![E](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c4/E._Klar._Kautsky_in_Georgia_1920.jpg)
The Social Democratic Party of Georgia ( ka, საქართველოს სოციალ-დემოკრატიული პარტია, tr), also known as the Georgian Menshevik Party, was a
Georgian
Georgian may refer to:
Common meanings
* Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country)
** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group
** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians
**Georgian scripts, three scrip ...
Marxist
Marxism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a Materialism, materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand S ...
and
social democratic
Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote soci ...
political party.
It was founded in the 1890s by
Nikolay Chkheidze
Nikoloz Chkheidze ( ka, ნიკოლოზ (კარლო) ჩხეიძე; russian: Никола́й (Карло) Семёнович Чхеи́дзе, translit=Nikolay (Karlo) Semyonovich Chkheidze) commonly known as Karlo Chkheidze ( ...
,
Silibistro Jibladze
Silibistro Jibladze (1859–1922) was a Georgian Social Democrat.
Silibistro "Silva" Jibladze was the Marxist founder of Mesame Dasi ('Third Group'), a Georgian socialist group. At one point he was introduced to Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vi ...
,
Egnate Ninoshvili,
Noe Zhordania and others. It became the Georgian branch of the
Russian Social Democratic Labour Party
The Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP; in , ''Rossiyskaya sotsial-demokraticheskaya rabochaya partiya (RSDRP)''), also known as the Russian Social Democratic Workers' Party or the Russian Social Democratic Party, was a socialist pol ...
. After 1905, Georgian social democrats joined the
Menshevik
The Mensheviks (russian: меньшевики́, from меньшинство 'minority') were one of the three dominant factions in the Russian socialist movement, the others being the Bolsheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries.
The factions eme ...
faction, except for some such as
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secreta ...
,
Grigol Ordzhonikidze and Makharadze. Several leaders were elected to the
Russian Duma
The State Duma (russian: Госуда́рственная ду́ма, r=Gosudárstvennaja dúma), commonly abbreviated in Russian as Gosduma ( rus, Госду́ма), is the lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia, while the upper house ...
from Kutais or Tifli:
Nikolay Chkheidze
Nikoloz Chkheidze ( ka, ნიკოლოზ (კარლო) ჩხეიძე; russian: Никола́й (Карло) Семёнович Чхеи́дзе, translit=Nikolay (Karlo) Semyonovich Chkheidze) commonly known as Karlo Chkheidze ( ...
,
Akaki Chkhenkeli,
Evgeni Gegechkori
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Martvili, Kutais Governorate, Russian Empire
, death_date =
, death_place = Paris, France
, nationality = Georgian
, occupation = Politician
, known_for ...
,
Isidore Ramishvili
Isidore Ramishvili ( ka, ისიდორე რამიშვილი) (8 July 1859 – 3 January 1937) was a Georgian Social Democratic politician, journalist, and one of the leaders of Menshevik movement in Imperial Russia.
During the R ...
,
Irakly Tsereteli
Irakli Tsereteli, ' russian: link=no, Ира́клий Гео́ргиевич Церете́ли, ' ( – 20 May 1959) was a Georgian politician and a leading spokesman of the Social Democratic Party of Georgia and later Russian Social Democra ...
, and
Noe Zhordania.
The party was prior to 1917 "ambivalent" on Georgia's independence from Russia, for which it has been criticized by some Georgians as "unpatriotic and anti-national". Natalie Sabanadze describes them as "unique in their non-nationalist approach to national liberation." She argues that "they led a highly successful national movement while maintaining a degree of hostility towards nationalism and avoiding the use of nationalist rhetoric and ideology."
The party became a "vehicle for Georgian nationalism" following the
Russian Revolution
The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and ad ...
. It governed the
Democratic Republic of Georgia
The Democratic Republic of Georgia (DRG; ka, საქართველოს დემოკრატიული რესპუბლიკა ') was the first modern establishment of a republic of Georgia, which existed from May 1918 to ...
from 1918 to 1921. At
parliamentary
A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democracy, democratic government, governance of a sovereign state, state (or subordinate entity) where the Executive (government), executive derives its democratic legitimacy ...
elections
An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office.
Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operate ...
on February 14, 1919 it garnered 81.5% of the votes.
