Independence Day ( ka, დამოუკიდებლობის დღე, tr) is an annual

public holiday A public holiday, national holiday, federal holiday, statutory holiday, bank holiday or legal holiday is a holiday generally established by law and is usually a non-working day during the year. Types Civic holiday A ''civic holiday'', also k ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

observed on 26 May. It commemorates the 26 May 1918 adoption of the Act of Independence, which established 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 ...

in the aftermath of 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 ...

. It is the national day of Georgia. Independence Day is associated with military parades, fireworks, concerts, fairs, and political speeches and ceremonies, in addition to various other public and private events celebrating the

history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

and culture of Georgia.

Background

In the chaotic aftermath of the Russian Revolution of 1917, Georgia, which was annexed by the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

since the early 19th century, declared itself an independent

Democratic Republic A democratic republic is a form of government operating on principles adopted from a republic and a democracy. As a cross between two similar systems, democratic republics may function on principles shared by both republics and democracies. Whil ...

on 26 May 1918, after a brief and loose federative union with the fellow South Caucasian countries of

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

and

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

. In February–March 1921 the Democratic Republic of Georgia fell to the invading Russian army and the country became a

Soviet Socialist Republic In the Soviet Union, a Union Republic () or unofficially a Republic of the USSR was a constituent federated political entity with a system of government called a Soviet republic, which was officially defined in the 1977 constitution as " ...

, being annexed into the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

in 1922. Georgia seceded from the Soviet Union, adopting the Act of Reestablishment of Independence on 9 April 1991, on the second anniversary of the Soviet military crackdown on a large pro-independence rally in Georgia's capital of

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი, ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), ( ka, ტფილისი, tr ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia ( ...

in 1989. Due to its symbolism and historical significance, 9 April has been advocated to be recognized as Independence Day by the groups associated with the 1980s national movement and the government of

Zviad Gamsakhurdia Zviad Konstantines dze Gamsakhurdia ( ka, ზვიად კონსტანტინეს ძე გამსახურდია; ; 31 March 1939 – 31 December 1993) was a Georgian politician, human rights activist, dissident, profes ...

, which presided over the declaration of independence on 9 April 1991. During their rule (October 1990 – January 1992), Gamsakhurdia's government had instituted 26 May as Independence Day; the 9 April 1991 declaration stated it was based on the 26 May 1918 Act of Independence. The preceding referendum on 31 March 1991 had also asked the citizens of Georgia whether they wanted independence to be restored on the basis of the 26 May 1918 declaration. Since 1993, 9 April has been observed as the Day of National Unity, Civic Concordance, and Remembrance in Georgia.

History

26 May had been celebrated as the national day of the Democratic Republic of Georgia until the Soviet takeover in 1921. During the Soviet era, it was clandestinely and irregularly observed by segments of society opposed to the Communist regime. As the Georgian national movement gained momentum in the late 1980s, the symbols associated with the short-lived pre-Soviet republic became a rallying cry for those advocating independence from the Soviet Union. After Georgia's declaration of independence on 9 April 1991, the government set on 26 May 1991 Georgia's first presidential election, which was won by Zviad Gamsakhurdia. Georgia met 26 May of the next year with the new government led by

Eduard Shevardnadze Eduard Ambrosis dze Shevardnadze ( ka, ედუარდ ამბროსის ძე შევარდნაძე; 25 January 1928 – 7 July 2014) was a Soviet and Georgian politician and diplomat who governed Georgia (country), Georgi ...

; Gamsakhurdia had been ousted in a military coup earlier that year. The 26 May 1992 celebration was attended by Shevardnadze's old acquaintance

James Baker James Addison Baker III (born April 28, 1930) is an American attorney, diplomat and statesman. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 10th White House chief of staff and 67th United States secretary ...

. The day also witnessed one of the first major anti-Shevardnadze demonstrations in the streets of Tbilisi. Through much of Shevardnadze's rule, Independence Day was a civilian observance. Since 1997, no military parades had been organized by the government, citing financial difficulties. Shevardnadze's successor as President of Georgia,

Mikheil Saakashvili Mikheil "Misha" Saakashvili (born 21 December 1967) is a Georgian and Ukrainian politician and jurist. He was the third president of Georgia for two consecutive terms from 25 January 2004 to 17 November 2013. He is the founder and former chair ...

