Why is Abkhazia important to Georgia?

Answer 1

Abkhazia isn't actually important to Georgia; it is about national pride. Before declaring independence from Georgia, the Abkhaz people wanted to remain with the Soviet Union as they feared independence with Georgia would result in their autonomous status being removed.

After Stalin's death, the oppression towards the Abkhaz people ended. The Soviet government began encouraging the republics to embrace their culture, especially of ones that were formally oppressed by the same government. In this case, the Abkhaz began embracing their culture. Other ethnic groups believed this to be discrimination, in this case the Georgians.

When the Soviet Union began to disintegrate, the Abkhaz people wished to become their own separate republic, an act strongly opposed by ethnic Georgians.

Violence began to rise when a Georgian university tried to establish a branch in Abkhazia, instead of an Abkhaz one. This violence led to the deaths of 16 Georgians and was curbed by Soviet intervention.

When Georgia declared independence on April 1, 1991 it was being ruled by a somewhat moderate leader and tensions decreased.

A military coup ousted the moderate Georgian leader, replacing him with a hard line Georgian. Within a month the Georgian military council decided to adopt the 1921 constitution. The Abkhaz people felt this as a threat to their autonomy, thereby tensions began to rise.

On July 22, 1992 Abkhazia effectively declared independence from Georgia. This action was boycotted by the Georgian government and the action went unnoticed by most of the international community.

In August, 1992 Georgia dispatched 3, 000 troops to Abkhazia, supposedly to restore order. At this time Abkhazia was relatively unarmed and the Georgian troops faced little opposition when they entered Sukhumi.

The hostility towards Abkhazia by Georgia was seen quite negatively by other Caucasus separatist movements, including Chechens, Cossaks, and Ossetians. Several paramilitaries, with the help of the Russian armed forces, successfully expelled the Georgian armed forces from Abkhazia, leading up to the Sukhumi Massacre where ehtnic Georgians were systematically murdered.