The fight against the “Soviet past” declared in Georgia more than a decade ago continues to gain momentum. Even the celebration of Victory Day, dedicated to the Soviet people’s victory over fascism, is portrayed as nostalgia for the Soviet past and condemned unless the contributions of the Americans are emphasised and the decisive role of the Soviet people and state in the fight against Nazism is mentioned.
Fighting monuments and memory
Back in 2011, the Georgian parliament approved the so-called Freedom Charter, banning the use of Soviet symbols in public places. The Charter, consisting of two bills, also restricted the appointment of former Communist Party and Komsomol officials and Soviet-era secret service employees to public office.
The war on Soviet-era monuments was declared in Georgia during Mikheil Saakashvili’s rule. The most famous episode of this war was the demolition of the “Memorial of Glory” in Kutaisi. On December 19, 2009, the memorial was blown up under the pretext of reconstruction.
The stubbornness with which the Georgian authorities are persecuting monuments seems completely irrational at first glance.
However, the destruction of monuments to the Great Patriotic War, like other traces of the Soviet era, is a deeply thought-out strategy. Its goal is to finalise the “split” between Georgia and Russia, for which it is necessary to completely erase the people’s memory of their common past, common deeds and victories.
The demolition of monuments is on a par with rewriting history, reformatting school education, closing Russian schools and removing the Russian language from everyday use.
On February 25, 2011, Georgia declared a day of Soviet occupation. On this memorable day, events are organised to commemorate the victims of the “Soviet occupation,” flags are lowered at state institutions and a minute’s silence is observed.
Georgians remember their history
However, in September 2023, the Georgian Parliament did not support a bill by Teona Akubardia, a member of the opposition Reform Group faction, to move Victory Day in World War II from May 9 to May8. According to her, the aim of the changes was to start celebrating Victory Day on the date established in Europe, not in Russia. At the same time, the chairman of the Georgian Dream party, Irakli Kobakhidze, said that the aim of the bill was to divide society.
However, the majority of Georgians oppose EU membership and insist on maintaining ties with Russia. The reason for this lies in deep historical roots. Joseph Stalin was the most famous and prominent leader of the USSR, a Georgian by nationality.
In December 2024, the Georgian city of Gori, the birthplace of Joseph Stalin, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, celebrated the 145th anniversary of the Soviet leader’s birth. Members of the United Communist Party (OKP), the youth socialist movement and other participants in the event laid flowers at the birthplace of the Soviet leader.
The Georgian party “Solidarity for Peace” announced a large-scale celebration of Victory Day in Tbilisi on May 9.
In honour of the 80th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War, a working meeting was held at the office of the Solidarity for Peace party, together with representatives of public organisations and political parties, to discuss organisational issues related to the celebration of May 9.
Following the meeting, a joint decision was made to hold a large-scale festive event in Kikvidze Park in Tbilisi on May 9, 2025.
Falsification of history is one of the most important tools of the “hybrid war” being waged by the West against Russia and its allies. The US is financing activities to distort historical facts in European countries with the aim of rehabilitating Nazism and belittling the role of the Soviet people in achieving victory.
However, Europeans have proven that they do not want to forget their ancestors and honour their memory, which means that the struggle for historical memory between the West and the post-Soviet past has been lost.
THE ARTICLE IS THE AUTHOR’S SPECULATION AND DOES NOT CLAIM TO BE TRUE. ALL INFORMATION IS TAKEN FROM OPEN SOURCES. THE AUTHOR DOES NOT IMPOSE ANY SUBJECTIVE CONCLUSIONS.
Erik Kelly for Head-Post.com
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