The Treaty of Georgievsk (1783) and its Aftermath

Abstract

The Treaty of Kuchuk Kainardji marked the permanent establishment of Russian power on the northern shores of the Black Sea, as well as in the Kuban river basin, and down to the mountains of the North Caucasus.\ This dramatic expansion of Imperial authority southwards brought Russia into direct contact with the Ottoman and Persian spheres of influence in Transcaucasia. The neutral zones provided by Kabardia, Azov and the Bug River, which previously had separated the realms of the Tsar from those of the Sultan and Shah, had now been absorbed. Furthermore, between 1769 and 1772, a Russian force had operated in Georgia. The withdrawal of this force had created a vacuum which neither the Turks nor the Persians could fill because of the outbreak of hostilities between them. Sooner or later, the Russians would have to face the question of whether to abandon Georgia to the Ottomans or Persians or once again to press ahead to secure these lands as a forward base for the projection of Imperial power into the northern Middle East. At the same time, the Georgian kings, having witnessed at first hand the capabilities and trustworthiness of the Russians, had to decide whether to mend relations with the traditional arbiters of Caucasian politics, or to enter into risky waters by continuing to push for an alliance with Russia.