a strike struggle (the Batumi strike and demonstration of 1902, the General Strike in the South of Russia of 1903). The working people of Georgia took part in the Revolution of 1905-07, the February Revolution of 1917 and the Great October Socialist Revolution. In November 1917, petty-bourgeois parties seized power. In 1918-20 it was occupied by German, Turkish, and British troops. With the help of the Red Army, the working people of Georgia established Soviet power in 1921; On February 25, 1921, the Georgian SSR was formed. On March 12, 1922 it became part of the TSFSR; from December 5, 1936 directly within the USSR as a union republic. As a result of industrialization, collectivization of agriculture and the cultural revolution carried out under the leadership of the Communist Party, a basically socialist society was built in the republic.

During the Great Patriotic War, the Georgian people mobilized all their forces to repel fascist aggression.

As of January 1, 1976, the Communist Party of Georgia had 307,929 members and 10,442 candidate party members; in the ranks of the Leninist Communist Youth Union of Georgia there were 606,324 members; There are over 1826.7 thousand trade union members in the republic.

The Georgian people, together with all the fraternal peoples of the USSR, achieved new successes in communist construction in the post-war decades.

The Georgian SSR was awarded 2 Orders of Lenin (1935, 1965), the Order of the October Revolution (1971) and the Order of Friendship of Peoples (1972).

Economy. During the years of socialist construction, Georgia became an industrial-agrarian republic. In the national economy of the USSR, it is distinguished by the extraction of manganese ores, the production of ferroalloys, steel pipes, electric locomotives, trucks, metal-cutting machines, some electrical products and instruments, specific food products - tea, citrus fruits, tobacco, wines, essential and tung oils. Georgia is the main base of the subtropical economy of the USSR.

The Georgian SSR has developed economic ties with all union republics.

In 1975, the volume of industrial output exceeded the level of 1940 by 12 times, and the level of 1913 by 118 times.

For the production of the most important types of industrial products, see the data in table. 1.

Table 1. - Production of the most important types of industrial products

Electricity, billion. kWh
Coal, thousand T
Steel, thousand T
Rental, thousand T
Manganese ore, thousand T
Mineral fertilizers (in conventional units), thousand. T
Cement, thousand T
Cotton fabrics, million. m
Woolen fabrics, million. m
Silk fabrics, million. m
Leather shoes, million pairs
Primary processed long tea, thousand. T.
Canned food, million conventional cans
Grape wine, million. gave*
Meat, thousand T

* Without wine, the processing and bottling of which is carried out on the territory of other republics.

In 1977, the Enguri hydroelectric power station, the largest in Transcaucasia, was under construction in Georgia. Coal is mined; Manganese, polymetallic ores, barite, etc. are being developed. Ferrous metallurgy, mechanical engineering, light and food industries play an important role.

Gross agricultural output in 1975 compared to 1940 increased by 3.3 times. At the end of 1975 there were 310 state farms and 877 collective farms. In 1975, 20.8 thousand tractors (in physical units; 3 thousand in 1940), 1.4 thousand grain harvesters (0.5 thousand in 1940), 19.1 thousand trucks (2 .7 thousand in 1940). Agricultural land in 1975 amounted to 3.1 million. ha(44.3% of the entire territory), including arable land - 0.8 million. ha, hayfields - 0.15 million ha and pastures - 1.8 million. ha. Irrigation is of great importance. Large irrigation systems: Alazani, Samgori, Tiripon; under construction (1977) Upper Alazan irrigation system. A significant part of the Colchis lowland has been drained. At the end of 1975, the area of ​​irrigated land was 368 thousand. ha, drained - 151.3 thousand. ha. Agriculture provides about 70% of gross agricultural output (1975). The main branches of agriculture are tea growing, fruit growing (especially citrus growing), and viticulture. The area of ​​tea plantings is 66 thousand. ha in 1975 (50 thousand ha in 1940), vineyards - 126 thousand. ha(70 thousand ha in 1940), fruit and berry plantings - 177 thousand. ha(109 thousand ha in 1940). Gross tea harvest - 335 thousand. T in 1975 (51 thousand t in 1940), grapes - 563 thousand. T(150 thousand T in 1940), fruits and berries - 500 thousand. T(143 thousand T in 1940). Mainly corn and wheat are sown among grain crops, and tobacco and essential oil crops are among industrial crops. For data on sown areas and gross harvest of agricultural crops, see table. 2.

The main branch of livestock farming is cattle breeding. Sheep farming (based on natural feeding grounds), as well as sericulture, are developed. On the number of livestock and poultry and the production of livestock products, see the data in table. 3 and 4.

Table 2. - Sown areas and gross harvest of agricultural crops

Total sown area, thousand. ha
Cereals
Industrial crops
Vegetables and potatoes
Forage crops
Gross collection, thousand T
Cereals
Sugar beets (factory)
Potato

Cattle
including cows
Sheep and goats
Poultry, million

Table 4. - Production of basic livestock products

Meat (in slaughter weight), thousand. T
Milk, thousand T
Eggs, million pieces
Wool, thousand T

The main mode of transport is railway. The operational length of the railways is 1.42 thousand. km(1975). The length of roads is 21.5 thousand. km(1975), including hard surface 17.7 thousand. km. Marine (main ports are Batumi, Poti) and air transport are developed. Oil pipeline Baku - Batumi, gas pipelines from Azerbaijan and the North Caucasus.

The standard of living of the population of the republic is steadily increasing. National income for 1966-75 increased 1.9 times. Real income per capita in 1975 compared to 1965 increased 1.6 times. Retail turnover of state and cooperative trade (including public catering) increased from 333 million rubles. in 1940 to 3210 million rubles. in 1975, while trade turnover per capita was 5.5 times. The amount of deposits in savings banks in 1975 reached 1,797 million rubles. (13 million rubles in 1940), the average deposit is 1279 rubles. (44 rubles in 1940). At the end of 1975, the city's housing stock amounted to 33.3 million. m 2 total (useful) area. During 1971-75, 8.9 million were put into operation at the expense of the state, collective farms and the population. m 2 total (useful) area.

Cultural construction. According to the 1897 census, 23.6% of the population were literate, including 29.1% among men and 17.1% among women. In the 1914/15 school year. There were 1,765 secondary schools of all types (157 thousand students) and 5 secondary specialized educational institutions. After the establishment of Soviet power, a new school was created with teaching in the native language. By 1939, literacy of the population had risen to 89.3%; according to the 1970 census it reached 99.9%.

In 1975, 143 thousand children were educated in permanent preschool institutions.

In the 1975/76 school year. 1 million students studied in 4.4 thousand comprehensive schools of all types, 41.5 thousand students studied in 88 vocational schools (including 39 vocational schools providing secondary education, - 18.5 thousand students), in 97 secondary specialized educational institutions - 49.4 thousand students, in 19 universities - 82.8 thousand students. The largest universities: Tbilisi University, Georgian Polytechnic Institute, Georgian Agricultural Institute, Conservatory, Academy of Arts, Pedagogical Institute.

In 1975, per 1000 people employed in the national economy, there were 802 people. with higher and secondary (complete or incomplete) education (163 people in 1939).

The leading scientific institution is the Academy of Sciences of the Georgian SSR. In 1975, there were 25 thousand scientific workers in the republic.

The network of cultural institutions has received significant development.

In 1975, 23 musical and drama theaters operated, including the Georgian Opera and Ballet Theater. Z. P. Paliashvili, Drama Theater named after. Shota Rustaveli, Drama Theater named after. L. Meskhishvili, Drama Theater named after. K. A. Marjanishvili; 2 thousand stationary film installations; over 2 thousand club institutions. The largest libraries are the State Library of the Georgian SSR named after. K. Marx (founded in 1923, in 1975 there were 5,603 thousand copies of books, brochures, magazines, etc.), Central Scientific Library of the Academy of Sciences of the Georgian SSR (2.4 million copies of books, brochures and magazines), in 1975 there were 3858 public libraries (25,696 thousand copies of books and magazines); 81 museums.

In 1975, 1,964 book titles and brochures were published with a circulation of 15.6 million copies. (1639 titles with a circulation of 5618 thousand copies in 1940). Books are published in Georgian, Russian, Azerbaijani, Abkhazian, Ossetian languages, as well as in foreign languages

133 magazine publications were published with an annual circulation of 30.0 million copies, including 84 publications in Georgian with a circulation of 25.2 million copies. (77 publications with an annual circulation of 1.7 million copies in 1940). 141 newspapers were published with an annual circulation of 678 million copies. The Georgian Telegraph Agency (GruzTAG, since 1972 - Gruzinform) has been operating since 1936. The Book Chamber was founded in 1924. Regular radio broadcasting began in 1927. Broadcasts are conducted in Georgian, Russian, Azerbaijani and Armenian; television broadcasts - since 1956 in Georgian and Russian languages ​​Television Center in Tbilisi.

In 1975, there were 500 hospital institutions in the republic with 48.0 thousand beds (314 hospitals with 13.3 thousand beds in 1940); 20.4 thousand doctors and 49.9 thousand paramedical personnel worked (4.9 thousand doctors and 9.4 thousand paramedical personnel in 1940). Popular balneological and climatic resorts: Bakuriani, Borjomi, Gagra, New Athos, Pitsunda, Sukhumi, Tskhaltubo and etc.

Abkhaz ASSR

The Abkhaz ASSR (Abkhazia) was formed on March 4, 1921. It is located in the north-west. Transcaucasia. To the south-west washed by the Black Sea. Area 8.6 thousand. km 2. Population 500 thousand people. (as of January 1, 1976). National composition (according to the 1970 census, thousand people): Abkhazians 77, Georgians 200, Russians 93, Armenians 75, Greeks 13, etc. Average population density 58.1 people. by 1 km 2(as of January 1, 1976). The capital is Sukhumi (118 thousand inhabitants as of January 1, 1976).

In 1975, the volume of industrial output exceeded the level of 1940 by 8.8 times. Coal is mined. An important role is played by the industries for processing agricultural raw materials - tea, tobacco and tobacco, canning, and wine. There are enterprises in the mechanical engineering, leather and footwear, woodworking and construction materials industries. In 1975 there were 38 state farms and 103 collective farms. Agriculture mainly specializes in the cultivation of tea, tobacco, citrus fruits, tung, and essential oil crops. Viticulture and fruit growing, including subtropical, are developed. In 1975, the harvest of high-quality tea leaves amounted to 63 thousand. T. The sown area of ​​all agricultural crops is 42 thousand. ha(1975); sow grains, vegetables, melons and tobacco. Livestock farming mainly for dairy and dairy-meat production; poultry farming is developed. Livestock (as of January 1, 1976, thousand): 141 cattle, 28 sheep and goats, 75 pigs. The main seaport is Sukhumi.