, restored, in 2004, tradition of holding military parades, which was used as a venue to exhibit new equipment of the

Defence Forces of Georgia The Defence Forces of Georgia ( ka, საქართველოს თავდაცვის ძალები, tr), or Georgian Defence Forces (GDF), are the combined military forces of Georgia (country), Georgia, tasked with the defence of ...

. 26 May 2004 saw the largest ever military parade in Georgia. During Saakashvili's second term of presidency, the Independence Day celebrations were overshadowed by political instability; in 2008 and

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

large opposition rallies in central Tbilisi limited the scale of the celebrations and in 2011 an attempt by part of the opposition at obstructing a military parade planned for 26 May led to fatalities during a clash with police. After the

Georgian Dream Georgian Dream – Democratic Georgia (GD), also colloquially known as the Kotsebi, is a Conservatism, conservative and populism, populist List of political parties in Georgia (country), political party in Georgia (country), Georgia, which has ...

coalition acceded to power in 2012, a military component of the Independence Day celebration was limited to oath-taking ceremonies of Georgian soldiers and public exhibitions of military technology. The marchpast before the authorities did not return until the 105th Independence Day celebrations in 2023.

Notable anniversaries

* 26 May 1918 – The

National Council of Georgia The National Council of Georgia ( ka, საქართველოს ეროვნული საბჭო, ''sakartvelos erovnuli sabcho'') was the first delegated legislative body formed by Georgia's major political parties and social organ ...

adopts the Act of Independence of Georgia. * 26 May 1920 – Leaders of the

Second International The Second International, also called the Socialist International, was a political international of Labour movement, socialist and labour parties and Trade union, trade unions which existed from 1889 to 1916. It included representatives from mo ...

attend the Independence Day demonstration in Tbilisi as part of their visit to Georgia. * 26 May 1921 – The new

Bolshevik The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, were a radical Faction (political), faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with the Mensheviks at the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, ...

government of Georgia marks Independence Day to celebrate the

sovietization Sovietization ( ) is the adoption of a political system based on the model of soviets (workers' councils) or the adoption of a way of life, mentality, and culture modeled after the Soviet Union. A notable wave of Sovietization (in the second me ...

of Georgia, barring the national flags of the overthrown Democratic Republic of Georgia from being displayed during the celebrations. * 26 May 1922 – Soviet security forces break up rallies to mark the Georgian Independence Day in Tbilisi and other places in the Georgian SSR. * 26 May 1989 – Pro-independence demonstrators gather in Tbilisi to mark Independence Day for the first time since 1922. * 26 May 1991 – Georgia holds its first presidential election. A

National Guard National guard is the name used by a wide variety of current and historical uniformed organizations in different countries. The original National Guard was formed during the French Revolution around a cadre of defectors from the French Guards. ...

parade marks the first official post-Soviet Independence Day celebration. * 26 May 1992 – Georgian security forces break up a rally of supporters of the ousted President Gamsakhurdia, while

attends the official celebrations of Independence Day. * 26 May 2004 – The new government of Georgia marks Independence Day with the largest-ever military parade. * 26 May 2011 – Police prevent attempts by an opposition party to block the venue of an Independence Day military parade, resulting in four deaths. * 26 May 2018 – Georgia celebrates the 100th anniversary of the declaration of independence of the First Republic of Georgia. More than 20 high level delegations arrive to attend the event, including the presidents of

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

, and the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...

. * 26 May 2021 – Georgia celebrates the 30th anniversary of the restoration of independence. The remains of commander-in-chief of the

Giorgi Kvinitadze were reburied with full military honors to the

Mtatsminda Pantheon The Mtatsminda Pantheon of Writers and Public Figures ( ka, მთაწმინდის მწერალთა და საზოგადო მოღვაწეთა პანთეონი, ''mtats'mindis mts'eralta da sazogado mo ...

in Tbilisi on 26 May.

Videos

სამხედრო აღლუმი თბილისში. 1997 წელი

References

{{Authority control Public holidays in Georgia (country) May observances

Georgia (country) Georgia is a country in the Caucasus region on the coast of the Black Sea. It is located at the intersection of Eastern Europe and West Asia, and is today generally regarded as part of Europe. It is bordered to the north and northeast by Russ ...