The Caucasian chalk circle

I am far from regarding all Western journalists as Russophobes, who have been corrupted by some kind of dark forces. They are people like any others. It's just that they have their own ideas about the reality of the Caucasus. They are not particularly concerned about who started the aggression - they are outraged that enormous Russia brought its entire weight to bear on little Georgia. I'm afraid that they just don't realize that at the start of the war five-million strong Georgia brought its weight to bear on tiny South Ossetia with a population twenty-five times smaller...

Journalists and political analysts talk just as crudely about the Russian citizenship of the overwhelming majority of Abkhazians and South Ossetians: they say that crafty Russia practically forced their passports on them. But how did it all actually happen? After the USSR disintegrated into independent states, all inhabitants of the former Union were given the right to choose any citizenship. And how could it have been any other way? People used to move freely around the expanse of this enormous country, they would go away to study, for work, to get married. One's place of residence did not hold much importance - it could always be changed. With the emergence of strict borders, with the division of a single country into many countries people had to make an incredibly difficult choice: in one new state there was a place to live, but they spoke a foreign language; in a second the culture was familiar, but there was no work; but settling in a third would mean being cut off from one's relatives and friends.

Appearing on the ruins of the Soviet Empire, independent Georgia itself ended up as an empire with all the troubles that go with it: the autonomous republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia declared themselves independent straight away. This was not just a mere political whim - the separation of Georgia from Russia immediately caused extremely difficult problems for ethnic minorities. Beforehand, they were able to learn for free in Russian higher education institutions, they could be treated in Russian hospitals, they found work in Russian factories without any difficulty, played successfully in Russian sports teams. The South Ossetians were connected to their brothers from North Ossetia by a common culture and common language. And Abkhazia's modest economy was firmly tied to Russia: it was northwards that Abkhazians took flowers in the spring, and mandarins in the autumn, it was undemanding Russian holidaymakers who they rented out rooms to in the summer, and even bunks in little wooden sheds. This was what they lived off. Therefore they chose Russian citizenship because they were striving for the most fundamental thing: to transport mandarins from Pitsunda to Rostov without a visa. Unfortunately, having obtained their freedom without having to fire a single shot, the authorities in Tbilisi not only refused their small republics freedom, but even autonomous status - and hurriedly put together, essentially punitive divisions entered both South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Thousands of homes were plundered, hundreds and hundreds of people were killed. Yet even so the Georgians lost these battles for a clear reason: they had somewhere to retreat to, whereas the Ossetians and Abkhazians had nowhere to go. Saakashvili learnt from the experience of previous wars: a well-armed and well-trained modern army routed Tskhinvali.

It is written that Georgia endured a heavy defeat, soldiers fled, throwing down their weapons. I wouldn't go so far as to use such categorical phrases. The Georgians are brave people, a difficult history has taught them how to fight. It's just that neither the soldiers nor the officers wanted to die for Saakashvili. It wasn't a Georgian war, rather his personal war. And he endured a personal defeat.

Just why did this carnage begin?

Print version