We often hear flashy news headlines and updates about war conflicts around the globe. This information leads us to form opinions and solutions to the issue without knowing the I have my own views and opinions about the conflict in the former Soviet Republic of Georgia. After doing my research on history in Georgia, I began to realize the more complicated and deer roots of the conflict As we read on, we will learn a little more in depth about Georgia & # 39; s conflict.
Georgia was always a popular getaway for citizens of the much colder Soviet Soviet Union. The Georgian people are known for great hospitality, exceptional wine brewing and they have their own unique alphabet. All though the Georgian people have been around for thousands of years, for the last few centuries this country has been ruled by other Mongols, Arabs, Turks and finally the Russians (History Georgia). In the early Soviet times Georgia became a part With popularity palm-beach resorts, a warm climate and perfect soil for agriculture, Abkhazia attracted around three million tourists a year from the Soviet Union alone. The size of Abkhazia is a little smaller than the big island of Hawaii.
Under the Soviet rule, Abkhazia was a region within Georgia politically and geographically. Both ethnical groups, Abkhazians and Georgians were native of this land and did not share the same native language. Most of the time they were able to learned Russian as The second time. The Russian language was dominant throughout the Soviet Union during the early 1990s, the Soviet Union came to an end, and Georgia gained independence. At the same time Abkhazia did not want to stay with Georgia so they separated from them, military force. Since then, the Abkhaz people consider themselves independent from Georgia, but their independence is still under dispute and it is not supported or recognized internationally.
I was born in the former Soviet Republic of Georgia, in the city of Sukhumi the capital center of the Abkhazian region. I remember our last two-story house was really big compared to the house we lived in before. It had a Victorian style staircase It was fun to play in the back yard where we had twelve mandarin trees, which out of all the citrus fruit is my favorite. We had a medium size greenhouse where my mom grew tulips.
I remember the Black Sea was only a few minutes west in walking distance from the waves. Some blocks to the north there was the Gumista River. I remember the " Me and my older brother use to explore the railroad territory that was behind our neighbor & # 39; s I was afraid to go there myself because the area was new to me. He took me to see the Gumista River one day, but we did not go down to it, because the drop off was steep. Later I felt comfortable and explored The area by myself. But the river still seemed big to me, and I was afraid to go down to the water myself. What I liked the most about Sukhumi were the palm trees and the tropical plants, they made me feel warm even if it snowed in the winter. There were many times when my dad took our family in our car arou there are sheep in the valleys and old broken castles around the mountains.
The year 1989, this was our last year before we came to America. We applied for a visa to leave, and we got it. Georgia Abhkazia Conflict We were not know there was a war coming to this area. There was rumors and talk about the violence in We have a lot of felt the tension. Tbilisi Georgia 's Capital, and the airport security in Sukhumi was raised to a higher alert. I remember seeing more military vehicles driving around on the streets. Our last day in Sukhumi, my parents packed all night long preparing for our trip. I remember everyone seemed disturbed at the airport, and that was the last time I saw Sukhumi.
Georgia became prosperous when the Soviet Union was under the leadership of Joseph Stalin. He was originally from Georgia, born with the Georgian last name Djugashvili, but once he became a leader he changed it to Stalin meaning "man of steel" (Joseph Stalin Biography While he was a great deal of power over Soviet Union at the time, he helped Georgia open up new enterprises and build its economy. While the positive growth was a big leap for Georgians, Stalin & # 39; s hatred of minorities living in Georgia hardened. The Abkhazian people were abused in the preorder. Schools in Georgia were forced to teach the Georgian language, while the Abkhazian language was banned altogether. Thousands of Abkhazians were executed during this time. Abkhazian Even their passports could not state their Abkhazian nat ionality. Thousands of Abkhazians were exported out of their land as as Russians and Georgians filled their vacancies. The Abkhazian people did not stay, these are when they were cleansed from their land because of their ethnicity.
During the 1930 's and 40' s Stalin was accused of every crime imaginable committed by the government.
