The Making of the Georgian Nation

by Ronald Grigor Suny

Like the other republics floating free after the demise of the Soviet empire, the independent republic of Georgia is reinventing its past, recovering what had been forgotten or distorted during the long years of Russian and Soviet rule. Whether Georgia can successfully be transformed from a society rent by conflict into a pluralistic democratic nation will depend on Georgians rethinking their history. This is the first comprehensive treatment of Georgian history, from the ethno-genesis of the Georgians in the first millennium B.C., through the period of Russian and Soviet rule in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, to the emergence of an independent republic in 1991, the ethnic and civil warfare that has ensued, and perspectives for Georgia's future.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, European History, Soviet Union, Russian Empire, Politics, Soviet History

418 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1988

About the author

Ronald Grigor Suny is the William H. Sewell Jr. Distinguished University Professor of History at the University of Michigan and professor emeritus of political science and history at the University of Chicago.

Reviews

[Raughley Nuzzi · Rating 5 out of 5]

There's a reason Suny's book is a classic for kartvelophiles in the West! While it's becoming a bit dated considering its original publication dates, the content is very in depth. It offers a breadth of coverage that's hard to rival and remains one of the seminal Georgian Studies texts with good cause!

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

There aren't many books out there that detail the history of the Republic of Georgia. This is an excellent resource and helped me a great deal in writing my undergrad thesis on the art of this country.

[Dato Samniashvili · Rating 4 out of 5]

თუ საკუთარი ქვეყნის ისტორია მართლა გაინტერესებთ ეს წიგნი თქვენთვისაა.

ზოგადად, ისეთი პატარა ქვეყანა, როგორიც საქართველოა, ნაკლებადაა განებივრებული თავისი ისტორიის რეალურ, ობიექტურ და მეცნიერულ ანალიზს. ეს იმიტომ, რომ როგორც წესი, ჩვენს ისტორიას თავადვე ვწერთ, თავადვე ვახდენთ ინტერპრეტაცია და მის დაჯერებას. ამიტომაც, ჩვენი ქვეყნის ისტორია სავსეა მითებით, ლეგენდებითა და ინტერპრეტაციებით.

აი ეს წიგნი კი ის იშვიათი ისტორიული ანალიზია, სადაც საქართველოს გაჩენასა თუ ჩამოყალიბებაზე ბევრ საინტერესო რაღაცას გაიგებთ და რაც მთავარია, მიხვდებით, რომ დიდი ნაწილი იმისა რაც თქვენი ქვეყნის ისტორია გეგონათ უბრალოდ გამოგონილია.

წაიკითხეთ ეს წიგნი და ურჩიეთ მეგობრებს, არ ინანებთ

[Michael]

Read this while travelling in Georgia - only got about a third of the way through but was an informative read. Recommend if you’re planning on visiting the country and want a bit of background, suggest skipping the initial few chapters as it’s pretty hard to retain much when things are moving so fast + all the names and places are things you’ve never heard of.

[Giorgi Javakhishvili]

მადლობა ავტორს, რომ უყვარს საქართველო და მისი კულტურა.

[Mimi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've owned this book for probably close to 20 years, and have read bits and pieces of it along the way. This was, I believe, the first time I read it cover to cover. It was an interesting history and I was particularly interested in the parts about the early Soviet period and the fall of the USSR. I'd be curious if it has been updated and read the update.

[Michael Greer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very important work and ought to be on every dedicated reader's list of "must reads." Let me focus, in order to spur your interest dear reader, on the intelligible trajectory you will encounter in the three parts of the story:

Part One-from tribes to a single group, but with divisions. If ethnogenesis means anything it means the particular fragments gradually coming to recognize a common ground for unification. In France this process involved the Burgundians, the Normans, as well as others before the concept of nationhood was realized. Here in Georgia where the wine flows freely, princes determined who was who and what was what. Princes carry a lot of historical baggage. However, Christianity was an important ingredient in creating a unified nation.

