Treaty of Moscow (1920)

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Treaty of Moscow (1920)

The Treaty of Moscow ( Moskovis khelshekruleba), signed between Soviet Russia

Russian SFSR

The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic , also called the Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic, the Russian SFSR and the RSFSR for short, was the largest and most populous of the fifteen Republics of the Soviet Union of the Soviet Union and became the Russian Federation after the collapse of the Soviet Union....
(RSFSR) and the Democratic Republic of Georgia

Democratic Republic of Georgia

The Democratic Republic of Georgia , 1918?1921, was the first modern establishment of a Republic of Georgia .The DRG was created after the collapse of the Russian Empire that began with the Russian Revolution of 1917....
(DRG) in Moscow

Moscow

Moscow is the capital and the largest types of inhabited localities in Russia of the Russian Federation. It is also the largest European cities and metropolitan areas, with the Moscow metropolitan area ranking among the largest urban areas in the world....
on May 7, 1920, granted Georgia de jure

De jure

De jure is an expression that means "concerning law", as contrasted with de facto, which means "concerning fact".The terms de jure and de facto are used instead of "in principle" and "in practice", respectively, when one is describing politics or legal situations....
recognition of independence in exchange of the promise not to grant asylum on Georgian soil to troops of powers hostile to the Soviet republic.

The Democratic Republic of Georgia, led by the Social Democratic

Social democracy

Social democracy is a political philosophy of the left-wing politics or centre-left that emerged in the late 19th century from the socialism movement and continues to exert influence worldwide....
(Menshevik

Menshevik

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The Treaty of Moscow ( Moskovis khelshekruleba), signed between Soviet Russia

Russian SFSR

Democratic Republic of Georgia

Moscow

De jure

Social democracy

Menshevik

The Mensheviks were a faction of the Russian revolutionary movement that emerged in 1903 after a dispute between Vladimir Lenin and Julius Martov, both members of the Russian Social-Democratic Labour Party....
) party, declared its independence from Russia on May 26 1918. It was not formally recognized by the Soviets at that time, but the Georgian government eventually managed to obtain de facto

De facto

De facto is a Latin expression that means "concerning the fact" or in practice but not necessarily ordained by law. It is commonly used in contrast to de jure when referring to matters of law, governance, or technique that are found in the common experience as created or developed without or contrary to a regulation....
recognition from the White leaders

White movement

The White movement , whose military arm is known as the White Army or White Guard and whose members are known as Whites comprised some of the Russian forces, both political and military, which opposed the Bolsheviks after the October Revolution and fought against the Red Army during the Russian Civil War from 1917 to 1923...
and the Allies

Allies of World War I

File:Map Europe alliances 1914-en.svgThe Entente Powers were the countries at war with the Central Powers during World War I. The main allies were the Russian Empire, French Third Republic, the British Empire, Kingdom of Italy , the Empire of Japan, and the United States....
.

Following an abortive Bolshevik

Bolshevik

Bolsheviks, originally also Bolshevists were a faction of the Marxism Russian Social Democratic Labour Party which split apart from the Menshevik faction at the 2nd Congress of the RSDLP in 1903 and ultimately became the Communist Party of the Soviet Union....
coup in Tbilisi

Tbilisi

Tbilisi , is the capital city and the largest city of Georgia , lying on the banks of the Mt'k'vari River. The name is derived from an early Georgian form Tpilisi and it was officially known as ?????? in Russian, until 1936....
, and a failed attempt by the Red Army

Red Army

The Red Army was the armed force first organized by the Bolsheviks during the Russian Civil War in 1918 and, in 1922, became the army of the Soviet Union....
units to penetrate Georgia in early May 1920, Lenin’s government agreed to sign a treaty with Georgia and recognize its independence de jure, provided that the Mensheviks formally undertook not to grant shelter on Georgian territory to any force hostile to Soviet Russia. Many Georgian politicians, including the Foreign Minister, Evgeni Gegechkori

Evgeni Gegechkori

Evgeni Gegechkori was a Georgia politician and Social Democracy revolutionary.He first entered the leftist student movement in 1903 during his studies at the Moscow University and soon joined the Menshevik wing of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party....
, regarded this clause as an infringement of Georgia’s sovereignty, and favored rejection of the Russian terms. However, Prime Minister