In the 1975/76 school year. 103.1 thousand students studied in 416 general education schools of all types (in the 1914/15 academic year in 156 schools - 8.7 thousand), in 6 secondary specialized educational institutions - 2.9 thousand students, in Institute of Subtropical Economy and Pedagogical Institute (both in Sukhumi) - 6.2 thousand students (before the October Revolution there were no secondary specialized and higher educational institutions).

For every 1000 people employed in the national economy, in 1974 there were 783 people. with higher and secondary (complete and incomplete) education.

Among the scientific institutions are the Institute of Experimental Pathology and Therapy (with a monkey nursery), the Abkhaz branch of the Research Institute of Balneology and Physiotherapy.

In 1975, the volume of industrial output exceeded the 1940 level by 4.2 times. Main industries: oil refining, mechanical engineering, food. In the Adjarian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic in 1975 there were 18 state farms and 92 collective farms. 70% of the area of ​​perennial plantings is occupied by subtropical crops, cultivated mainly in the coastal zone. The main ones are tea and citrus fruits. In 1975, the collection of high-quality tea leaves amounted to 48.2 thousand. T. Subtropical fruit trees, tung, laurel, eucalyptus, and bamboo are also common. The sown area of ​​all agricultural crops is 13.4 thousand. ha(1975); sow grains, tobacco, potatoes and vegetable and melon crops. They raise sheep and goats (11 thousand heads as of January 1, 1976), and cattle (116 thousand). The main seaport is Batumi.

In the 1975/76 school year. 75.9 thousand students studied in 434 general education schools of all types (in the 1921/22 academic year in general education schools - 10.1 thousand), over 2 thousand students studied in 3 vocational schools, in 8 secondary specialized educational institutions - 3.3 thousand students, at the Pedagogical Institute named after. Sh. Rustaveli (in Batumi) - 2.4 thousand students (before the October Revolution there were no secondary specialized and higher educational institutions). For every 1,000 people employed in the national economy, in 1975 there were 798 people. with higher and secondary (complete and incomplete) education. Among the scientific institutions is the Batumi Research Institute of the Academy of Sciences of the Georgian SSR. In 1975 there were: 1 theater, 276 public libraries, 2 museums, 183 club institutions, 212 stationary film installations.

In 1975, 1.1 thousand doctors worked, i.e. 1 doctor for 323 inhabitants. (270 doctors, i.e. 1 doctor per 774 inhabitants, in 1940); there were 3.7 thousand hospital beds (0.9 thousand beds in 1940).

The Adjarian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was awarded the Order of Lenin (1967), the Order of the October Revolution (1971) and the Order of Friendship of Peoples (1972).

South Ossetian Autonomous Region

South Ossetian Autonomous Okrug (South Ossetia) was formed on April 20, 1922. It is located on the southern slopes of the Greater Caucasus. Area 3.9 thousand. km 2. Population 103 thousand people. (as of January 1, 1976). Average population density 26.3 people. by 1 km 2. Center - Tskhinvali.

In 1975, the volume of industrial output exceeded the 1940 level by 27 times. Mining (extraction of polymetallic ores), forestry and woodworking, mechanical engineering, food industry and production of building materials are developed. In 1975 there were 11 state farms and 20 collective farms. The sown area of ​​all agricultural crops in 1975 amounted to 22.2 thousand. ha. They cultivate grains (wheat, corn, barley), sugar beets and vegetables. Fruit growing and viticulture are developed. An important branch of agriculture is animal husbandry. They raise sheep and goats (139.6 thousand heads as of January 1, 1976), and cattle (67.7 thousand).

In the 1975/76 school year. In 214 general education schools of all types, 24.3 thousand students studied, in 1 vocational school - 210 students, in 4 secondary specialized educational institutions - 0.6 thousand students, in the Pedagogical Institute in Tskhinvali - 2.3 thousand .students.

In 1975 there was 1 theater, 163 public libraries, a museum, 89 club institutions, 66 stationary film installations.

In 1975, 0.3 thousand doctors worked, i.e. 1 doctor for 308 inhabitants, there were 1.1 thousand hospital beds. Jasa resort.

The South Ossetian Autonomous Okrug was awarded the Order of Lenin (1967) and the Order of Friendship of Peoples (1972).

The climate is transitional from subtropical to temperate. The Colchis lowland is characterized by a humid subtropical climate: January temperature 3-6°C, July temperature 22-23°C; precipitation is 1200-3000 mm per year. The climate of the Iverian Lowland is characterized by colder winters (January temperature - 2-1.5 ° C, July temperature 23-26 ° C), less precipitation (300-800 mm per year). The climate of the South Georgian Highlands is characterized by relative continentality and aridity, little snow and cold winters.

The rivers of Georgia belong to the Black Sea and Caspian basins. The main ones are Kypa and Rioni. The rivers are not navigable, but are of great hydroelectric importance. Georgia is not rich in lakes, but in some areas there is a group of lakes of tectonic, volcanic, sea, river, glacial, landslide, karst and other origin. The largest lakes by area are Paravani (37 km 2), Kartsakhi (26.3 km 2) and Paliastomi (18.2 km 2). Forests occupy 36.7% of the area. Mountain forests are represented by a mixture of broad-leaved species (oak, hornbeam, chestnut, beech, etc.). Fir and spruce are common in the upper mountain belt, and pine is common in some high mountain valleys. Alpine meadows extend from the upper border of the forest to an altitude of 2800-3500 m. The steppes have a wide range in the Iberian depression and on the lava plateaus of the South Georgian Highlands.

Geological structure. On the territory of Georgia there are fragments of the main geotectonic units of the Caucasus: the Hercynian-Alpine folded system of the Greater Caucasus in the north, the Transcaucasian middle massif in the central part and the arcuate meganticlinorium of the Lesser Caucasus in the south, including different-aged and heterogeneous geological-structural elements (see Caucasus). In the Georgian part of the Greater Caucasus, there is an inherited Baikal-Hercynian geoanticline of the main ridge with large outcrops of ancient granite-metamorphic basement and a geosyncline of the southern slope, divided into smaller structural and formational zones. Small intrusions of Bathonian and Granitoids are associated with the intermittent process of tectonomagmatic development of the Greater Caucasus in the Alpine stage. The geosynclinal development of the southern slope of the Greater Caucasus, which began in the Hercynian cycle, continued in the Early Alpine (Cimmerian), as a result of which thick (5-7 km) argillite and sandy-graywacke strata of the Lias, in places also of the Middle Jurassic, metamorphosed to the slate facies, accumulated. During the Bajocian, the trough of the geosynclinal trough moved southward relative to the centerline of the shale geosyncline.

In western Georgia, a thick (up to 3 km) strata formed in the Bajocian, composed of augite and diabase porphyrites, spilites, tuffs, known as the porphyrite suite. The area of ​​its distribution in the geosyncline of the southern slope is the upper structural floor, identified as the Gagra-Java structural-formational subzone. In the Bajocian, the peripheral part of the Transcaucasian middle massif, the Okrib-Sachkhere subzone, was also involved in the subsidence. At the contact of the geosyncline of the Greater Caucasus with the Transcaucasian middle massif and on the massif itself in isolated lagoon-deltaic basins in the Bathonian age, the coal-bearing strata of the Bzyb, Tkvarcheli, Magan, Gelati, Tkibul and Shaorskoe coal deposits were formed. In the Late Jurassic, in places there was precipitation of relatively thin variegated molasse or the formation of reefogenic limestones, and from the Early Cretaceous a quasi-platform regime was established. An exception is the Mestia-Tianet flysch zone on the southern slope of the Greater Caucasus, bounded by deep faults and superimposed at an acute angle on the Early-Middle Jurassic trough. Within its boundaries, rhythmic flyschoid carbonate and terrigenous sediments accumulated from the Late Jurassic to the Eocene inclusive. In the Oligocene, thrusts of the folded system of the Greater Caucasus began on the Transcaucasian middle massif, which within the territory of Georgia is traditionally called the Georgian block.

The Transcaucasian middle massif is dissected by deep faults, which determine its mosaic structure. The most uplifted part of the Georgian block is the Dzirul crystalline massif, where an ancient granite-metamorphic core protrudes to the surface. In the subplatform structures of the Meso-Cenozoic, an important role belongs to depressions composed of manganese-bearing sand-silicite formation of the Oligocene. To the east and west of the Dzirula uplift zone there are the Kura and Colchis intermountain depressions, composed of Neogene-Quaternary.

Intermountain depressions are complicated by brachymorphic folding of Paleogene (sometimes Upper Cretaceous) deposits, which are associated with oil and gas bearing structures of the Colchis, Gurian, Kartli, Pritbilis and Kakheti regions. The southern part of the Transcaucasian middle massif experienced regeneration of the geosynclinal regime in the late Mesozoic and Cenozoic. The Cretaceous and Paleogene troughs include the Adzhar-Trialeti, Bolnisi (Bolnisi-Kirovabad) and Sakir (Sakir-Lori) structural-formational zones, belonging to the meganticlinorium of the Lesser Caucasus. A relatively stable tectonic block is identified as the Artvino-Bolnisi block; within its boundaries there are horst-shaped protrusions of the ancient foundation - the Khramsky and Loksky massifs.

The Adzhar-Trialeti folded zone stretches in a latitudinal direction from the Black Sea to the right bank of the Iori River, where it plunges under molasse. The foundation of the zone has not been opened; The oldest carbonate and volcanic-terrigenous formations within its boundaries belong to the Aptian. The most intense subsidence, accompanied by underwater volcanism, occurred in the Middle Eocene.

For the metallogeny of Georgia, the process of late Alpine tectono-magmatic activation of the areas of completed folding of the Greater Caucasus and the Georgian block is important. Its beginning should be considered the formation of barite and barite-polymetallic mineralization, widespread in the Gagra-Dzhava and Okrib-Sachkhera zones, epigenetic in relation to the ore-hosting porphyritic formation of the Bajoc. The next stages of activation are associated with the Kvaisskaya near-fault lead-zinc zone, the rare metal-arsenic belt of Racha and Svaneti, and the en echelon mercury belts of Abkhazia, Svaneti, Racha and South Ossetia.

Hydrogeology. According to the geological, structural and hydrodynamic conditions within the territory of Georgia, five areas are distinguished: fractured waters of the crystalline substrate of the Greater Caucasus; fissure and fissure-karst waters of the folded zone of the southern slope of the Greater Caucasus; artesian basins of the Georgian block; fissure and fissure-karst waters of the Adzhar-Trialeti folded zone; fissure waters of the Artvino-Bolnisi block. Within the crystalline substrate of the Greater Caucasus, nitrogen ultra-fresh calcium bicarbonate or calcium-sodium and carbon dioxide, ferruginous slightly brackish sodium-calcium hydrocarbonate, and less commonly hydrocarbonate chloride sodium-calcium waters are developed. In the artesian basins of the Georgian block, nitrogen and methane waters of different chemical composition and mineralization (up to 400 g/l) are developed, depending on the degree of hydrogeological openness of the structures. This area is divided by the Dzirula crystalline massif into the West Georgian and East Georgian artesian basins. Other hydrogeological regions of Georgia are characterized by the manifestation of young volcanism. In the zone of intense water exchange, fresh, nitrogen, and calcium bicarbonate waters are developed. Carbon dioxide and nitrogen-methane hydrocarbonate, soda and hydrochloric-alkaline mineral, thermal and industrial waters are widely represented.

