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Georgia The Soviet and Gamsakhurdia Periods
Soviet policy effectively cut traditional commercial and
diplomatic links to Turkey, which became a member of the North
Atlantic Treaty Organization (
NATO--see
Glossary) in 1952, and to
Iran, a United States ally until the late 1970s. Instead,
virtually all transportation and commercial links were directed
to Russia and the other Soviet republics. The same redirection
occurred with diplomatic ties, which the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs of the Soviet Union controlled. Shevardnadze's presence
as Soviet foreign minister from 1985 to 1990 provided little
direct benefit to Georgia aside from the large number of highranking guests who visited the republic in that period. That
group included Britain's Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and
United States Secretary of State George Shultz.
Under Gamsakhurdia Georgia's efforts to break out of the
diplomatic isolation of the Soviet period were stymied by the
reluctance of the outside world to recognize breakaway republics
while the Soviet Union still existed. Romania, which granted
recognition in August 1991, was one of the few countries to do so
during the Gamsakhurdia period. Several Georgian delegations came
to the United States in 1991 in an effort to establish diplomatic
ties, but Washington largely ignored those efforts. Given stable
internal conditions, the dissolution of the Soviet Union in late
1991 would have released Georgia from its isolation, but by that
time the revolt against Gamsakhurdia was in full force. After the
violent overthrow of Gamsakhurdia, other governments were
reluctant to recognize the legitimacy of his successors. This
situation changed in March 1992, when the internationally
prominent Shevardnadze returned to Georgia and became chairman of
the State Council.
In 1992 and 1993, United States aid to Georgia totaled US$224
million, most of it humanitarian, placing Georgia second in per
capita United States aid among the former Soviet republics. In
September 1993, Shevardnadze appealed directly to the United
States Congress for additional aid. At that time, President
William J. Clinton officially backed Shevardnadze's efforts to
maintain the territorial integrity of Georgia. Reports of human
rights offenses against opposition figures, however, brought
United States warnings late in 1993 that continued support
depended on the Georgian government's observance of international
human rights principles.
Data as of March 1994
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