THE CELEBRATION OF MAY 26, 1988 IN GEORGIAN EMIGRATION (FRANCE, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA)
Abstract
The work addresses the commemoration, on May 26, 1988, of the 70th anniversary of the restoration of Georgia’s national state independence (May 26, 1918) by the Georgian emigration community in France and the United States of America.
The study presents, in a relatively comprehensive and objective manner, the situation that prevailed on the 70th anniversary of the restoration of Georgia’s national state independence (May 26, 1918) both among the Georgian emigration and in Georgia, which was conquered by Soviet imperial Russia in February-March 1921, in the context of efforts to restore Georgia’s national state independence. The issue is presented on the basis of a critical study of primary sources (materials from the Georgian émigré and Soviet periodical press) and specialised scholarly literature, and is analysed and interpreted in a relatively comprehensive, novel, and objective manner.
The main result of the study is that, based on critical examination of previously unknown and unpublished materials from the Georgian émigré periodical press, newly introduced into scholarly circulation, alongside specialised academic literature, Georgian historiography has examined and analyzed the commemoration of the 70th anniversary (May 26, 1988) of the restoration of Georgia’s national state independence among the Georgian émigré communities (France, United States), against the backdrop of the renewed and ongoing national movement in Georgia in the late 1980s, aimed at restoring national state independence.
Given the current geopolitical context in the Caucasus, this research holds both theoretical and practical significance.
Key words: 1988; May 26; France; United States of America; Georgia; Georgian Emigration; National Movement.