The seismicity of the territory of Georgia is due to the presence of seismically active deep structures, among which interzonal, intrazonal and transzonal structures are distinguished. The sources of most earthquakes in Georgia lie at a depth of 10-25 km, only in rare cases reaching a depth of 30-35 km. Against a general 7-point seismic background, three 8-point zones were identified: Javakheti (focus depth 8-19 km), Gegechkor-Chkhalta (Megrelian-Abkhaz; 2-20 km) and Kazbegi-Lagodekhi (14-25 km). The most active seismic areas and areas of possible strong earthquakes are located on the Javakheti Highlands and on the southern slope of the main Caucasus ridge. According to long-term observations, the shortest period of magnitude 8 earthquakes is 100 years within the epicentral zone of the Javakheti Plateau, and magnitude 7 earthquakes are 300 years within the southern slope of the Greater Caucasus and the central part of the Main Caucasus Range.

Oil. The main oil areas of Georgia are confined to the intermountain troughs of the middle massif (Colchis and South Kakheti oil and gas regions) and the marginal troughs of the Adjara-Trialeti folded zone (Guri and Pritbilis regions). Industrial oil content is associated with sediments from the Upper Cretaceous to the Pliocene. The Pritbilisi oil and gas region is represented by the Samgori-Patardzeuli, Norio, Satskhenisi, Teleti, and Samgori South Dome fields. Oil deposits in the Norio and Satskhenisi fields are strata, domed, tectonically screened, with a dissolved gas regime. The collector is granular. The depth of productive horizons is 350-1500 m. The Samgori-Patardzeuli, Teleti and Samgori Southern Dome deposits are confined to Middle Eocene deposits. The reservoir is porous-fractured. Oil deposits are massive and floating. The depth of the productive horizon is 2800, 420-1260 and 2400 m, respectively. Oil density is in the region of 820-885 kg/m 3, sulfur content is 0.2-0.3%. In the South Kakheti oil and gas region there are the Taribana, Patara-Shiraki and Mirzaani fields, confined to the deposits of the Shirak formation (Maeotispont). Oil deposits are strata, domed, tectonically shielded and lithologically limited. The depth of productive horizons is 300-2600 m. The reservoir is porous. Oil density is 850-885 kg/m3, sulfur content is 0.2 and 0.35%. The Supsa and Shromisubani-Tskaltsminda deposits are located in the Guria region. Oil content is confined to the deposits of the Lower Sarmatian and Maeotian. Oil deposits are strata, domed, tectonically shielded and lithologically limited, the reservoir is porous. The depth of productive horizons is 300-3500 m. Oil density is 915-930 kg/m 3, sulfur content is 0.4-0.7%. In the Colchis oil and gas region, one oil field is known - Eastern Chaladidi. The deposit is massive, confined to Upper Cretaceous deposits. The collector is cracked. The depth of the productive formation is 2200 m. Oil density is 885 kg/m 3, sulfur content is 0.5%.

Coal associated with the Bathonian epicontinental coal-bearing strata, an intermittent strip stretching along the periphery of the geosynclinal-folded system of the southern slope of the Greater Caucasus and also developed in the Okrib-Sachkhere block of the Georgian block. The Tkvarcheli deposit is of industrial importance within the geosyncline, and on the block - confined to isolated coal accumulation basins. Between them, in the mentioned strip, the non-industrial Maganskoye and Gelatskoye deposits are known, and to the north-west of Tkvarchelskoye there is the Bzybskoye deposit. The main reserves of hard coal are concentrated in the Tkibuli-Shaorskoye deposit (310 million tons, 1983). The thickness of the flat-lying coal strata is about 60 m, the angle of incidence is 10-45°; in the western part of the deposit (Tkibulskaya) it is exposed on the surface, and in the eastern (Shaorskaya) part it is covered by deposits of the Upper Jurassic and Cretaceous and is exposed at depths of 800-1200 m. In the central part of the section of the coal strata there lies a complex “Tolstoy” layer, subdivided into thinner working layers and layers that are difficult to correlate between individual areas. The thickness of the working seams is up to 6-7 m, sometimes 12 m. The coals are mainly clarenic, gas, do not coke on their own, but when mixed with Tkvarcheli coals they produce metallurgical coke. The Tkvarcheli coking coal deposit is almost exhausted (explored reserves in 1983 are about 20 million tons). The coal-bearing strata lies on the Bajocian porphyritic suite in the form of 6 isolated areas; up to 9 coal seams are distinguished, of which the most coal-saturated is the lower seam 1. Its thickness ranges from 2-3 to 12 m; maximum depth 500 m, angle of incidence 5-70°. Forecast resources for Tkvarcheli deposit insignificant.

Thermal waters. Georgia is rich in manifestations of various thermal waters. On the southern slope of the Greater Caucasus (Svaneti and Kazbego-Mtatusheti regions) the total flow rate of thermal waters is about 17 l/s, t 23-37°C, salinity 0.3-0.6 g/l. 13 of the most important groups (out of 40) of thermal and self-flowing wells are associated with the Georgian block and are confined to Paleogene deposits. In the fields of Gagra, Zugdidi, Okhurei, Samtredia, Sukhumi, Ujarma, Tskaltubobit, the flow rate of individual wells reaches 2700 m 3 /s, t at outflow 20-130 ° C and salinity 0.5-13.6 g/l. In the fields of the Adzhar-Trialeti folded zone of Abastumani, Aspindza, Zekari, Sulori, Udabno, the flow rate of individual wells reaches 1400 m 3 /day, t 36-48 ° C and mineralization 0.15-1.12 g/l. At the deposits of the Artvino-Bolnisi block - Akhalkalaki, Vardzia, Nakalakevi, Tmogvi, the total flow rate is 12.1 l / s, t 20-46 ° C, mineralization 10-12 g / l. The total flow rate of all thermal water sources in Georgia is 1300 l/s, and the forecast resources are 8100 l/s, which corresponds to 2 million tons of standard fuel.

Iron ores do not form large deposits in Georgia. In the Bolnisi ore region of southern Georgia, the Poladaur group of hematite deposits, represented by lens-shaped and sheet-like bodies, occurring in the volcanic-sedimentary strata of the Upper Cretaceous, was periodically semi-artisanally mined. Iron content in ores is 30-60%; total reserves are about 20 million tons. In some ore bodies (Balidara) there is an increased copper content (up to 3-5%). The Dzamskoe skarn-magnetite deposit has been explored in the Adzhar-Trialeti zone, associated with the Paleogene gabbrodiorite intrusion. The iron content in solid ores is 45-60%, in disseminated ores - 20-45%. Reserves are 16.7 million tons with an average iron content of 32%. A strip of magnetite sands stretches along the Black Sea coast of Georgia. In the southern section of Chorokhi-Supsa, 50 km long, the total iron reserves are estimated at 150 million tons, with a magnetic fraction content of 2-3% in the sands.

Manganese ores confined mainly to the sandy-silicite sequence of the Oligocene; non-industrial mineralization is also known in the Upper Cretaceous and Upper Jurassic formations. The unique Chiatura deposit is dissected by the Kvirila River and its tributaries into separate highlands. The manganese sequence is characterized by a calm, gentle bedding (from 2-3 to 10-12°), composed series ore layers interspersed with interlayers of opoka-like siliceous rocks. The total thickness of the manganese horizon is 0.5-10 m. The maximum depth of the manganese layer is 120-150 m. There are several types of ores: oxide with an average manganese content of 25%, carbonate - 17.3% and oxidized - 20.4%. Their relative amount in the total balance reserves of the field is 35%, 46% and 18%, respectively. The Kvirilskaya Depression, a closed manganese-bearing structure located southwest of the Chiatura deposit, has been previously explored. The manganese-bearing horizon, which lies at a depth of 500-700 m, has a discontinuous structure, and therefore the ore field is divided into sections of Rodinauli, Cholaburi, Rokiti, etc. Ores are similar to oresChiatura field, the average manganese content in oxide ores is about 30%, in carbonate ores - 15-19%. Forecast resources are about 50 million tons.

Copper ores concentrated mainly in the Bolnisi ore region, where complex copper-barite-polymetallic deposits are located: Madneuli, Tsitelsopeli, Kvemo-Bolnisi, Tamarisi, etc. They are confined to the Upper Cretaceous volcanic-sedimentary strata; ore bodies have the form of metasomatic deposits of solid and veinlet-disseminated ores, less often stocks and pillars. Vertical zoning is characteristic in the lower horizons of the deposits: sulfur and copper pyrite ores are developed, giving way higher to copper-zinc, polymetallic and barite ores. Main minerals: pyrite, barite, chalcopyrite, sphalerite, galena. The average copper content in industrial types of ores is 1-1.5%; in some areas - up to 2-4%. The Madneuli field is being developed. Vein copper-polymetallic deposits associated with pre-Upper Eocene intrusions of syenite-diorites are widespread in the Adzhar-Trialeti zone. The explored Merissky ore cluster contains up to 50 steeply dipping quartz-sulfide veins. There are several vein fields covering an area of ​​about 180 km2. The copper content in the veins is on average 1.5-2%. On the southern slope of the Greater Caucasus in the Jurassic black shale strata, copper-pyrrhotite and pyrite-polymetallic mineralization is widespread. Exploration of ore fields (Adangeiskoye, Artanskoye, Akhalsopelskoye, etc.) with very uneven, sometimes high copper contents is underway.

Mercury ore deposits and numerous occurrences of cinnabar mineralization are located along the southern slope of the Greater Caucasus. The most significant are the Achaean and Avadhar deposits in Abkhazia, represented by a hydrothermally altered zone confined to sandstones and shales of the Upper Liassic. The metal content in the first deposit is 0.4-9.1%, in the second - 0.27-0.41%. The Ertsoi cinnabar deposit has been discovered in South Ossetia.

Antimony ore deposits located along the southern slope of the Main Range of the Greater Caucasus. The Zopkhitskoe deposit in Upper Racha, represented by numerous quartzantimonite veins associated with Liassic shales and granitoids, is of industrial importance. The metal content in the ore is 7-17%.

Lead-zinc ores are present in the types of pyrite and vein copper-polymetallic ores noted above, and also have independent significance in individual deposits of lead-zinc and polymetallic formations. The Kvaisskoe deposit is confined to the Late Alpine fault zone, traced along a strike of up to 8 km and a dip of over 1 km. The rocks of the Bajocian porphyritic suite and the Upper Jurassic limestones contain columnar bodies of lead-zinc ores. In the Verkhnee Kvaisi and Nadarbazi areas, the zinc content in the ores averages 5.7-7.8%, lead 1.9-2.6%. The Valkhokh and Varakhkom ore-bearing structures have also been explored. Pb:Zn ratio = 0.4.

