Treaty of Georgievsk

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Treaty of Georgievsk
A photograph of the Georgian version of the Treaty of Georgievsk with Heraclius II's signature and seal, c. 1913
SignedJuly 24, 1783
LocationGeorgiyevsk, Russian Empire
Sealed1784
Effective1784
Signatories
Full text
Treaty of Georgievsk at Wikisource

The Treaty of Georgievsk (

suzerain for centuries) or another power, and every new Georgian monarch of Kartli-Kakheti would require the confirmation and investiture of the Russian tsar
.

Terms

Under articles I, II, IV, VI and VII of the treaty's terms, Russia's empress became the official and sole suzerain of Kartli-Kakheti's rulers, guaranteeing the Georgians’ internal sovereignty and territorial integrity, and promising to "regard their enemies as Her enemies" [3] Each of the Georgian kingdom's

emperors
, to support Russia in war, and to have no diplomatic communications with other nations without Russia's prior consent.

Given Georgia's history of invasions from the south, an alliance with Russia may have been seen as the only way to discourage or resist

Persian and Ottoman aggression, while also establishing a link to Western Europe.[2] In the past, Georgian rulers had not only accepted formal domination by Turkish and Persian emperors, but had also often converted to Islam, and sojourned at their capitals. Thus it was neither a break with Georgian tradition nor a unique capitulation of independence for Kartli-Kakheti to trade vassalage for peace with a powerful neighbor.[2] Though Orthodox Christian, Russia was otherwise culturally alien,[4] in the treaty's preamble and article VIII the bond of Orthodox Christianity between Georgians and Russians was acknowledged, which tied the two, and Georgia's primate, the Catholicos, became Russia's eighth permanent archbishop and a member of Russia's Holy Synod
.

Catherine II of the Russian Empire
Heraclius II of Kartli-Kakheti
Signatories of the Treaty of Georgievsk: Catherine II of the Russian Empire and Heraclius II of Kartli-Kakheti

Other treaty provisions included mutual guarantees of an open border between the two realms for travelers, emigrants and merchants (articles 10, 11), while Russia undertook "to leave the power for internal administration, law and order, and the collection of taxes [under the] complete will and use of His Serene Highness the Tsar, forbidding [Her Majesty’s] Military and Civil Authorities to intervene in any [domestic laws or commands]". (article VI).

royal regalia.[citation needed
]

The treaty was negotiated on behalf of Russia by

Erekle II and the Empress Catherine the Great then formally ratified it in 1784.[citation needed
]

Aftermath

Entrance of the Russian troops in Tiflis on November 26, 1799. A painting by Franz Roubaud, 1886.
The Caucasian states and territories in 1799.

The results of the Treaty of Georgievsk proved disappointing for the Georgians.

Shahanshah next contemplated the removal of the Christian population from eastern Georgia and eastern Armenia, launching the campaign from Karabagh. His goal was frustrated not by Russian resistance, but by a Persian assassin in 1797.[citation needed
]

On January 14, 1798, King Erekle II was succeeded on the throne by his eldest son, George XII (1746–1800) who, on February 22, 1799, recognized his own eldest son,

Romanov emperors.[6] Continued pressure from Persia, also prompted George XII's request for Russian intervention.[7]

Paul tentatively accepted this offer, but before negotiations could be finalized changed his mind and issued a decree on December 18, 1800

Alexandre Bagrationi. [citation needed
]

The Russians then ended the

Qajar Persia was forced to officially cede eastern Georgia to the Russian Empire.[9]

Paul's annexation of east Georgia and exile of the Bagratids remain controversial: Soviet historians would later maintain that the treaty was an act of "brotherhood of the Russian and Georgian peoples" that justified annexation to protect Georgia both from its historical foreign persecutors and its "decadent" native dynasty. Nonetheless, no bilateral amendment had been ratified altering article VI sections 2 and 3 of the 1784 treaty, which obligated the Russian emperor "to preserve His Serene Highness Tsar Irakli Teimurazovich and the Heirs and descendants to his House, uninterrupted on the Throne of the Kingdoms of Kartli and Kakheti...forbidding [Her Majesty’s] Military and Civil Authorities to intervene in any [domestic laws or commands]."[3]

Legacy

A 1790 Russian medal commemorating the treaty.
A 1983 Soviet stamp commemorating the 200-years anniversary of the treaty and celebrating it as "the first manifesto of the friendship and brotherhood between the Russian and Georgian peoples."

