War, conflict, power confrontation - it is always tragic. Especially if the process lasts for decades. Georgia and Abkhazia know firsthand about such a disaster - the conflict between them serves as a vivid example of national hatred and hostility. But why did that happen? This will be discussed later.
How did it all start?
There are several points of view on the problem of confrontation between the two Caucasian peoples. One of them is a moderate concept, according to which there is no sharp confrontation between Georgians and Abkhazians, as, for example, between Armenians and Azerbaijanis. What historically, these are two culturally and ethnically close people. Mutual hatred took root only after an immediate conflict. It was caused artificially through propaganda in the media and various political technologies.
But then one obscure question remains. How to explain such hostility? It cannot arise from scratch with the help of only political PR-technologies.
The answers to these questions are provided by another concept. It is based on the existence of centuries-old contradictions between the two peoples.
Background
Abkhazians are a people ethnically and culturally close to the Adyghe people. Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, it did not have independence, but possessed autonomy within the various subjects of the Russian Empire.
Until the beginning of the 19th century, the principality was formally under the protectorate of Turkey. Only in 1810 did the Abkhaz begin to "integrate" into Russia.
Until 1864, the principality had autonomy, which it lost in 1866. It is worth saying that the locals did not take it with humility. Two years later, mass uprisings and protests began. The situation was aggravated by the Russian-Turkish war of 1877-1878. Abkhazians chose the side of the enemy. This is quite logical, because old-timers remembered the times when the country was autonomy within Turkey. The Russian empire resolved the issue in two ways:
- Forced resettlement outside the empire.
- Territorial reforms.
At the end of the century, modern Abkhazia was divided. Sukhumi district was subordinate to the Russian administration in Tiflis, Gagra with its environs was part of the Black Sea province.
It can be concluded that the conflict between Georgia and Abkhazia has long historically matured. 1992 was only the beginning of hostilities, the consequences of which have not been eliminated so far. Without accepting anyone’s point of view, I would like to note that before joining the USSR autonomy was never fully part of Georgia.
Georgia and Abkhazia: conflict. The reason for the confrontation
The administrative reforms of the Russian Empire, and then the Soviet Union, led to armed confrontation. As the president of our country V.V. Putin said, the Communists did not even lay a mine, but an atomic time bomb under the foundation of the future state, dividing the country into national rather than territorial autonomies with the principle of federalism. The conflict between Georgia and Abkhazia is an example, more precisely, a confirmation of these words. The once divided territory under the USSR became a single autonomy within the Georgian SSR.
The image of the "enemy" in the minds of Abkhazians
He began to appear and plant from the beginning of the 30s. The history of the period of the revolution and the Civil War with the subsequent “Sovietization” of the state somehow unjustly treated Abkhazia. Having supported the Bolsheviks against the Menshevik and White Guard Georgia, subsequently it was annexed to the latter, only already Soviet. The image of the enemy already began to take shape in the minds of many. Indeed, the struggle between white and red here acquired the character of a completely natural interethnic massacre. Of course, both Georgia and Abkhazia suffered.
The conflict erupted, therefore, on the basis of the Civil War. Some supported the Mensheviks and White Guards. These are Georgians. Abkhazians - Bolsheviks. But after the victory of the party of Lenin, the latter unjustly appeared in the role of the vanquished. The defeat of the losing side subsequently bore fruit.
From the 1930s, the cultural and legal arbitrariness of the Georgians towards the Abkhazians began. Since that time, Stalin’s power in the country has been unconditional. Georgians become full-fledged “masters” of the Caucasus.
The “offensive” begins on Abkhazia in all areas:
- The first of the two republics, which was "lowered" in status. The very fact that Autonomy became part of the Georgian SSR speaks of contempt for the Abkhaz people by the authorities. This was perceived painfully among the intelligentsia and the older generation. Georgians in their eyes are enemies. It is not so much a matter of losing the status of a separate republic, but of who exactly Abkhazia was attached to.
- Georgian graphics are introduced into the alphabet.
- Education at school is translated into the "enemy" language.
- The Georgian resettlement policy is being carried out in Abkhazia. For several decades, the ratio of migrants to the indigenous population was 48 to 52. That is, almost half of the population came from Georgia, who enjoyed various benefits, including priority in hiring. Such measures made people without rights in their land, which could not but negatively affect the relationship between the two neighboring nations.
- Media in Abkhazia broadcast only in Russian and Georgian. Which also gave rise to discontent among the local population, which reveres its tradition and culture.
After the Stalinist regime in the country, a period of "thaw" begins. He brought the mountain people the media in his own language, his native language at school, and the reduction of discrimination.
Now we can ask a logical question: “Did Abkhazia have a conflict with Georgia?” History gives a positive answer.