And. Industrial deposits of barite are known in the Gagra-Java zone of the Greater Caucasus and the Bolnisi ore region of the Artvino-Bolnisi block. There are two types of deposits in the Gagra-Java zone - vein deposits confined to the Bajocian porphyritic suite (Kutais group, Chordskoe, Khaishskoe, Pitsikvarskoe, etc.), and sheet-like deposits in the Upper Jurassic limestones (Apshrinskoe). The ore reserves of the Chord deposit are 2.4 million tons. The deposit is represented by a series of parallel and conjugate veins, lenses and other bodies. The thickness of the veins is 0.2-4 m, in swells up to 10-15 m. The angle of incidence is 15-80°. The barite content in the ore, depending on the degree of calcitization, is 30-95%. The Apshrinskoe deposit is confined to dolomitized and baritized limestones of the Lusitanian stage and is a metasomatic sheet-like deposit. The thickness of the mineralized zone is 17-40 m. The BaSO 4 content in the ore is 45%. Ore reserves are 8.4 million tons. In the Bolnisi region, barite mineralization accompanies copper-lead-zinc mineralization; At the Madneuli deposit, barite is extracted as a by-product. Ore reserves are about 1 million tons, the barite content in the ore is 32-53%. Calcite , as a rule, accompanies barite in almost all deposits. The Bajiori hydrothermal vein deposit of calcite, confined to the Bajocian porphyrite suite and represented by numerous veins with a thickness of 0.15 to 1 m, is of industrial importance. Ore reserves are 2.6 million tons, the calcite content in the ore is 52%.

Arsenic ores. In the zone of the southern slope of the Greater Caucasus, arsenopyrite and realgar-orpiment vein deposits of the hydrothermal type are widespread. The Lukhumskoye deposit in Upper Racha and the Tsanskoye deposit in Lower Svaneti are of industrial importance. The first is represented by rich realgar-orpiment ore, as well as relatively poor ore in the form of individual nests, interlayers and inclusions in the side rocks (shales and limestones of the Upper Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous). 5 ore bodies were identified, the metal content in the ore ranged from 3.6 to 13.3%. The ores of the Tsanskoe deposit are quartz arsenopyrite-containing in metamorphosed shales, arsenic content from 3.32 to 29%.

Among the common deposits, the Bakurianskoye (Tsikhisdzhvarskoye) deposit is exploited, represented by massifs of acid-resistant andesites with a thickness of up to 30 m. Explored reserves are 5 million m 3 (1983). The explored reserves of the still undeveloped Kazbegi and Kobi deposits of acid-resistant andesite are 5 and 5.8 million tons.

Bentonite clays. Georgia occupies a leading place in the world in terms of resources of high-quality bentonite clays. The main reserves are concentrated in the Gumbra and Askana hydrothermal-sedimentary deposits, confined to Cenomanian-Turonian volcanic rocks (Gumbra) and trachytic tuffs of the Upper Eocene (Askana). Bentonites of both deposits are products of alteration of glassy volcanic rocks. The explored reserves of the Gumbra deposit are 6.5 million tons, the Askanskoye - 10.6 million tons. The Gumbra deposit is represented by a sheet-like deposit among arkose-quartz sandstones and dolomitized Cretaceous limestones. The thickness of the deposit is up to 5 m, the angle of incidence is 5-12°. At the Askanskoye field, the sheet-like deposit has a thickness of 30-260 m, a dip angle of 75-80°.

The Kisatib deposit of high-quality diatomite is located in the Akhaltsikhe region. It belongs to the hydrothermal-sedimentary type and is confined to the tops of the Neogene volcanogenic Goderdz-Kisatib formation. Mineral deposit

Nonmetallic industrial raw materials are represented by dolomites, dolomitized and fluxed limestones, refractory clays, and quartz-feldspathic sands. The Abanoiskoye and Tkvarchelskoye deposits of dolomite rocks are confined to the Upper Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous deposits of the Georgian block and the Gagra-Java zone. The dolomite and dolomitized limestone mined at these deposits belongs to classes I and II. Reserves for 1983 - 3.6 million tons (Abanoiskoye field) and 83.2 million tons (Tkvarchelskoye field). The yield of class I and II dolomites is 75 and 15%, respectively. The Tsiteli-Tskaro deposit of fluxing limestone is the base for the Rustavi Metallurgical Plant, and the Chishur deposit is for the Zestafoni Ferroalloy Plant. Reserves for 1983 are 50 and 6 million m 3, respectively.

There are many known deposits and occurrences of agate, obsidian, turquoise, amethyst, jasper, jet, garnet, topaz, petrified wood and other precious, semi-precious and ornamental stones. The Shurdoy and Pamadzh agate deposits (Akhaltsikhe group) and the Koyundag obsidian deposit are of industrial importance. Agate-bearing deposits (andesite base

In 1921, the state of “Georgian Democratic Republic” disappeared from the world map and the “Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic” appeared. This transformation occurred gradually, over the course of about a month.

1921

The GSSR was proclaimed on February 16 during the uprising in Shulaveri. When Tbilisi fell on February 25, it was proclaimed seriously and finally, and this date is now considered the official beginning of the existence of this state. On the same day, many institutions of the new government arose - for example, the Georgian Cheka, which was headed by Stalin's childhood friend, his seminary classmate, Georgiy Elisabedashvili. A month later he was replaced by Konstantin Tsintsadze.

On March 16, important negotiations between the Bolsheviks and the Turks will begin in Moscow: it will be decided to give the Turks part of southern Georgia (Artvinsky district), for this the Turks will leave Adjara, but will negotiate its autonomous status - for the sake of the Muslim brothers. On the same day, the Turks were promised to transfer the Nakhichevan Republic (created on the same day) to Azerbaijan.

On March 17, the Minister of Defense of the Republic of Georgia, Grigol Lordkipanidze, will conclude a truce with the Bolsheviks. On March 18 - 19, the Georgian army will oust the Turks from Batumi, after which the Menshevik government will leave the country, and General Mazniashvili will hand over the city to the Red Army.

But Soviet power in Transcaucasia was not yet fully established. The Armenian rebels still held out, and on April 27 they proclaimed the formation of the Republic of Mountainous Armenia. They were soon defeated and on July 9 the leadership of the rebels left for Iran. July 16th was formed Autonomous Republic of Adjara.

On March 28 it was created Soviet Socialist Republic of Abkhazia, and on May 31 the Soviet Georgian leadership recognized it.

In June, Stalin will arrive in Tbilisi, but at a rally at the railway depot he will be greeted with whistles and shouts of “traitor!” Stalin would leave the country, maintaining a persistent hostility towards Georgia itself and its communist leadership.

For the rest of the year and several more, the Bolsheviks were busy drawing borders in the ethnically diverse Transcaucasia. At the same time, they proceeded from the fact that Azerbaijan is a state loyal to Moscow and Turkey, and Georgia and Armenia are still unreliable. Therefore, many controversial issues were resolved in favor of Azerbaijan.

Meanwhile, Stalin and Ordzhonikidze decided to create the Transcaucasian Republic, which would include Georgia and its neighbors as autonomies. The Georgian Revolutionary Committee was surprised to discover that once again Georgia was being erased from the world map. They immediately spoke out against this idea, and Lenin himself supported them. This conflict went down in history as the “Georgian Affair”. The situation began to resemble the “annexation of Georgia to Russia” in 1801: again the Georgian leadership received completely different consequences than they had expected. And so the creators of Soviet Georgia (Makharadze and Mdivani), whom Stalin called “social spiritualists,” now tried to preserve at least something of Georgian independence. Much later, before his execution in 1937, Mdivani would say: “It’s not enough to shoot me, I need to be quartered!” After all, it was I who brought the 11th Army here, I betrayed my people and helped Stalin and Beria, these degenerates, to enslave Georgia.”

The efforts of the Revolutionary Committee were not in vain - the Transcaucasian Republic never appeared. Instead, they made a federation consisting of relatively independent states.

Against the backdrop of these battles, new administrative units continued to emerge. On December 12, Georgian communists created South Ossetia, although the status of the Tskhinvali region remained uncertain for some time.

Soviet Georgia in 1921 is surprising if only because there were no Soviets themselves. The elections of these Soviets took place only at the end of the year, and on February 25, 1922, on the anniversary of the conquest, the First Congress of Soviets of Georgia opened in Tbilisi. The congress approved Constitution of Georgia and formed a management structure: an executive committee, people's commissariats, etc. appeared.

On March 12, 1922, the Transcaucasian republics finally united into one federation and a Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic. It was headed by Ivan Orekhelashvili, an Imereti citizen, a communist since 1903. He would hold this position for 5 years, after which he would be transferred to other responsible positions, and in 1937 he would be shot.

On December 22, 1922, the Transcaucasian Federation signed an alliance treaty with Ukraine, Belarus and Russia, and so the state “Soviet Union” appeared on the world map.

The events of 1921 in Georgia are considered Soviet occupation and the Museum of Soviet Occupation is dedicated to this period of history. Some people don't agree with the term "occupation," but that's what it was. A detailed analysis of this issue can be found in the article about this museum.

Tourism

Meanwhile, while all these historical events were taking place, something secondary, but interesting, happened in Georgia - Georgian tourism and Soviet mountaineering were emerging. The founding father of the new sport was Giorgi Nikoladze, a mathematician, engineer and metallurgist, who worked in Donetsk until 1918, and then returned to Western Georgia and was involved in the creation of the Zestafoni ferroalloy plant. In 1921, he organized the first trip, about which little is known, and in 1922 - the second, with a group of 21 people for 15 days along the route Tbilisi-Kodjori-Tetritskaro-Bolnisi-Asureti-Tabakhmela. In 1923, he also organized the first ascent of Kazbek: on August 27, 18 climbers conquered the famous mountain, which marked the beginning of Soviet mountaineering, and August 27 became the birthday of the new Soviet sport.

Giorgi Nikoladze

insurrection

The first years of Soviet power were the most difficult for Georgia. Almost immediately, supply problems began, which led to famine and epidemics. On June 11, Catholicos Leonid died of cholera and his place was taken by Catholicos Ambrosius (Besarion Helaya), who was almost immediately arrested in the name of fighting religion.

All this did not contribute to the popularity of the new government. The fact that the Bolsheviks gave Klarjeti to the Turks also greatly compromised them in the eyes of the Georgian people. The Sovietization of the country proceeded slowly; only 10,000 people were recruited into the Communist Party. At the same time, the Georgian Social Democrats had not yet been destroyed and there were many of them - almost 60,000 people. All this was superimposed by friction within the Communist Party: Ordzhonikidze and Stalin wanted radical restructuring of society and the extermination of the Mensheviks, and the Georgian communists tried to be more democratic, more tolerant and generally more humane. As we see, the first managed to crush the second. From this moment on, the Bolsheviks began to act more aggressively. All parties are ordered to either cease to exist or demonstrate their loyalty to the new government.

