South Ossetia war (1991–1992)

The territory of South Ossetia was part of Georgian kingdoms throughout antiquity and Middle Ages. Ossetian migration to the region began in the 13th and 14th centuries and is believed to be connected to the fall of Kingdom of Alania in the North Caucasus to the Mongols and later to Timur's armies. They retreated into the mountains of the central Caucasus and gradually started moving south, across the Caucasus Mountains into the Kingdom of Georgia. In the 17th century, under pressure from the Kabardian princes, Ossetians started a second wave of migration from the North Caucasus to the Kingdom of Kartli. In 18th century, Ossetians became the first people in the Caucasus to form an alliance with Russia. Ossetia was among the first areas of the northern Caucasus to come under Russian domination, starting in 1774, and the capital, Vladikavkaz, was the first Russian military outpost in the region. By 1830, Ossetia was completely under Russian control. Following the breakdown of the Tsarist regime in Russia, Ossetians allied with the Russian Bolsheviks, fighting a war against the newly independent Menshevik Georgia. Initially Georgia was successful, but in 1921, the Red Army invaded and conquered the country. In 1922 South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast was established within the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic (SOAO) by the Soviet administration under pressure from Kavburo (the Caucasian Bureau of the Central Committee of the Russian Communist Party). It is believed that the SAOA was established by central Soviet government in exchange for Ossetian loyalty and support of Russian Bolsheviks in their fight against Georgian Mensheviks. This area had never been a separate entity prior to the Russian invasion. Between 1944 and 1952 Ossetian language schools were closed by the Soviet Union and the broadcasting and publishing in Ossetian was curtailed. During the collapse of the Soviet Union, the tensions began to grow between Georgians and Ossetians as Georgians pushed for independence from the Soviet Union, while Ossetians wanted to remain within the renewed federation. In 1989, around 98,000 people lived in South Ossetia. Of these, 66.61% were Ossetian and 29.44% Georgian. Another 99,000 Ossetians lived throughout the rest of Georgia. This decision was revoked by the Georgian Supreme Soviet. On 23 November 1989, Georgians led by dissident Zviad Gamsakhurdia planned to organize a rally against what they saw as growing separatist tendencies of South Ossetian authorities in Tskhinvali, the capital of South Ossetia. South Ossetians prevented this by blocking the road. Violent clashes broke out resulting in several people being wounded. Gorbachev warned Georgia that if it tried to leave the "brotherly union", it would face problems in the regions on its own territory. Anti-Georgian sentiment began to grow in South Ossetia and Abkhazia with clandestine and open support from Moscow. The Ossetian and also Abkhaz separatists began to voice demands against Georgia, and received the arms and financial assistance from the Kremlin. To counter Gorbachev's plans, the union republics passed the declarations of sovereignties which asserted the priority of the constituent republican power over the central power on their territories. While this did not mean full secession from the USSR, it was an important step towards such development. In May 1990, Georgian SSR passed a declaration of sovereignty. At the same time, at an extraordinary session of the Supreme Soviet of the Georgian SSR convened on 9 March 1990, the Soviet invasion of Georgia was officially denounced as "an occupation and effective annexation of Georgia by Soviet Russia." The Soviet Georgian government made another concession to the pro-independence movement in Georgia after officially dubbing the 1921 Red Army Invasion of Georgia as an "illegal occupation" and announced first multiparty election in the republic to take place in October 1990. Meanwhile, on 11 September 1990, the regional South Ossetian Oblast Soviet declared independence from Georgia. The South Ossetian Soviet Democratic Republic was proclaimed within the Soviet Union. This contradicted plans of Georgian dissidents who wanted to declare independence from the USSR. The Georgian dissidents claimed that the Soviet authorities were using Ossetian separatism to pressure Georgia to remain in the Soviet Union. On 28 October 1990, the first free parliamentary elections were held in Georgian SSR, which saw a coalition of pro-independence Georgian dissidents led by Zviad Gamsakhurdia winning the majority in the Supreme Soviet. The election was boycotted by South Ossetians, and they responded by organizing their own vote for a South Ossetian parliament. On 11 December 1990, Zviad Gamsakhurdia's government declared the South Ossetian election illegitimate and abolished South Ossetia's political status altogether to counteract separatism. Gamsakhurdia said that Ossetians had no right to declare independence on Georgian territory. ==Combatants==

