Support HistoryMaps

Settings

Dark Mode

Voice Narration

3D Map

MapStyle
HistoryMaps Last Updated: 02/01/2025

© 2025 HM


AI History Chatbot

Ask Herodotus

Play Audio

Instructions: How it Works


Enter your Question / Request and hit enter or click the submit button. You can ask or request in any language. Here are some examples:


  • Quiz me on the American Revolution.
  • Suggest some books on the Ottoman Empire.
  • What were the causes of the Thirty Year's War?
  • Tell me something interesting about the Han Dynasty.
  • Give me the phases of the Hundred Years’ War.
herodotus-image

Do you have a question about History?


ask herodotus

History of Georgia

Georgia within the Russian Empire

© Nikanor Chernetsov, 1832

History of Georgia

Georgia within the Russian Empire

1801 Jan 1 - 1918
Georgia
Georgia within the Russian Empire
Georgia within the Russian Empire © Nikanor Chernetsov, 1832

In the early modern period, Georgia was a battleground for control between the Muslim Ottoman and Safavid Persian empires. Fragmented into various kingdoms and principalities, Georgia sought stability and protection. By the 18th century, the Russian Empire, sharing the Orthodox Christian faith with Georgia, emerged as a powerful ally. In 1783, the eastern Georgian kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti, under King Heraclius II, signed a treaty making it a Russian protectorate, formally renouncing ties with Persia.


After the death of King Erekle II of Kartli-Kakheti, a civil war erupted over succession, further destabilizing eastern Georgia. With no alternative allies, Georgian rulers turned to Russia despite the empire's failure to honor the 1783 Treaty of Georgievsk, which had promised protection. Taking advantage of the chaos, Tsar Paul I signed a decree on January 8, 1801, officially annexing the Kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti into the Russian Empire, a move later confirmed by his successor, Tsar Alexander I, on September 12, 1801.


The annexation ended the centuries-old sovereignty of the Georgian kingdom. Russian General Carl Heinrich Knorring deposed the heir, David Batonishvili, and replaced the monarchy with a Russian-led administration under General Ivan Petrovich Lasarev. This marked the formal loss of Persia’s influence over Georgian territories and initiated Georgia’s integration into the Russian Empire. The decision faced protest from Georgian representatives, such as Garsevan Chavchavadze, but these efforts did not change the course of events.


The western Georgian kingdom of Imereti followed, annexed by Russia in 1810. Throughout the 19th century, Russia gradually incorporated the rest of Georgian territories, with their rule legitimized in various peace treaties with Persia and the Ottoman Empire.


Under Russian rule until 1918, Georgia experienced significant social and economic transformations, including the emergence of new social classes. The emancipation of serfs in 1861 and the advent of capitalism spurred the growth of an urban working class. However, these changes also led to widespread discontent and unrest, culminating in the 1905 Revolution. The socialist Mensheviks, gaining traction among the populace, led the push against Russian dominance.


Georgia's independence in 1918 was less a triumph of nationalist and socialist movements and more a consequence of the Russian Empire's collapse during World War I. While Russian rule provided protection against external threats, it was often marked by oppressive governance, leaving a legacy of mixed impacts on Georgian society.


Background

By the 15th century, the once-unified Christian Kingdom of Georgia had fragmented into several smaller entities, becoming a focus of contention between the Ottoman and Safavid Persian empires. The 1555 Peace of Amasya officially divided Georgia between these two powers: the western parts, including the Kingdom of Imereti and the Principality of Samtskhe, fell under Ottoman influence, while the eastern regions, such as the kingdoms of Kartli and Kakheti, came under Persian control.


Amidst these external pressures, Georgia began to seek support from a new emerging power to the north—Muscovy (Russia), which shared Georgia's Orthodox Christian faith. Initial contacts in 1558 eventually led to an offer of protection by Tsar Fyodor I in 1589, although substantial aid from Russia was slow to materialize due to its geographical distance and political circumstances.


Russia's strategic interest in the Caucasus intensified in the early 18th century. In 1722, during the chaos in the Safavid Persian Empire, Peter the Great launched an expedition into the region, aligning with Vakhtang VI of Kartli. However, this effort faltered, and Vakhtang eventually ended his life in exile in Russia.


The latter half of the century saw renewed Russian efforts under Catherine the Great, who aimed to solidify Russian influence through military and infrastructural advancements, including the construction of forts and the relocation of Cossacks to act as border guards. The outbreak of war between Russia and the Ottoman Empire in 1768 further escalated military activities in the region. Russian General Tottleben's campaigns during this period laid the groundwork for the Georgian Military Highway.


The strategic dynamics took a significant turn in 1783 when Heraclius II of Kartli-Kakheti signed the Treaty of Georgievsk with Russia, ensuring protection against Ottoman and Persian threats in exchange for exclusive allegiance to Russia. However, during the 1787 Russo-Turkish War, Russian troops were withdrawn, leaving Heraclius's kingdom vulnerable. In 1795, after refusing a Persian ultimatum to sever ties with Russia, Tbilisi was sacked by Agha Mohammad Khan of Persia, highlighting the region's ongoing struggle and the unreliable nature of Russian support during this critical period.


Russian Annexations

Despite the Russian failure to honor the Treaty of Georgievsk and the devastating Persian sack of Tbilisi in 1795, Georgia remained strategically dependent on Russia. After the assassination of Persian ruler Agha Mohammad Khan in 1797, which temporarily weakened Persian control, King Heraclius II of Georgia saw continued hope in Russian support. However, following his death in 1798, internal succession disputes and weak leadership under his son, Giorgi XII, led to further instability.


