Paris Peace Conference 861 G.00/10
The Georgian Delegation at Paris to the Commission to Negotiate Peace
No reply has reached us from the Great Allied and Associated Powers concerning the questions outlined in our preceding notes and connected with the independence of Georgia. It seems that the governments of the above-mentioned powers reserve to themselves the right of discussing the Georgian problem in connection with all questions concerning the former Russian Empire.
However, this method of procedure cannot fail to present certain very serious inconveniences, for it complicates for the Conference the solution of the Russian problems, by multiplying in a quite artificial manner the elements composing it, in place of simplifying it by the natural division of the questions.
Like Poland and Finland, and more so than Bessarabia, Georgia is in truth outside of the Russian problem. But Georgia has some claims, which she wishes to emphasize, and which are peculiar to her. Never conquered by the Russian armed force (as were the other countries above mentioned), Georgia became a part of the [Page 48] Russian Empire as a result of certain bilateral political arrangements, which were soon abolished by Russia. After the crumbling of this Empire, the Georgian people, liberated from the century-old yoke, declared itself free, proclaimed its independence, and created a political organization based on its own will and sovereignty. Notification was given of this to all the Powers, and it is the international consecration of an existing situation of fact that Georgia expects from the Peace Conference.
The territories which the Georgian people claims as its patrimony already belonged to it in very remote times, when neither Russia, nor any of the powers playing now a principal role in European politics, yet existed. In its historical frontiers, the Georgian people, rejuvenated by its profoundly democratic aspirations, still remains the dominating element, and its purpose is to organize its political independence in full harmony with the neighboring peoples.
Separated from Russia by the Caucasus range, Georgia, formerly the principal base for Russian aggressions in Asia, has no vital importance for the peaceful Russia of tomorrow, and it cannot be seen by what reasons one can justify the refusal to recognize the independence of a country which, from a geographical, ethnological, and historical point of view, fulfills all the conditions required for an independent political existence.
Under these circumstances, how can the solution of a problem as simple, concise, and mature as the Georgian be made to depend on the settlement of the Russian chaos, in which already the restoration of a certain political unity of the Great Russians alone presents enormous difficulties, and in which the question of the Ukraine, and of White Russia, not to mention others, is full of complications of an international bearing?
It is evident that, in order to begin a regular existence, Georgia cannot wait for the end of an evolution, of which even the principal phases cannot yet be clearly seen.
Georgia must enter into economic relations with foreign countries, notably with the Western Powers, and organize its life without delay and without having to wait for the outcome of the political convulsions which we are witnessing now in the countries situated between the Baltic Sea and the shores of the Pacific.
Georgia can no longer be considered as a dependency of another state; it must find its own and assured place in hither Asia, and for this it is necessary that the Georgian cause be now studied and discussed by the great powers, whose will and suffrage will be at the basis of the international public order which is now being organized.
These powers are not unaware of the events which, for a time, removed Georgia from contact with their policy, on account of her geographical isolation. However, very many are the Georgian officers [Page 49] and soldiers who have gloriously fallen for the common cause of the Allies on the different fronts from Riga to Mesopotamia. The country which has shed this blood did not take part in the political adventure which later ended in the treaty of Brest Litovsk; this document and its authors were never recognized by Georgia.
Having fought for the Allies, and later, alone, against the Bolsheviks and the Turks, Georgia, it seems, ought to have the right of counting on the sympathy of the Allied Powers, not to mention the principles enunciated by these powers, which form, as it were, the unshakeable foundation of the political claims of a people as old, as organized, and as distinct as the Georgian people.
In view of the preceding, the undersigned, delegates of the Government of the Georgian Republic, have the honor of making the following requests:
The Georgian question must be isolated from all other Russian problems; it must be immediately submitted to the Peace Conference.
The Inter-Allied Conference, first of all, should give its decision on the principle of the independence of Georgia and on the regulation of its frontiers, as well as on other questions resulting from the recognition of Georgia as an independent republic.
It would be of great advantage to form a special commission for the thorough study of the Georgian question. Having heard the delegates of Georgia and those of the other parties concerned, this commission would submit its report to the Inter-Allied Conference, whose function it is to prepare the constitutional elements of the definitive settlement, which will be the crowning of the work of the Peace Conference.
- C. Gvarjaladze
- Z. Avalu
- D. Ghambashidze
- File translation revised.↩