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{{Short description|1989 massacre of anti-Soviet protesters by the Soviet Army in Tbilisi, Georgian SSR}}
[[Image:9 april.jpg|200px|thumb|April 9 Poster|Georgian woman at the memorial]]
{{Infobox civil conflict
The '''April 9 tragedy''' refers to the events in [[Tbilisi]], [[Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic]] on [[April 9]], [[1989]], when an [[anti-Soviet]] demonstration was dispersed by the [[Soviet army]], resulting in 20 deaths and hundreds of injuries. [[April 9]] is now remembered as the '''Day of National Unity''' ([[Georgian language|Georgian]]: ეროვნული ერთიანობის დღე), an annual [[Public holidays in Georgia|public holiday]].
| title = April 9 Tragedy
| partof = [[Georgian-Abkhaz conflict]], [[Revolutions of 1989]], and [[Dissolution of the Soviet Union]]
| image = April9victims.jpg
| caption = Photos of the April 9, 1989 massacre victims, mostly young women, on a billboard in Tbilisi (2008)
| date = 4 April 1989 – 9 April 1989
| place = [[Tbilisi]], [[Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic|Georgian SSR]], [[Soviet Union]]
| coordinates =
| causes = Political repression{{-}}[[Nationalist]] sentiment
| goals = *Civil rights
*Restoration of [[Georgian Democratic Republic|Georgian Independence]]
*Opposition to the Abkhaz separatism
| methods = Protest march, Picketing, Street protesters, Flag waving.
| status =
| result = *First [[1990 Georgian Supreme Soviet election|multi-party elections]], end of the communist rule
*Restoration of [[Georgian Democratic Republic|Georgian independence]] via [[1991 Georgian independence referendum|referendum]]
*Recognition of Georgia’s [[Red Army invasion of Georgia|membership of the Soviet Union]] as an illegal occupation
| side1 = {{flag|Soviet Union}}
*{{flag|Georgian SSR|1951}}
| side2 = {{flagd|Georgia|1918}} [[National Democratic Party (Georgia)|National Democratic Party]]<br>{{flagd|Georgia|1918}} {{ill|All-Georgian Society of St. Ilia the Righteous|ka|სრულიად საქართველოს წმინდა ილია მართლის საზოგადოება}}<br> {{flagd|Georgia|1918}} [[Ilia Chavchavadze Society]]
| side3 =
| leadfigures1 = {{flagicon|Soviet Union}} [[Mikhail Gorbachev]]<br>{{flagicon|Soviet Union}} [[Igor Rodionov]]<br>{{flagicon|Soviet Union}} {{flagicon|Georgian SSR}} [[Jumber Patiashvili]]
| leadfigures2 = {{flagd|Georgia|1918}} [[Merab Kostava]]{{-}}{{flagd|Georgia|1918}} [[Zviad Gamsakhurdia]]{{-}}{{flagd|Georgia|1918}} [[Giorgi Chanturia]]{{-}}''and others''
| leadfigures3 =
| howmany1 =
| howmany2 =
| howmany3 =
| casualties1 =
| casualties2 = '''Deaths''': 21 <br />'''Injuries''': 100+<br />'''Arrests''': 100+
| casualties3 =
| fatalities2 =
| injuries2 =
| arrests2 =
| detentions =
| charged =
| fined =
| casualties_label =
| notes =
}}
{{History of Georgia (country)}}
{{Eastern Bloc sidebar}}

'''April 9 Tragedy''' (also known as '''The massacre of Tbilisi''' or '''Tbilisi tragedy''') refers to the events in [[Tbilisi]], [[Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic]], on April 9, 1989, when an [[Anti-Sovietism|anti-Soviet]], pro-[[independence]] demonstration was crushed by the [[Soviet Army]], resulting in 21 deaths and hundreds of injuries. April 9 is now remembered as the '''National Unity Day''' ({{lang-ka|ეროვნული ერთიანობის დღე|tr}}), an annual [[Public holidays in Georgia (country)|public holiday]].


