|
|
|
Armeno-Georgian
War of 1918 and Armeno-Georgian Territorial
Issue in the 20th Century By Andrew Andersen and Georg Egge
|
|
|
|
The
Birth of Territorial Conflict The fall of 1918 was marked with the second
sharp change in the international situation during the last 12 months. It
influenced both Europe and East Mediterranean area including the South
Caucasus. Exhausted by the war the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary,
Bulgaria and Turkey) turned to the policy of cessation of hostilities and looking
for the ways to surrender. Between September 29 and November 11, all four
above-mentioned countries signed armistices with the Entente Powers. Ottoman Turkey
surrendered on October 30, 1918, signing the Armistice of Mudros.
In accordance with the provisions of the Armistice Agreements, all the
Turkish troops that had been stationed in the Caucasus to be withdrawn to the
line of the pre-war Russian-Turkish border of 1914. However, as early as two
weeks prior to the surrender, in view of the imminent collapse of the Central
Powers, the Turks began gradual evacuation of the territories that had been occupied
and annexed in accordance with the Treaty of Batum
(04.06.1918). At the very same time, the forces of the Democratic Republic of
Armenia acting in coordination with the Turkish command, started to take over
the territory of Erivan Province that the Turks were leaving behind. On
October 18, 1918 the avant-garde Armenian units entered the strip of Borchalo county of the province of Tiflis to the south of the river Kamenka that was earlier under temporary Turkish control,
and also crossed the demarcation line occupied the station of Kober (Koberi), that was in the
Georgian-controlled part of the county, forcing out the German-Georgian
garrison of the station[1]. It was at that
particular moment when the unresolved question of the future state border
between Armenia and Georgia rose sharply for the first time (see Mар 3).
Click on the map for better resolution One should mention though that as early as
during the summer of 1918, a few conferences and organized by the government
circles of Georgia and Armenia, as well as several publications in
semi-official newspapers Erivan and Tiflis, revealed significant differences
on the border issue between the two nations. As of the fall of 1918, the
territory in dispute between Armenia and Georgia was limited to the southern
part of the province of Tiflis, including mainly the two districts - Akhalkalaki and Borchalo[2]. From the
viewpoint of the majority of Armenian national-patriots all the Akhalkalaki county and more than half of the county of Borchalo were to be unequivocally incorporated into
Armenia[3]. The most radical
nationalists though called for the Armenian claims to be extended even
further to the northwest up to the port city of Batum
in order to secure for Armenia an access to the Black Sea. On the other hand,
most of the Georgian leaders as well as the majority of politically active
Georgians the southern border of the province of Tiflis was to become an
unquestionable border of their country[4]. Among radical
Georgian nationalists, there were also advocates of the annexation by Georgia
of parts of the Kazakh district of the province of Elisavetpol
and Alexandropol county of the province of Erivan[5]. In order to justify their territorial claim
the parties of the described conflict adhered to the variety of arguments.
The Georgian leadership based their claims on the historical background. The
Armenian territorial claims, were based on rather new principle of self-determination
of peoples, with an emphasis on the ethnic composition of the disputed
territories. The detailed analysis of both Georgian and
Armenian arguments in support of their claims for the two disputed counties
will be provided below. |
|
|
