Georgia's National Identity

 National identity refers to the many defying features of a nation. It bridges factors like religion, language, culture, history, and territory to create a sense of belonging for its citizens. However, national identity only exists in comparison to other nations. Now what I mean by this is that the features that are found common in a nation are the same ones that differentiate it from the other nations, known as significant others. Significant others are other nations or ethnic groups that are territorially close or within a nation and pose a threat to the nation’s culture and/or independence (Triandafyllidou, 1998,p.600). The recognition of significant others allows for a nation to be self-aware of the ingroup, us, and the outgroup, them. This blog post will talk about the factors of Georgiaʻs national identity and how it differentiates itself from itʻs significant others. 

Before getting into Georgiaʻs national identity it is important to identify itʻs location to get an idea of who its significant others might be. Georgia is located in the Southwest region of Asia but culturally identifies more with Europe. It is nestled between the greater and lesser Caucasus mountains putting it in the Trans Caucasus regions. It is south of Russia and north of Armenia and Turkey and also borders Azerbaijan and part of the Black Sea. 

The history of Georgia is ancient and rich as it dates back to the early Paleolithic and Neolithic periods. Through the millennium Georgia fluctuated in size and names as it went through a range of foreign powers and leaderships. Georgiaʻs national identity is deeply rooted in itʻs history as foundational features were set in these times. The most important periods of itʻs history include the reign of Tamar (1184-1213), the Otterman, Safavid, and Russian ruling (1299-1917), and the independence of Georgia in 1991 up until now. 

Long before this Trans Caucasus region was known as Georgia it was named Scythia. It is believed that the apostle Andrew preached the gospel into ancient Scythia, and with the help of saint Nino converted the country to Christianity. Georgia is known to be one of the first countries in the world to adopt Christianity and they estimate this to have happened around the year 330 AD. Armenia is actually known as the first to adopt Christianity, as this is a commonality that brought these two countries together. However, in 451 AD there was an issue with the secondary Christian Doctrine. Where the Armenian church rejected the Council of Chalcedon ruling that “Jesus Christ consists of two natures, one divine and one human” (Britannica, 2013). This caused Armenia to split and they became the Apostolic Orthodox while Georgia sided with the Eastern Orthodox. To this day 84% of Georgians remain under the Eastern Orthodox as members of the Georgian Orthodox church. 

The Georgia we know today wasnʻt actually called Georgia until the year 1008. This is when King Bagrat the third united the Kingdom of Abkhazia and the Kingdom of Iberia to create the Kingdom of Georgia. In the year 1184 Tamarʻs reign began and marked the start of the countries golden age.  Tamar and her second husband, David began to build the Georgian empire up until Tamarʻs death in 1213. The Georgian empire expanded to Azerbaijan and the borders of Cherkessia (now Southern Russia) and from Erzurum (in modern Turkey)  to Ganja (in modern Azerbaijan) (Howe, 2021). Following Tamarʻs death was the fall of the Georgian empire after multiple invasions by the Mongols. Georgia split up into eight states whose borders fluctuated as they fell apart and reformed. 

In the 16th century, the Ottoman Turks and Safavid Persian Empires dominated the region. It became the battleground for these two empires with different Iranian dynasties battling the Ottoman. In the early 19th century Russia became involved and took a hold of the Caucasus region for the rest of that century. 

Also during the middle of the 19th century is the establishment of the new Georgian literary language. This literacy originated in the 12th century and originates from the east Georgian dialect. This new literacy includes five vowels with 28 consonants compared to the five vowels and 30 consonants in the old literature. Unlike itʻs neighbors, the Georgian language is not derived from an Indo-European language branch. Instead, it is categorized under the Kartvelian family, itʻs own family because the Georgian language is like no other. However, there are Kartvellian minority languages like Mingrelian, Svan, and Laz all of which are spoken within Georgia. The old Georgian literacy dates back to the 5th century, just a little bit after the adoption of Christianity. Among the many literary documents found is a translation of the bible. 

After the fall of the Russian empire in the early 20th century, the Democratic Republic of Georgia was established in 1918. It only lasted 3 years when the Russian soviet army invaded and established the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic. This lasted until the fall of the Soviets in 1991 when Georgia claimed itʻs independence. Soon after Georgia was thrown into a two-year civil war that included Abkhazia and South Ossetia. In 1990 South Ossetia was denied the autonomous status in which they responded by claiming to join forces with the North Ossetians, who are a part of Russia. Using Triandafyllidouʻs criteria, these two regions fall under internal significant other. Both regions have myths of origin as well as desire political freedom apart from Georgia. As said in the criteria made by Triandafyllidou, “ they assert their right to difference and thus disrupt the cultural and political order of the quasi-nation state” (Triandafyllidou, 1998, p.601). After the civil war, these two regions were internationally recognized as a part of Georgia. 

In 2008 things escalated in South Ossetia as Russian forces crossed the border claiming to defend Russian citizens in the area. Things got worst when Russian forces took control of the South Ossetian capital as well as invaded Abkhazia. Very quickly, Georgia and Russia signed a Frenched brokered cease-fire, for the removal of Russian troops (Howe, 2021). This event only lasted a few days but tensions were high as Russia recognized South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states. 

Through the telling of major periods in Georgiaʻs history, we have seen how they have been warriors in holding their identity. Through strong foreign powers like the Romans, the Russians, Turkey, and the soviet union, Georgia refused to assimilate to outside systems. They maintained their foundational features of language and religion which play a part in their national identity today. None of which would be possible without the differentiation between significant others. 

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