Part Two-the imposition of Russian rule over Georgia. In seems to this observer that the Russians are always "a problem" for the Georgians. Why this should be so I am not at all clear about. Perhaps it simply the size of one nation compared to the other. Tsarist officials took control in Tiflis/Tbilisi which initiated a slow process of Russification.

Part Three- Soviet Georgia is the final step in this account of Georgian nationhood. The Soviet government certainly had an agenda much broader and deeper than the Tsarist one. It calls for a radical restructuring of human relationships. The Tsarist approach was more traditional, a small nation under the thumb of Russians but permitted to carry on its traditions. Now with the Soviets everything is altered for a political agenda.

[Dimitrii Ivanov · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book valiantly attempts to cram the entire history of Georgia through to death of Zviad Gamsakhurdia in a single volume, although, on the balance of things, of biggest relevance to the story of making Georgians into a nation are the 19th and 20th centuries, where the author appears to be most confident. But even there, for instance, the chapter on local edition of Stalinism appears to cite only literature published no later than 1983, none of which is in Georgian, so it was out of date even before second edition was published.

[Oleksiy Kononov · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was born in the USSR but I couldn`t boast I knew much about Georgian history. Suny`s book was illuminating. Concise and informative. My only remark concerns nationalistic tendencies in the late 80s and civil war. The author`s narrative on those two seems to be a little blurry compared to the rest of the book

[Vakho Minadze · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting take on Georgia’s history. It once again confirmed my suspicion that Georgian historians tend to be too forgiving of our past, presenting a polished and romanticized version of it. Reading this book was uncomfortable — it shattered whatever artificially induced pride in our imagined past still lingered in my mind.

[Owen Hatherley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Suny is always readable and this is an excellent, fair-minded history of a fascinating country, ending with some very harsh judgements on the nationalist movements of the 1970s-1990s, which I'd love to see him update one day.

[Steve Literati · Rating 3 out of 5]

While quite exhaustive and comprehensive of a study on georgia, it is now showing it’s limits given the recent history…or even a lifetime of history, given the relatively short discussion on post-independence Georgia.

[Dale · Rating 3 out of 5]

Exactly what I needed in preparing for an interview for work in Georgia. Wave top but filled with information that flowed well.

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Much like the title implies, this is book looks at how the concept of the Georgian people was developed throughout history. Suny argues that it is largely in opposition to occupying forces that the Georgians truly created their national identity, and presents a solid case of such. Modern Georgia has been overrun by nearly every nearby force, and yet the Georgians were never removed from the region, instead thriving in it. Even non-military actions, like the economic dominance of ethnic Armenians in Tbilisi for most of its history, is shown to have played a large role, one that give the Georgians a drive to control their own destiny, and not be led by Armenians.

Their own perception only increased in the years after the Russian annexation, in part due to the wider spread of nationalism throughout Europe, and an increased effort by the Russian authorities to assimilate the Georgians into a more Russian identity. Further efforts by the Soviet Union led to similar results, with the brief independence of the Georgian Democratic Republic serving as a hope for the succeeding Soviet era and occupation.

The book is limited in that it was impossible for Suny to gain access to the Soviet archives at the time, and with no update after the initial breakup of the Soviet Union (the second edition does touch on the wars Georgia fought, but is unable to properly give them a proper treatment), it is unable to give a full overview. It must also be seen for what it is: the book is not a history of Georgia, but instead a history of how the Georgian people came to exist, and how the idea of what it means to be Georgian has changed. It is thus a very valuable book, and a premier work on Georgia in English

[AskHistorians]

One of only a few books to detail the entirety of Georgian history in English, Suny's edition is regarded as one of the definitive works on the topic. Revised and updated in 1994, the newer edition covers the first years of post-Soviet Georgia.

[Jarrod · Rating 5 out of 5]

საქართველოს გაუმარჯოს