The 'Georgian SSR' (Soviet Socialist Republic, საქართველოს საბჭოთა
სოციალისტური რესპუბლიკა, or ''Sak'art'velos Sabčota Soc'ialisturi Respublika'') was one of
fifteen constituent republics of the
Soviet Union. It is now the independent state of
Georgia in the
South Caucasus. In
Russian it was called Грузинская ССР (''Gruzinskaya SSR'').
Established as a ''Soviet Socialist Republic'' on
February 25 1921, from
March 12 1922 to
December 5 1936 it was part of the
Transcaucasian SFSR together with the
Armenian SSR and the
Azerbaijan SSR. In 1936, the TSFSR was dissolved. Under
Stalin's rule, many Georgians were executed. Under
Khrushchev, the government was decentralized and the Georgian Communist Party rose in power. Alongside it, a black market economy and corruption grew.
Eduard Shevardnadze worked for years to fight this corruption from the mid 1960s until 1985, when he was appointed Soviet Foreign Minister.
On
October 28 1990, democratic parliamentary elections were held, and on
November 15 the nation was renamed the ''Republic of Georgia''. It declared independence on
April 9,
1991, under nationalist leader
Zviad Gamsakhurdia. However, this was unrecognized by the Soviet government until September 1991.
See also
★
History of the Georgian SSR
★
Chairman of the Supreme Council of the Georgian SSR