Democratic Republic of Georgia

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Democratic Republic of Georgia საქართველოს დემოკრატიული რესპუბლიკა (Georgian)
1918–1921
Flag Coat of arms
Anthem: "Dideba" (English: "Glory")
Map of borders submitted by the Democratic Republic of Georgia to the Paris Peace Conference in 1921.
Capital	Tiflis (present-day Tbilisi)
Common languages	Georgian (official) Regional Russian Armenian Abkhaz Azerbaijani Greek Ossetian Svan Mingrelian Laz Turkish
Demonym(s)	Georgian
Government	Unitary parliamentary republic with an executive presidency
Chairman
• 1918	Noe Ramishvili
• 1918–1921	Noe Zhordania
Legislature	National Council    (1918–1919) Constituent Assembly    (1919–1921)
Historical era	Interwar period
• Established	26 May 1918
• Soviet invasion	11 February 1921
• Soviet annexation	25 February 1921
• Government-in-exile	18 March 1921
Area
1918	75,110 km2 (29,000 sq mi)
1919	107,600 km2 (41,500 sq mi)
Population
• 1918	2,852,000
• 1919	~2,500,000
• 1921	2,677,000
Currency	Georgian rouble
Preceded by Succeeded by TDFR Georgian SSR Abkhazian SSR Turkey
Today part of	Georgia Armenia Azerbaijan Russia Turkey

The Democratic Republic of Georgia (DRG; Georgian: საქართველოს დემოკრატიული რესპუბლიკა, romanized: sakartvelos demok'rat'iuli resp'ublik'a) was the first modern establishment of a republic of Georgia, which existed from May 1918 to February 1921. Recognized by all major European powers of the time, DRG was created in the wake of the Russian Revolution of 1917, which led to the collapse of the Russian Empire and allowed territories formerly under Russia's rule to assert independence. In contrast to Bolshevik Russia, DRG was governed by a moderate, multi-party political system led by the Georgian Social Democratic Party (Mensheviks).

Initially, DRG was a protectorate of the German Empire. However, after the German defeat in World War I, the country was partially occupied by British troops, who were sent there to counter a proposed Bolshevik invasion. The British had to leave in 1920 because of the Treaty of Moscow, in which Russia recognized Georgia's independence in exchange for DRG not hosting forces hostile to Russia's interests.^[1] Now that Western European powers were no longer present in Georgia, in February 1921 the Bolshevik Red Army proceeded to invade the country, leading to DRG's defeat and collapse by March of that year, with Georgia becoming a Soviet republic. The Georgian Government, led by Prime Minister Noe Zhordania, moved to France where it continued to work in exile. The government-in-exile was recognized by France, Britain, Belgium, and Poland as the only legitimate government of Georgia until the 1930s, when growing Soviet power and political processes in Europe made it impractical to do so indefinitely.^[2]

Although short-lived, DRG continues to be an inspiration for modern day Georgia due to its legacy of democracy and pluralism.^[3] DRG was one of the first countries in Europe to grant women the right to vote as enshrined in the Georgian constitution, which was "unusual in most European constitutions at the time".^[4] Several women of varying backgrounds were elected to the Georgian parliament,^[5] as were representatives of nine ethnicities, including Germans, Russians, Armenians, Azerbaijanis, and Jews.^[6] DRG also saw the founding of Georgia's first fully fledged university, thereby realizing a longstanding goal cherished by generations of Georgian intellectuals whose efforts were, up to that point, consistently frustrated by the Imperial Russian authorities.^[7]