This the raised the opinion. This raised the opinion. It is stalin & # 39; s harsh actions were made by of his his Georgian origin. The opinion espually raised criticism against Georgian youth The Georgians were offended by the anti-Stalin movement, especially the college students who began to hold meetings and holding meetings and demonstration rallies in the center of Georgia "capital Tbilisi. They tried to defend Stalin & # 39; s views, and they criticized new policies made by Khrushchev. On March 9th, 1956 the Soviet Army shot the participants of the demonstrations in Tbilisi, killing about one hundred Georgians, and wounding another three hundred. Georgia still remained a Soviet Republic after this incident, most of its people lost their trust in the Russian dominated Soviet rule from this point on.
An invisible wall was built in the Georgian people, and the Soviet leadership, the Abkhazians began to receive support from the Soviet government, in their north-western part of Georgia. Their situation completely reversed They are considered equal to to Georgians now, their passports were changed to show their own ethnicity, and they were teaching their own language in the schools the way they wanted to. They were free to practice their own traditions that but this time freedom was given to them, it was still considered considered part of the Georgian Republic ___ ___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ .
Abschaans was already unhappy with past past experiences of persecution by Georgians during Stalin & # 39; s time. As Georgian national movement was grown. Georgian wanted to become independent of the Soviet Union and by 1988 the national movement became stronger on a wide scale. Among the The Soviet government was against the demonstrations in Tbilisi, and sent the Soviet Army to stop them by force. On April 9th, 1989 twenty demonstrators were attacked and killed at night, most of them were Georgian women (G eorgia History). After this day, the Soviet Communist Party lost all influence in the Georgian republic. The national movement became the main motivation for Georgia 's new government. It was a process that was chaotic and unorganized, it soon opened the Door for the election of the new Georgian leader Zviad Gamsakhurdia on October 28th, 1990.
Abakhazia fearing the new Georgian policies, immediately reacted to the Georgian racism by declaring Abkhazia as declaring a problem by placing inforable policy through through disordering the rights of minorities, and altered Georgia Gamsakhurdia & # 39; s policy with raised tension in the middle region of Georgia, called South Ossetia which was populated by the Ossetian minority. The Ossetians began opposition with the Georgians fearing has might Be persecuted because they are not Georgian ethnicity. At this time the Georgian people felt Gamsakhurdia was not dealing correctly with the conflicts between Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
In January 1992 Gamsakhurdia was overthrown from office, and a new leader was elected, former Soviet politician Edward Shevardnadze. He was able to negotiate the conflict in South Ossetia, with an agreed cease-fire. But the conflict within Abkhazia was only beginning. Georgia He claimed to the Abkhazian authorities he is sending the troops because "to She afraid of sending the troops" Georgian officials were kidnapped by former leader Gamsakhurdia supporters, who were headed for Sukhumi "(apsny.org). As the Georgian troops entered the Abkhazian territory, the Abkhaz authorities found out that the real intent of the troops was to overthrow the Abkhaz government and restored Georgian rule in Abkhazia. Immediately the Abkhaz government realized that they needed to flee for protection out of Sukhumi. Ardzinmba and Abkh azian ministers quickly withdrew to northern Abkhazia in the Caucasus Mountains and called for the Abkhazian people to resist all Georgian troops coming in.
By October 1992 the Georgian troops moving from the south, they took over the city all the way north to the Gumista River where Abstract of forked forking for offical blocking the north shore of the river, While the Georgians was on the south shore. This Georgians was on the war and the Gumista River in northern Sukhumi became the major front line. The Georgian forces, in an act of disrespect and senselessness to the Abkhazian nation, burned of the state of Abikhazians, history and literature (apsny.org). Abkhazians claim that during this time Georgians were burning Abkhazian homes, robbing them and murdering civilians. fearing their lives.
The Abkhazians to be the far outnumbered by the Georgian forces. But the war was about to reverse that took the Georgia Abkhazia conflict to a new level. Even though Abukhazia 's big northern neighbor Russia denies the claims, by 1993 with their interest in the region, the Russians began to assist Abkhazians in the war against the Georgians (apsny.org). The new support from Russian braves the Abkhazians a strong advantage over the Georgians in Sukhumi and through the Abkhazian region. The Abkhazians with the Russians began to push the Georgian forces south out of Sukhumi. On September 30th 1993 the Georgian army was defeated and many were captured pushed south towards Georgia still fighting. It was a very personal battle throughout the Abkhazian territory, especially in the villages where most were forced to battle against their former neighbors, coworkers, and even relatives because of mixed ethnicity. Many battle lines were formed through the villages and towns, people Abakhazia finally freed itself from Georgia with Russia & # 39; s help.
Many Georgian citizens who remained in Sukhumi after Abkhazia took over again, claim that they were forced to leave their homes or otherwise fight on the Abkhazian side (global IDP). For the hundred thousans of Georgians remaining in Abkhazia during this time, the "ethnic cleansing "became a reality. An estimated total of 249,000 ethnic Georgians was still displaced from Abkhazia in 2003, that is about ten years later after they were forced About flee (causes and background). About half of them lived in collective centers that are primarily former public buildings like schools, former hotels, factories, and hospitals. A large majority Some negotiations were made by helped many Georgian refugees to retur Recently plans with international involvement are (n) in to Abukhazia. from of repeated violence against them, many had to flee back to the refugee centers in Georgia. Thousands of Georgians still displaced for over ten years now, hope for the best in returning home. coming up with promising solutions to free the displaced refugees back to Abkhazia.
All though Abkhazia earned a victory over its territory, fierce fighting continued through until an official cease-fire in 1994. The cease-fire helped stop the full-scale war, but on and off fighting has continued between both sides even till the day I To make matters worse, Abkhazia has economic sanctions on its imports and exports to its independence is not recognized by any other country in the world. It Russia & # 39; s financial, political and military support in Abkhazia is growing substantively every year since the sanctions imposed by the United Nations on Abkhazia.
When 1993-94 Gumista River front-line in Sukhumi was a long and deadly battle between the Abkhazians and the Georgians which lasted almost a whole year. Over ten thousand people died hours of that month from this battle. According to the Landmine Monitor Report in 1999, there are still a hundred and thirty three separate minefields stretching ten kilometers south from the bridge over The Gumista River down the black sea coast along the western edge of Sukhumi (landmine monitor). There are also major minefields that go inland along along the Gumista River area (landmine clearance). The high fertility of the soil along the river attracts families who continued to live in local neighborhoods growing small citrus groves, despite the close proximity to large minefields. A few mines washed washed by the river in to the sea where they were re moved by Abkhazia, in Abkhazia, an international mine clearing organization called HALO Trust, cleared 858,688 square meters of mine-affected land and destroyed 456 antipersonnel mines, 127 antivehicle mines , and 749 unexploded ordnance explodes (UXO) (landmine monitor). Unfortunately, there are still reports that new mines are being laid around Abkhazia by Georgians, Abhazians and Russian "peacekeepers", but not nearly as much as in 1993/94.
Georgia 's economy relied heavily on Russia helped Abukhazia defeat the Georgians, serious tensions was formed between the two nations and Georgia' s economy fell even more. Russian troops helping the Abkhazians, claimed Georgia Georgia condemns these accusations, and claims Russian "peace keepers" in Abkhazia need to be removed because they started more conflicts than help with peace in the territory .
Edward Shevardnadze who lead lead Georgia since the 1993 conflict was forced out of office by protestors in November 2003. Shevardnadze is blamed for occurred corruption and bribery in the Georgian government during his ten year term, including By presidential decree, Saakashvili established an anti-corruption Council that is helping to enforce tougher laws against corruption in all He is working with with political system through Georgia. The new president is finally trying his best to fix ties with Russia again, in order to stabilize Georgia & # 39; s economy and resolve Abkhazia & # 39; s conflict as soon as possible. leaders around the world to come up with Russia is pushing Abkhazia for a faster resolution to help Georgian refugees return to Abkhazia pe My heart goes out to to those who lost their lives, their loved ones, and their land. I can not take one side or I am hiring for the best, and I believe the time is coming soon where the two sides will finally find solutions that both parties can agree on.
The Georgia Abkhazia Conflict Still remains. We only have highest hopes for peace in this region as soon as possible.
