THE PEOPLE’S GUARD AND ITS COMMANDER VALIKO JUGHELI
Abstract
The People’s Guard was one of the formations within the armed forces of the Democratic Republic of Georgia, and it made a significant contribution to the battles for the stability, security and defense of the Georgian state. It was organised according to the territorial principle and mainly consisted of a cadre unit and reserves.
The Red Guard, established as early as December 1917, was transformed into the People’s Guard following the restoration of Georgia’s independent statehood. In the Democratic Republic of Georgia, the People’s Guard carried out both symmetrical military operations and anti-partisan and policing operations. Despite at times brutal actions, the People’s Guard played a major role in combating anarchy, ensuring the country’s stability, and strengthening the state apparatus.
The creation and activities of the People’s Guard are largely connected with its commander, Valiko (Valerian) Jugheli. Valiko Jugheli is one of those Georgian public figures whose name has forever entered the ranks of fighters devoted to Georgia’s freedom, although his complex, contradictory, and tragic life story was deliberately distorted for decades.
The communist authorities labeled Valiko Jugheli a bandit, and Soviet historiography uncritically adopted this assessment. As a result, Jugheli’s biography and life path were intentionally falsified. Moreover, a man whose name was known throughout almost all of Georgia during the first quarter of the twentieth century was consigned to oblivion. Truthful accounts about him could only be heard within the Georgian émigré community.
Valiko Jugheli was a prominent military and political figure of the Democratic Republic of Georgia. He was also actively involved in the process of state-building as a member of the National Council of Georgia, the Parliament of Georgia, and the Constituent Assembly of Georgia from the Social Democratic Party. His authority is further demonstrated by the fact that Valiko Jugheli was elected as a deputy to the Transcaucasian Seim.
After Bolshevik Russia overthrew the Democratic Republic of Georgia, Jugheli went abroad together with members of Noe Zhordania’s government. Even in exile, he actively participated in the struggle for Georgia’s de-occupation, but when the forces fighting for freedom in his homeland needed his assistance, he returned from emigration without hesitation and became directly involved in organizing the anti-Soviet uprising. He breathed new life into the underground struggle, but Soviet special services managed to track him down and arrest him. During the days of the August Uprising of 1924, the Extraordinary Commission of Georgia (Cheka) executed Valiko Jugheli.
Georgian society, including the field of historical scholarship, remains indebted to Valiko Jugheli. It is time for his activities to be presented objectively and for this selflessly devoted fighter for his homeland’s independence to be granted his rightful place in our history.
Keywords: Democratic Republic of Georgia, People’s Guard, anti-state uprisings, Soviet regime, protest movement, August Uprising of 1924.