Ironically, that clause of the treaty would also be recalled during obscure late 20th century debates about restoration of the Russian monarchy.

Romanov house law that required marriage to a princess of a "royal or ruling family" in order for descendants to claim the throne.[10] That law also provided that upon extinction of all male dynasts, female Romanovs born of dynastic mothers become eligible to inherit the crown.[10] Based on this rationale, Maria purports to have the strongest legal claim to the Russian throne in the event that Russia ever restores its monarchy.[10]

Critics deny that Princess Leonida could be reckoned of royal rank by Romanov standards (the title of

Nicholas II,[12] and the bride, Tatiana Konstantinova Romanova, was obliged to renounce her succession rights.[citation needed
]

While these facts are admitted, it is counter-argued that the demotion of the Bagratids, including the Mukhrani branch, violated the Treaty of Georgievsk and therefore failed to legally deprive any

Bagrationi of royal rank.[10] That fact, it is claimed, distinguishes Leonida from princesses of other once-sovereign families of the Russian Empire who married Romanovs. Nonetheless, it was the agnatic seniority of the Mukhranbatoni’s descent from Georgia’s former kings, rather than the broken treaty, that Vladimir Kirilovich cited in a 1946 decree recognizing the Bagration-Mukhranskys as dynastic for marital purposes,[10] presumably so as to avoid repudiating the Russian Empire's annexation of Georgia.[citation needed
]

The language of article VI guaranteed the Georgian throne not only to King Erekle II and his direct issue, but also embraced "the Heirs and descendants to his House".[3][10] On the other hand, article IX offered to extend no more than "the same privileges and advantages granted to the Russian nobility" to Georgia's princes and nobles.[3] Yet first on the list of families submitted to Russia to enjoy noble (not royal) status was that of the Mukhranbatoni. That list included twenty-one other princely families and a larger number of untitled nobles, most of whom were enrolled in Russia's nobility during the 19th century. The claims made on Maria's behalf have long embittered Romanov descendants who belong to the Romanov Family Association. Many of them descend matrilineally from noble Russian princesses, some of whose families were also of "dynastic" origin, but cannot claim that a Treaty of Georgievsk has "preserved" their "dynasticity".[citation needed]

the Russia–Georgia Friendship Monument, built for the bicentennial of the treaty

In 1983, the

anti-Soviet Georgian dissidents. In this period, several monuments were erected to commemorate the treaty, among them the Russia–Georgia Friendship Monument along the Georgian Military Road. Georgia's underground Samizdat publication, Sakartvelo (საქართველო), dedicated a special issue to the event, emphasizing imperial Russia's disregard of the key agreements in the treaty. Underground political groups disseminated leaflets calling on Georgians to boycott the celebrations, and several young Georgian activists were arrested by the Soviet police.[13]

References

  1. ^ "Art".
  2. ^ a b c d Anchabadze, George, Ph.D. History of Georgia. Georgia in the Beginning of Feudal Decomposition. (XVIII cen.). Retrieved 5 April 2012.
  3. ^ a b c d e Treaty of Georgievsk, 1783. PSRZ, vol. 22 (1830), pp. 1013–1017. Translated from the Russian by Russell E. Martin, Ph.D., Westminster College.
  4. ^ Perry 2006, pp. 108–109.
  5. ^ Kazemzadeh 1991, pp. 328–330.
  6. ISBN 0-85011-029-7
  7. ^ Tsagareli, A (1902). Charters and other historical documents of the XVIII century regarding Georgia. pp. 287–288.
  8. ^ a b Encyclopædia Britannica, "Treaty of Georgievsk", 2008, retrieved 2008-6-16
  9. ^ Mikaberidze 2015, pp. 348–349.
  10. ^
    ISBN 91-630-5964-9
    .
  11. ^ Cyril Toumanoff, "The Fifteenth-Century Bagratides and the Institution of Collegial Sovereignty in Georgia". Traditio. Volume VII, Fordham University Press, New York 1949–1951, pp. 169–221
  12. ^ Frederiks, Baron V., Letter to Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich, 1911-06-04, State Archives of the Russian Federation, Series 604, Inventory 1, File 2143, pages 58–59, retrieved 2008-11-04
  13. ^ (in Russian) Алексеева, Людмила (1983), Грузинское национальное движение. In: История Инакомыслия в СССР. Accessed on April 3, 2007.

Sources

Further reading

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