Against the backdrop of all this, uprisings began. In May 1921, the Svans disarmed the Red Army soldiers in Svaneti and began a war that lasted until December. Only with the help of serious reinforcements was this uprising managed to be suppressed. In the same year, Kaikhosro Cholokashvili led an uprising in Kakheti and Khevsureti. The uprising was suppressed, and Cholokashvili fled to Chechnya.

Against this background, a historical event took place: the journey of Komsomol member Zinaida Richter to Far Khevsureti. She became the first Russian person in this region after 1914. Her report became a unique document describing Khevsureti in those turbulent years.

The failures of the uprisings led the National Socialists to think about unification. As a result, in May 1922, an organization known as the “Independence Committee” appeared ( Damoukedeblobis committee, abbreviated Damkon), which was headed by Gogita Pogava, then Nikoloz Kartsivadze, and after his arrest on March 16, 1923 - Kote Andronikashvili.

The Georgian Cheka worked quickly. From November 1922, it was led by Epifan Kvantaliani, whose deputy was Lavrentiy Beria in the same November. The Cheka managed to introduce its agents into the underground and gradually catch the organizers. In February 1923, as a result of Kote Misabishvili’s betrayal, mass arrests were made: Kote Abkhazi, Giorgi Kumsiashvili, Simon Bagration-Mukhransky and others were imprisoned. All of them were executed on May 20, 1923. At the beginning of 1924, Valiko Dzhugeli was caught and executed.

Then it was decided to start the uprising, and it was scheduled for August 29, 1924. However, this uprising was crushed in just three weeks. One of the centers of the uprising was the mining town of Chiatura. The only politicized proletariat in all of Georgia spoke out this time against Soviet power. The Chiatura uprising was led by Colonel Svimon Tsereteli. He had at his disposal several detachments from different parties: 112 fighters from the Social Democrats (+1 machine gun), 12 from the Federalists, 15 from the National Democrats.

In Moscow, the uprising was taken very seriously, and Stalin compared it to the Kronstadt uprising in terms of the level of danger. Additional troops were deployed to Georgia, and the Georgian coast was blocked to prevent foreign assistance. On the very first day, the Red Army attacked Chiatura, Senaki and Abasha and pushed the rebels into the mountains. The Red Army soldiers met stubborn resistance in Guria, the homeland of many Menshevik leaders. Everything was relatively calm in large cities and non-Georgian regions of the country.

Cholokashvili tried to raise an uprising in the east and attacked Manglisi, but the Red Army soldiers seriously strengthened themselves in the city, so Cholokashvili retreated, went to Kakheti and from there made a campaign against Dusheti, which was taken. However, it was not possible to keep Dusheti.

Soon, on September 4, the Cheka also identified the headquarters of the uprising, which was located in the Shio-Mgvime monastery. The leaders of the uprising were arrested and agreed to call for an end to the uprising in exchange for a promise to end the Red Terror. However, the Soviet leadership did not comply with this communication and the terror continued. People were shot in the thousands. A special method of execution was invented - right in the carriages, which made it possible to quickly remove corpses. Such a carriage can now be seen in the Museum of Soviet Occupation in Tbilisi.

A carriage from the museum. Apparently, reconstruction. Usually causes great irritation among radical Russian patriots.

This was a dark period in Georgian history. The exact number of victims is still unknown. Approximately 3,000 people died directly in the battles, about 10,000 were shot, and about 20,000 were exiled to Siberia. The repressions went too far - so far that the Politburo ordered that those responsible for the excess be found and punished. Even the incomparable Ordzhonikidze admitted that this was a little too much. On October 7, an amnesty was announced for everyone who voluntarily surrendered, and in 1925, all participants were amnestied. Catholicos Ambrosius was released and it was ordered to slow down the persecution of the church. And yet, the persecution of the socialists quietly continued and already in 1925 - 1926 about 500 people were killed, without trial.

The creator of all the repressions, Epifan Kvantaliani, was removed in 1926 for unknown reasons (the case has not been declassified), and his place was taken by Lavrentiy Beria. In 1937, Kvantaliani would be executed.

Cholokashvili fled to Turkey at the end of 1924. His wife and mother were shot. Cholokashvili died in Paris in 1930, in 2005 his body was transferred to Georgia and buried in the Mtatsminda Pantheon.

Georgia in the 30s

The 30s in Georgia began with a symbolic event: directly in 1930, the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral on Rustaveli Avenue was demolished.

Rare shot. The cathedral has already been demolished, the bell tower is still in place, the Government House building has not yet been built. Mount Mtatsminda is visible in the background.

The 30s will become the era of Lavrentiy Beria for Georgia. During this time, a lot will change in the country. One of the reasons for the changes was the uprising mentioned above. In Moscow, it was decided that the uprising was the result of an incorrect attitude towards the Georgian people, mainly towards the peasants, and this attitude must be changed. Beria became the creator of change. Stalin met him around 1930, immediately began to trust him and entrusted Beria with the management of Georgia. Beria was required to create Georgian industry, create a proletariat, optimize manganese production, restore tea plantations, and most importantly, crush the Georgian Bolsheviks.

At the end of 1931, Beria became the head of Georgia and Transcaucasia, which was formally expressed in a variety of party titles. The Georgian Bolsheviks immediately disliked Beria and practically boycotted him, so Orakhelashvili personally persuaded them to come to terms with this appointment. And he persuaded him, thereby signing his own death warrant.

Beria coped well with the task. During his reign, tea plantations were restored in Georgia and 35 tea factories were built - which seriously reduced the country's dependence on tea imports. Beria began to carry out collectivization, but do it rationally. Since the mechanization of agriculture in mountainous areas is problematic, peasants were allowed to retain land plots, and collective farms began to grow more profitable things - tobacco, tangerines and elite grape varieties. It became really profitable to work on collective farms and peasants began to join them en masse. Under Beria, almost 80% of the peasants were united into collective farms.

Status of Abkhazia

Since 1921, Abkhazia has been one of the republics of the USSR, and Nestor Lakoba decided everything in it. He did not want collectivization and felt the strength to resist. Stalin put pressure on him from the Kremlin, but Lakoba resisted. He was biding his time and trying to get out. It was during these years that he built a dacha for Stalin in Musser, so that the leader would be closer. Seeing Lakoba’s stubbornness, Stalin decided to use him for his own purposes. He confronted Lakoba with a choice: there would be no collectivization if Abkhazia changed its status as a republic to an “autonomous republic.” And Lakoba agreed. Status meant little in the USSR, and collectivization was not a fun thing.

The change was reluctantly approved by the Abkhaz Congress of Soviets on February 11, 1931, and then by the All-Georgian Congress of Soviets on February 19. On February 18-26, Abkhazians gathered for a protest gathering in the village of Duripsh, but Beria brought in the army and everything calmed down.

As a result, the state of the SSR Abkhazia (red flag with a hammer and sickle) disappeared from the world map and the state of the Abkhazian ASSR (red flag with a blue sun) appeared. The change in status meant that Abkhazia lost the right to secede from the USSR and the right to secede from the Georgian SSR.

Industrialization

Industry also got around to it: in 1933, the Rioni hydroelectric power station was launched and the Zemo-Avchala hydroelectric power station near Tbilisi was finally completed, so that now there were two hydroelectric power stations operating in Georgia. In 1929, it began to be designed, and then the “monster” of Georgian industry was built - the Zestafoni Ferroalloy Plant. Huge amounts of money were invested in the coal and manganese mining industry. The country's economy has noticeably improved, and this immediately affected the attitude of the local population - in general, they became loyal to the Soviet regime.

Having won this loyalty, Beria moved on to exterminating the Georgian communists. Lavrenty Kartvelishvili, Budu Mdivani, Mamia Orakhelashvili, Samson Mamulia and some other leaders of the Georgian communist movement were arrested. Cult characters - Tskhakaya and Makharadze - were left alive, but pushed out of political life.

In those years, Tbilisi itself changed noticeably. In 1934, a master plan for the reconstruction of the city was developed. It was then that the modern Freedom Square became the main square of the city. In the same year, construction began on the Government House, which would eventually become the political center of the country. In 1936, the space on Mount Mtatsminda was turned into a park - this is how the Stalin Park of Culture and Leisure appeared. In 1938, the Kura rivers were drained; Mandatovsky Island disappeared and the famous Dry Bridge appeared.

On November 7, 1933, construction began on the Dynamo Stadium, the main stadium in Georgia. On October 12, 1935, the stadium was officially put into operation. In its first design, the stadium accommodated 23,000 people. (From 1937 to 1953 it was called " Dinami Stadium named after Beria")

Almost all of these projects were led by Archil Kurdiani. He was the chief architect of Tbilisi from 1936 to 1944. It was this man who created the face of Stalin’s Tbilisi. Later he would build a pavilion of the Georgian SSR in Moscow and receive the Stalin Prize for this. ( He will die in 1988 and will not have time to see how the Government House he built will be shot)

In 1939, the main Armenian temple in Tbilisi, the Vank Cathedral, was destroyed.

Vank Cathedral in the last days of its existence. The bell tower on the left side of the frame has survived to this day.

In 1937, another historical event will quietly occur - the Transcaucasian Republic will be liquidated. This measure was discussed at the June plenum of the Party Central Committee in 1936, when the draft Constitution was discussed. It was said that the republic had fulfilled its historical role and there was no longer a need for it. What this role was was not clarified, so historians to this day speculate about the real reasons for the liquidation of the ZFR. Formally, it ceased to exist at the time of the appearance of the USSR Constitution of 1936.

Khanjyan's murder

The era of Beria became known for mysterious deaths. On July 9, 1936, Agasi Khanjyan, the head of the Central Committee of Armenia, died under strange circumstances. He came to Tbilisi (the capital of the Trans-Federation) for a meeting, visited Beria in the evening and shot himself there. According to another version, Beria shot him personally. The details of this story have not yet been clarified. According to one version, Khanjyan deviated into nationalism and began to cover up the Trotskyists. According to another, Beria was jealous of his success and was afraid that Khanjyan would take his place. According to the third, Khyanjan asked Beria to transfer the Javakheti region to Armenia. Even the exact location of this murder is not known, although many people claim that they were somewhere close at that moment.

The story with Khanjyan also shows that in those years Beria ruled in Armenia as if he were at home, he could remove and kill Armenian party leaders.

A certain Amatuni, who was arrested in the year of the Great Terror, was appointed to replace Khanjyan, and the Armenian Communist Party was headed by the Telavi Armenian Harutyunyan. He practically created the appearance of modern Yerevan and Jermuk, survived the deportation of Armenians, was removed from office in November 1953 and died in Tbilisi.