==Prelude==
==Prelude==
In the Georgian SSR, the anti-Soviet movement grew more active in 1988. Political groups opposed to the Soviet Union organized a number of protests and gatherings in Tbilisi. The conflict between the [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] government and Georgian nationalists deepened after the so-called Lykhny Assembly on March 18, 1989, when several thousand [[Abkhaz people|Abkhaz]] demanded secession from Georgia and restoration of the Union republic status of 1921&ndash;1931. In response, the anti-Soviet groups organized a series of unsanctioned meetings across the republic, claiming that the Soviet government was using Abkhaz separatism in order to oppose the pro-independence movement.


The protests reached their peak on April 4, 1989, when tens of thousands of [[Georgians]] gathered before the [[Georgian Parliament Building (Tbilisi)|House of Government]] on [[Rustaveli Avenue]] in Tbilisi. The protesters, led by the Independence Committee ([[Merab Kostava]], [[Zviad Gamsakhurdia]], [[Giorgi Chanturia]], Irakli Bathiashvili, Irakli Tsereteli and others) organized a peaceful demonstration and hunger strikes, demanding the punishment of Abkhaz secessionists and restoration of Georgian independence.<ref name="Sobchak">{{Cite web|url=http://sobchak.org/rus/docs/zakluchenie.htm|title=ЗАКЛЮЧЕНИЕ Комиссии Съезда народных депутатов СССР по расследованию событий, имевших место в г. Тбилиси 9 апреля 1989 года|website=sobchak.org|access-date=2019-04-09|archive-date=2018-08-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180819114114/http://sobchak.org/rus/docs/zakluchenie.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref>
The anti-Soviet movement became more active in the [[Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic]] in 1988. Several strikes and meetings were organized by anti-Soviet political organizations in Tbilisi. The conflict between the [[Soviet]] government and Georgian nationalists deepened after the so-called Lykhny Assembly on [[March 18]], [[1989]], when several thousand [[Abkhaz]] demanded secession from Georgia and restoration of the Union republic status of 1921&ndash;1931. In response, the anti-Soviet groups organized a series of unsanctioned meetings across the republic, claiming that the [[Soviet (council)|Soviet]] government was using Abkhaz separatism in order to oppose the pro-independence movement.


The protests reached their peak on [[April 4]] [[1989]], when tens of thousands of [[Georgian people|Georgians]] gathered before the House of Government on [[Rustaveli Avenue]] in Tbilisi. The protesters, led by the Independence Committee ([[Merab Kostava]], [[Zviad Gamsakhurdia]], [[Giorgi Chanturia]], Irakli Bathiashvili, Irakli Tsereteli and others) organized a peaceful demonstration and hunger strikes, demanding the punishment of Abkhaz secessionists and restoration of Georgian independence. Local [[soviet]] authorities lost control over the situation in the capital and were unable to contain the protests. First Secretary of the Georgian Communist Party [[Jumber Patiashvili]] asked USSR leadership to send troops to restore order and impose curfew.<ref>[http://sobchak.org/rus/docs/zakluchenie.htm Report of the Sobchak's commission of inquiry (in Russian)]</ref>
Local [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] authorities lost control over the situation in the capital and were unable to contain the protests. First Secretary of the Georgian Communist Party [[Jumber Patiashvili]] asked USSR leadership to send troops to restore order and impose curfew.<ref name="Sobchak"/>


== The demonstrations ==
==The demonstrations==
In the evening of April 8, 1989, [[Colonel general|Colonel General]] [[Igor Rodionov]], Commander of the [[Transcaucasian Military District|Transcaucasus Military District]], ordered his troops to mobilize. Moments before the attack by the Soviet forces, the Patriarch of Georgia [[Ilia II]] addressed the demonstrators asking them to leave [[Rustavelis Gamziri|Rustaveli Avenue]] and the vicinity of the government building due to the danger which accumulated during the day after appearance of Soviet tanks near the avenue. The demonstrators refused to disband even after the Patriarch's plea. The local Georgian [[militsiya]] (police) units were disarmed just before the operation.<ref name=Sobchak />


