The Georgian War

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Eluvatar

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So, we all know, or should know, that this summer, around the start of the Olympics, there was a war involving Georgia, South Ossetian separatists, and Russia. (Russia coming in against Georgia in the conflict).

Please vote before reading this wall of text >_>

NPOV Background

South Ossetia, in the border drawn by Stalin between the Russian Soviet Federation of Socialist Republics and the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic, is territory of Georgia. South Ossetia is mostly inhabited by ethnic Ossetians. Most Ossetians live north of the aforementioned border in Russia. Ossetians, one of the Caucasus' christian peoples, were traditional allies of the Russian Imperial regime before the Revolution, and Ossetia is how the Russian Empire was able to absorb a Georgia fearful of the Ottoman Empire and Persia. South Ossetia also holds or held a minority of Georgians.

Shortly after the dissolution of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the USSR, the new Georgian government experienced a massive civil war, with large-scale participation by various "volunteers." Some allege that the Russian government supported separatists in Georgia to break away, for a weaker Georgia. In any case, the regions of Abkhazia, Ajaria, and South Ossetia effectively broke away from Georgia.

800px-Georgia_high_detail_map.png


Ajaria from what I understand saw little fighting or ethnic cleansing. I am told Ajars are ethnically Georgians, but Muslim in religion. Fighting in Abkhazia was fierce, and there was ethnic cleansing on both sides. With the help of volunteers (generally from Russia) the Abkhaz eventually drove out the Georgians-- including the civilians.

In South Ossetia, the conflict reached a cease-fire under a UN mandate wherein Russian peacekeepers protected the Ossetian villages and Georgian peacekeepers protected the Georgian villages.

After 1993, these conflicts within Georgia basically settled down to a situation with effectively 4 states. At some point the Abkhazian and South Ossetian separatists came to a mutual defense agreement. Under Georgian President Shevarnadze (former Soviet Minister of External Affairs), things calmed down, and in South Ossetia at least I am told the Georgians and Ossetians began peacefully interacting with one another on a daily basis again, trading in markets et cetera.

In 2003, the Rose Revolution took place, following which Nationalist Mikheil Saakashvilli replaced Shevarnadze as President of Georgia. The United States backed a massive arming of Georgia. According to WIkipedia, "The military budget of Georgia increased more than 50 times over the period from 2002 (US$18 mln.) to 2007 (€2 bilion), reaching over 7% of Georgia's GDP." In return, by the Summer War happened, Georgia was the third largest contributor of troops in Iraq, despite being a rather small country, relavitely speaking.Mikheil, or as he is commonly known, "Misha," immediately recaptured control of Ajaria with the application, or at least the threat of force. Misha had long promised the re-unification of Georgia, which certainly contributed to his popularity. Abkhazia and South Ossetia understood that they were likely next.

Following several years of tensions and sporadic clashes, on the Seventh of August of this year, after Misha promised a unilateral cease-fire from the Georgian side, and said he loved the Ossetians and wished for them to join the rest of Georgia as part of a united Georgia peacefully, the Georgian Army launched a massive artillery salvo at the South Ossetian capitol Tskhinvale. Simultaneously, some Russian peacekeepers were attacked by Georgian, possibly Georgian peacekeeper forces.

The city of Tskhinvale was heavily bombarded and then seized by the Georgian Army and volunteers. Many Ossetian villages were also taken by the Georgian Army. There are indications that the Georgian Army saw little difference between civilian and militant Ossetians.

On August 8, apparently unexpected by the Georgian Army, the Russian Army poured through the Roki Tunnel. The Georgian Army soon retreated, while the Russian Air force and Army effectively destroyed it as an organized force. At this time, distinct targets in Georgia proper were bombed, and Western Media repeatedly showed footage of a burning house in Gori (Georgian). Abkhazia, following it's Mutual Assistance agreement with the South Ossetians, took the opportunity to also attack Georgia and seize the Kodori Gorge.

800px-2008_South_Ossetia_war.svg.png


A Cease fire was soon agreed to, though the size of the demilitarized zone around South Ossetia and Abkhazia came into question.

