Meeting of the National Council (May 26, 1918)

The Democratic Republic of Georgia (DRG, 1918-1921) was the first Republic of Georgia, established after the collapse of the Russian Tsarist empire. The Declaration of the State Independence of Georgia was adopted by the National Council of Georgia on May 26, 1918 (see the photo).

The Democratic Republic of Georgia was ruled by the Government (Chairman: Noe Zhordania, Chairman of the Social-Democratic (Menshevik) Party) and the National Parliament - "Dampudznebeli Kreba" (Chairman: Nikolay (Karlo) Chkheidze, one of leaders of the Social-Democratic Party; Deputy Chairman: Professor Ekvtime Takaishvili). It was an established multiparty system: among the members of the Government and the Parliament were also representatives of the National-Democratic Party (Chairman: Konstantine (Kote) Abkhazi), the Party of Social-Federalists (Chairman: Simon Mdivani) and other political organizations.

The independence of the Democratic Republic of Georgia was de jure recognized by Romania, Argentina, Germany, Turkey, Belgium, United Kingdom, France, Japan, Italy, Poland, Czech Republic, Russia and other countries.

On February 21, 1921 the Constitution of the Democratic Republic of Georgia was adopted by the Parliament.

On February 25, 1921, Russia's Red Army reoccupied the country and Georgia became a Soviet republic. In March 1921, the legal Parliament and Government of the DRG were forced to leave Georgia.

Further reading

• "Legal Acts of the Democratic Republic of Georgia (1918-1921)", Tbilisi, 1990, 494 pp. (in Georgian)
• Levan Urushadze. "Bolshevism-Menshevism and the Democratic Republic of Georgia (1918-1921)" (a monograph), Tbilisi, 1991 (in Georgian)