Great Terror

It was under Beria that the era of the “Great Terror” hit Georgia. In the USSR it lasted from 1936 to 1938, and in Georgia it appeared mainly in 1937. This was the year when the state, for reasons still unclear, began to exterminate everyone: party leaders, generals, artists, writers and poets. It was a terrible period in the history of the USSR, and its senselessness and reasonlessness only add to its horror.

This year many people were arrested and killed. Let's remember the main ones. Sandro Akhmeteli, director of the Rustaveli Theater. Shot on June 27. Memed Abashidze, writer. Mikheil Javakhishvili, writer. Shot on September 30. I will be Mdivani, party leader. Shot on July 10. Titian Tabidze, poet. Shot on December 16. Dmitry Shevardnadze, artist. Disappeared in the camps. Mikhail Kakhiani, party leader. Shot in December. The same year he committed suicide Sergo Ordzhonikidze- and it is possible that he was killed. Writer committed suicide Paolo Yashvili. Somewhere in Russia, General Hecker, one of the conquerors of Georgia in 1921, was shot. And on June 4 she died a natural death Ekaterina Dzhugashvili, mother of Stalin. She was buried in the Pantheon on Mtatsminda.

These arrests were superimposed by the Greek NKVD Operation, which began at the end of the year. It was ordered to arrest 15,000 Greeks, of which 1,000 were arrested in Adjara and Abkhazia.

The era of Beria will end in August 1938, when Beria will become the People's Commissar of the USSR, and his place will be taken by an inconspicuous person - the Lechkhumite Candid Charkviani. This person will have to be the head of Georgia (secretary of the Georgian Central Committee) throughout the 40s, throughout the war and the post-war era. He will remain in power for a very long time and only the “Mingrelian affair” will bring him down for 52 years.

Candide Charkviani

Stalin's dachas

The Stalin era gave Georgia an original cultural phenomenon - Stalin's dachas. There were many of them built here, about six. The complete list looks something like this:

1. Dacha “Cold River” (Gagra paradise) - 2 floors, approx. 500 sq. m., 1933.
2. Dacha “Ritsa” (Gudauta district) - near Lake Ritsa, one floor, 200 sq. m. 1936
3. Dacha “New Athos” (Abkhazia) - 2 floors, approx. 200 sq. m., 1947

4. Dacha “Sukhumi” (Sukhumi paradise) - on the territory of the arboretum, a two-story building, occupies more than 600 square meters. m, up to 20 rooms.
5. Dacha “Mussery” (Gudauta paradise) - one-story dacha, about 300 sq. m. m, 1933.
6. Dacha “Tskaltubo” (Imereti) - two-story building, more than 200 sq. m. m.

7. Dacha "Borjomi". Built before Stalin, but listed among Stalin's.

These dachas have the same design: two floors, usually green, usually with 3 bedrooms, usually 20 rooms. Now almost all of them are considered museums and they offer excursions.

War

The Soviet-German war began far from Georgia, but very soon there was a danger of Turkey entering the war. This country was generally pro-German, and could invade both Georgia directly and Azerbaijan through Iran. Therefore, 4 armies were deployed on the borders of Transcaucasia, two of them on the Georgian-Turkish border. The situation on this border was alarming due to the pro-Turkish Muslim population - the so-called Meskhetian Turks.

Georgia was considered a distant rear; in September 1941, Aircraft Plant No. 31 was evacuated here from Taganrog, and this is how the famous Tbilisi Aviation Plant appeared, which during the war produced Lagi, La-5, and since 1944, Yak-3 fighters.

At the start of the war, 130,000 natives of Georgia served in the Red Army (conscription 1938 - 1940). These were relatively well trained military personnel, but almost all of them died in the first weeks of the war. Then the reservists fought, whose level of training was very conditional. There were then many heated discussions around the reliability of soldiers of non-Slavic nationality.

At the very beginning of 1842, an important decision was made on the formation of national units. These once existed in the Red Army, but were abolished by the 1938 reform. Practice has shown that it is more effective to keep privates of the same nationality together. This is how the first Georgian divisions began to appear: first the 392nd and 406th divisions were reorganized, then the 224th Georgian division was formed in Crimea, and later the 414th and 418th were formed in Georgia.

The 224th Division in May 1942 took part in the battles for the Kerch Isthmus, was on the extreme right flank of the front, and there the main part of it died. The battles of those days in Crimea are precisely characterized by the massive participation of national formations that did not fight very well: these were ordinary conscripts of 1941, they had a lower level of education, knowledge of the Russian language and training (compared to young people). Because of this, it was even decided to disband the national divisions, but in the Caucasus it did not come to this. And yet, the command tried to send “national” ones to secondary sectors of the front and the Turkish border, and to keep Slavic units in important directions. This caused concern among the leadership of the republics, who anticipated repression and a tightening of national policies.

The Azerbaijani units were considered the worst. There were few negative reviews addressed to the Georgian divisions, but their level was not very high. The 414th Division was known for its indiscipline, the 394th also caused criticism, and only the 392nd Division of Colonel Georgy Kuparadze performed well. This division fought near Nalchik and found itself isolated after the German breakthrough on October 25, 1942, but managed to break through to its own forces through the Caucasian ridges.

Georgy Kuparadze. Formerly an officer in the army of the Georgian Republic.

In July 1942, the Red Army was defeated near Kharkov, the Germans reached Rostov and took it on July 23. The attack on the Caucasus began. On August 21, the Germans reached Elbrus and raised their flag over it. Battles began for the passes of the Caucasus Range, which were defended by the 46th Army of General Vasily Sergatsky. On August 27, Sergatskov was removed from command and the army was transferred to the Ozurgeti Gurian Konstantin Leselidze. The army consisted of approximately 4 divisions, mostly Slavic. There were only 14,000 ethnic Georgians in the entire army, approximately 6% of its strength. There were exactly the same number of Armenians.

The rotation of generals was carried out by Lavrentiy Beria, who flew from Moscow on August 23 to lead the defense. Under his leadership, work began to strengthen the ridge. The fighting continued throughout the autumn and early winter and only subsided in December. The Soviet leadership took away from this story mainly distrust of the national units and the Caucasian peoples. In two years, on the initiative of Beria, the deportation of Chechens and Meskhetian Turks will begin.

Approximately 700,000 Georgians will die on the fronts of that war. Now almost every village has a large military burial with concrete steles. Sometimes entire memorials were built - for example, in Gurjaani and Sighnaghi.

Georgian Wehrmacht battalions

Revolt on the island of Texel

The Georgian SS battalion "Queen Tamara" was recruited in 1943 from Georgian prisoners of war in Radom, Poland. It was commanded by an ethnic German, Major Breitner. In August, the regiment was transferred to Holland, to the city of Zandvoort. When doubts arose about the battalion's loyalty, it was transferred to the island of Texel - this happened on February 6, 1945. There, on the island, the battalion decided to rebel and call on the British for help. One of the leaders of the uprising was Yevgeny Artemidze. On the night of April 6, the battalion - which then numbered 800 people - rebelled. Almost 400 German soldiers were killed in the first days. Local Dutch partisans joined the Georgian military. However, the Germans managed to hold several pillboxes. Additional units of the German army were brought to the island of Bvli - about 2000 people. After two weeks of fighting, the Germans managed to occupy the main part of the island, but failed to destroy the rebels.

It seems to be the same battalion "Queen Tamara"

The German army in Holland capitulated on May 5, but fighting on the island continued. Canadian units were introduced to the island, but they were unable to stop the battle, which died out only on May 20. This story went down in the history of World War II under the title “The Last Battle of Europe.” The Georgian battalion lost 560 people. 120 local residents died. The Germans lost an unspecified number of soldiers - about 1,000.

In 1953, a monument was erected on the island in memory of this event. The film “Crucified Island” was shot in Georgia in 1968.

The Georgian participants in the event were subsequently transferred to the USSR, where their fate is poorly known. Many ended up in camps. Evgeniy Artemidze escaped the camps, then lived in Manglisi for a long time and died on June 21, 2010, 2 months before I arrived in Manglisi to look for him.

The grave of Evgeniy Artemidze in Manglisi

Deportation of Meskhetians

In 1944, the Soviet government decided to deport to Siberia those peoples that it somehow did not like during the war. In Georgia, the first candidates for eviction were Muslim Meskhetians. They did not commit any serious crimes against the Soviet regime, but they lived too close to the border. In addition, the conflict with the Christian population has not gone away; the region remembered well the horrors of 1918. Muslims were not liked here. And so on July 31, it was ordered to remove all Muslims. Including Armenians and Kurds. On November 15, all Muslims were taken out of their homes, taken to Akhaltsikhe, loaded onto trains and sent to Kazakhstan. Either 90,000 or 110,000 were exported.

Temokorevne - evicted villages.

This radical measure at least eliminated one ethnic conflict in Transcaucasia. Who knows what horrors would have begun here in the 90s if not for this deportation. The Christian population reacted to the eviction with understanding and to this day does not want the Meskhetian Muslims to return. The region gained stability, but for this it was necessary to break the fate of an entire people.

Deportation of Armenians

The eviction of the Meskhetians had at least understandable motives. But then something incomprehensible began: in 1949, the party leadership of Armenia demanded a list of traitors and anti-Soviet elements, and a list of 30 thousand. Objections and bewilderments were not accepted. Arrests took place in Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia on the same day. Georgia was overwhelmed by the process - only two echelons of Armenians were taken out. Historians have still not found an explanation for this deportation. This measure probably had an important psychological consequence: in Transcaucasia they realized that an entire people could be put on trial, and that an entire people could be deported to Siberia. Of course, deporting 4 million of the Georgian population would have been technically difficult, and while Stalin was alive, discrediting this population on ethnic grounds was problematic. You have to understand how tense everyone was when Saleen finally died.

"Mingrelian affair"

In the fall of 1951, the story known as the “Mingrelian Affair” began. Stalin was looking for dirt on Beria, and started from afar - with dirt on the Georgian Mingrelians. In those years, they managed to get into many leadership positions - which, however, happens in our time. Since 1948, the Ministry of Justice was headed by Mingrelian Avksentiy Rapava (originally from the village of Kortskheli), who really pushed Mingrelians into all positions.

The case began with the eradication of bribery among senior officials, which gradually developed into a search for traitors to the Motherland. It was assumed that the Mingrelians wanted to seize leadership positions, contact foreign countries and take Georgia out of the Soviet Union. The organizer of the entire process was the Minister of State Security Nikolai Rukhadze. Dozens of people were arrested and confessions were extorted from them, but things went slowly and no obvious incriminating evidence could be extracted. Rapava and all Mingrelians of the Ministry of Justice were arrested.

Konstantin Gamsakhurdia miraculously escaped arrest. But Kandid Charkviani, although not a Mingrelian, was accused of lack of vigilance, removed from the post of Secretary of the Central Committee and exiled to Tashkent. His place was taken by the Gurian Akaki Mgeladze (another confirmation that Stalin especially trusted the Gurians).

It is not known how it would have ended, but in March 1953, Stalin died and the case was closed. Some were later shot anyway, but for a different matter - for example, Avksentiy Rapava was shot in 1955.

