The Georgian–Ossetian conflict is an ethno-political conflict over Georgia's former autonomous region of South Ossetia, which evolved in 1989 and developed into a war in 1991–1992. Despite a declared ceasefire and numerous peace efforts, the conflict, involving Georgia, Russia and self-proclaimed republic of South Ossetia, remained unresolved. In August 2008, military tensions and clashes erupted into the Russo-Georgian War. Since then, South Ossetia has been under de facto Russian control.
Origins of the conflict
Background
The term "South Ossetia" first appeared during the 19th century. Throughout antiquity, the territory of South Ossetia was part of a region of Shida Kartli within the Georgian kingdom of Iberia. In the Middle Ages, the territory was disputed between various Georgian principalities and kingdoms before all of them were unified in the Kingdom of Georgia by 1008. During this period, the territory was part of the Duchy of Kartli. The migration of Alan-Ossetians to the region is believed to be connected to the fall of Kingdom of Alania in the North Caucasus in 13th and 14th centuries to the Mongols and later to Timur's armies. They retreated into the mountains of the central Caucasus and gradually started moving south, across the Caucasus Mountains into the Kingdom of Georgia. The territory of South Ossetia became part of the Kingdom of Kartli after the collapse of the Kingdom of Georgia, and it was held by the aristocratic Georgian Machabeli family, becoming known as Samachablo ("Land of the Machabeli"). In the 17th century, under pressure from the Kabardian princes, Ossetians started a second wave of migration from the North Caucasus to the Kingdom of Kartli. During this time, the Ossetians began to form their settlements in Samachablo; however, they were still outnumbered by native Georgians. In the 19th century, Georgian kingdoms and principalities were incorporated into the Russian Empire, and Ossetian migration to Georgian areas continued throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. The term "South Ossetia" appeared during this period, its first documented use dating to the 19th century. Until then, "North Ossetia" was referred to simply as Ossetia, and "South Ossetia" as Kartli or Samachablo. The term "South Ossetia" became widespread only after the South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast was established within the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic by the Soviet administration under pressure from Kavburo (the Caucasian Bureau of the Central Committee of the Russian Communist Party) in 1922.
Early years of the Soviet Union
The conflict between Georgians and Ossetians dates back until at least 1918. In the aftermath of the Russian Revolution, the Democratic Republic of Georgia declared independence (26 May 1918) under the Mensheviks, while the Bolsheviks took control of Russia. Georgians suppressed a Bolshevik rebellion in present-day South Ossetia with great severity in 1918 and in the next year outlawed the National Soviet of South Ossetia. In June 1920, a Russian-sponsored Ossetian force attacked the Georgian Army and People's Guard. The Georgians responded vigorously and defeated the insurgents, with several Ossetian villages being burnt down and 20,000 Ossetians displaced in Soviet Russia. Eight months later, the Red Army successfully invaded Georgia and the South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast was created. Some believe that the Bolsheviks granted this autonomy to the Ossetians in exchange for their (Bolshevik) loyalty in fighting the Democratic Republic of Georgia and favouring local separatists, since this area had never been a separate entity prior to the Red Army invasion.
Late years of the Soviet Union
To counter pro-independence movements in the constituent Soviet republics, the Soviet government under Mikhail Gorbachev adopted a policy of supporting separatist entities within these republics to pressure them into remaining in the Soviet Union. In April 1990, a law on the "Delimitation of Powers" was passed by the USSR Supreme Soviet, which equalized the rights of autonomies with those of the union republics. This meant that they could participate in negotiations on the New Union Treaty, which many union republics rejected. Gorbachev warned Georgia that if it tried to leave the "brotherly union", it would face problems in the regions on its own territory. An anti-Georgian sentiment began to grow in South Ossetia and Abkhazia with clandestine and open support from Moscow. Ossetian and Abkhaz separatists began to voice demands against Georgia and received arms and financial assistance from the Kremlin.
The Kremlin encouraged Ossetian separatism to undermine stability in Georgia and weaken its national independence movement. It fanned the flames of separatism to undermine Georgia's independence and assert control over the strategically important South Caucasus. South Ossetia's territory cuts through historically Georgian lands. Its separation would wreak havoc on Georgia's territorial integrity, communications, and economy.
In the late 1980s, the Ossetian nationalist organization Adamon Nikhas ("Voice of the People") was created. On 10 November 1989, the South Ossetian Supreme Soviet asked the Supreme Soviet of the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic for the status of the region to be upgraded to that of an autonomous republic. However, this application was rejected on 16 November. On 23 November 1989, Georgians organized a mass protest in Tskhinvali to oppose separatist tendencies.
South Ossetia declared its sovereignty on 20 September 1990. In October 1990, the Georgian parliamentary elections were boycotted by South Ossetia, which held elections to its own parliament in December of the same year. On 11 December 1990, the Georgian Supreme Council passed a bill that abolished South Ossetia's autonomous status to prevent separatism. Russia intervened, and a state of emergency was declared in South Ossetia.
On 4 May 1991, the South Ossetian Parliament declared its intention to separate from Georgia and unite with North Ossetia, which was located within the borders of the Russian Federation.