Attempts to exit the GSSR
During the second half of the 20th century, Abkhazians repeatedly tried to secede from the Georgian SSR. Several times, the national intelligentsia turned to Moscow with official collective letters. The most famous dates back to 1977. In history, it received the name "Letter 130". All Abkhaz intelligentsia, all famous and respected people of autonomy put their signatures in it. The "Letter 130" was regarded by the people as a kind of referendum on secession from Georgia. In it, residents asked to join autonomy either to Russia or to create a separate republic, as it was before Stalin.
The Abkhaz regional committee accused the people who signed the letter of libel. In 1978, a special congress was held on this occasion. All communist leaders condemned the "Letter", calling the organizers "conspirators." Thus, it is safe to say that Abkhazia had a conflict with Georgia. The story of their confrontation did not begin with the "bloody" of 1992, but much earlier.
During this period, the authorities begin to "appease" the population:
- Removed the Georgian alphabet. Instead, Cyrillic appeared.
- They allowed free broadcasting in their native language, which, along with Russian and Georgian, was recognized as state on the territory of the autonomy.
- Restricted the resettlement of Georgians in Abkhazia, which was previously actively supported.
First victims
In the late 80s. XX century, the Union began to crack at the seams. It became clear that interethnic confrontations were about to erupt. The Georgian leadership needed to be careful in resolving the Abkhaz issue. Instead, the leaders of the Republican Communist Party, Patiashvili, and Gumbaridze, who replaced him in 1989, began to flirt with the nationalists, hoping to retain power in the event of the collapse of the USSR.
The situation was so tense that the Aidgylara forum, on behalf of the inhabitants of all autonomy, turned to Gorbachev with a request to join the RSFSR. In case of refusal, they demanded to immediately introduce a special management procedure. Moscow simply ignored these demands.
The period from July 15 to July 18, 1989 was remembered for a long time by Georgia and Abkhazia: the conflict for the first time escalated into armed confrontation. The first victims appeared. 12 people died. Everyone understood that this was only the “first swallows”, not far off a large-scale military conflict. Georgia and Abkhazia begin preparations.
The collapse of the USSR: the inviolability of borders or the right of a nation to self-determination?
So what are the causes of the conflict between Georgia and Abkhazia? It is very difficult to answer this question immediately and unequivocally. In the section “Georgia and Abkhazia: conflict. Reason ”we examined the roots of historical contradictions. After the collapse of the Soviet state, legal ones were added to them. However, not only the warring parties faced such problems. Many former union republics, autonomies, and national entities faced a difficult choice: what to do in this situation?
Legal norms that contradict each other
- The principle of the inviolability of the borders of Georgia in accordance with the UN Resolution.
- The right of peoples to self-determination. Also a norm of international law, signed by the UN. In addition, during the creation of the USSR, Lenin, despite all the objections of the close circle of the party, including Stalin, introduced the principle of federalism with the free right for republics to leave the Union into the draft union treaty. Autonomous okrugs and national entities also had this right.
In practice, of course, this was not. This is only a nominal declaration. Abkhazia tried three times to secede from Georgia. But she was refused.
But! The official communist congress has never confirmed the right of the people of Abkhazia to secede. That is, in fact, the leadership of the autonomy did not support the demands of the population. Consequently, the legal principle of voluntary withdrawal was not violated until 1989.
The system of the administrative apparatus itself was built in such a way as to prevent the official collapse of the USSR. With the advent of Gorbachev, everything changes dramatically. The principle of democratic decision-making has now been proclaimed. Even the head of state himself became the president elected in the popular elections, and not the secretary of the CPSU Central Committee. It follows that now it is not the republican party committees that decide whether to grant the notorious exit right, which in principle was impossible, but the people themselves. It was Abkhazia that wanted to use this right.
1992 and the transition to the new "old" Constitution
It is just about the 1925 Constitution. The very one where Lenin "allowed" all the republics to freely separate from the USSR. Following the example of the United States, when the first "free" states voluntarily became part of the state and could easily leave it. In both countries, no one has ever exercised this right because of impossibility.
But the Supreme Council of Abkhazia decided to defend this right and secede from Georgia. If in 1977 and 1989 the people wanted this without the support of the regional committee, now the official supreme authority, in unity with most ordinary citizens, has announced their withdrawal.
According to the Constitution of 1925, Abkhazia is a sovereign state, which, on the principles of voluntariness and equality, is part of the USSR. Of course, from a legal point of view, no one had any right to deprive it of the status of a republic and “turn” it into autonomy. But at the moment, the country lived under the 1978 Constitution, which made such an act illegal.
