Can someone explain to me what’s going on?
Short (and mostly imprecise) version:
Georgia has a very small semi-autonomous part called South Ossetia that’s been clamoring for independence. Historically it was separate, then annexed into the Russian empire about two hundred years ago, and then due to Soviet shenanigans wound up being part of Georgia. When Soviet Union started breaking up, the clamoring for independence became louder and more violent. It broke out into violence before in 1991, and tension was pretty thick for the past twenty years.
So a few days ago ceasefire was broken, and both sides pretty much snapped. There’s a lot of pointing fingers going on about who broke the ceasefire, and I am not going to take sides on that issue. Russia, the giant that borders them, decided to help out the South Ossetians fight back against the “Georgian injustice” (Hint: Georgia has a major oil pipeline, like Chechnya). So now there’s a war which is essentially between Russia and Georgia, and now I’m hearing that Russia started all-out shelling and bombing various Georgian cities outside of South Ossetia as well as factories near Tbilisi (Georgian capital).
groman has given an excellent broad history.
Here’s a four page “explainer” from today’s New York Times that presents a good overview of recent history including Georgia’s strongly pro-Western president, his interactions with Putin, ad the more immediate causes of the current strife in Georgia.
Short explanation:
1991:
USSR: We are kaput.
Georgia: Hooray, we are now our own country. Let’s cozy up to the Americans.
1992:
South Ossieta: We hate the Georgians and want to be our own country, let’s rebel and achieve de facto independence.
Russia: We will semi-covertly help our friends in South Ossieta because the smelly Georgians annoy us.
2008:
Georgia: These crazy separatists are committing attacks in our territory. Let’s re-take the rebellious province.
South Ossieta: Help us, Pooty-Poot!
Russia: You better knock it off or we will invade South Ossieta because [del]we hate your coziness with America[/del] we want to protect their freedoms!
USA: Whoa, guys, like, whoa. This is totally fucked up. We’ll go whistle in the corner over here while you figure this shit out. Like, whoa, man.
And that’s the gist of it.
When the Soviet Union broke up, Russia and Georgia were two of the countries that resulted from that breakup. In Georgia there is a group of people called the Ossetians; they decided to start their own country instead of staying in Georgia. They fought with the Georgians for a couple of years until a ceasefire was signed in 1992. South Ossetia became a sort of independant country. It wasn’t controlled by Georgia anymore but it was not recognized as an independant country so legally speaking it was still part of Georgia.
Russia has been sending aid to the Ossetians. There have been breakdowns in the ceasefire agreement and military attacks across the “border”. Georgia, which has said all along that South Ossetia is still part of Georgia, decided to occupy South Ossetia this month. Russia opposed this move and sent troops into South Ossetia to stop this.
Where do people keep getting this? Historically South Ossetia has been under one or another Georgian suzerainties. Either a unitary Georgian king or one of a number of autonomous substates/chieftaincies - in particular the state of Kartli. Like the Caucasus generally it seems to have a rather complex history, as factionation usually trumped unitary states in the area. But it has generally been Georgian territory. North Ossetia is something else altogether and is what you’ll often see marked on historical maps as “Ossetia”, just north of Georgia.
South Ossetia’s incorporation into Georgia has nothing to do with the Soviets and everything to do with the fact that it was a part of Georgia when Georgia was annexed by Imperial Russia in 1801. However its status as an autonomous sattelite within Georgia does derive from Soviet shenanigans.
Had a pipeline. Internets says it was bombed today.
You need to finish it off: And Australia is like, “WTF, mate?”
Tamerlane is correct that the region now defined as “South Ossetia” has traditionally been under Georgian rule, and while it was an “Autonomous Oblast” (a regional administrative division) it was still part of the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic. I don’t believe it has even been considered a part of any Russian empire directly except as a part of integrated Georgia. However, the Ossetian people have an entirely different ethnic and linguistic heritage than Georgians or Russians and have long sought autonomy, so they are using the current pre-existing tensions between Russia and Georgia (and in turn, being used by Russia) to create conflict that further impairs Georgia’s capability to exert political control over the region.
In general, we’re seeing a rise of the kind of ethnic strife plus international interests that will result in The Great Game, Act II.
Stranger
A good source of information on the region is www.rferl.org (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty). It has good general news, plus great in depth reporting and analysis.
Hmm, that’s an interesting. I don’t know where ‘people keep getting this’ but I was going from my loose recollection of something I read back in Russia as a kid. My mental time line for South Ossetia is Georgian rule under Tamar and after, then a period under the Mongols, then a period of independence and general neighborly strife, then annexation into Russian Empire, then part of Georgian Republic under Soviet Union, then today’s situation. I’m probably totally off though.
My hip-with-Georgia sources tell me that “this conflict has everything to do with everything but Ossetia.” I didn’t get much more than that, but it seems that the speed and totality of the attack was unexpected, represents something that must have been planned for some time, and is almost certainly a reaction to Georgia’s pro-west government.
There is speculation that Russia is making it clear that they will not accept a Nato ally in what it considers its “near abroad.” This is supported by the fact that Russia’s minster of foreign affairs told Rice in a call that the current president of Georgia “has to go.”
And there’s also the factor of U.S. ABM systems too close to Russia for the liking of Putin and that guy he allows to be president. (Which reminds me of 1962, which makes me nervous, considering what kind of folks we have in the White House these days.)
Today’s article on CNN.com stated that South Ossetia wants to be made one with North Ossetia. Since North Ossetia is part of Russia proper, that basically means that this is part of an overal attempt to annex territory into Russia.
Whether that will happen, and under what guise, remains to be seen.
Guys, remember that everybody here has a different agenda. The Georgians want access to oil; the Russians want a buffer, and NATO wants to spread the joy, while the ethnic Ossetians want independence from both the Slavic-dominated Russians and Iberian Gerogians. It’s just to the advantage of the South Ossetians right now to beg help from Russia, and to Russia’s advantage to have a seemingly-legitimate excuse to flex her muscles.
Stranger
You’er forgetting the Kosovo factor. The US and most of the countries of the EU have said it’s fine for an ethnically distinct part of a nation to rebel and declare independence.
That will have a huge effect in the future on rebel movements.
That’s true. To nitpick, though:
- Kosovo did not rebel, it held a plebiscite. It was a pretty non-violent affair.
- The US and the EU have not said it’s ok to invade other countries without a UN resolution to back you up. That precedent was created by the US invading Iraq.
Iberia is Spain and Portugal, you know that right?
Some scholars also refer to the languages spoken in the Caucasus as the Ibero-Caucasian language group, though most of the recent info I’ve seen suggests that there are multiple language groups in the Caucasus whose relationship is hotly disputed (like everything else in the Caucasus, it seems), if indeed there is any relationship at all between some of the languages.
It is , but Georgia is also part of a region called Caucasian Iberia, which was an ancient Georgian kingdom.