Page:Karl Kautsky - Georgia - tr. Henry James Stenning (1921).pdf/93

 and were struggling for their freedom. It protested repeatedly against (he violence of the counter revolutionaries, and numerous Georgian volunteers fought in the ranks of the Caucasians.

A rapproachment between the Soviet Republic and Georgia began to take place at the commencement of 1920. The People's Commissaries proposed to the Georgian Republic an alliance for common action against the white volunteer army. This alliance was refused, albeit the Georgian Government considered that any foreign intervention in Russia and any participation of a foreign power in the Russian civil war to be wrong and disastrous.

The Government of the Georgian Republic remained true to this attitude, and, whenever an opportunity arose, opposition was offered to foreign intervention.

Although an alliance for military purposes was refused, a friendly approach to Russia was welcomed. Eventually a definite treaty of peace was made with Soviet Russia (7th May, 1920) whereby both powers mutually recognised each other, and promised to live in peace and harmony.

Georgia has faithfully observed this peace, but not so the Soviet Republic. Scarcely had the latter concluded peace than its troops invaded Georgia from the side of Azerbaijan, which Soviet Russia had seized shortly before by a coup d'état. Once more the Georgians succeeded in throwing back the invading enemy, and again offered peace as soon as the beaten foe was ready for it. Scarcely had peaceful conditions been re-established than the Bolshevists organised new military invasions from the north, in order to provoke insurrections in northern Georgia. Almost at the same time (July) a Communist conspiracy was discovered in Abkhasia, having relations with the Russian Military Command, and implicating two officials belonging to the Russian Mission in Tiflis.

But all these deceits and treacheries had attained no success worthy of mention till February of 1921. This