Improbable nationalists? Social democracy and national independence in Georgia 1918-1921

The Democratic Republic of Georgia (1918-1921) had the world’s first ever elected social-democratic government. However, despite attempts then and later to present it as an exemplar of democratic socialism, the main tasks its leaders faced, in the context of post-imperial revolutionary chaos, were those of nation-building and consolidation. This necessarily led the state into conflict with its neighbours and national minorities, and to adopt a series of measures and compromises which both undermined the socialist aspects of the regime and fostered nationalism and even chauvinism, against the intentions and ideology of its rulers. This in turn weakened the regime, facilitating its eventual overthrow by the Red Army.