Georgian Civil War

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Georgian Civil War
Part of Georgian-Ossetian conflict
Location of Georgia (including Abkhazia and South Ossetia) and the Russian part of North Caucasus
Date December 22, 1991 – December 31, 1993 (2 years, 1 week and 2 days) Location Georgia proper (Tbilisi, Rustavi, Mingrelia, Imereti, Guria); Abkhazia; South Ossetia Result Gamsakhurdia government expunged Abkhazian and South Ossetian separatists gain control of most of their claims State Council takes control of Georgia proper Georgia joins the Commonwealth of Independent States
Belligerents
Government of Georgia (until 6 January 1992) National Guard of Georgia Zviad Gamsakhurdia's government in exile (since 6 January 1992) Zviadists Supported by:  Chechen Republic of Ichkeria	Military Council (until March 1992) State Council (until October 1992) Eduard Shevardnadze's government Georgian Armed Forces Internal Troops of Georgia National Guard of Georgia Supported by:  Russia (since October 1993)	South Ossetian separatists (1991-1992) Abkhazian separatists (since 1992) Confederation of Mountain Peoples of the Caucasus (since 1992) Supported by:  Russia
Commanders and leaders
Zviad Gamsakhurdia † Loti Kobalia Zurab Iremadze Akaki Eliava	Eduard Shevardnadze Tengiz Sigua Jaba Ioseliani Tengiz Kitovani Shota Kviraia Giorgi Karkarashvili Boris Yeltsin Eduard Baltin	Lyudvig Chibirov Vladislav Ardzinba Musa Shanibov Shamil Basayev

The Georgian Civil War lasted from 1991 to 1993 in the South Caucasian country of Georgia. It consisted of inter-ethnic and international conflicts in the regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, as well as the violent military coup d'état against the first democratically-elected President of Georgia, Zviad Gamsakhurdia, and his subsequent uprising in an attempt to regain power.

While the Gamsakhurdia-led rebellion was eventually defeated by the Eduard Shevardnadze-led government, the South Ossetia and Abkhazia conflicts resulted in the de facto secession of both regions from Georgia. As a result, both conflicts have lingered on, with occasional flare-ups.

Background

Georgian independence and ethnic conflicts

During the dissolution of the Soviet Union, an opposition movement in Georgia organized mass protests starting in 1988, culminating in a declaration of sovereignty in May 1990 and independence on April 9, 1991, which was recognized in December. Zviad Gamsakhurdia was elected President in May.

Meanwhile, ethnic minority separatist movements, primarily on the part of the

was the first major crisis faced by Gamsakhurdia's government.

Civil unrest

In August 1991, the Georgian National Guard launched a mutiny against President Zviad Gamsakhurdia and seized a government broadcast station in September.^[1] Following the police dispersion of a large opposition demonstration in Tbilisi on September 2, several opposition leaders were arrested and their offices raided and pro-opposition newspapers were closed. The National Guard of Georgia, the major paramilitary force in the country, split into two factions; pro- and anti-Gamsakhurdia. Another paramilitary organization, the Mkhedrioni, led by Jaba Ioseliani, also sided with the opposition.

Demonstrations and barricade-building marked the next three months, with sporadic clashes between pro- and anti-Gamsakhurdia forces. On September 24 a state of emergency was declared in Tbilisi. By late October 1991, most of the leadership of the opposition National Democratic Party (NDP), headed by Giorgi Chanturia, had been arrested. A stand-off followed as the sacked National Guard leader Tengiz Kitovani's armed supporters withdrew to the outskirts of Tbilisi where they remained until late December 1991. The opposition claimed that President Gamsakhurdia had left no chance to peacefully settle the crisis.

Coup d'état

On 20 December 1991, Kitovani's fighters returned in force to begin the final onslaught against Gamsakhurdia. The armed opposition released Jaba Ioseliani and mounted barricades in central Tbilisi. On December 22, the rebels seized several official buildings, and attacked the Parliament building where Gamsakhurdia and his supporters were holding the position. Simultaneously, the rebels, already controlling most of the city, brutally suppressed pro-Gamsakhurdia protests in and around Tbilisi. They fired on the crowds, killing and wounding several people.

On 6 January 1992, President Gamsakhurdia with other members of his government was forced to flee first to Armenia and then to Chechnya, where he led a form of government-in-exile for the next 18 months.

Within several days of the fighting, the main boulevard in the city, Rustaveli Avenue, had been destroyed, and at least 113 people were killed.

