The Democratic Republic of Georgia in Diplomatic Relations of the Great Powers 1918-1921

5 Introduction Down the centuries Georgia or its precursor kindred political units were always in vital interests of the surrounding empires because of the country’s geopolitical situation. The south Caucasian region is situated on the crossroad of Europe and Asia that was always characterized by the network of trade routes and the aspirations of great empires to catch and control them for their own interests. Hence, for Georgia it was often very difficult to save its own independence and territorial integrity. In doing so the country had to have political firmness and unanimity both in foreign affairs and in internal environment. But it has always been a very sensitive question for Georgian statehood because the country in most of times was too weak and undefended against the strong enemies and, on the other hand, there was mostly a problem of orientation inside the country – Georgia is always characterized by the diversity of fractions having absolutely different orientations regarding foreign political course of the country. This is the case even today. Political unification of Georgia began in the second half of the 10 th century and its summit was reached in 12 th and in the first quarter of the 13 th century. This period is considered “The Golden Age” of Georgian history realized, in particular, by King David IV the Builder (1089-1125) and King Tamar (1184-1213). From the middle of 13 th century in Georgia’s history the decadence began to dominate. The Mongol Empire invaded and conquered Georgia for a century. In the next centuries the Ottoman and Persian empires contested for possessing Georgian territories; in such circumstances country was divided in small kingdoms and principalities. The worst was the fact that these kings and princes had endless struggles with one another that made the country much weaker and attackable. From the beginning of the 17 th century Georgian kings and princes began to contact to Russian tsars in order to overcome a heavy yoke of Muslim empires. In this case, one of the most important connecting thread was religion – Orthodoxy – because the heads of Georgian principalities thought that “the Third Rome” was interested in defeating and banishing these Empires, especially the Ottomans, from the Caucasus. But the reality was absolutely different. Maybe Russia wanted to do this, but it did not have the strength and possibility to realize it. And in such a context, by the end of the 18 th century, greater Georgian kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti under King Erekle II signed the Treaty of Georgievsk