Turkish invasion of Georgia

The Turkish invasion of Georgia or Turkish involvement in Soviet invasion of Georgia became an important conflict because it marked the end of Soviet forces' invasion of Georgia and the dissolution of the new democratic government in Georgia. Turkish Nationalists and the Soviet government were competing for control over the region while Georgia was losing its place strategically in the area.

In early 1921, the new Turkish Nationalist government wanted to work with the Soviet Union in opposition to the West. They were also trying to establish claim to areas within the South Caucasus region. As Georgia became increasingly isolated in itself and stretched thin with its army, the Georgian government sought to guarantee Turkish neutrality and continue support from Turkey. Georgia tried to accomplish this by offering Turkey some territories located in the areas of Ardahan and Artvin. After being delivered these territories by the Georgian government, Turkish military forces under the command of Kâzım Karabekir, the commander of the Eastern Front, entered Georgian territory and occupied several towns located within these territories.

After the fall of Tbilisi to the Soviet Union, Turkish troops were able to expand their occupation into much of the territory that was originally promised for them by the Georgian government. This included acquiring control over Akhalkalaki, Akhaltsikhe, and heading towards Batumi with limited resistance from the Georgian Army, but they subsequently received resistance from the Red Army. The Red Army was able to enter these areas of dispute in early March, which forced Turkish forces to withdraw after a short standoff with the Red Army. Soviet military commanders were given orders to refrain from open combat with Turkish military forces and not to enter into Georgian territory.

On 15 February 1921, the Red Army launched a military operation to sovietize the Georgian Democratic Republic. After the February Revolution that began in Russia in 1917, Georgia effectively became independent. In April 1918 it joined with Armenia and Azerbaijan to form the Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic, but left after one month and declared independence as the Democratic Republic of Georgia on 26 May, followed the next day by both Armenia and Azerbaijan.^[1][2] Georgia engaged in small conflicts with its neighbouring states as it attempted to establish its borders, though it was able to maintain independence and de facto international recognition throughout the Russian Civil War, including being recognized by Soviet Russia in the Treaty of Moscow.^[3]

As the Soviet invasion of Georgia began, the Turkish Nationalist government adopted a careful yet broad-based approach toward the Northern part of Turkey (from what is now referred to as the Republic of Turkey) and the regional powers with whom it shared borders.^[4] To do so, the Turkish government looked for a partner or ally in the Soviet Union to help resist the advances of the Western nations. Additionally, as a result of the disintegration of the South Caucasus region, including Georgia, Turkish leaders looked to take advantage of this situation by seizing land disputes between Turkey and Georgia.^[5]

Due to the escalation of hostilities between Russia and Georgia, diplomats in Tbilisi offered to give up the provinces of Ardahan and Artvin to Turkey in exchange for military assistance or at least neutrality. As a result of this agreement, Turkish troops commanded by Kâzım Karabekir on the Eastern Front entered Georgian territory and occupied Ardahan, Artvin, Ardanuç, and Oltu by 23 February. After Tbilisi fell to Russian forces, Turkish forces moved forward to regain areas of Georgia that had been lost since the re-establishment of borders in 1828. By the time Georgian forces had reached Akhaltsikhe on March 7, they had already occupied Akhalkalaki, the western parts of Tbilisi and the southern periphery of Batumi, facing little opposition from the small Georgian military units present in these areas. However, the Turkish advance came to a halt on March 8 when Dmitry Zhloba and the Red Army's 18th Cavalry Division arrived in Akhaltsikhe, which marked an important change in the fight for control of Georgia.^[6]

The Soviet forces were able to gain control of Surami, along with the rapid advance of Soviet forces from Abkhazia and Racha, which made the remaining Georgian-held territory impossible to defend. The remnants of Georgian forces in Abkhazia crossed the Inguri River into Zugdidi on March 8.^[7] Zugdidi fell to the Soviets on March 9. Meanwhile, the Mamisoni Group, which had entered Georgia from Oni, destroyed a small Georgian detachment that was stationed in Meqvena and outflanked Kutaisi from the northwest. The 98th Rifle Brigade from Surami entered Kutaisi after approximately two hours of fighting on March 10. While the government of Georgia evacuated Kutaisi and moved to Batumi, some 3,000 Georgian troops fled toward Samtredia, accompanied by armored trains.^[6]