In the evening of [[April 8]] [[1989]], [[Colonel General]] [[Igor Rodionov]], Commander of the [[Transcaucasus Military District]], ordered his troops to mobilize. Moments before the attack by the Soviet forces, the Patriarch of Georgia [[Ilia II]] addressed the demonstrators asking them to leave the [[Rustavelis Gamziri|Rustaveli avenue]] and the vicinity of the government building due to the danger which accumulated during the day after the appearance of Soviet tanks near the avenue. The demonstrators refused to disband even after the Patriarch's plea. The local Georgian [[militsiya]] (police) units were disarmed just before the operation. On [[April 9]], at 3:45 a.m., Soviet tanks and troops under General [[Aleksandr Lebed]] surrounded the demonstration area. The Soviet troops received an order from General Rodionov to disband and clear the avenue of demonstrators by any means necessary. <ref> New Nations Rising: The Fall of the Soviets and the Challenge of Independence, Nadia Diuk, Adrian Karatnycky </ref>
On April 9, at 3:45&nbsp;a.m., Soviet [[Armoured personnel carrier|APCs]] and troops under General [[Igor Rodionov]] surrounded the demonstration area.<ref name=Sobchak /> Later, Rodionov claimed in his interview that groups of Georgian militants attacked unarmed soldiers with stones, metal chains and rods.<ref name="Rodionov">{{Cite web|url=http://www.warlib.ru/|title=Военная библиотека Федоровых|website=Военная библиотека Федоровых|language=ru-RU|access-date=2019-04-09}}</ref> The Soviet troops received an order from General Rodionov to disband and clear the avenue of demonstrators by any means necessary.<ref name="ReferenceA">New Nations Rising: The Fall of the Soviets and the Challenge of Independence, Nadia Diuk, Adrian Karatnycky</ref>


The Soviet detachment, armed with military batons and [[Entrenching tool|spades]] (a favorite weapon of [[spetsnaz|Soviet special forces]]<ref>[[Viktor Suvorov]] ''[http://militera.lib.ru/research/suvorov6/index.html Spetsnaz]'', 1987, Hamish Hamilton Ltd, {{ISBN|0-241-11961-8}}</ref>), advanced on demonstrators moving along [[Rustaveli Avenue]].<ref name=Sobchak /> During the advance, the soldiers started to attack demonstrators with spades, inflicting injuries both minor and serious to anyone who was struck.<ref name="ReferenceA" />
The Soviet detachment, armed with military batons and metal shovels, advanced on demonstrators by encircling them from all sides leaving only a narrow pathway to pull back. During the advance, the soldiers started to attack demonstrators with small metal military shovels, inflicting injuries both minor and serious to anyone who was struck. <ref> New Nations Rising: The Fall of the Soviets and the Challenge of Independence, Nadia Diuk, Adrian Karatnycky </ref> One of the victims of the attack was a 16 year old girl who tried to get away from the advancing soldiers, but was chased down and beaten to death near the steps of the government building, receiving blows to the head and chest. She was dragged out of the area by her mother who was also attacked and wounded. This particularly violent attack was recorded on video from the balcony a building located on the other side of the avenue. The video was used during the Sobchaks investigation of the events in the aftermath. Similar attacks by Soviet soldiers resulted in the death of nineteen women and was confirmed through the investigation. <ref> New Nations Rising: The Fall of the Soviets and the Challenge of Independence, Nadia Diuk, Adrian Karatnycky </ref> It was also reported that toxic gas was used against the demonstrators; vomiting, respiratory problems and sudden paralyses of the [[nervous system]] were reported. <ref>Nationalist Violence and the State: Political Authority and Contentious Repertoires in the Former USSR, Mark R. Beissinger Comparative Politics, Vol. 30, No. 4 (Jul., 1998), pp. 26-27.</ref>