This war may have led to John McCain's perceived superior national-security credentials becoming more prominent, causing a shift in the polls around that time. By the time of the first Presidential Debates however, it was basically erased from the public's memory.

[size=-2]Note: I will take any suggestions on moving the above paragraphs closer to wikipedia-style NPOV. It is my understanding of the basic history and geopolitics.

Images are from Wikipedia.[/size]

POV Information

Russian (government-owned) Channel One documentary: The Art of Betrayal (english version)

The (British government-financed) BBC has Materials.

I was unable to find an overview of the war at GPB (Georgian Public Broadcasting) but there are some related stories if you want to go there.
 
I voted for Georgia, but I have to note that a lot of the blame has to fall to the US. The natural gas well in South Ossetia and there is a highly contested pipeline running through there. They wanted to secure it for American buyers. Plus the US has been very pushy about putting a missile shield there for quite some time. The US only backed them for these reasons and the fact they are one of the last militaries still in the Coalition force in Iraq.

Georgia has not been all that nice to South Ossetians in the past. I can see why South Ossetia would want to break away from Georgia, and I think they have every right to.
 
Wall o text!

Moral of that story was; if you have five tanks, don't start a friggin' war with a country with thousands, run by a guy who looks like he could beat up a raptor.
 
I voted for Georgia, too. Even though I support them, they should be able to restore their territory.
And Russia provoked Saakashvili knowing about his strong temperament, too.
 
Of course, it doesn't particularly matter who started it.

The whole thing was exactly what Russia wanted and there is no doubt that they had deliberately been trying to provoke Georgia, to give themselves a CB.

Though since that it was plainly obvious, it was criminally stupid of Saakashvili to give the Russians what they wanted. Maybe he though the US would ride to his rescue, in which case he is even stupider, or maybe the Georgians underestimated what the Russian response would be.

Regardless, the Kremlin was no doubt pleased by how things went.
 
Eluvatar:
Why did Russia want it?
Click to expand...
In my opinion this was just a power trip.... russia really doesnt need it... with a population of 140 million in an area twice the size of the United states, plenty of resources and land, geographically accessable... yep this was just a power hike in my opinion.
 
I really do recommend looking at the Russian POV I linked to in my first post. It has some interesting materials in it. (Such as footage taken by the Georgian Army)
 
IMHO, if Georgia gets South Ossetia or Abkhazia, some serious ethnic/national cleansing will go down.

I support independence for both. They've never really wanted to be part of Georgia in the first place, Georgia just sort of forced them into their state.
 
Actually, they've sorta been part of Georgia for centuries, but that was back before the idea that "every ethnicity has to have its own State. Abkazia and both of the Ossetias (South in Georgia and North in Russia) didn't even exist as a political unit until the Soviet era.

Russia simply wants to annex them- Ossetia so it can threaten oil pipelines in Georgia, and Abhazia to have more Black Sea coastline to make up for the fact that Ukraine will probably stop leasing the seaport where Russia's Black Sea fleet is based in the Crimea.

As for ethnic cleansing, its already happened- Ossetian militia have looted and raped their way across the ethnically Georgia parts of South Ossetia and forced all the Georgians to leave.
 
Haor Chall:
Regardless, the Kremlin was no doubt pleased by how things went.
Click to expand...
Actually, while on a whole the invasion was a success (then again what were the chances Russia couldn't take down Georgia?) it also revealed some startling unpreparedness issues with its own military. Add in a decade of rust, two submarine sinkings, a missile test aborted when the missles failed to launch, a culture of corruption that makes the Pentagon look like girl scouts... it was a mere show of teeth against NATO expansion to the west and nothing else.

The fact that Russia backed off occupying all of Georgia is the most glaring evidence to this.

We still have them in a pincer position between both western and eastern fronts, with China gaining ever more dominance over Russia's southern borders. A China/Russia conflict over central Europe is more likely in my book.
 
Nah, sorry to piss on your parade Syd, but they told me that France is Western Europe. And Central Europe would more be the likes of Poland, Czechia, Slovakia, Austria, Hungary...
Anyway, I think "even" France wouldn't have the slightest problems winning against what would be left of the Russian Army and Chinese Navy once they arrive there...if they'd ever arrive. ;)
 
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