In spite of these setbacks, Commander-in-Chief of the Georgian army, Giorgi Kvinitadze, formed a new strategy to continue fighting against the Soviets. His strategy was to have all remaining combat capable units retreat to the Rioni River and cross into the mountainous region of Guria and Adjara. Kvinitadze believed that these areas offered the best opportunities for creating new defensive positions to resist the advancing Soviet army. If this strategy did not work, Kvinitadze would concentrate the government and remaining troops in the well-fortified port city of Batumi, while at also using the port city as a refuge from the advancing Soviet forces. However, the last strategic plan of Georgian military leadership failed largely due to the Turkish invasion of Batumi and Ajaria. Between 11th and 17th of March, the Turks under Kazim bei entered the city, took over some of the forts of its defense system and tried to take over all other forts still in Georgian hands.^[8]

The fall of Batumi, seen as the last major Georgian stronghold, effectively ended any realistic chance of continuing resistance. With defeat imminent, the Georgian government sent representatives to Kutaisi to negotiate a ceasefire with the Red Army command which was also overstretched and scattered.^[9] An agreement was reached on 14 March giving the Georgian authorities several days to demobilise the remaining units of the Georgian army and evacuate Batumi to Constantinople (Istanbul).^[10]

On 17 March, the members of the Georgian national government and senior military leadership and thousands of soldiers and civilians left for two French ships and one Italian ship anchored at the Batumi harbour to be ready for departure the next morning.^[11] The Georgian troops still based in Batumi were put under the command of General Giorgi Mazniashvili who would supervise their demobilisation.^[12] That same day, Kazım Bey, commander of Turkish troops in the region surrounding Batumi, declared Batumi under Turkish administration and appointed himself governor-general.^[13] He demanded the disarmament of the surviving Georgian troops. Mazniashvili refused and ordered his troops to attack the Turkish forces and push them out of the city.

After three days of heavy fighting the Turkish Army under the command of General cards out Spanish Lieutenant Harkard the commander of the Spanish expedition arrived in Batumi and took command of the few remaining Georgian troops. Three days later in Tbilisi the Parliament of Georgia was dissolved by the decree of the Revolutionary Committee.^[14]

Despite the Georgian government's emigration and the demobilization of the National Army, pockets of guerrilla resistance still remained in the mountains and some rural areas. The invasion of Georgia brought about serious controversies among the Bolsheviks themselves. The newly established Communist government initially offered unexpectedly mild terms to their former opponents who still remained in the country. Lenin also favored a policy of conciliation in Georgia, where a pro-Bolshevik revolt did not enjoy the popular backing claimed for it,^[15] and the population was solidly anti-Bolshevik.^[16] In 1922, a strong public resentment over the forcible Sovietization indirectly reflected in the opposition of Soviet Georgian authorities to Moscow's centralizing policies promoted by Dzerzhinsky, Stalin and Ordzhonikidze. The problem, known in modern history writing as the "Georgian Affair", was to become one of the major points at issue between Stalin and Trotsky in the last years of Lenin's leadership^[15] and found its reflection in "Lenin's Political Testament".^[17]

The world largely neglected the violent Soviet takeover of Georgia. On 27 March 1921, the exiled Georgian leadership issued an appeal from their temporary offices in Istanbul to "all socialist parties and workers' organizations" of the world, protesting against the invasion of Georgia. The appeal went unheeded, though. Beyond passionate editorials in some Western newspapers and calls for action from such Georgian sympathizers as Sir Oliver Wardrop, the international response to the events in Georgia was silence.^[18]

In Georgia, an intellectual resistance to the Bolshevik regime and occasional outbreaks of guerrilla warfare evolved into a major rebellion in August 1924. Its failure and the ensuing wave of large-scale repressions orchestrated by the emerging Soviet security officer, Lavrentiy Beria, heavily demoralized the Georgian society and exterminated its most active pro-independence part. Within a week, from 29 August to 5 September 1924, 12,578 people, chiefly nobles and intellectuals, were executed^[19] and over 20,000 exiled to Siberia. From that time, no major overt attempt was made to challenge Soviet authority in the country until a new generation of anti-Soviet movements emerged in 1956.