South Ossetian forces consisted of militia, volunteers from North Ossetia and other regions in North Caucasus. Most of their equipment and arms were former Soviet arms abandoned following the break-up of the Soviet Union. Former Georgian president, Eduard Shevardnadze, accused Russia of military involvement in the conflict. At the same time, the Ossetians claimed that Russian military and police failed to protect the local civilian population during Georgian attacks on Tskhinvali and surrounding Ossetian villages. The Georgian side claimed there was overt help from military units of the Russian Federation. The Georgian National Guard that fought in the war was formed in January 1991, just before the fighting started. It was supposed to be a 12,000 strong force raised by conscription, but because of financial difficulties it had to be formed from volunteers instead. In late 1991, Gamsakhurdia purchased from Romania 1,000 AK-47 rifles at an apparently discounted price, $150 each, when the typical price for a Kalashnikov rifle during 1990–1991 was in the $250–$300 range. ==War==

In December 1990, the situation in the region became increasingly chaotic. Towards the end of 1990, the situation for ethnic Georgians in Tskhinvali worsened sharply. There were reports of multiple cases of lootings and beatings committed both by Georgian and Ossetian paramilitaries. In the first days of January 1991, several Georgian militiamen were assassinated in Tskhinvali. On 25 January 1991, a ceasefire was negotiated by the Soviet troops between Georgian Minister of Internal Affairs Dilar Khabuliani and Ossetian representatives, which led to the Georgians withdrawal to the hills around the city. However, the economic blockade of South Ossetia was kept in place. According to Georgians, the Ossetians started burning down houses belonging to Georgians in Tskhinvali and surrounding villages, while according to Ossetians, Georgians starting shelling the city from the hills. In May 1991, an agreement was signed between Georgia, North Ossetia, the USSR, and the RSFSR to create a Joint Commission to resolve the conflict. In the period of June, July and August, the region remained relatively peaceful. A Joint Commission failed to be re-established after the summer vacation and the August Coup in Moscow, and the fighting resumed. In mid-September, Gamsakhurdia ordered the Georgian National Guard to advance into South Ossetia. As the National Guard was in the active state of mutiny against the President and Georgia was on the brink of civil war, only a few detachments followed the order, and they were repelled by the South Ossetian militia. In late December 1991, the armed opposition and the rebel factions of the National Guard launched military coup in Tbilisi against Gamsakhurdia, leading to some Georgian paramilitaries departing from South Ossetia to Tbilisi. During the Tbilisi coup, violence in South Ossetia was limited to sporadic gunfire outside Tskhinvali. The conflict intensified in January 1992. Taking advantage of political paralysis in Tbilisi, on 19 January 1992 the separatists organized a referendum on Ossetian-controlled territories on proclaiming independence or joining Russian Federation. Using its newly obtained weapons and in particular artillery, Georgian National Guard and Mkhedrioni forces began a siege of Tskhinvali and outlying villages. In spring 1992 the fighting escalated again, with sporadic Russian involvement. Independent sources confirm that the Russian army assisted and supplied the Ossetian rebels during the conflict. A small number of Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe monitors was also deployed in the area. == Aftermath ==

The military action of the conflict was "confused and anarchic". Between 60 and 100 villages were burned down, destroyed by Georgian forces or otherwise abandoned. Several villages were ethnically cleansed by Georgian forces. On the other side, Georgians living in Ossetian controlled territory were "easy targets": Houses occupied by Georgians were singled out, looted and burned down. The blockade reportedly resulted in cold-related casualties among the newborn in the Tskhinvali hospital. During the war, approximately 1,000 people died. The flow of refugees into Northern Ossetia aggravated the tense ethnic situation there and played a significant role in the Ossetian–Ingush conflict. ==See also==