One of the victims of the attack was a 16-year-old girl who tried to get away from the advancing soldiers, but was chased down and beaten to death near the steps of the government building, receiving blows to the head and chest. She was dragged out of the area by her mother, who was also attacked and wounded. This particularly violent attack was recorded on video from the balcony of a building located on the other side of the avenue. The video was used in the aftermath as evidence during Soviet politician [[Anatoly Sobchak|Anatoly Sobchak's]] ''Parliamentary commission on investigation of events of April 9, 1989''. Groups of Soviet soldiers were reported to chase individual victims, rather than dispersing the crowd.<ref>{{YouTube|id=LToXsIwZ_P8|title=Documentary Film - The April 9, 1989 Tragedy}}</ref>
Twenty people, mainly young girls and older women, were killed and over 4,000 were injured due to toxic gas and injuries received from violent beating by batons and shovels. <ref>Georgia: A Sovereign Country in the Caucasus Roger Rosen, p. 89 </ref>. The disarmed police officers attempted evacuate the panicked group of demonstrators, however a video taken secretly by opposition journalists showed that soldiers did not allow doctors and emergency workers to help injured people, in fact even ambulances were attacked by the advancing soldiers<ref>Defending the Border: Identity, Religion, And Modernity in the Republic of Georgia (Culture and Society After Socialism)
, Mathijs Pelkmans pp. 127-39</ref> Captured on film, the image of a young man beating a tank with a stick became a symbol of the Georgian anti-Soviet movement. <ref>Georgia: In the Mountains of Poetry, Peter Nasmyth, p 18 </ref>


[[CN gas|CN]] and [[CS gas]] were used against the demonstrators;<ref name="Sobchak" /> vomiting, respiratory problems and sudden paralyses of the [[nervous system]] were reported.<ref name="State 1998 pp. 26-27">Nationalist Violence and the State: Political Authority and Contentious Repertoires in the Former USSR, Mark R. Beissinger Comparative Politics, Vol. 30, No. 4 (Jul., 1998), pp. 26-27.</ref>
On [[April 10]], the Soviet government issued the statement blaming the demonstrators for causing unrest and danger for the safety of the public. The next day, the Georgian TV showed the bodies of the 19 women violently killed, demonstrating that extreme brutality was used by the Soviet soldiers, as the faces of the deceased women were hard to identify due to the facial injuries and blows to the head. The Soviet government blamed the demonstrators for the death of the 20 people, claiming that they had trampled each other while panicking and retreating from the advancing Soviet soldiers. <ref>Georgia: In the Mountains of Poetry, Peter Nasmyth, p 18 </ref> However, Parliamentary commission on investigation of events of [[April 9]], [[1989]] in Tbilisi was launched by [[Anatoly Sobchak]], member of [[Congress of People's Deputies]] of [[Soviet Union]]. After full investigation and inqueries, the commission condemned the military, which had caused the deaths trying to disperse demonstrators. The commission's report made it more difficult to use military power against demonstrations of civil unrest in the Soviet Union. Sobchak's report presented a detailed account of the violence which was used against the demonstrators and recommended the full prosecution of military personnel responsible for the [[April 9]] event. <ref>Nationalist Violence and the State: Political Authority and Contentious Repertoires in the Former USSR, Mark R. Beissinger Comparative Politics, Vol. 30, No. 4 (Jul., 1998), pp. 26-27.</ref>


The unarmed police officers attempted to evacuate the panicked group of demonstrators, however a video taken secretly by opposition journalists showed that soldiers did not allow doctors and emergency workers to help the injured people; even ambulances were attacked by the advancing soldiers<ref>Defending the Border: Identity, Religion, And Modernity in the Republic of Georgia (Culture and Society After Socialism)
== Aftermath ==
, Mathijs Pelkmans pp. 127-39</ref> Captured on film, the image of a young man beating a tank with a stick became a symbol of the Georgian anti-Soviet movement.<ref name="Georgia p 18">Georgia: In the Mountains of Poetry, Peter Nasmyth, p 18</ref>
On [[April 10]], in protest against the crackdown, Tbilisi and the rest of Georgia went out on strike and a 40-day period of mourning was declared. People brought massive collections of flowers to the place of the killings. A state of emergency was declared, but demonstrations continued.


