In this thesis, I have examined the Sovietization of Georgia in the 1920s and analyzed how Georgians perceived Sovietization. Specifically, this thesis explores different opinions on Sovietization through the lens of Georgian nationalists, Georgian cultural literary icons, and the average Georgian. Further, this thesis addresses the interplay of time and Georgian nationalism in understanding Sovietization. The thesis examines how different groups of Georgians related their understanding of Georgian identity to the Soviet understanding of Georgian culture and demonstrates how the disconnect between Soviet and Georgian identity manifests as disapproval of Sovietization and the Soviet Union as a whole as time progresses.
Chapter 1 examines how General Kvinitadze and a commission from the Presduma of the Georgian SSR viewed Sovietization, arguing that both opposed Sovietization because they believed that it violated Georgia’s cultural and legal rights. Chapter 2 explores how Georgian cultural literary icons, Vladimir Mayakovsky and Galaktion Tabidze, responded to Sovietization, arguing that both initially saw Sovietization as a positive change for Georgia because it allowed Georgia to have more autonomy. As time progressed, Tabidze started to believe the Sovietization interfered with Georgia’s identity as he directly experienced the Great Terror and saw that the Soviet Union repressed non-Soviet ideas. Chapter 3 examines how proletarian poets viewed Sovietization, in an attempt to gauge how the average Georgian perceived Sovietization. This chapter argues that these poets saw Sovietization as a positive change for Georgia because Sovietization would create a better future and it would allow Georgians to continue to have pride in their country