Prime Minister of Georgia

The Prime Minister of Georgia is the most senior Minister within the Cabinet of Georgia of the Georgia , appointed by the President of Georgia....
, Noe Zhordania

Noe Zhordania

Noe Zhordania was a Georgia n journalist and Menshevik politician. He played an eminent role in the Social Democracy revolutionary movement in Imperial Russia, and later chaired the government of the Democratic Republic of Georgia from July 24 1918 until March 18 1921, when the Bolshevik Russian SFSR Red Army invasion of Georgia forced him...
, anxious above all to secure for Georgia international recognition, agreed to these terms. The treaty was finally signed by Grigol Uratadze

Grigol Uratadze

Grigol Uratadze was a Georgia Social Democracy politician, diplomat and author. His name is also spelled Gr?goire Ouratadze in a French language manner....
for Georgia and Lev Karakhan

Lev Karakhan

Lev Mikhailovich Karakhan was a Russian revolutionary and a Soviet diplomat. A member of the RSDLP from 1917.In October 1917, he was member of the Revolutionary Military Council; then served as secretary of the Soviet delegation at the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk together with Lev Trotsky and Adolph Joffe....
for Russia, in Moscow on May 7 1920.

In the first two articles of the Treaty, Russia unconditionally recognized the independence of Georgia and renounced all interference in the country’s internal affairs:

Article I:

Proceeding from the right, proclaimed by the RSFSR, of all peoples to free self-determination
Self-determination

Self-determination is defined as free choice of one?s own acts without external compulsion, and especially as the freedom of the people of a given territory to determine their own political status or independence from their current state....
up to and including separation from the State of which they constitute a part, Russia unreservedly recognizes the independence and sovereignty of the Georgian State and voluntarily renounces all the sovereign rights which had appertained to Russia with regard to the People and Territory of Georgia.

Article II:

Proceeding from the principles proclaimed in Article I above of the present Treaty, Russia undertakes to refrain from any kind of interference in the affairs of Georgia.

Georgia, in its turn, undertook to disarm and intern all armed units belonging to any organization purported to have constituted a threat to the Soviet government, and to surrender such detachments or groups to Moscow. In a secret supplement, not made public for the time being, the Mensheviks made an even greater concession, allowing a local branch of the Russian Bolshevik party to function freely in Georgia.

Georgia pledges itself to recognize the right of free existence and activity of the Communist party … and in particular its right to free meetings and publications, including organs of the press.

In spite of brief Menshevik euphoria of the declared diplomatic success, public opinion in Georgia denounced the treaty as "veiled subjection of Georgia to Russia", as it was reported by the British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
Chief Commissioner

Chief Commissioner

A Chief Commissioner is a commissioner of a high rank, usually in chief of several Commissioners or similarly styled officers....
Sir Oliver Wardrop. The government was subjected to harsh criticism over the concessions made to Moscow from parliamentary opposition, particularly from the National Democratic Party. Nevertheless, the Treaty of Moscow had a short-term benefit to Tbilisi as it encouraged hitherto reluctant Allied Supreme Council and some other governments to de jure recognize Georgia on January 27, 1921.

The Treaty of Moscow did not resolve the conflict between Russia and Georgia, however. Although Soviet Russia had recognized Georgia’s independence, an eventual overthrow of the Menshevik government was both intended and planned, and the treaty was merely a delaying tactic on the part of the Bolsheviks who, at that time, were preoccupied with an uneasy war

Polish-Soviet War

The Polish-Soviet War was an armed conflict of Russian SFSR and Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic against the Second Polish Republic and the short-lived Ukrainian People's Republic, four states in post-World War I Europe....
against Poland

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian Enclave and exclave, to the north....
.

