Georgia–Russia relations

Georgia–Russia relations

Georgia	Russia

The relations between Georgia and Russia date back hundreds of years and remain complicated despite certain religious and historical ties that exist between the two countries and their people. The first formal alliance between Georgia and Russia took place in 1783 when, as a last attempt to deal with repeated Persian invasions, king Heraclius II of Eastern Georgia (Kartlinia-Kahetia) signed the Treaty of Georgievsk with the Russian Empire, which the Georgian monarchy viewed as a replacement for its long-lost Orthodox ally, the Eastern Roman Empire.

Despite Russia's vowing to defend Eastern Georgia, it rendered no assistance when the Persians invaded in 1785 and again in 1795, as they sought to bring the region back under full Persian hegemony following their loosened grip over it since the death of Nader Shah in 1747. It was only belatedly that Catherine the Great of Russia put in place punitive measures against Persia, only to be cut short by her death and the enthronement of Paul against the Empress' wishes. Lacking his mother's experience and tactfulness, in December 1800 Paul signed the proclamation on the annexation of Georgia to the Russian Empire, which was finalized by a decree on January 8, 1801, and confirmed by Tsar Alexander I on September 12, 1801. The Georgian ambassador in Russia reacted with a note of protest that was presented to the Russian vice-chancellor Prince Kurakin but despite this, in May 1801 Russian General Carl Heinrich Knorring officially enforced the Russian control of the kingdom and instituted a government headed by General Ivan Petrovich Lasarev. By this, Persia officially lost control over the Georgian lands it had been ruling for centuries.

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