"Zviadist" resistance

After the successful coup, an interim government, the

who returned to Tbilisi in March 1992. The 1992 elections established Shevardnadze as the Chairman of Parliament and the Head of State.

Zviad Gamsakhurdia, despite his absence, continued to enjoy substantial support within Georgia, especially in rural areas and in his home region of

on June 24, 1992, when armed Gamsakhurdia supporters seized the state television center. However, they were driven out within a few hours by the National Guard.

The armed "Zviadists" actually prevented the new government forces from gaining control of Gamsakhurdia's native

and government forces in this region contributed to further confrontation between the local population and Shevardnadze's regime.

Following the coup and armed clashes in western Georgia, Aslan Abashidze, the leader of southwestern autonomous province of Adjara, closed an administrative border and prevented both sides from entering Adjarian territory. This established Abashidze's authoritarian semi-separatist regime within the region, and created long-term problems in relations between the regional government and the central government of Georgia.

South Ossetian and Abkhazian wars

In February 1992, the fighting escalated in South Ossetia, with sporadic Russian involvement. Facing interior instability and political chaos, Shevardnadze agreed to negotiations to avoid a confrontation with Russia. A cease-fire was agreed upon and on 14 July 1992, a peacekeeping operation began, consisting of a Joint Control Commission and joint Russian – Georgian – Ossetian military patrols.

By the summer of 1992, tensions in another secessionist region,

Part of a series on the
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Modern history Georgia since 1991 Russo-Georgian War
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The 1993 civil war

During the Abkhazian war, the role of Vakhtang (Loti) Kobalia's militia, the major force of the former President's supporters, continued to be controversial. Kobalia's militia fought on the Georgian side near the village of

Samegrelo

province.

In September 1993, Zviad Gamsakhurdia took advantage of the struggle in Abkhazia to return to the city of Zugdidi, western Georgia, and rally enthusiastic but disorganized Georgians in Samegrelo region against the demoralized and unpopular government of Eduard Shevardnadze. Although Gamsakhurdia initially represented his return as a rescue of Georgian forces after the Abkhazian disaster, he actually disarmed part of the Georgian troops retreating from the breakaway region and established his control over the significant part of Samegrelo. Ex-president's advance made Shevardnadze to join the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and appeal for Russian military assistance. In mid-October, the addition of Russian weapons, supply-line security, and technical assistance turned the tide against Gamsakhurdia. On October 20, around 2,000 Russian troops moved to protect Georgian railroads.

On October 22, 1993, the government forces launched an offensive against pro-Gamsakhurdia rebels led by Colonel Loti Kobalia and, with the help of Russian military, occupied most of

region of Western Georgia). The revolt was crushed and the region was overrun by the pro-governmental paramilitaries. Several Zviadist leaders were arrested in the following years.

Aftermath

The three-year civil war produced a decade of political instability, permanent financial, economic and social crises. The situation began to stabilize in 1995. However, radical "Zviadists" organized several acts of terrorism and sabotage. They were charged for the assassination attempt of President Eduard Shevardnadze on 9 February 1998. A few days later, supporters of the former president kidnapped four observers from the United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia from their compound in Zugdidi in western Georgia. Some of the hostage takers surrendered, but Gocha Esebua, the leader of the Zviadist team, escaped and was killed in a shootout with police on 31 March.

On October 18, 1998, there was an

. He had produced permanent problems for the government until he was shot by security officers in 2000.

On January 26, 2004, the newly elected President Mikheil Saakashvili officially rehabilitated Gamsakhurdia to resolve the lingering political effects of his overthrow in an effort to "put an end to disunity in our society", as Saakashvili put it. He also released 32 Gamsakhurdia supporters arrested by Shevardnadze's government in 1993–1994.

The relationship between Georgia and the separatists in Abkhazia and South Ossetia remained tense and led to renewed warfare during the

.

See also

• 1998 Georgian attempted mutiny
• Abkhaz–Georgian conflict
• Georgian–Ossetian conflict
• History of Georgia
• Russo-Georgian War

References

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Further reading

• ISBN 0-7656-1710-2

External links

• the 1991–1992 Coup d'État
• the South Ossetian war
• Georgia and Abkhazia, 1992–1993: The War of Datchas
• Timeline of events in the Abkhazian war
• the 1998 mutiny
• the 1998 terrorist acts
• Georgian Warrior – Military history, army, navy, air forces, photos