The Republic of the Union of Mountain Peoples, Abkhazia, and Soviet Policies: A Historical Analysis

On 11 May 1918, the Republic of the Union of Mountain Peoples of the Caucasus declared its independence.

You may consult the meeting minutes from the link below of the Batum Conference, which convened on that day and did not reconvene thereafter. Additionally, a copy of the independence declaration by the North Caucasian delegates is available. Initially, their objective was to establish a Greater Caucasian Confederation; however, they ultimately proclaimed an independent state. 

+ What exactly happened in Batumi on May 11, 1918?

The Republic encompassed Dagestan, Chechen-Ingushetia, Ossetia, Kabarda, Karachay-Balkaria, Abkhazia, and Adygeya. Its territory spanned from the Black Sea to the Caspian Sea, covering 260,000 square kilometres, with a population nearing 6.5 million.

Source: Atlas of the Ethno-Political History of the Caucasus, by Arthur Tsutsiev (2014, Yale University Press)

+ Also see: Map of the Mountain Republic, printed in Lausanne and presented at the Paris Peace Conference (1919). "CARTE: ethnographique et politique de la Republique de l'Union des Peuples Circassiens et du Dagestan" (1919).

The Evolution of Abkhazia’s Status from 1917 to Soviet Era

It is often stated that the Bolsheviks granted autonomous status to Abkhazia as part of a scheme to undermine Georgian sovereignty. In reality, the situation differed markedly. Following the Russian Revolution of 1917, Abkhazia remained as an independent entity, separate from Georgia.

On 8 November 1917, the Congress of the Abkhazian People established the Abkhazian parliament (the "Abkhazian People's Council"), which adopted a "Declaration" and "Constitution".

On 9 February 1918, the Abkhazian National Congress (ANC) signed a treaty [Also Gazeta Nashe Slovo] with the Georgian National Congress (GNC), representing the Special Transcaucasian Committee. At the time, Georgia was de facto under the control of the Transcaucasian Commissariat, while Abkhazia was part of the confederative Mountain Republic.

On 11 May 1918, the Batum Peace Conference proclaimed the Mountainous Republic, incorporating the entirety of the North Caucasus and Abkhazia.

In June 1918, Georgian troops occupied Abkhazia, asserting it as part of Georgia and incarcerating members of the Abkhazian parliament. This action elicited protests from the command of the allied (British) forces in Transcaucasia and the Russian White Army.

Both Abkhazia and Georgia were Sovietised in 1921.

On 31 March 1921, the independent Soviet Republic of Abkhazia was declared.

On 21 May 1921, the Georgian Bolshevik government officially recognised Abkhazia's independence.

On 16 December 1921, under pressure from Stalin and other influential Georgian Bolsheviks, Abkhazia was coerced into signing a union (i.e., confederative) treaty with Georgia. Despite this agreement, Abkhazia joined the Transcaucasian Federation as an equal partner alongside Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. It was as a member and a subject of international law within the Soviet Union that Abkhazia participated in the formation of the USSR in 1922, acting as a sovereign Abkhazian Republic.

Map of the Caucasus 1927. The map showing the new political boundaries to illustrate the paper by W.E.D. [William Edward David] Allen; published by the Royal Geographical Society (May 1927).

Abkhazia still remained a full union republic until 1931, when its status was downgraded, under Stalin's orders, from that of Union Republic to that of an Autonomous Republic within Georgia. As Vladislav Ardzinba, noted, Abkhazia is just about the only republic whose political status was downgraded rather than upgraded by Stalin.

This incorporation of Abkhazia into Georgia was executed without the consent and against the will of the Abkhazian people, sparking widespread protests in Abkhazia. Consequently, the creation of the Abkhazian Autonomous Republic within Georgia was not a simple granting of autonomous status by the Bolsheviks to one of the republic's minorities, but rather a forced amalgamation of two neighbouring states.

Even during 1931 to 1991, while Abkhazia was an autonomous republic within the Georgian SSR, both Abkhazia and Georgia were part of the administrative framework of the USSR. Importantly, during this period, Abkhazia was not part of an independent Georgian entity.

This era marked the onset of the Stalin-Beria terror in Abkhazia, signifying a critical shift in the region's political and social landscape.

Further reading

+ Abkhazia—Documents and Materials (1917–1921) 

+ Legitimacy of Abkhazia's Sovereignty and Independence in The Light of Historical Evidence

+ A speech from the representative of Abkhazia Tumanov at a meeting of the Union Council (Parliament), Mountain Republic

+ Correspondence between Simon Basaria and Haydar Bammat

+ Abkhazia and Georgia on the Verge of Independence (1917 - 1921), by Cem Kumuk

+ Georgian policy towards Abkhazia in the period 1918-1921, by Vadim Mukhanov

+ Abkhazia, Georgia and the Caucasus Confederation, by Stanislav Lakoba

+ Quotes from the 'Between Red and White' by Leon Trotsky

+ General Mazniashvili and the 1918 Occupation of Abkhazia