The Soviet invasion of Georgia in 1921 ended the Democratic Republic of Georgia and established Bolshevik rule, integrating the country into the Soviet Union.
Key Facts
- Campaign duration
- 12 February – 17 March 1921
- Georgian capital fell
- 25 February 1921
- Georgian SSR declared
- 25 February 1921
- Soviet recognition of Georgia
- Treaty of Moscow, 7 May 1920
- Soviet rule firmly established
- September 1924
- Key architects of invasion
- Joseph Stalin and Sergo Ordzhonikidze
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Bolshevik expansionist policy sought to reclaim lands of the former Russian Empire, and Georgian-born Soviet officials Joseph Stalin and Sergo Ordzhonikidze pressed for intervention. Georgian Bolsheviks lacked domestic support to seize power independently, prompting external military action. Lenin authorized the advance on 14 February 1921, using the pretext of supporting an alleged peasants' and workers' rebellion within Georgia.
Russian Soviet Red Army forces invaded the Democratic Republic of Georgia on 12 February 1921, engaging in heavy fighting before capturing Tbilisi. The Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic was proclaimed on 25 February 1921. The remainder of the country was overrun within three weeks, completing the military phase of the campaign by 17 March 1921.
The Menshevik government of the Democratic Republic of Georgia was overthrown and replaced by a Bolshevik administration, eventually absorbing Georgia into the Soviet Union. Simultaneous Turkish occupation of southwest Georgia led to territorial concessions formalized in the Treaty of Kars. Soviet rule, however, faced resistance and was not firmly consolidated until the suppression of a Georgian uprising in September 1924.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
1 belligerent
Joseph Stalin, Sergo Ordzhonikidze, Vladimir Lenin.
Side B
1 belligerent