== Victims ==
The government of Soviet Georgia resigned as a result of the event. [[Moscow]] claimed the demonstrators attacked first and the soldiers had to repel them. At the first [[Congress of People's Deputies]] (May&ndash;June 1989) [[Mikhail Gorbachev]] disclaimed all responsibility, shifting blame onto the army. The revelations in the liberal Soviet media, as well as the findings of the "pro-[[Perestroika]]" Deputy [[Anatoly Sobchak]]'s commission of enquiry into the Tbilisi events, reported at the second Congress in December 1989, resulted in embarrassment for the Soviet hardliners and army leadership implicated in the event.
The [[stampede#Human stampedes and crushes|stampede]] as people fled from the attack resulted in the death of 19 people, among them 17 women. [[Autopsy|Autopsies]] conducted on the victims concluded the direct cause of death of all those who died, with
the exception of one case of serious skull and brain injury, was suffocation (asphyxia) caused by both the compression of the body and the inhalation of chemical substances.<ref name="Sobchak" />


On April 11, The Georgian TV showed the bodies of the 17 women violently killed, demonstrating alleged brutality by the Soviet soldiers, as the faces of the deceased women were hard to identify due to the facial injuries and blows to the head. The Soviet government blamed the demonstrators for the death of the 20 people, claiming that they had trampled each other while panicking and retreating from the advancing Soviet soldiers.<ref name="Georgia p 18" /> Ironically there was some truth in this, as Soviet troops had blocked all exits from the area except for one narrow passage, which made flight from the area difficult and induced a [[crowd crush]] and, possibly, some desperate defensive violence by the trapped demonstrators.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lehrke |first1=Jesse Paul |title=The Transition to National Armies in the Former Soviet Republics, 1988-2005 |date=2013 |publisher=Routledge |location=London |isbn=978-0-415-68836-9 |page=42 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hASX_gCNND8C&pg=PA42}}</ref>
== Legacy ==
The [[April 9]] tragedy radicalised Georgian opposition to Soviet power. A few months later, a session of the Supreme Council of Georgian SSR, held on November 17-18, 1989, officially condemned the occupation and annexation of [[Democratic Republic of Georgia]] by [[Russian SFSR|Soviet Russia]] in 1921.


== Investigative reports ==
On [[March 31]], [[1991]], Georgians voted overwhelmingly in favor of independence from the [[Soviet Union]] in a [[Georgian independence referendum, 1991|referendum]]. With a 90.5% turnout, approximately 99% voted in favor of independence. On [[April 9]], the second anniversary of the tragedy, the [[Supreme Council of the Republic of Georgia]] proclaimed Georgian sovereignty and independence from the Soviet Union.
Official Soviet reports blamed the demonstrators for causing the clash, saying that the troops were attacked with sticks and knives.<ref name="lib.unb.ca">{{Cite web|url=https://journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/JCS?directory=spring99/&filename=cotter_notes.htm|title=Journal of Conflict Studies|website=journals.lib.unb.ca|access-date=2019-04-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180901004936/https://journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/JCS?directory=spring99%2F&filename=cotter_notes.htm|archive-date=2018-09-01|url-status=dead}}</ref> According to Tass, the soldiers followed orders not to use their weapons, but that extremists attacked them with pieces of metal, bricks and sticks. Tass described the demonstrators as stirring interethnic strife and calling for the overthrow of the Georgian government. [[General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|General Secretary of the Soviet Communist Party]] [[Mikhail Gorbachev]] slammed "actions by irresponsible persons" for loss of life. He said that the disturbances sought to overthrow the Georgian government and stir ethnic tension in Georgia. A foreign ministry spokesman said that the clashes were sparked by "die-hard nationalists, extremists and political adventurists who are abusing democratization to the detriment of our new policy of openness and of our very society."<ref>Associated Press, Toronto Star, Apr 13, 1989</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-04-11-mn-1600-story.html|title=Gorbachev Sends Aide to Calm Soviet Georgia|date=1989-04-11|work=Los Angeles Times|access-date=2019-04-20|language=en-US|issn=0458-3035}}</ref>