Start of war
On June 23, 1992, the Supreme Council of Autonomy announced the transition to the 1925 Constitution, according to which the country is an independent subject of law. A month later, Georgia joined the UN, which gave it the opportunity to legally “fix” the border of the republic that existed before the collapse of the USSR. Now Abkhazians, from the point of view of international law, were separatists who undermined the foundations of the constitutional system. Armed conflict between Georgia and Abkhazia becomes inevitable.
Stages of confrontation
- 1989-1992 - political and legal. Both sides tried to defend their point of view using legal methods. Abkhazians claimed that the act of joining their country in Georgia was not legal. According to the Constitution of 1925, this state entered the USSR on an equal footing. Therefore, the subordination of one subject to another is not justified. The struggle was inside the "Abkhazian" society. The policy of encouraging migration from Georgia has done its job. A split has formed in society. The “legal right” of Abkhazia was justified by Georgia itself, which tried to leave the USSR as one of the first. This position was argued by the right of the nation to self-determination. Consequently, Abkhazia can also use the same principle and secede from Georgia.
- 1992-1994 - armed confrontation.
- 1994-2008 - An attempt to resolve the situation peacefully.
- 2008 - present - escalation of the conflict. "5-day war" and Russia's participation in the armed conflict. Declaration of independence. But nothing changes. Now Georgia and Abkhazia already have independent conflicts. Briefly about this a little later.
Georgia itself destroyed the regulatory framework that justified the presence of Abkhazia in its composition. In 1992, she abandoned the 1978 Constitution of the USSR. That is, she created a precedent that divides into parts herself.
In August 1992, regular Georgian troops with heavy artillery and tanks were introduced into Abkhazia. A large-scale war began. Besides the victims, she brought absolutely nothing to Georgia. A powerful community within the autonomy (240 thousand people) yielded nothing. The calculation on the internal front did not materialize. In addition, there were two Georgian enclaves in Gagra and Gantiadi, which were abolished. Their inhabitants were expelled from the country.
Effects
The powerful Georgian diaspora (almost half of the entire population), which gradually flowed into Abkhazia for decades, destroying it from the inside, left autonomy in an instant. The war brought about 20 thousand deaths, which is very much for such small states.
Refugees as a business
A paradoxical story has been going on with refugees for many years. According to international law, these are people who need help in interstate conflicts. These are the Georgian refugees who left Abkhazia.
But a strange picture: a total of 240 thousand Georgians lived in Abkhazia, who left there (to different countries). And in official sources a different figure appears - 300 thousand. The financial assistance provided to refugees clarifies the situation. The United Nations allocates $ 6 per day per person. The official treasury of Georgia receives the money, which such a subsidy is quite happy with. Naturally, “refugees” appeared, for whom the budget receives a decent amount. According to official sources, 1 million 800 thousand dollars a day is UN assistance.
It follows that legally the status of independence of Abkhazia is recognized by Georgia. Since the UN is obliged to help refugees. Therefore, demanding financial assistance, Georgia recognizes that these people are from another independent state. After all, the UN is not obliged to provide financial assistance in the event of a conflict within a particular country.
"5-day war." Help of the Russian Federation
The internal conflict between Georgia and Abkhazia, South Ossetia has developed into an international one with Russia. This happened in August 2008. Georgian artillery opened fire on the peaceful cities of Autonomy, despite the presence in them of the Russian peacekeeping contingent under the UN flag.
This act was regarded by Russian President D. A. Medvedev as genocide of the civilian population of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Guided by the Constitution, according to which the state protects its citizens, and there were many of them on the territory of the autonomy, the supreme commander ordered to “protect” the civilian population and to commit an act of “peace enforcement”. Russian regular troops entered Abkhazia.
Soldiers who have been there have the right to benefits for participants in an armed conflict. Abkhazia and Georgia are foreign entities. So, the one who was there has the status of a war veteran, and not a participant in the anti-terrorist operation, as in the territory of Chechnya and Dagestan.
The conflict between Georgia and Abkhazia in 2008 ended after 5 days with a referendum on the independence of the republic. Of course, few recognize this status on the world stage.
It is worth noting that the 2008 conflict between Georgia and Abkhazia is the first armed war in terms of international law, in which Russia has participated since the time of the Second World War.
Summary
Two independent countries appeared on the international scene - Georgia and Abkhazia. The conflict, despite this, has not disappeared. Both parties will always assert their rights. Now Abkhazia is supported by Russia, which could not do this in 1992-1994. The confrontation is on, diplomatic and economic methods are involved. But it seems that peace in the Caucasus between these two peoples will be established only when everyone recognizes the right of the nation to self-determination. After Saakashvili’s regime, Georgia is trying to establish diplomatic relations with Moscow. Claims in these territories are being made less and less. However, everyone understands that Georgia will never accept the loss of these lands. The conflict has not yet been resolved.