Course instructorInvited lecturer Dimitri Silakadze

The course aims to give students a survey of the formation of a regular army of modern type in Georgia. First efforts were made in the late Feudal period, but the process was interrupted as a result of the Russian annexation of Georgian kingdoms and principalities with the Russian Empire using the Georgian military to its advantage. The establishment of regular army became possible after the Russian revolutions of 1917, within the three-year period of independence of the First Republic of Georgia. Students will be introduced to social, economic, ideological, internal and external political factors that favoured and obstructed this process. The course will also examine specific battles and military and political decisions. Students will work with primary and secondary sources.