Georgian civil war

Georgian Civil War
Location of Georgia (including Abkhazia and South Ossetia) and the Russian part of North Caucasus
Date December 22, 1991 — December 31, 1993 (2 years, 1 week and 2 days) Location Georgia (Tbilisi, Mingrelia); Abkhazia ; South Ossetia) Result Abkhazian and South Ossetian separatists gain control of most of their claims The State Council takes control of Georgia proper
Belligerents
Gamsakhurdia's government in exile National Guard of Georgia	State Council Georgian Defense Ministry forces Internal Troops of Georgia National Guard of Georgia Mkhedrioni Russia	South Ossetian Separatists Abkhaz separatists Confederation of Mountain Peoples of the Caucasus Russia
Commanders and leaders
Zviad Gamsakhurdia Loti Kobalia Zurab Iremadze Akaki Eliava	Eduard Shevardnadze Jaba Ioseliani Tengiz Kitovani Shota Kviraia Giorgi Karkarashvili Boris Yeltsin	Lyudvig Chibirov Vladislav Ardzinba Musa Shanibov Shamil Basayev

Gamsakhurdia's government in exile

State Council

The Georgian Civil War comprised inter-ethnic and intranational conflicts in the regions of South Ossetia (1988–1992) and Abkhazia (1992–1993), as well as the violent military coup d'état of December 22, 1991 - December 31, 1993, against the first democratically elected President of Georgia, Zviad Gamsakhurdia and his subsequent uprising in an attempt to regain power (1993).

While the Gamsakhurdia rebellion was eventually defeated, the South Ossetia and Abkhazia conflicts resulted in the de facto secession of both regions from Georgia. As a result, both conflicts have lingered on, with occasional flare-ups.

Ethnic minority separatist movements – primarily on the part of the Ossetians and the Abkhaz, demanded fuller recognition in the new order of the early 1990s. Asserting its newly gained national prerogatives, Georgia responded with military attempts to restrain separatism forcibly. On January 5, 1991 Georgia's National Guard entered Tskhinvali, South Ossetian capital and fighting broke out in and around the city. The Georgian-Ossetian Conflict was the first major crisis faced by Gamsakhurdia's government.

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