Georgia perestroikan jälkeen

Authors

• Soili Haarala

Abstract

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Georgia has faced even more problems than some other former Soviet republics. The policy of perestroika intensified nationalist feelings all over the Soviet Union. In Georgia the frightened communist leaders made a mistake, which caused the Tbilisi blood shed in April 1989. After that the Georgians turned their backs to the Communist party, perestroika, and the Kremlin. First, Mr. Zviad Gamsahurdia was able to unite the Georgians when he received 87 per cent of the vote in the presidential election in May 1991. But as a result of president Gamsahurdia’s autoritarian rule, an armed opposition seized power in January 1992. In the winter of 1992 it is not clear whether there will be a civil war or whether the situation will calm down. Georgia also faces ethnic problems. There are Muslim minorities who do not want to be a part of an independent (mainly Christian) Georgia. This conflict is most severe in South Ossetia.