Members_of_the_Georgian_diplomatic_delegation_in_Berlin

The Committee of Independent Georgia ( ka, საქართველოს განთავისუფლების კომიტეტი), also known as the Georgian Committee, was a political organization formed in 1914 by Georgian émigrés and students in

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during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. It aimed at ending

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n rule in Georgia and reasserting the country’s independence under German protection. The committee was chaired by Petre Surguladse; other members included Prince Georges Matchabelli,

Mikheil Tsereteli Prince Mikheil "Mikhako" G. Tsereteli also known as Michael von Zereteli ( ka, მიხეილ "მიხაკო" წერეთელი) (December 23, 1878 – March 2, 1965) was a Georgian prince, historian, philologist, sociologist ...

(a notable scholar who had abandoned

Kropotkin Pyotr Alexeyevich Kropotkin (9 December 1842 – 8 February 1921) was a Russian anarchist and geographer known as a proponent of anarchist communism. Born into an aristocratic land-owning family, Kropotkin attended the Page Corps and later ...

ite

Anarchism Anarchism is a political philosophy and Political movement, movement that seeks to abolish all institutions that perpetuate authority, coercion, or Social hierarchy, hierarchy, primarily targeting the state (polity), state and capitalism. A ...

in favor of Georgian nationalism),

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and Giorgi Kereselidze, and the Muslim Georgian Osman Bey (Meliton) Kartsivadze. The committee also established branches in

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

and the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

. During the

Caucasus Campaign The Caucasus campaign comprised armed conflicts between the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire, later including Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, the Mountainous Republic of the Northern Caucasus, the German Empire, the Central Caspian Dict ...

of 1916–1917, the committee was headquartered in

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, and later in Kerasunt. From there, the organization attempted to establish contacts with dissidents in Georgia. The leading independent political party, the

Social Democrats Social democracy is a social, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achieving social equality. In modern practice, s ...

(

Mensheviks The Mensheviks ('the Minority') were a faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with Vladimir Lenin's Bolshevik faction at the Second Party Congress in 1903. Mensheviks held more moderate and reformist ...

), maintained neutrality and did not engage in antiwar activity. Their expressed Russian orientation convinced the Tsarist authorities to allow them to operate freely in the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, i ...

. Thus the Mensheviks were reluctant to collaborate with the committee, which advocated a break with Russia and an independent Georgian state. Mikheil Tsereteli himself made a secret trip to Georgia (landing from a German

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). He met with the Menshevik leader

Noe Zhordania Noe Zhordania ( ka, ნოე ჟორდანია ; ; born – January 11, 1953)შველიძე დ., საქართველოს დემოკრატიული რესპუბლიკა (1918–1921): ენციკ� ...

Kutaisi Kutaisi ( ; ka, ქუთაისი ) is a city in the Imereti region of the Georgia (country), Republic of Georgia. One of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, it is the List o ...

, and urged him to consider a pro-German orientation. But at that time, Zhordania considered any confrontation with the Tsarist administration political suicide and Tsereteli’s mission ended unsuccessfully. Yet the committee and its supporters, although not very numerous, represented quite a serious problem for the Russian government, especially after the committee established a volunteer unit, the Georgian Legion, as part of the

German Caucasus Expedition The German Caucasus expedition was a military expedition sent in late May 1918, by the German Empire to the formerly Russian Transcaucasia during the Caucasus Campaign of World War I. Its prime aim was to stabilize the pro-German Democrat ...

. Although the movement continued to be backed by Germany, its relations with the Ottoman government became extremely strained. As a result, the Georgian Legion was officially disbanded in April 1917. The members of both the committee and the legion returned to Georgia after the

Russian Revolution of 1917 The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...

and joined the independence movement that concluded with the proclamation of the

Democratic Republic of Georgia The Democratic Republic of Georgia (DRG; ka, საქართველოს დემოკრატიული რესპუბლიკა, tr) was the first modern establishment of a republic of Georgia (country), Georgia, which exist ...

on May 26, 1918.

References

* Lang, David Marshall (1962), ''A Modern History of Georgia'', p. 182-3.

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: Weidenfeld and Nicolson. * Suny, Ronald Grigor (1994), ''The Making of the Georgian Nation: 2nd edition'', p. 179.

Indiana University Press Indiana University Press, also known as IU Press, is an academic publisher founded in 1950 at Indiana University that specializes in the humanities and social sciences. Its headquarters are located in Bloomington, Indiana. IU Press publishes ...

, 1910s in Georgia (country) World War I Organizations established in 1914 Organizations disestablished in 1918 Politics of Georgia (country) {{Georgia-hist-stub