A parliamentary commission on investigation of the events of April 9, 1989, in Tbilisi was launched by [[Anatoly Sobchak]], a member of the [[Congress of People's Deputies of the Soviet Union|Congress of People's Deputies]] of [[Soviet Union]]. After full investigation and inquiries, the commission confirmed the government's claim that the deaths had resulted from trampling, but another contributing factor had been the chemical substances used against the demonstrators. It condemned the military, which had caused the deaths by trying to disperse demonstrators. The commission's report made it more difficult to use military power against demonstrations of civil unrest in the Soviet Union. Sobchak's report presented a detailed account of the violence which was used against the demonstrators and recommended the full prosecution of military personnel responsible for the April 9 event.<ref name="State 1998 pp. 26-27" />
A memorial to the victims of the tragedy was opened at the location of the crackdown on [[Rustaveli Avenue]] on [[November 23]], [[2004]].


==References==
== Response ==
{{unreferenced section|date=April 2011}}On April 10, the Soviet government issued a statement blaming the demonstrators for causing unrest and danger to the safety of the public.


On April 10, in protest against the crackdown, Tbilisi and the rest of Georgia went out on strike and a 40-day period of mourning was declared. People brought massive collections of flowers to the place of the killings. A state of emergency was declared, but demonstrations continued.
{{reflist}}


The government of the Georgian SSR resigned as a result of the event. [[Moscow]] claimed the demonstrators attacked first and the soldiers had to repel them. At the first [[Congress of People's Deputies of the Soviet Union|Congress of People's Deputies]] (May&ndash;June 1989) [[Mikhail Gorbachev]] disclaimed all responsibility, shifting blame onto the army. The revelations in the liberal Soviet media, as well as the findings of the "pro-[[Perestroika]]" Deputy [[Anatoly Sobchak]]'s commission of enquiry into the Tbilisi events, reported at the second Congress in December 1989, resulted in embarrassment for the Soviet hardliners and army leadership implicated in the event.
== See also ==

==Legacy==
[[File:April 9 tragedy memorial (Georgia Parliament).jpg|thumb|A memorial sculpture outside the Parliament building (pictured 2019)]]
The April 9 tragedy radicalised Georgian opposition to Soviet power. A few months later, a session of the Supreme Council of Georgian SSR, held on November 17–18, 1989, officially condemned the occupation{{Citation needed|date=February 2012}} and annexation of [[Democratic Republic of Georgia]] by [[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic|Soviet Russia]] in 1921.

The events of April 9 also gave rise to the so-called 'Tbilisi Syndrome'. This syndrome was characterized by the reluctance of military officers and soldiers to take any tactical decisions or even obey orders without a clear trail of responsibility to a higher authority. It arose because of the Soviet leadership's refusal to take responsibility for the orders to clear the square and the commission report's and Shevardnadze's criticism of the military in general. 'Tbilisi Syndrome' continued to spread in the coming years, especially following events in Baku and Vilnius, and contributed in 1991 to the refusal of soldiers to prevent demonstrations during the August 1991 putsch.<ref>Lehrke, Jesse Paul. The Transition to National Armies in the Former Soviet Republics, 1988-2005.” Oxfordshire, UK: Routledge (2013), Chapter 2 and 3.</ref>

On March 31, 1991, Georgians voted overwhelmingly in favor of independence from the [[Soviet Union]] in a [[1991 Georgian independence referendum|referendum]]. With a 90.5% turnout, approximately 99% voted in favor of independence. On April 9, the second anniversary of the tragedy, the [[Supreme Council of the Republic of Georgia]] proclaimed Georgian sovereignty and independence from the Soviet Union.

