The Georgian-Ossetian conflict dates back to the twenties of the last century, at a time when South Ossetia was forcibly incorporated into Georgia. The confrontation was brewing, and someday it was supposed to develop into a large-scale action.
And this is despite the fact that in 1922 the All-Russian Central Executive Committee decided by decree to create autonomy in this republic, which, however, according to historians, had a nominal character. The Georgian leadership pursued an assimilation policy: it forced the indigenous people to change their nationality in their passports, new geographical names appeared, etc.
The Georgian-Ossetian conflict escalated in 1989, when the Council of People's Deputies, convened back then in the South Ossetian region, adopted a resolution on its transformation into an autonomous republic, which, nevertheless, remained part of Georgia. Numerous rallies began in Tskhinvali, which demanded that official Tbilisi cancel this decision. Armed clashes began, resulting in casualties.
The Georgian-Ossetian conflict was also fueled by the fact that Georgia chose the path independent of the USSR, and its autonomy decided to remain part of the Union. The situation was aggravated by the nationalist slogans of the leaders of the Georgian movement.
The active phase of the contradictions occurs at the beginning of the nineties, when the real armed confrontation begins. And already in May 1992, the supreme power of autonomy adopted the Act proclaiming its independence.
Being by nature a typically ethnic, born of the desire of the national minority to use its right to self-determination, the Ossetian conflict in August 2008 escalated into a real war. The population of Georgia had to pay dearly for the adventures of their politicians from Tbilisi, and the indigenous inhabitants of the autonomy almost exactly repeated the fate of the Georgians of Abkhazia.
The Georgian-Ossetian conflict went into an explosive phase after official Tbilisi decided to reconsider the balance of forces in Ossetia, which was greatly facilitated by Saakashvili’s victory in the elections. In the speeches of the Georgian president, calls were increasingly being made for the reunification of Georgia, for the need to abolish peaceful formats for settlement.
Negotiations ended in the 2008th ...
And on the night of August 8, the Georgian side launched an assault on Tskhinval, firing artillery shells on the capital of South Ossetia and surrounding areas, as a result of which many human lives were cut short. According to the Georgian official version, this was a response to the violation of the ceasefire by the autonomy. On the same day, Russian peacekeeping troops joined the conflict. A military operation began, the purpose of which was to force the Georgian authorities to peace.
Neither the Georgian authorities nor Western observers expected such a tough response from Russia.
The Georgian-Ossetian conflict of 2008 was prepared by the whole logic of the previous stages, when the confrontation was “unfrozen”. This explains the direct intervention of Russian peacekeepers.
Today, no one, neither experts, nor politicians can name the exact number of people killed as a result of the five-day military events of August two thousand and eight.
Five of these days turned into a disaster for Tbilisi itself. The United Georgia project has almost completely failed. And new rounds of violence on his part made integration impossible on a peaceful basis.
Over the past 17 years, Tskhinval, who has seen three wars, is unlikely to take seriously any offers from Tbilisi. In addition, the country that survived the “Rose Revolution” itself received a “gift” - about twenty thousand refugees.