Post-Soviet timeline
1991–1992 South Ossetia War
Amidst rising ethnic tensions, war broke out when Georgian police forces and paramilitary organizations entered the capital of South Ossetia, Tskhinvali, to restore order. More than 2,000 people are believed to have been killed in the war. The separatists were helped by former Soviet military units, who by now had come under Russian command. Approximately 100,000 Ossetians fled Georgia proper and South Ossetia, while 23,000 Georgians left South Ossetia. A ceasefire agreement (the Sochi Agreement) was reached on 24 June 1992. While it ended the war, it did not deal with the status of South Ossetia. A Joint Control Commission for Georgian–Ossetian Conflict Resolution and peacekeeping force, composed of Russian, Georgian and Ossetian troops, was set up. The Ossetian de facto government controlled the region independently from Tbilisi. The JPKF's activities were mainly concentrated in the Conflict Zone, which included an area within a 15 km radius from Tskhinvali.
The separatists retained control over the districts of Tskhinvali, Java, Znauri and parts of Akhalgori. The Tbilisi central government controlled the rest of Akhalgori and the Georgian villages in the Tskhinvali district.
1992–2003
In 1996, the Ergneti market was opened and soon became the place where Georgians and South Ossetians traded. In 1996, Lyudvig Chibirov won the presidential elections in South Ossetia. A memorandum on "Measures for providing security and confidence building" was signed in Moscow on 16 May 1996, which was regarded as the first step towards a rapprochement between Georgia and the separatists of South Ossetia. This was followed up by several meetings between the President of Georgia, Eduard Shevardnadze, and the de facto President of South Ossetia, Lyudvig Chibirov. They met in Vladikavkaz in 1996, in Java in 1997, and in Borjomi in 1998. These resulted in some positive developments as the talks about IDP return, economic development, a political solution to the issues, and the protection of the population in the conflict zone.
There was no military confrontation for twelve years. While the peace process was frozen, Ossetians and Georgians engaged in lively exchanges and uncontrolled trade. The unresolved conflict encouraged development of such illegal activities as kidnapping, drug-trafficking and arms trading. Up to the end of 2003, a number of law enforcement officials from South Ossetia and Georgia proper allegedly were participating in criminal economic activities. Authorities on both sides reportedly cooperated to profit from illegal trade, as did Russian customs and peacekeeping troops.
Timeline before 2008
2004 clashes
When Mikheil Saakashvili was elected president in 2004, his goal was to return the breakaway regions of Georgia to central control.
Following the success in Adjara, President Mikheil Saakashvili's government turned their attention to South Ossetia.
In June, Georgia shut down the Ergneti market to prevent the flow of contraband goods, regain the customs revenue and financially weaken the Ossetian separatist government which was relying on smuggling. At the same time, Georgia focused on supporting Ossetian activists like Fagu inspired by the Georgian Kmara to set the stage for the "Ossetian Revolution" against the government of South Ossetia. Tensions caused by anti-smuggling campaign soon led to the military hostilities. Georgia's regional administration began to restore the alternative road to Didi Liakhvi.
On 7 July, Georgian peacekeepers intercepted a Russian convoy. The next day around 50 Georgian peacekeepers were disarmed and detained by the South Ossetian militias. The Georgian peacekeepers captured were all released on 9 July, with three exceptions. On 11 July 2004, Georgian president Saakashvili said the "crisis in South Ossetia is not a problem between Georgians and Ossetians. This is a problem between Georgia and Russia."
On 5 August 2004, Russian State Duma issued an official statement concerning the aggravation of situation around South Ossetia and Abkhazia in connection "with political actions of Georgian authorities". The statement warned that Russia could get involved in the conflict and would take "appropriate actions in case the lives of Russian citizens were jeopardized". Hundreds of Russian volunteers, mainly Cossacks, stated their readiness to "protect the people of South Ossetia" should the conflict escalate any further.
The tensions increased on the night of 10–11 August, when Georgian and South Ossetian villages in the area north of Tskhinvali came under fire and civilians were injured. Georgian and South Ossetian members of the JPFK are said to have been involved in the exchange of fire. On 13 August, Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania and de facto South Ossetian President Eduard Kokoity agreed on a ceasefire, which was breached multiple times by both sides. During the tensions in July and August, 17 Georgians and 5 Ossetians were killed. In emergency sessions of the JCC on 17 and 18 August in Tbilisi and Tskhinvali, the sides debated complex ceasefire proposals and demilitarization projects. At the same time, they expected fighting to resume and used the truce to improve their military positions and strengthen defences. A ceasefire agreement was reached on 19 August.
On 24 August, in an interview broadcast by Imedi television, the chairman of the Georgian parliament's Defense and Security Committee, Givi Targamadze, said that Russian military was prepared to launch a strike into Georgian territory, but the raid was preempted by Saakashvili's decision on 19 August to withdraw Georgian forces from strategic positions in South Ossetia. Targamadze said the Georgian government possessed secretly recorded video of Russian military preparations near the Georgian border.
At a high-level meeting between Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania and South Ossetian leader Eduard Kokoity on 5 November in Sochi, Russia, an agreement on demilitarization of the conflict zone was reached. Some exchange of fire continued in the zone of conflict after the ceasefire, apparently primarily initiated by the Ossetian side.