A memorial to the victims of the tragedy was opened at the location of the crackdown on [[Rustaveli Avenue]] on November 23, 2004.

==See also==
*[[Black January]]
*[[Revolutions of 1989]]
*[[Revolutions of 1989]]
*[[9 March 1956 massacre in Tbilisi]]
*[[1956 Georgian demonstrations]], 9 March 1956 massacre in Tbilisi
*[[1978 Georgian demonstrations]]
*[[1978 Georgian demonstrations]]
*[[January Events]]
*[[January Events]], 1991 in Lithuania
*[[The Barricades]], 1991 in Latvia
*[[Jeltoqsan]]
*[[Jeltoqsan]]
*[[Novocherkassk massacre]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}


==External links==
==External links==
* [http://www.letton.ch/lvx_tall6.htm Resolution of the Baltic Assembly on the Events in Georgia on April 9 1989]
* [http://www.letton.ch/lvx_tall6.htm Resolution of the Baltic Assembly on the Events in Georgia on April 9 1989]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20121127185336/http://poli.vub.ac.be/publi/ContBorders/eng/ch0103.htm The 9 April 1989 Tragedy and the Abkhazian Question]
* [http://www.phrusa.org/research/health_effects/humsov.html Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) report]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070929080842/http://www.rustavi2.com/news/programs_ru.php?rec_start=20&pg=&id_clip=&l=17#more_newss A Rustavi 2 documentary about the 1989 events (includes original footage)]
* [http://poli.vub.ac.be/publi/ContBorders/eng/ch0103.htm The 9 April 1989 Tragedy and the Abkhazian Question]
* [http://sobchak.org/rus/docs/zakluchenie.htm Report of the Sobchak's commission of inquiry (in Russian)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180819114114/http://sobchak.org/rus/docs/zakluchenie.htm |date=2018-08-19 }}
* [http://www.rustavi2.com/news/programs_ru.php?rec_start=20&pg=&id_clip=&l=17#more_newss A Rustavi 2 documentary about the 1989 events (includes original footage)]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXua5JqL8WE Eye of the Storm: Soviet Georgia Revolution. Documentary by Simeon Smith.]
* [http://sobchak.org/rus/docs/zakluchenie.htm Report of the Sobchak's commission of inquiry (in Russian)]
* [https://publika.ge/1989-wlis-9-aprilis-tragediidan-31-weli-shesrulda/ 1989 წლის 9 აპრილის ტრაგედიიდან 31 წელი შესრულდა]


{{Georgia (country) topics}}
[[Category:1989 in the Soviet Union]]
{{Public holidays in Georgia (country)}}
{{Eastern Bloc}}
{{Post-Cold War European conflicts}}
{{Fall of Communism}}
{{Human stampedes}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:April 9 Tragedy}}
[[Category:Political repression in Georgia (country)]]
[[Category:Political repression in the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Political repression in the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:History of Georgia (country)]]
[[Category:Protests in Georgia (country)]]
[[Category:Protests in Georgia (country)]]
[[Category:Tbilisi]]
[[Category:Human stampedes in 1989]]
[[Category:Violations of medical neutrality]]

[[Category:1989 disasters in Georgia (country)]]
[[es:Tragedia del 9 de abril]]
[[Category:1989 protests]]
[[he:הטרגדיה של 9 באפריל]]
[[Category:Protests in the Soviet Union]]
[[ka:9 აპრილის ტრაგედია]]
[[ru:Тбилисские события 1989]]
[[Category:Mass murder in 1989]]
[[Category:1980s in Tbilisi]]
[[fi:Huhtikuun 9. päivän tragedia]]
[[Category:April 1989 events in Asia]]
[[Category:1989 disasters in the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Military history of Tbilisi]]
[[Category:Massacres in Georgia (country)]]
[[Category:Massacres committed by the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Massacres of protesters in Europe]]
[[Category:Massacres of protesters in Asia]]
[[Category:Police brutality in Europe]]
[[Category:Police brutality in Asia]]
[[Category:Russian war crimes in Georgia (country)]]

