Everything about the Treaty Of Poti totally explained
The
Treaty of Poti was a provisional agreement between the
German Empire and the
Democratic Republic of Georgia in which the latter accepted German protection and recognition. The agreement was signed, on
May 28 1918, by General
Otto von Lossow for Germany and by
Prime Minister Noe Ramishvili and Foreign Minister
Akaki Chkhenkeli for Georgia at the
Georgian Black Sea port of
Poti.
Leading Georgian politicians viewed an alliance with Germany as the only way to prevent Georgia from being occupied by the
Ottoman Empire, which continued a
relentless military campaign against the
Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic, a loose federation formed by
Armenia,
Azerbaijan, and Georgia in the aftermath of the 1917
Bolshevik October Revolution in Russia. On the other hand, Germany was quite ready to exploit the situation to secure its position amid the ongoing
World War I and growing German-Turkish rivalry for
Caucasian influence and resources, notably the oilfields at
Baku on the
Caspian and the associated rail and pipeline connection to
Batumi on the
Black Sea.
The treaty was signed just two days after the proclamation of the independence of Georgia on May 26 1918 and four days after the fruitless German-mediated peace conference between the Ottoman and Transcaucasian governments was closed in Batumi on May 24 1918. Encouraged by the German mission led by
Friedrich Freiherr Kress von Kressenstein and
Friedrich Werner von der Schulenburg, Georgia withdrew from the federation and declared itself a separate republic. In a desperate quest for an ally and facing a renewed Turkish offensive, the Georgian ministers immediately hurried to Poti where a German delegation headed by Count von Lossow were waiting aboard
S.S. Minna Horn. A provisional treaty was signed at Poti on May 28. Georgia was to receive recognition and protection by Imperial Germany. The convention provided among other things for Germany to have free and unrestricted use of Georgia’s railways and all ship available in Georgian ports, for the occupation of strategic points by
German expeditionary forces, the free circulation of German currency in Georgia, the establishment of a joint German-Georgian mining corporation, and the exchange of diplomatic and consular representatives. In a secret supplementary letter, von Lossow promised to help in securing Georgia’s international recognition and safeguarding its territorial integrity. Thereupon, the German mission left for
Constanţa, taking with them a Georgian delegation composed of Chkhenkeli,
Zurab Avalishvili, and
Niko Nikoladze, who were entrusted by the Government of Georgia with negotiating a final treaty in
Berlin. However, Georgia decisively refused to ally itself with the
Central Powers in the war and the protracted negotiations ensued, only to be rendered abortive, by the military defeat of Germany in November 1918.
The German-Georgian cooperation, however unequal and short-lived, proved to be highly beneficial for the young Georgian republic and contributed to its survival in the turbulent year 1918.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Treaty Of Poti'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://treaty_of_poti.totallyexplained.com">Treaty of Poti Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
