MINGRELIAN AFFAIR

The 'Mingrelian Affair', or 'Mingrelian Case' (, ''mingrel’skoe delo''; , ''megrelt’a sak’me'') was a series of criminal cases fabricated in 1951 and 1952 in order to accuse several members of the Georgian SSR Communist Party of Mingrelian provenance of secessionism and collaboration with the Western powers.
Initiated on the personal orders of the Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin, the affair apparently aimed at eliminating the influence of Lavrentiy Beria, of whom Stalin was getting increasingly suspicious. The fabricated accusations of forming the "Mingrelian nationalist ring", separatism, collaboration with the "Western imperialists", and the Georgian émigré centre in Paris, were followed by a purge, which delivered a hard blow to the Georgian party organization, and specifically targeted its Mingrelian (a subethnic group of the Georgians) members, mostly Beria’s protégés through which he exercised almost an unlimited influence in Georgia. Many leading officials were removed from their posts and arrested; thousands of innocent people were subjected to repressions.
Many aspects of the Mingrelian Affair are still not completely understood. Beyond Stalin’s growing mistrust of his lieutenant Beria, who had particularly consolidated his positions after World War II, the affair also reflected a bitter power struggle among rival clans in the Communist élite of Georgia. It might also have echoed similar accusations of nationalism leveled against the Georgian "National Communists" in the 1922 Georgian Affair.
As a result of the events, Beria’s power was reduced significantly in Georgia, but he still managed to retain his position in the Politburo. After Stalin’s death in 1953, Beria managed to temporarily reinstate his clients in Georgia. The new Soviet government of Nikita Khrushchev admitted that the case was fabricated and rehabilitated its victims.

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References

★ Suny, Ronald Grigor (1994), ''The Making of the Georgian Nation: 2nd edition'', pp. 287-289. Indiana University Press, ISBN 0-253-20915-3.

★ Lang, David Marshall (1962). ''A Modern History of Georgia'', pp. 260-261. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson.