As a rule, Georgians love to bring out the booze when it comes to celebrating important dates. Religious or civil, Christmas or International Women’s Day, we uncork the chacha and have a grand old time. Surprisingly, though, Georgians hesitate to devote much ‘emotion’ to 26 May, Independence Day. First coined during the short-lived republic of 1918-1921, Independence Day was left uncelebrated during the Soviet period, only to be revived in the early 1990s.
The reason for people’s reluctance is simple: the majority of Georgians are not emotionally attached to Independence Day. They don’t feel it. In fact, they don’t know what independence is or whether they need it or not. Instead, Independence Day in Georgia is the preserve of a select – and elite – few. Time and again, certain classes attempt to promote 26 May as a significant historical date – without much effect. The reason for their failure is clear: what is important for elites is far from what is important for everyone else.
The birth of the first republic
The Russian Revolution of 1917 caused Georgia to announce independence on 26 May 1918 and thus to establish a republic for the first time in Georgian history – a republic led by the social democratic Menshevik party.
