Coup d'état against Georgian president Zviad Gamsakhurdia
The 1991–1992 Georgian coup d'état, also known as the Tbilisi War, or the Putsch of 1991–1992, was an internal military conflict that took place in the newly independent Republic of Georgia following the fall of the Soviet Union, from 22 December 1991 to 6 January 1992. The coup, which triggered the Georgian Civil War, pitted factions of the National Guard loyal to President Zviad Gamsakhurdia against several paramilitary organizations unified at the end of 1991 under the leadership of warlords Tengiz Kitovani, Jaba Ioseliani and Tengiz Sigua.
The Tbilisi War ended with the exile of the first democratically elected president of Georgia, after two weeks of violent clashes on Rustaveli Avenue, the main thoroughfare of Tbilisi, mainly consisting of a siege of the Georgian Parliament building, where Gamsakhurdia was isolated in a bunker. Following Gamsakhurdia's fall, a Military Council, led by Kitovani, Ioseliani and Sigua, took power in Tbilisi and assured the return of Eduard Shevardnadze, the last Soviet Foreign Affairs Minister, to hand over power to him. During the civil war, the supporters of the ousted president staged an unsuccessful revolt to return him to power. Shevardnadze gradually sidelined Kitovani and Ioseliani, and ruled the country until he was ousted in the bloodless 2003 "Rose Revolution".
In 2005, the Parliament of Georgia passed a resolution denouncing the events of 1991–1992 as an "anticonstitutional armed coup d'état". According to a 2020 poll by the Caucasus Research Resource Centers, 76% of Georgians think that the coup was harmful for Georgia.
Historical background.
Fall of the Soviet Union.
Following the Red Army invasion of 1921 and Bolshevik takeover, Georgia became part of the Soviet Union (formed in 1922). Despite having formally a status of a sovereign "union republic" (the Socialist Soviet Republic of Georgia), nationalist feelings demanding independence developed in Georgia largely in the 1970s, feelings that were repeated across the Soviet Union. Major economic and social problems, and repression of nationalist movements led to several protests in Georgia, culminating with the 9 April 1989 Tragedy, when a protest in Tbilisi was repressed by the authorities, resulting in the death of 21 people and the arrest of the main opposition leaders, including Zviad Gamsakhurdia.
The Tbilisi Tragedy, coupled with the military failure in Afghanistan and the collapse of the Iron Curtain that separated Western world from the Eastern Bloc led to a chain reaction that saw the Baltic states declare their independence in 1990. Soon, Soviet authorities, under pressure of mass revolts, allowed multi-party elections in October 1990, which saw Round Table, the alliance led by Zviad Gamsakhurdia, winning majority of seats in the Supreme Council, culminating the end of 69 years long rule of Communist Party.
Ethnic Conflicts.
The dissolution of the USSR led to a rebirth of tensions between certain ethnic groups across the Union republics, Georgia being no exception. "Adamon Nikhas", a communist movement in South Ossetia, started to demand a larger autonomy from Tbilisi as early as the later 1980s, a request denied by the central government in November 1989. Tensions between Tbilisi and Tskhinvali rose until a declaration of sovereignty of South Ossetia within Soviet Union in September 1990, following which Tbilisi retaliated by abolishing entirely the Autonomous Oblast of South Ossetia and dispatching a military faction to pacify the region.
In January 1991, the militarization of the conflict divided Tskhinvali in two, thus launching a civil war that lasted until June 1992 and that lead to the creation of the separatist Republic of South Ossetia.
Meanwhile, Abkhazia fell in an ethnic strife. As early as 1989, violent clashes between Georgian and Abkhaz nationalists forced a certain division that extended into a "war of laws" between the legislatures of Tbilisi and of the Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic of Abkhazia.
Prelude.
Declaration of Independence.
