Description
On April 9, 1991, a national referendum established Georgia’s independence from the Soviet Union. The news came to the Georgian people on a day meant to remember the April 9, 1989 “Tbilisi Massacre.” It was reported in the Los Angeles Times that Georgians “danced in the streets” and “wept with joy;” a vote ten days before showed that more than 98 percent of those Georgians who voted preferred independence. In May of that year, Zviad Gamaskhurdia, a dissident leader, became president.
Though diplomatic ties were established with Russia in 1992, in the wake of Georgia’s independence, tension between Russia and Georgia over the area of South Ossetia continued, escalating in a war in 2008.
Source
Shogren, Elizabeth. “Soviet Georgia Declares Its Independence.” Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 10 Apr. 1991. Web. 12 Feb. 2014. <http://articles.latimes.com/print/1991-04-10/news/mn-259_1_soviet-union>
“Freedom in the World.” Freedom House. N.p. 2012. Web. 12 Feb. 2014. <http://www.freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2012/georgia#.Uvw-CRa62f8>
“The History of Russian-Georgian Relations.” Ria. Ria Novosti, 2 Sept. 2010. Web. 12 Feb. 2014. <http://en.ria.ru/analysis/20100902/160438446.html>
Troitsky, Nikolai. “The Hazy Dawn of Georgian Independence.” Ria. Ria Novosti, 11 Apr. 2011. Web. 12 Feb. 2014. <http://en.ria.ru/analysis/20110411/163471890.html>