Georgia in the era of Mzhavanadze

Stalin passed away in the spring of 1953, which gave rise to some reshuffles in the party leadership of Georgia. Mingrelian Beria pushed Mingrelian Alexander Mirtskhulava (who was arrested a year ago in the “Mingrelian case”) into the first secretaries of the Georgian Communist Party, but in July Beria was arrested, and in September Mirtskhulava was also removed. On September 20, 1953, the Kutaisi Imeretian became the leader of the party and the country. This was "Khrushchev's man." Even during the war, he served somewhere near Khrushchev in Ukraine. Khrushchev’s son later said: “ Until recent years, Vasily Pavlovich was considered a Georgian only by his last name. In 1953, after the death of Stalin and the arrest of Beria, my father was faced with a dilemma: who to send to the troubled republic. A reliable, proven person was needed - that’s where he remembered General Mzhavanadze, who served in Ukraine. He knew Vasily Pavlovich well from the war - this is how the general became Secretary of the Central Committee...».

Mzhavanadze would remain in power for almost 20 years and become the father of Georgian Soviet corruption.

It was during this alarming and eventful year that a new, expanded Joseph Stalin Museum was opened in the city of Gori.

Almost the first major event of the Mzhavanadze era was the shooting of a rally in 1956. It was a strange story when the Soviet government was suddenly forced to fight Stalinism. Mzhavanadze could have prevented a lot of things, or at least tried, but he avoided negotiations with the people, so he became to some extent the culprit of what was happening. After the shooting and the victims, he took some measures to calm the people and thereby at least avoided being removed from office - something that the second secretary of the party, Georgadze, did not avoid.

In the fall of 1958, Pastenak was persecuted for his novel Doctor Zhivago. On March 17, 1959, the Georgian poet Galaktion Tabidze committed suicide - they said that as a sign of protest. He jumped out of a hospital window. However, there is another version of Tabidze’s death. The artist and writer Shalva Dadiani died in the same hospital on March 15. On the 17th, a group of intellectuals came to say goodbye to him, whose behavior somehow offended Tabidze and he jumped out of the window. Both Dadiani and Tabidze were buried in the Pantheon on Mtatsminda.

In 1961, a second wave of de-Stalinization followed, and it began with the removal of Stalin from the Mausoleum in Moscow. They say that Khrushchev instructed Mzhavanadze to voice the proposal for removal, but he ate two kilograms of ice cream, caught a cold, lost his voice, and under such an excuse avoided the task. They carried Stalin out, and then they began to demolish his monuments. It was then that the monument on the Kura embankment, the site of the 1956 rallies, was dismantled. The monument in Gori was left as an exception. It remained perhaps the only monument to Stalin in the entire USSR.

Khrushchev trusted Mzhavanadze, but for some reason he disliked Khrushchev so much that he joined the anti-Khrushchev conspiracy and even recruited supporters himself. As a result, in 1964, Khrushchev was removed, Brezhnev came to power in the USSR, and Mzhavanadze found himself in the position of his ally in the conspiracy.

Mzhavanadze was retired in 1972. Brezhnev's motives are not known exactly, but it is assumed that he wanted to see someone younger and more active in this post. In those years, Heydar Aliyev made a lot of noise, who in 1969 cleaned out corruption in Azerbaijan. Brezhnev wanted to repeat these purges in Georgia, and Mzhavanadze, at 70 years old, was no longer suitable for this. He was removed, he went to prison m Oskovie and lived there in the country until the end of his life.

Georgia in the first era of Shevardnadze

Jumber Patiashvili

The era of Jumber Patiashvili roughly coincided in time with the Gorbachev era in the rest of the USSR. He became the first secretary of the party's Central Committee in July 1985. Then the Union still seemed indestructible and eternal. Georgia was rich, calm and famous. In 1987, a very significant event occurred: Margaret Thatcher came to the USSR for the first time, and besides Moscow, she decided to see something else, and they suggested Georgia to her. On April 1, her plane landed in Tbilisi, where she was met by the Chairman of the Council of Ministers, Otar Cherkezia.

Circassia, Thatcher and Jumber Patiashvili

Thatcher's visit was a bright, interesting and positive event. Probably the last positive event in the history of Soviet Georgia. And the whole of 1987 was the last calm year. After 1987, the crisis in the USSR grew every day. First of all, it was a crisis of interethnic relations. In Transcaucasia it began in 1988 in Karabakh

Karabakh

January 1988 was the last quiet month of the Soviet Transcaucasus. This was the month when the battle that became the historical basis of the film “9th Company” took place in distant Afghanistan. And in February it began: on February 13, the first rally took place in Stepanakert demanding the annexation of Karabakh to Armenia. In a few days this will lead to the death of the first Azerbaijani, and on February 26 the famous Armenian pogrom will begin in Sumgait.

The Sumgait pogrom is the most important event in the history of Transcaucasia. Sobchak later wrote that it was the fear of a repeat of Sumgait that forced the Soviet leadership to use the army in difficult situations - even in Tbilisi in April 1989.

In those years, Azerbaijan was the most loyal country to the Soviet regime, and Armenia was the most dissident. She simply had more reasons to be dissatisfied. Georgia was somewhere in the middle: its protest movement was still in its infancy. Something important happened in Armenia: the party leadership itself did not fight calls to return Karabakh. It was as if the party itself had rebelled against the existing order. The USSR supported Azerbaijan, and Azerbaijan decided to fight with stupid Soviet methods: “condemn, stigmatize and ban.” But public opinion in the USSR was on the side of the Armenians, so the Azerbaijanis also had cause for discontent.

The head of the Communist Party of Armenia was then Suren Harutyunyan. In fact, he is responsible for the entire history of Karabakh, but in 90 he resigned from his post, moved to Russia and for a long time held various important positions there. Amazing career.

On February 13, the first rally took place in Stepanakert with calls to return Karabakh to Armenia. A few days later, the first Azerbaijani died, and on February 26, the Armenian pogrom began in Sumgait. By the summer, protests spread throughout Armenia and Azerbaijan. On July 5, General Makashov uses the army to disperse the rally at Yerevan airport. In the fall, the Soviet leadership was already using the army en masse to restore order: armored cars appeared in Baku, Yerevan, and almost everywhere.

Against this background, Georgia remained a quiet, peaceful republic, where protest sentiments did not go further than newspaper articles. The first rally took place only in November.

First protests

At the beginning of 1988, the first political organizations already existed in Georgia that were going to fight for the rights of the people, national identity and culture. Almost the very first was the National Democratic Party of Georgia, headed by Gia Chanturia.

The KGB wrote the following description of her:

The creation of the party was announced at a rally on August 30, 1988. From November 30 to December 1 of the same year, the first Constituent Congress of the NPD took place, which determined that its goal was “to restore the independence of Georgia.” Methods of political struggle - a call for national rebellion and the real implementation of this rebellion. The ideological basis of the party is theodemocracy. One of the main principles of the party is not to compromise with the authorities. The chairman of the party, G. O. Chanturia, is one of the active organizers and instigators of all antisocial manifestations in the republic. By nature, he is emotional, unbalanced, and stands out for his ambition and desire for leadership. All these qualities predetermined the fact that the activities of the NPD are subordinated to his dictates.

On May 26, the first small rally of only 500 people took place. The reason was the decree of the USSR government on rallies.

On November 12, a large rally (sanctioned) took place at the Tbilisi hippodrome. Almost 30,000 people gathered. They demanded to cancel the decree on rallies, to allow the military to serve on the territory of Georgia, and even demanded the creation of a national army in Georgia. This was joined by protests against the construction of the Khudon hydroelectric power station on Inguri. This hydroelectric power station began to be built back in 1980, its fragments are clearly visible on the Mestia highway, and it still creates problems for the Georgian authorities.

However, the protest movement was hampered by a lack of unity. Chanturia had a conflict with Irakli Tsereteli, who created his own party: the “Party of National Independence of Georgia”. In March 1989, its goals were announced: “the overthrow of Soviet power in Georgia, Georgia’s secession from the USSR, the dissolution of the Communist Party, the deployment of UN troops to Georgian territory, entry into the NATO military bloc, the creation of a new government of “independent Georgia.”

This is how the anti-Soviet movement was born, and the Soviet leadership of Georgia watched this with despondency and did nothing. And Patiashvili himself did not show any activity.

Ethnic painting 1989

Georgia of those years was quite ethnically diverse, although 70% of its population were Kartvelian ethnic groups and subethnic groups - which in Russia are called “Georgians”. The largest national minority (437,000 people) were Armenians - they made up 9% of the population. They compactly inhabited two regions, and could, if they wished, create problems for the integrity of the country.

There were two more powerful national minorities in the country - 6% Russians and 6% Azerbaijanis (341,000 and 307,000 people). However, these national minorities did not create problems.

3% of the population were Ossetians (164,000 people). It was in their midst that separatism would begin to grow, which would ultimately result in the first ethnic conflict in Georgia.

2% of the population were Greeks (100,000 people), who also compactly inhabited one area, but did not show any inclinations towards separatism - on the contrary, they were not averse to leaving the USSR for Greece. In the end they left.

And finally, one of the smallest ethnic minorities were the Abkhazians - 95,000 Abkhazians also made up 2% of the country's population. At that time, Abkhaz separatism may have seemed the least serious and the least dangerous.

Patiashvili had to lead the party during the difficult perestroika years. Soviet power was weakening, the Union was approaching collapse. Everyone was dissatisfied with the authorities, and in this atmosphere any spark was enough to start a fire. April 9 became such a spark in Georgia.

April 9

On March 18, 1989, a rally was held in an Abkhaz village calling for secession from Georgia. This event caused outrage throughout Georgia; protest rallies were held in many cities from Sukhumi to Tbilisi. The Soviet government seemed to have nothing to do with it, but at that time it was customary to blame it for everything. On April 4, a large rally is being held in Tbilisi, organized by Irakli Tsereteli, Merab Kostava and Zviad Gamsakhurdia. Started as a protest against the Abkhaz events, it quickly grew into a protest against Soviet power as such: already on April 6, slogans appeared “Down with Soviet power!”

On April 7, Patiashvili ordered the deployment of an army to Tbilisi. On the same day, the situation was reported to Gorbachev, and he sent Eduard Shevardnadze to Georgia. On April 8, approximately 1,500 military personnel were brought into Tbilisi - a regiment from Spitak, a regiment from Ganja, a Tbilisi regiment and riot police. These units were led by Igor Rodionov, commander of the Transcaucasian Military District. Residents of Tbilisi remember how tanks entered Freedom Square and the tankers asked what kind of city this was. It seems that it was the appearance of tanks that turned the sluggish rally into a mass one: instead of the usual 200 - 300 people, the number of participants increased to either 3,000 or 10,000.