Noe Zhordania became Prime Minister. In the words of
Ronald Grigor Suny
Ronald Grigor Suny (born September 25, 1940) is an American historian and political scientist. Suny is the William H. Sewell Jr. Distinguished University Professor of History at the University of Michigan and served as director of the Eisenberg In ...
, "Their achievement in building a Georgian political nation was extraordinary. Their support among all classes of the Georgian people was genuine. And however ephemeral their accomplishments in the brief episode of national independence, the most impressive testimony to their successes is the fact that they could not be dislodged from Georgia except by a militarily superior force from outside."
In March 1921, the Georgian government was overthrown by the
Red Army invasion. The party was liquidated in Georgia during the Soviet repressions predating to the failed anti-Soviet
August Uprising
The August Uprising ( ka, აგვისტოს აჯანყება, tr) was an unsuccessful insurrection against Soviet rule in the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic from late August to early September 1924.
Aimed at restoring the in ...
in 1924. From 1921 onwards, the party began operating in exile, particularly in
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
,
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
(until 1933) and the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
. A Foreign Bureau was set up as the new leading organ of the party. The party was a member of the
Labour and Socialist International between 1923 and 1940.
[Kowalski, Werner. ''Geschichte der sozialistischen arbeiter-internationale: 1923 - 19''. Berlin: Dt. Verl. d. Wissenschaften, 1985. p. 336.]
Notable members
*
Razhden Arsenidze
*
Nikolay Chkheidze
Nikoloz Chkheidze ( ka, ნიკოლოზ (კარლო) ჩხეიძე; russian: Никола́й (Карло) Семёнович Чхеи́дзе, translit=Nikolay (Karlo) Semyonovich Chkheidze) commonly known as Karlo Chkheidze ( ...
*
Akaki Chkhenkeli
*
Benia Chkhikvishvili
*
Seit Devdariani
*
Vladimir Darchiashvili
*
Evgeni Gegechkori
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Martvili, Kutais Governorate, Russian Empire
, death_date =
, death_place = Paris, France
, nationality = Georgian
, occupation = Politician
, known_for ...
*
Grigol Giorgadze
*
Ivane Gomarteli
*
Evgen Gvaladze
Evgen (Geno) Gvaladze ( ka, ევგენ (გენო) ღვალაძე) (May 13, 1900 – October 15, 1937) was a Georgian lawyer, journalist and politician, and one of the leaders of the anti-Soviet national-liberation movement in Geor ...
*
Ioseb Iremashvili
*
Valiko Jugheli
*
Noe Khomeriki
*
Grigol Lordkipanidze
*
Vlasa Mgeladze
*
Isidore Ramishvili
Isidore Ramishvili ( ka, ისიდორე რამიშვილი) (8 July 1859 – 3 January 1937) was a Georgian Social Democratic politician, journalist, and one of the leaders of Menshevik movement in Imperial Russia.
During the R ...
*
Noe Ramishvili
*
Victor Tevzaia
*
Irakli Tsereteli
Irakli Tsereteli, ' russian: link=no, Ира́клий Гео́ргиевич Церете́ли, ' ( – 20 May 1959) was a Georgian politician and a leading spokesman of the Social Democratic Party of Georgia and later Russian Social Democrat ...
*
Grigol Uratadze
Grigol "Grisha" Uratadze ( ka, გრიგოლ "გრიშა" ურატაძე) (10 February 1878 – 12 February 1959) was a Georgian Social Democratic politician, diplomat and author. His name is also spelled Grégoire Ouratadze in a ...
*
Noe Zhordania
*
Huseyngulu Mammadov
See also
*
Government of the Democratic Republic of Georgia in Exile
After the Soviet Russian Red Army invaded Georgia and the Bolsheviks conquered the country early in 1921, the Parliament of the Democratic Republic of Georgia (DRG) decided that the Government should go into exile and continue to function as the ...
References
*Stephen F. Jones
Socialism in Georgian Colors: The European Road to Social Democracy, 1883-1917
{{Georgian political parties
1890s establishments in Georgia (country)
1920s disestablishments in Georgia (country)
Defunct political parties in Georgia (country)
Democratic Republic of Georgia
Members of the Labour and Socialist International
Mensheviks
Political parties of the Russian Revolution
Pro-independence parties in the Soviet Union
Russian Social Democratic Labour Party
Social democratic parties in the Soviet Union
02
Socialist parties in Georgia (country)