9th April 1989. The Berlin Wall was still standing, the Ceausescus were still breathing and events in Tbilisi which included hunger strikes reached a climax. The events of 9 April 1989 were the culmination of weeks of demonstrations for Georgian independence and against separatism of Abkhazia.
The demonstrations were mostly peaceful. At their peak, about 10,000 people are estimated to have been present.
Minutes before 4am on 9 April, General Radionov told his troops, who had been requested by Jumber Pastiashvili, first secretary of the Georgian Communist Party, to clear the square, in front of the Georgian government building, on Rustaveli Avenue, by all means available. The Soviet troops attacked the demonstrators with clubs and sharpened spades. The clashes left 20 people dead, mainly young women.
Images of the twenty dead.
An hour before the attack the Georgian Patriarch, Ilia II, begged the crowds to leave the Square.
Mzia Jincharadze
A year later, on 9 April 1990, Georgia adopted a Declaration of Independence. Today the day is marked with a National Holiday in Georgia.
flowers strewn in front of the old Parliament Building
My wife was among those in the square that day, she fled the square and sought refuge in Rustaveli Theatre.
Images from 1989: http://www.rferl.org/a/georgia-soviet-demonstrations/25324233.html
It was a terrible event that showed the cruel and abrasive hand of Soviet Russia! But once again they are doing the same thing in Ukraine! What makes the Kremlin do these things? Don’t they know they will be remembered for their acts of evil!
The Russians seem to act as they wish against the Georgians, Ukranians, Chechens etc…in August 2008 they invaded Georgia and still control 20% of the country (Abkhazia and South Ossetia). Now they are causing trouble in Eastern Ukraine. Putin has his own agenda and won’t answer to external pressure form the EU or USA.
The most popular attractions are magnificent historical monuments
and beautiful temples. The success of these trains has given a new direction to the tourism in India.
Numerous qualified experts from several countries such as Persia, Italy and French were
summoned to build his masterpiece.
Events like these remind us of how precious the freedoms we enjoy are. I’m glad I stopped by your post.
I didn’t even know about this to be honest
I didn’t know about it until I moved to Georgia. My wife was there at the time, a traumatic experience for her.
Thanks for the post and keeping the rest of us informed then
Reblogged this on Blog #2 and commented:
9 April …remembering 9 April 1989…when Soviet troops attacked Georgian demonstrators with clubs and sharpened spades. The clashes left 20 people dead, mainly young women.