Georgia–Russia relations

Bilateral relations between Georgia and Russia date back hundreds of years and remain complicated despite certain religious and historical ties that exist between the two countries and their people.

Contacts between Russia and Georgia date back to the 15th and 16th centuries, and the most important stage started in the 1580s, when the Georgian kingdom of Kakheti and the Russian Empire signed a treaty of alliance in 1587. Relations between the two countries developed vibrantly and culminated in the Treaty of Georgievsk, which established eastern Georgia as a protectorate of Russia. At that time, Georgia saw Russia as a powerful Christian and modernizing neighbor, capable of protecting Georgia from invading Muslim empires and North Caucasian raiders.

Although Russia did help Georgia ward off North Caucasian invasions, it failed to protect Georgia when Persia invaded in 1795. Catherine the Great later imposed punitive measures against Persia, but they were cut short by her death. In 1800, Emperor Paul I signed a proclamation on the incorporation of eastern Georgia into the Russian Empire, which was finalized the following year by Tsar Alexander I. This was followed by the annexation by Russia of western Georgian kingdoms and principalities and their incorporation into the Russian Empire, namely the Kingdom of Imereti in 1810, the Principality of Guria in 1829, the Principality of Svaneti in 1858, and the Principality of Mingrelia in 1867.

Incorporation into the empire ended Muslim invasions and brought peace to Georgia. The Russian Empire ended the slave trade by the Ottomans in western Georgia, which saved Georgia's shrinking population from demographic catastrophe. It also provided Georgia with means for a cultural revival, such as the Tiflis Imperial Theater, which was opened in 1852 and revitalized Georgia's long-abandoned theatrical tradition.