Surprisingly, the unit brought in from Ganja was an elite airborne regiment - the 345th Guards Parachute Regiment. The same one that participated in the assault on Amin’s palace in Afghanistan and in the battle for height 3234 (an event known from the film “9th Company”).

April 9 has arrived. At night, at 03:45, Catholicos Ilia II asked the protesters to disperse, as they were in mortal danger. Already at 04:00 or 04:05 the order was given to begin the displacement. The day is not known who gave it away, either Rodionov or someone else. Armored vehicles and soldiers began to advance on the crowd, and tear gas grenades and sapper shovels were apparently used. There are still disputes over the details of what happened. 16 people died, followed by three more, and 183 people were hospitalized.

The curfew lasted for several days. A few days later, on April 13, when there were still tanks and soldiers everywhere, the Avetaran Cathedral was blown up in Tbilisi. This was done to prevent a collapse and is unlikely to be related to the rally, but it is still a surprising coincidence.

Then there was an investigation and trial. Rodionov was removed from his position. Patiashvili resigned. In 2003, he claimed that Shevardnadze also had something to do with what was happening. Tsereteli, Gamsakhurdia, Kostava and Chanturia were arrested, but released somewhat later.

The criminal authority Jaba Ioseliani later wrote that it was the events of April 9 that made him think about the helplessness of the people before the state and suggested the need to create self-defense forces (“Mkhedrioni”).

April 9 became the official “Day of National Unity” in Georgia. In memory of this day, the adjacent park was renamed “Park 9 April”. “9 April” streets later appeared in many cities of Georgia.

This is how the transitional era of Jumber Patiashvili ended loudly. He will return to politics in 1995 and become a dangerous competitor to Shevardnadze, in 2003 his support will seriously help Saakashvili overthrow Shevardnadze, then he will go into opposition and will be a presidential candidate in 2008.

Fergana

A month and a half later, an event occurred that was somewhat indirectly related to Georgia. On May 16, in the small Uzbek village of Kuvasay, fights began between Uzbeks and Meskhetian Muslims. The same ones who were once evicted from Georgia. On June 3, in the village of Tashlak, fights escalated into a war with houses set on fire and military personnel attacked. On the same day, riots broke out in Margilan and Fergana. The army and police coped with the situation only by June 11. As a result, 103 people died, 757 houses and 27 government buildings were burned, and 275 cars were destroyed. 16,282 Meskhetians were evacuated from the Fergana Valley. The word “Fergana” has acquired eerie associations for a long time.

These events somewhat aggravated the problem associated with the situation of the Meskhetians. Conversations began again about the need for their return to Georgia.

Today you can often hear that Georgia had the best life in the Union. There could be several reasons for the privileged position. This is a favorable geographical location, and the Georgian elite in the party leadership, and the peculiarities of the Transcaucasian mentality. But the fact remains: in the Soviet Union everyone had the same rights. But for some reason the Georgians were allowed a little more.

Where did Tbilisi get powerful state support from?

Due to historical factors, after the Bolsheviks came to power, there was a rather noticeable Georgian stratum in the party leadership. Enukidze, Ordzhonikidze, Beria - these names say something. Later, the place of head of state went to Stalin (Dzhugashvili). The desire to pay attention to the leader and his small homeland resulted in the social popularization of the small Transcaucasian republic.

In the 1930s, the image of a smiling, honest and brave Georgian began to appear frequently on Soviet movie screens. Georgia is gradually occupying a special place among other republics, becoming everyone's favorite. In the 50s - 80s, the GSSR, along with Armenia, the Baltic states and Azerbaijan, was the leader among the union republics in centralized investments and subsidies.

The leadership of the USSR considered Georgia one of the most dangerous and vulnerable “points” in terms of maintaining the unity of the Soviet state. This means that this region had to be quickly turned into a “showcase” of real socialism. In addition, Moscow’s favor can be explained by the merits of the Georgian leaders of that period. Mzhavanadze and Shevardnadze firmly stood in defense of the interests of their native republic in front of the center, skillfully achieving amazing privileges. They managed to alternate demandingness with the ability to “solve issues,” as clearly evidenced by Shevardnadze’s famous phrase about the sun rising for Georgia from the North. The Georgian SSR was generously supported by Moscow cash subsidies, paid for by Russian regions. So all the local elite had to do was get them into the right office in time.

Successful Georgian economy, paid for by state subsidies and shadow income of “guild workers”

An ordinary Soviet citizen, coming to Georgia, was amazed at the level of local life. There were a lot of cars, solid stone residential buildings, so different from the wooden huts of Russian collective farmers, and the Georgians themselves seemed to live in carefree prosperity. Statistics show that after the 1960s, average pensions, salaries, scholarships and social benefits in Georgia were higher than the Union average. At the same time, prices and tariffs did not exceed the average level.

Among the workers in the main production sectors (energy, railways, seaports), the share of Russians predominated. But Georgians represented the service sector (resort services, trade, domestic road transportation, taxi industry, etc.). During this period, the Georgian shadow economy sector emerged. This activity was supported by influential “guardians” from local and union structures. The local shop workers were reliably protected by management's fears about a possible aggravation of the situation in the Georgian Republic. According to Malkhaz Garunia, a former member of the party control commission for Georgia, the “underground” could only be pinned down for reporting purposes. There was no real desire to destroy the corruption pyramid either in Moscow or Tbilisi. In fact, successful shadow businessmen ensured the privileged status of the Georgian SSR within the Union.

Hundreds of small and medium-sized underground workshops were located not only in private Georgian homes, but even in state-owned enterprises. In the Georgian SSR it was possible to purchase almost everything that was considered a shortage for the majority of Soviet people. Therefore, thanks to weakened ideological pressure, the peculiarities of the Soviet closed economic system and the entrepreneurial spirit of local residents, workshop goods had serious competitiveness. And the period of the seventies and eighties became the “golden age” of Georgian entrepreneurship.

One of the reasons for the “success” of Soviet Georgia was its natural location, which made it a favorable subtropical resort area in a northern country with a harsh climate. Successful geography brought the republic many Soviet rubles and the status of a tourist Mecca of the Soviet Union. In Abkhazia, which was part of the GSSR, at that time the most prestigious southern resorts in the Union, Gagra and Pitsunda, appeared, where the entire Soviet elite vacationed.

In addition, Georgia was a mountaineering base for the USSR and a popular training camp for professional skiers. Alpiniads often took place here, and high-grade ascents were organized in the Caucasus Mountains. The legendary Borjomi springs originate from the tops of the Bakuriani mountains. In addition to skiing fans, those who wanted to improve their health with hydrotherapy in the mild, warm winter climate came here.

“Khvanchkara” for Churchill and export Georgian tea

The industry of the Georgian SSR did not particularly stand out against the backdrop of the leading republics of the Soviet Union, but the Georgians provided the Soviet people with wines, citrus fruits, tobacco, tea and mineral water. The Georgian Republic, as one of the oldest wine-producing regions of the USSR, has earned worldwide recognition for its products. It is known that Joseph Stalin treated Winston Churchill to Georgian “Khvanchkara” during the Yalta Conference, and the British minister highly appreciated the quality of this brand.

In addition to wines, the Georgian SSR was famous for its tea. In the 1920s, young tea plantations were planted here, starting breeding efforts. In 1948, new hybrid varieties were bred: “Gruzinsky No. 1” and “Gruzinsky No. 2”. This tea was awarded the Stalin Prize. The next achievement was the variety “Georgian selection No. 8”, capable of withstanding temperatures down to -25. During the Soviet period, Georgian tea was known far beyond the country's borders. By the late 70s it had become a popular export product.

Georgia still remains one of the most picturesque countries in the post-Soviet space. You can verify this at

With the consent of the Mensheviks, German and Turkish troops occupied Georgia in June 1918; in December they were replaced by British troops, who remained here until July 1920. In February 1921, the Bolsheviks launched an armed uprising and, with the help of the Red Army, overthrew the Menshevik government and established Soviet rule in Georgia.

On February 25, 1921, the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic (Georgian SSR) was formed.

From March 12, 1922 to December 5, 1936, the Georgian SSR was part of the Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic (TSFSR) as part of the USSR; On December 5, 1936, it entered directly into the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).

The Georgian SSR included: the Socialist Soviet Republic of Abkhazia (in 1921-1931, from 1931 as the Abkhaz ASSR); Adjarian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic; South Ossetian Autonomous Region.

The Georgian economy was part of the all-Union socio-economic system. In the first days after the victory of Soviet power in Georgia, industry, railways, banks, and land were nationalized. The republic carried out industrialization and collectivization of agriculture. Collectivization in rural areas was carried out especially brutally; tens of thousands of people (party activists, intellectuals, specialists and anyone suspected of dissatisfaction with the regime) died in the process of mass purges.

As a result of industrialization, entire new industries were created, including mechanical engineering, oil production, chemicals, etc.

During the Great Patriotic War, several national Georgian divisions were formed on the territory of Georgia, participating in the battle for the Caucasus, in the battles for the liberation of the Taman Peninsula, Crimea and other fronts. Georgia supplied a significant amount of weapons, ammunition, uniforms and food.

In total, about 700 thousand people from Georgia (a fifth of the republic’s population) took part in the war, about 350 thousand of them died.

In the post-war period (1950-1970), Georgia made significant progress in development. Such industries as hydropower, coal, manganese and copper mining, ferrous metallurgy (production of ferroalloys, cast iron and steel), mechanical engineering (machine tool building, instrument making, production of trucks, electric locomotives, sea vessels), oil refining, production of building materials (cement, slate, blocks), chemical (production of mineral fertilizers and chemical fiber) and textile (silk, wool, cotton). The food (tea production, bottling of mineral water, including carbonated water, etc.) and textile (production of silk, cotton and woolen fabrics) industries developed.

The infrastructure of sanatorium and resort facilities was developed on the Black Sea coast.

In the 1970s In Georgia, a dissident movement arose led by Zviad Gamsakhurdia and Merab Kostava. The course towards perestroika, proclaimed in the late 1980s. Mikhail Gorbachev, led to a rapid change of leaders of the Georgian Communist Party.

In the multi-party elections to the Supreme Council of Georgia on October 28, 1990, the coalition of Zviad Gamsakhurdia “Round Table - Free Georgia” won. Gamsakhurdia was elected Chairman of the Supreme Council in November 1990.

On March 31, 1991, a referendum was held on the restoration of state independence of Georgia. 90.5% of voters took part in the referendum, of which 98.93% voted for state independence.

On April 9, 1991, based on the results of a popular referendum, the Supreme Council of the Republic adopted the Act on the Restoration of State Independence of Georgia, which declared the Act of Independence of 1918 and the Constitution of 1921 valid. The post of President of Georgia was introduced.

On April 14, 1991, at an emergency meeting of the first session of the Supreme Council, Zviad Gamsakhurdia was elected the first president of independent Georgia; on May 27, 1991, he was elected president of Georgia in general direct secret elections (86.5% of voters voted for him).

The material was prepared based on information from open sources

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