THE FATE OF THE DAVID GAREJI MONASTERY COMPLEX IN THE SOVIET ERA

Abstract

Today, when Georgia is an independent and sovereign state, the issue of border regions has once again become a subject of active discussion. Particularly urgent is the question of Georgia’s eastern border—the Gareji Valley—and the fate of the monastic complex located there. This topic continues to generate public interest, provoke important questions, and demand well-founded answers from Georgian society.

Soviet historiography devoted minimal attention to the extensive archival materials related to this matter, despite the fact that they are preserved in significant volume within Georgian archival collections. In this study, we have attempted to examine the issue through the critical analysis of archival documents, memoir literature, periodical press, and established historical scholarship.

During the period of the Second Republic of Georgia, border issues effectively lost their state significance. At that time, the borders between the republics were intentionally blurred: customs posts, border pickets, and other technical mechanisms were abolished. “We reject natural borders that lead to war,” they proclaimed, attempting to resolve territorial questions through abstract and poorly understood “internationalist” slogans. Guided by the principles of “proletarian internationalism,” the Georgian Bolsheviks addressed the border question within the Transcaucasian Soviet Republics in a way that resulted in the cession of significant portions of Georgia’s historical territories to neighboring states.

Key words: Georgia; border; state; diplomacy; territory