By the end of 1800, Russia moved decisively to assert control over Georgia. Tsar Paul I decided against crowning either of the rival Georgian heirs and, by early 1801, officially incorporated the Kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti into the Russian Empire—a decision confirmed by Tsar Alexander I later that year. Russian forces solidified their authority by forcibly integrating the Georgian nobility and removing potential Georgian claimants to the throne.


This incorporation significantly enhanced Russia's strategic position in the Caucasus, prompting military conflicts with both Persia and the Ottoman Empire. The ensuing Russo-Persian War (1804-1813) and Russo-Turkish War (1806-1812) further solidified Russian dominance in the region, culminating in treaties that recognized Russian sovereignty over Georgian territories.


In Western Georgia, resistance to Russian annexation was led by Solomon II of Imereti. Despite attempts to negotiate autonomy within the Russian Empire, his refusal led to the 1804 Russian invasion of Imereti. Solomon's subsequent attempts at resistance and negotiation with the Ottomans ultimately failed, leading to his deposition and exile by 1810. The continuing Russian military successes during this period eventually subdued local resistance and brought further territories, such as Adjara and Svaneti, under Russian control by the late 19th century.


Early Russian Rule

In the early 19th century, Georgia underwent significant transformations under Russian rule, marked initially by a military governance that placed the region as a frontier in the Russo-Turkish and Russo-Persian wars. The integration efforts were profound, with the Russian Empire seeking to assimilate Georgia both administratively and culturally. Despite shared Orthodox Christian beliefs and a similar feudal hierarchy, the imposition of Russian authority often clashed with local customs and governance, particularly when the autocephaly of the Georgian Orthodox Church was abolished in 1811.


The alienation of the Georgian nobility led to significant resistance, including a failed aristocratic conspiracy in 1832 inspired by wider revolts within the Russian Empire. Such resistance underscored the discontent among Georgians under Russian rule. However, the appointment of Mikhail Vorontsov as Viceroy in 1845 marked a shift in policy. Vorontsov's more accommodating approach helped to reconcile some of the Georgian nobility, leading to greater cultural assimilation and cooperation.


Beneath the nobility, the Georgian peasants lived in harsh conditions, exacerbated by previous periods of foreign domination and economic depression. Frequent famines and harsh serfdom prompted periodic revolts, such as the major revolt in Kakheti in 1812. The issue of serfdom was a critical one, and it was addressed significantly later than in Russia proper. Tsar Alexander II's emancipation edict of 1861 extended to Georgia by 1865, initiating a gradual process whereby serfs were transformed into free peasants. This reform allowed them more personal freedoms and the eventual opportunity to own land, though it placed economic strains on both the peasants, who struggled with new financial burdens, and the nobility, who saw their traditional powers wane.


During this period, Georgia also saw an influx of various ethnic and religious groups, encouraged by the Russian government. This was part of a broader strategy to consolidate control over the Caucasus and dilute local resistance by altering the demographic makeup. Groups like the Molokans, Doukhobors, and other Christian minorities from the Russian heartland, along with Armenians and Caucasus Greeks, were settled in strategic areas, strengthening the Russian military and cultural presence in the region.


Later Russian Rule

The assassination of Tsar Alexander II in 1881 marked a turning point for Georgia under Russian rule. His successor, Alexander III, adopted a more autocratic approach and sought to suppress any aspirations for national independence within the empire. This period saw increased centralization and Russification efforts, such as restrictions on the Georgian language and the suppression of local customs and identity, which culminated in significant resistance from the Georgian populace. The situation escalated with the murder of the rector of the Tbilisi seminary by a Georgian student in 1886, and the mysterious death of Dimitri Kipiani, a critic of the Russian ecclesiastical authority, which sparked major anti-Russian demonstrations.


The discontent brewing in Georgia was part of a larger pattern of unrest throughout the Russian Empire, which erupted into the Revolution of 1905 following the brutal suppression of demonstrators in Saint Petersburg. Georgia became a hotspot of revolutionary activity, heavily influenced by the Menshevik faction of the Russian Social Democratic Party. The Mensheviks, led by Noe Zhordania and predominantly supported by peasants and workers, orchestrated significant strikes and revolts, such as the large peasant uprising in Guria. Their tactics, however, including violent actions against the Cossacks, eventually led to a backlash and a breakdown in alliances with other ethnic groups, notably the Armenians.


The post-revolution period saw a relative calm under the governance of Count Ilarion Vorontsov-Dashkov, with the Mensheviks distancing themselves from extreme measures. The political landscape in Georgia was further shaped by the Bolsheviks' limited influence, restricted mainly to the industrial centers like Chiatura.


World War I introduced new dynamics. Georgia's strategic location meant that the impact of the war was directly felt, and while the war initially elicited little enthusiasm among Georgians, the conflict with Turkey heightened the urgency for national security and autonomy. The 1917 Russian revolutions further destabilized the region, leading to the formation of the Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic by April 1918, a short-lived entity comprising Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan, each driven by divergent goals and external pressures.


Ultimately, on 26 May 1918, in the face of advancing Turkish forces and the breakdown of the federative republic, Georgia declared its independence, establishing the Democratic Republic of Georgia. This independence, however, was fleeting, as geopolitical pressures continued to shape its short existence until the Bolshevik invasion in 1921. This period of Georgian history illustrates the complexities of national identity formation and the struggle for autonomy against the backdrop of broader imperial dynamics and local political upheavals.

Page Last Updated: 11/27/2024

Support HistoryMaps

There are several ways to support the HistoryMaps Project.

Shop Now
Donate
Say Thanks