Pursuant to the agreement, the Georgian government released most of the Bolsheviks from prison. They quickly established a nominally autonomous Communist Party of Georgia

Communist Party of Georgia

Communist Party of Georgia is a communist political party in Georgia . The party was founded on February 231992 as the Socialist Labour Party. It was registered at the Ministry of Justice on February 27 1998....
which, under the coordination of Caucasus Bureau of the Russian Communist Party

Communist Party of the Soviet Union

The Communist Party of the Soviet Union was the ruling political party in the Soviet Union and one of the largest Communist Party in the world....
, immediately activated their overt campaign against the Menshevik government, and hence were re-arrested by energetic Interior Minister Noe Ramishvili

Noe Ramishvili

Noe Ramishvili was a Georgia n politician and the first Prime Minister of Georgia. He was one of the leaders of the Menshevik wing of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party....
. This caused protests from the newly appointed Russian Ambassador Plenipotentiary Sergey Kirov

Sergey Kirov

Sergey Mironovich Kirov was a prominent early Bolshevik leader whose assassination occurred at the beginning of the Great Purge, the final dismissal of Joseph Stalin's enemies and all remaining Old Bolsheviks from the Soviet government....
, who exchanged fiery notes with Evgeni Gegechkori. This conflict, never finally resolved, was subsequently used in Soviet propaganda against the Menshevik government, which was accused by Moscow of harassing the communists, obstructing the passage of convoys passing through to Armenia

Armenia

Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in South Caucasus between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea....
, and supporting an anti-Soviet rebellion in the North Caucasus

North Caucasus

The North Caucasus, also Ciscaucasus, Ciscaucasia or Forecaucasia, is the northern part of the Caucasus region between Europe and Asia....
. On the other hand, Georgia accused Russia of fomenting anti-governmental riots in various regions of the country, especially among ethnic minorities such as Abkhazia

Abkhazia

Abkhazia is a disputed region on the eastern coast of the Black Sea. Since its declaration of independence from Georgia in 1991 during the Georgian?Abkhaz conflict, it is governed by the International recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia Republic of Abkhazia....
ns and Ossetians

South Ossetia

South Ossetia is a disputed region in the South Caucasus. Since its declaration of independence from Georgia in 1991 during the Georgian-Ossetian conflict, it is governed by the International recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia Republic of South Ossetia, which claims the territory of the South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast within t...
, and provoking border incidents along the frontier with the Azerbaijan SSR

Azerbaijan SSR

The Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic , also known as the Azerbaijan SSR for short, was one of the Republics of the Soviet Union that made up the former Soviet Union....
.

After the nine months of fragile peace, in February 1921, the Soviet Red Army

Red Army

The Red Army was the armed force first organized by the Bolsheviks during the Russian Civil War in 1918 and, in 1922, became the army of the Soviet Union....
launched a final offensive against Georgia

Red Army invasion of Georgia

The Red Army invasion of Georgia also known as the Soviet-Georgian War was a military campaign by the Russian SFSR Red Army against the Democratic Republic of Georgia aimed at overthrowing the local Georgian Social Democratic Party government and installing the Bolshevik regime in the country....
, on the pretext of supporting the peasants and workers rebellion in the country, and put an end to the Democratic Republic of Georgia, establishing the Georgian SSR

Georgian SSR

The Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic , also known as the Georgian SSR for short, was one of the Republics of the Soviet Union that made up the former Soviet Union....
for the following seven decades.

Parallels have been drawn in modern Georgia between the Georgian-Russian diplomacy in 1920 and in the 2000s. In response to indications by several senior Russian diplomats that Moscow wanted to see Georgia "a sovereign, neutral and friendly country" rather than a member of military alliances such as NATO

NATO

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization , also called the Atlantic Alliance, is a military alliance established by the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty on 4 April 1949....
, President of Georgia

President of Georgia

The President of Georgia is the commander-in-chief of Georgia . Presidents serve five-year terms....
Mikheil Saakashvili

Mikheil Saakashvili

Mikheil Nikolozis dze Saakashvili is a Georgia politician, the President of Georgia and leader of the United National Movement Party. Saakashvili became President of Georgia on 25 January 2004 after President Eduard Shevardnadze resigned in a November 2003 bloodless "Rose Revolution" led by Saakashvili and his political allies, Nino Burjan...
said, on October 25 2007, neutrality was not an option for Georgia because "Georgia signed an agreement on its neutrality in 1920 with Bolshevik Russia and after six months Georgia was occupied."

External links

. soviethistory.org