On 9 April 1991, two years after the Tbilisi Tragedy and ten days after a largely victorious referendum on the subject, the Georgian Supreme Council declared the independence of the country and appointed Zviad Gamsakhurdia, a famous dissident and spokesperson of Georgian nationalism, as interim president. The latter was eventually elected president with 86% of the vote in an election that saw an 83% participation rate on 26 May. Gamsakhurdia was notably granted the large presidential powers by the Parliament, including:
As soon as October 1990, while Gamsakhurdia's movement was already in power in Tbilisi under the "de jure" jurisdiction of the Soviet Union, the new government proceeded to close a majority of newspapers supporting the Communist Party. "Molodyozh Gruzii", a youth magazine based in Tbilisi, was also closed 3 April 1991 because of Gamsakhurdia's allegations of collaboration with the KGB. Public television canceled all programming not openly supporting Gamsakhurdia's platform and in December 1990, 60 members of the Mkhedrioni militia launched a hunger strike in response. The independent newspaper "Iberia" was violently expelled from its headquarters in May 1991. Journalists were routinely excluded from press conferences and public television often accused its competition to be at the service of Moscow, while death threats and false criminal investigations were used by Tbilisi against renegade news anchors. International press was also largely repressed.
Gamsakhurdia's presidency began with serious opposition, mainly consisting of the radical faction of the national liberation movement, represented by the National Council.
Kitovani Leaves.
In January 1991, Zviad Gamsakhurdia signed an executive decree creating the National Guard of Georgia, a prelude to the future Georgian Army, under the jurisdiction of the new Ministry of Internal Affairs. At its head, he appointed Tengiz Kitovani, recently elected to the Supreme Council of Georgia with Gamsakhurdia's party, with a mission to recruit 20,000 capable soldiers. In February, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, while attempting to shut down the several paramilitary organizations operating throughout the country, arrested ten members of the National Democratic Party (NDP) and 56 members of the Mkhedrioni militia, including its leader, Jaba Ioseliani, a former criminal-turned-theater critique, for illegal possession of the weapons in Kakheti. 
Kitovani largely collaborated with Gamsakhurdia's war in South Ossetia, launching several assaults on the regions outside of Tbilisi's control between February and June 1991. However, the situation changed drastically during the summer of that same year.
On 18 August, three ministers, including Prime Minister Tengiz Sigua, announced their support for the opposition and resigned from their posts, accusing the President of becoming a "totalitarian demagogue." Gamsakhurdia took himself the helm of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Justice. An attempted putsch in Moscow the next day brought a new controversy, with rumors of Gamsakhurdia supporting the radical coup leaders going around Tbilisi, thus forcing Kitovani into disagreement. Soon, the Russian news agency "Interfax" published an article claiming that the Georgian President is readying to disarm the National Guard in order to integrate it within the Soviet Army, a claim soon denied by Tbilisi. On 23 August, Gamsakhurdia issued a presidential decree abolishing the position of commander of the National Guard, dismissing Kitovani, and brought the troops entirely within the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Tengiz Kitovani, opposing this decision, left Tbilisi with a force of around 15,000 armed men and set up camp in the Rkoni Gorge, around 40 kilometers north of the capital. He was soon joined by Tengiz Sigua and former Foreign Affairs Minister Giorgi Khoshtaria. In retaliation, Gamsakhurdia banned the Communist Party, which included 60 members of Parliament at the time.
In order to appease the situation, Tbilisi converted the local bureau of the KGB into a Department of National Security, which became a Ministry a few weeks later. A National Security Council was also created, proving that Gamsakhurdia wished to see a military infrastructure independent from Moscow. However, none of these reforms calmed Kitovani and his allies.
State of Emergency.
On 2 September, the situation becomes violent when demonstrations organized by the People's Front of Georgia and the NDP to ask for Jaba Ioseliani's freedom are attacked by MIA forces. According to the non-government organization Human Rights Watch, the protesters, assembled on Rustaveli Avenue, are beaten with batons, while soldiers shoot at the crowd, injuring three civilians.
Giorgi Chanturia, leader of the NDP, is arrested by law enforcement, which only aggravates the tensions. Opposition members of Parliament, student groups, and other activists from throughout Tbilisi demonstrate daily in September. On 11 September, while 27 political parties sign a resignation request for Gamsakhurdia, the latter threatens to dissolve Parliament and builds barricades on Rustaveli Avenue. Historian Stephen F. Jones would later write that these provocations are direct threats for a civil war.
