Conquest or voluntary annexation? The political process of incorporation of Kartli-Kakheti on Kingdom into the Russian Empire, 1796 – 1801

• Main Author: M. A. Volhonskiy
• Format: Article
• Language: Russian
• Published: MGIMO University Press 2017-12-01
• Series: Международная аналитика
• Subjects: the russian empire; the kartli-kakheti kingdom; paul i; alexander i; erekle ii; giorgi xii; george’s treatise; the manifesto of 12 september 1801
• Online Access: https://www.interanalytics.org/jour/article/view/79

The article highlights the political process of accession in 1801, KartliKakheti to the Russian Empire, which was the result of the development of RussianGeorgian relations in the second half of the XVIII century, the article shows that the military-political weakness of the Georgian Kingdom became the main reason for the failure of the prisoner in 1783 the Treaty of Georgievsk, according to which Russia took under its protectorate of Eastern Georgia. Awareness of this fact has forced both Georgian and Russian ruling upper classes to begin to seek new forms of allied relations. Ensuing after the death of king Irakli II between representatives of the Royal family fight for throne significantly weakened the Georgian Kingdom. In the face of external threats from Iran, the only way to keep Eastern Georgia from ruin was its accession to Russia.