Editing Georgia (country)

{{Infobox country|name=Georgia|native_name=საქართველო|image_flag=Flag of Georgia.svg|largest_city=[[Tbilisi]]|image_coat=Georgian COA.svg|capital=[[Tbilisi]]|image_map=Georgia map.svg|map_width=260|map_caption=Claimed territories of [[Abkhazia]] and [[South Ossetia]] in light green|official_languages=Georgian|mode_of_production=[[Capitalism]]|government_type=Unitary parliamentary bourgeois republic|established_event1=Sovereignty declared|established_date1=26 May 1990|established_event2=Secession from [[USSR]]|established_date2=9 April 1991|established_event3=Secession recognized|established_date3=26 December 1991|area_km2=69,700|population_estimate=3,688,647|population_estimate_year=2022}}

'''Georgia''' is a country in the [[Caucasus]]. It is a close ally of the [[United States of America|U.S.]] and participated in the [[Iraq War|invasion of Iraq]] with the third largest part of the occupation forces. During the first ten years of its independence, from 1991 to 2001, Georgia received over $1 billion in aid from the United States.<ref name=":0">{{News citation|author=Saul Kanowitz|newspaper=[[Liberation School]]|title=Russia, Georgia, and independence in the age of imperialism|date=2008-08-15|url=https://liberationschool.org/08-08-15-russia-georgia-independence-in-html/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210523233443/https://liberationschool.org/08-08-15-russia-georgia-independence-in-html/|archive-date=2021-05-23|retrieved=2022-06-21}}</ref> Despite their [[Liberalism|liberal]] government, 57% of Georgians view [[Joseph Stalin|Stalin]] favorably.<ref>{{Web citation|newspaper=Pew Resarch Center|title=Religious Belief and National Belonging in Central and Eastern Europe|date=2017-05-10|url=https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2017/05/10/religious-belief-and-national-belonging-in-central-and-eastern-europe/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231007031807/https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2017/05/10/religious-belief-and-national-belonging-in-central-and-eastern-europe/|archive-date=2023-10-07}}</ref>

The first Georgian state was created in the fifth century BCE. The [[Roman Empire (27 BCE–395 CE)|Roman Empire]] conquered Georgia and it later became part of the [[Byzantium|Byzantine Empire]].'''<ref name=":02">{{Citation|author=Albert Szymanski|year=1984|title=Human Rights in the Soviet Union|chapter=The European Nationalities in the USSR|page=86–87|pdf=https://cloudflare-ipfs.com/ipfs/bafykbzaceazdmtb2y3qq27fve5ib3gk7uv2unt6ae2xss74xmfpur7k5uhl5m?filename=Albert%20Szymanski%20-%20Human%20Rights%20in%20the%20Soviet%20Union_%20Including%20Comparisons%20with%20the%20U.S.A.-Zed%20Books%20Ltd.%20%281984%29.pdf|city=London|publisher=Zed Books Ltd|isbn=0862320186|lg=https://libgen.rs/book/index.php?md5=C597B1232D9EA6B0F3DCB438D7E15A81}}</ref>'''

The Georgian [[Kingdom of Iberia (302 BCE–580 CE)|Kingdom of Iberia]] adopted [[Christianity]] as its state religion in 319 CE.<ref name=":1">{{Web citation|author=Evan Reif|newspaper=[[CovertAction Magazine]]|title=Georgian Legion Carries Out ISIS-Style Executions in Ukraine—with Covert U.S. Support|date=2022-11-23|url=https://covertactionmagazine.com/2022/11/23/georgian-legion-carries-out-isis-style-executions-in-ukraine-with-covert-u-s-support/|retrieved=2022-11-23}}</ref> Georgia became independent in the 9th century,'''<ref name=":02" />''' and Bagrat united Georgia and Abkhazia in 1008 with his successors ruling both nations until the [[Gurkani (1370–1507)|Timurid]] invasion in 1463, when Abkhazia became independent.<ref name=":1" /> For most of the 13th through 18th centuries, Georgia was occupied by [[Persia|Persian]] or Turkic empires.'''<ref name=":02" />'''

 

The Georgian king asked Russia for protection against the Persians in 1782.'''<ref name=":02" />''' After the [[Russian Empire (1721–1917)|Russian Empire]] conquered Georgia in 1801, the [[Romanov dynasty|Romanovs]] suppressed Georgian art and culture in favor of the Russian Orthodox Church.<ref name=":1" /> After the overthrow of the Romanovs in 1917, Georgia briefly became a [[German Empire (1871–1918)|German]] puppet state until being liberated by the [[Workers' and Peasants' Red Army|Red Army]] in 1921 following a rebellion led by [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Bolsheviks]].'''<ref name=":02" />'''

 

{{Main article|Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic}}

 

In the 1980s, right-wing [[Nationalism|nationalist]] [[Zviad Gamsakhurdia]] became the leader of the anti-[[Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (1922–1991)|Soviet]] [[Counterrevolution|counterrevolutionary]] movement in Georgia. He hated Abkhazians and Ossetians and promoted the slogan "Georgia for the Georgians." In 1989, he and his supporters attempted to storm the [[South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast|South Ossetian]] capital of Tskhinvali, but Soviet troops prevented them from massacring the Ossetians.<ref name=":1" />

 

In 1990, shortly before the [[Overthrow of the Soviet Union|dissolution of the USSR]], the South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast declared its independence from Georgia. Gamsakhurdia became Georgia's first president in 1991 and attempted to remove South Ossetia's autonomous status and make Georgian the official language throughout the country. Another former region of the [[Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic (1921–1991)|Georgian SSR]], Abkhazia, also declared independence and has been supported by [[Russian Federation|Russia]] since 1992. Gamsakhurdia brutally oppressed ethnic minorities until being overthrown by the mafia-led Mkhedrioni militia less than a year after he took power.

 

 

President [[Mikheil Saakashvili]] was put in power in 2004 after the U.S. organized a [[Colour revolution|color revolution]] known as the [[Rose Revolution]]. In August 2008, Georgia bombed South Ossetia. They fired missiles at civilian areas but were quickly driven out by Russian forces.<ref name=":0" />

 

 

[[Georgian Dream – Democratic Georgia|Georgian Dream]], the current ruling party, attempts to balance between East and West and does not support the [[2022 Russo-Ukrainian conflict|proxy war in Ukraine]].<ref>{{Web citation|author=[[Kit Klarenberg]]|newspaper=[[The Grayzone]]|title=A Maidan 2.0 color revolution looms in Georgia|date=2023-10-06|url=https://thegrayzone.com/2023/10/06/maidan-color-revolution-georgia/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231015135649/https://thegrayzone.com/2023/10/06/maidan-color-revolution-georgia/|archive-date=2023-10-15}}</ref>