Poor little Georgia?

"Social Democracy and the Wars of Intervention" was originally published in 1922. The author is Leon Trotsky, at the time one of the leaders of the Russian Bolshevik regime. The book has also been published under the alternative title "Between Red and White".

The subject of Trotsky's work is the Soviet invasion of Menshevik Georgia in 1921. The author argues that the invasion was justified, since the Mensheviks collaborated with the Western powers, the White Guards and other enemies of Bolshevik power. The book is a direct response to Karl Kautsky's book "Georgia. A Social Democratic peasant republic", in which Georgia is depicted as a strictly neutral and democratic nation. Trotsky argues that the Mensheviks were neither. Apart from collaborating with the enemies of Soviet Russia (sometimes openly), they also ruthlessly suppressed peasant rebellions and waged border wars with competing Trans-Caucasian republics. They even had their own secret police, and legalized the local Communists only after Soviet pressure. (Incidentally, Kautsky's "Georgia", is available on-line.)

"Social Democracy and the Wars of Intervention" is loaded with annoying revolutionary rhetoric. It's written in a heavily sarcastic style. Still, it could be of some interest to students of Trans-Caucasian or Russian history. Trotsky proves his main points by quoting both official Menshevik documents, and secret documents that fell into the hands of the Bolsheviks after their invasion of Georgia. This is probably the only book where parts of these documents are translated into English. It's also interesting to note that the anti-Menshevik risings in Georgia seem to have been confined to Abkhazia, Ossetia and Adjara. These are precisely the areas where there are still conflicts. The recent war between Russia and Georgia started when Georgia attempted to regain control of South Ossetia, which was under Russian protection. It seems that the Bolsheviks, already in 1921, took advantage of the ethnic strife in Georgia!

Trotsky's book may not be the most graceful read around, but if you are interested in the history of the Russian-Georgian conflict, it may nevertheless be of some use.