Independence Day (Georgia)

Independence Day
Georgian soldiers with national flags marching on Rustaveli Avenue, Tbilisi, on 26 May 2008.
Observed by	Georgia
Type	National holiday
Significance	Act of Independence of Georgia (1918)
Celebrations	Flag hoisting, parades, music concerts, exhibitions, "flower festival", speeches by the prime minister and president
Date	26 May
Next time	26 May 2017 (2017-05-26)
Frequency	annual
Related to	Day of National Unity (9 April)

Independence Day (Georgian: დამოუკიდებლობის დღე, damoukideblobis dghe) is an annual public holiday in Georgia observed on 26 May. It commemorates the 26 May 1918 adoption of the Act of Independence, which established the Democratic Republic of Georgia in the aftermath of the Russian Revolution of 1917. It is the national day of Georgia. Independence Day is associated with military parades, fireworks, concerts, fairs, and political speeches and ceremonies, in addition to various other public and private events celebrating the history and culture of Georgia.

In the chaotic aftermath of the Russian Revolution of 1917, Georgia, which had been part of the Russian Empire since the early 19th century, declared itself an independent Democratic Republic on 26 May 1918, after a brief and loose federative union with the fellow South Caucasian countries of Armenia and Azerbaijan. In February–March 1921 the Democratic Republic of Georgia fell to the invading Soviet Russian army and the country became a Soviet Socialist Republic, joining the Soviet Union in 1922. Georgia seceded from the Soviet Union, adopting the Act of Reestablishment of Independence on 9 April 1991, on the second anniversary of the Soviet military crackdown on a large pro-independence rally in Georgia's capital of Tbilisi in 1989.