On 22 September, a group of several dozens of protesters begin a hungerstrike in front of Parliament but are violently dispersed by 250 presidential guards and around 200 "furies", women partisans of Gamsakhurdia. On the night of 22–23 September, the situation falls even further into violence when around 5,000 Gamsakhurdia supporters, led by deputy Avtandil Rtskhiladze, enter the headquarters of the NDP, where they face some 800 members of the opposition.
On 24 September, Zviad Gamsakhurdia proclaims a state of emergency. Government then begins a new round of attacks on the press, notably when Russian journalist Albert Kochetkov has his apartment robbed by 15 armed soldiers. Tengiz Kitovani, meanwhile, promises to support the political opposition to Gamsakhurdia and sends a support message to the members of the NDP through journalist Zurab Kodalashvili, who has his equipment confiscated by authorities.
The number of political prisoners increases: Giorgi Khaindrava, a member of the Georgian National Congress political party, is arrested on 17 September, Valery Kvaratskhelia, a TV producer, ends up in prison on 2 October, and Goga Khindasheli, regional secretary of the NDP in Samtredia, joins them soon. On the night of 21–22 October, eleven members of the NDP are arrested as well, while Temur Zhorzholiani, leader of the Monarchist Party, is arrested on 15 November. They are all imprisoned in the Ortachala Prison in the south of Tbilisi.
According to opposition leaders, the political conflict continues within the Ortachala Prison. NDP leaders allege that several riots are orchestrated to plan the murders of certain prisoners. On 25 October, the doors of certain prison cells are left open, leading to new riots that end with the intervention of a Soviet force that kills an unknown number of prisoners.
The state of emergency in Tbilisi forces all formal political activity to pause. Thus, the NDP and the National Independence Party, two of the last remaining active opposition parties, suspend their activities shortly after demonstrations on 3 and 5 October.
Arrival of the Armed Opposition.
Since the end of September 1991, Tbilisi is a divided city. The Gldani, Nadzaladevi, and Didube neighborhoods, as well as the south and center parts of Rustaveli Avenue (housing government buildings) remain under the military control of Zviad Gamsakhurdia, who has started to isolate himself within the Parliament building. Neighborhoods located between the Marx-Engels-Lenin Institute (29 Rustaveli Ave.) and the Tbilisi State University (1 Chavchavadze Ave.) are loyal to the opposition, while the Mkhedrioni militia uses the rest of Chavchavadze Avenue as its training ground. In the meantime, the neighborhoods of Vake and Saburtalo, populated by members of the Soviet intelligentsia, remain neutral.
At the end of September, Tengiz Kitovani returns to Tbilisi, accompanied by some of his troops, but the administration brings thousands of Gamsakhurdia supporters from rural regions of Georgia. On 25 September, Irakli Tsereteli, leader of the National Independence Party, announces the onset of a civil war by threatening, "either we perish, or Gamsakhurdia will."
With 1,000 to 3,000 soldiers on each side, the first military fights take place in October, around the headquarters of the public television, while the opposition attempts to take control of the building to broadcast a message announcing the end of the Gamsakhurdia regime. Soviet authorities, still based near Tbilisi, use the internal chaos to sell weapons to both sides in order to worsen the situation.
Following the large arrests of political opponents, the central government wins light victories, managing to force Kitovani and his former National Guard troops out of Tbilisi. They would remain in the surroundings of the city until December. A temporary return to peace allows Gamsakhurdia to ban all political parties on 5 November, before closing the newspaper "Sakartvelo-Sakinphorm". The same month, cars belonging to Tedo Paatashvili and Gela Chorgolashvili, two opposition leaders, explode in what Helsinki Watch calls a terrorist act.
On 19 December, Tengiz Kitovani offers an ultimatum to Zviad Gamsakhurdia, asking for his immediate resignation. But the latter refuses, an act that would later be criticized by his own Minister