Latest revision as of 20:17, 6 November 2024

April 9 Tragedy
Part of Georgian-Abkhaz conflict, Revolutions of 1989, and Dissolution of the Soviet Union
Photos of the April 9, 1989 massacre victims, mostly young women, on a billboard in Tbilisi (2008)
Date4 April 1989 – 9 April 1989
Location
Tbilisi, Georgian SSR, Soviet Union
Caused byPolitical repression
Nationalist sentiment
Goals
MethodsProtest march, Picketing, Street protesters, Flag waving.
Resulted in
Parties
Lead figures
Casualties and losses
Deaths: 21
Injuries: 100+
Arrests: 100+
Part of a series on the
History of Georgia
Prehistoric Georgia
Ancient history
Middle Ages
Early modern history
Modern history
History by topic
Eastern Bloc
Republics of the USSR
Allied and satellite states
Related organizations
Opposition
Anti-Soviet partisans
Guerrilla war in the Baltic states
Protests and uprisings
Dissent
Cold War events
Fall

April 9 Tragedy (also known as The massacre of Tbilisi or Tbilisi tragedy) refers to the events in Tbilisi, Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic, on April 9, 1989, when an anti-Soviet, pro-independence demonstration was crushed by the Soviet Army, resulting in 21 deaths and hundreds of injuries. April 9 is now remembered as the National Unity Day (Georgian: ეროვნული ერთიანობის დღე, romanized: erovnuli ertianobis dghe), an annual public holiday.

Prelude

[edit]

In the Georgian SSR, the anti-Soviet movement grew more active in 1988. Political groups opposed to the Soviet Union organized a number of protests and gatherings in Tbilisi. The conflict between the Soviet government and Georgian nationalists deepened after the so-called Lykhny Assembly on March 18, 1989, when several thousand Abkhaz demanded secession from Georgia and restoration of the Union republic status of 1921–1931. In response, the anti-Soviet groups organized a series of unsanctioned meetings across the republic, claiming that the Soviet government was using Abkhaz separatism in order to oppose the pro-independence movement.

The protests reached their peak on April 4, 1989, when tens of thousands of Georgians gathered before the House of Government on Rustaveli Avenue in Tbilisi. The protesters, led by the Independence Committee (Merab Kostava, Zviad Gamsakhurdia, Giorgi Chanturia, Irakli Bathiashvili, Irakli Tsereteli and others) organized a peaceful demonstration and hunger strikes, demanding the punishment of Abkhaz secessionists and restoration of Georgian independence.[1]

Local Soviet authorities lost control over the situation in the capital and were unable to contain the protests. First Secretary of the Georgian Communist Party Jumber Patiashvili asked USSR leadership to send troops to restore order and impose curfew.[1]

The demonstrations

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In the evening of April 8, 1989, Colonel General Igor Rodionov, Commander of the Transcaucasus Military District, ordered his troops to mobilize. Moments before the attack by the Soviet forces, the Patriarch of Georgia Ilia II addressed the demonstrators asking them to leave Rustaveli Avenue and the vicinity of the government building due to the danger which accumulated during the day after appearance of Soviet tanks near the avenue. The demonstrators refused to disband even after the Patriarch's plea. The local Georgian militsiya (police) units were disarmed just before the operation.[1]

On April 9, at 3:45 a.m., Soviet APCs and troops under General Igor Rodionov surrounded the demonstration area.[1] Later, Rodionov claimed in his interview that groups of Georgian militants attacked unarmed soldiers with stones, metal chains and rods.[2] The Soviet troops received an order from General Rodionov to disband and clear the avenue of demonstrators by any means necessary.[3]

The Soviet detachment, armed with military batons and spades (a favorite weapon of Soviet special forces[4]), advanced on demonstrators moving along Rustaveli Avenue.[1] During the advance, the soldiers started to attack demonstrators with spades, inflicting injuries both minor and serious to anyone who was struck.[3]

One of the victims of the attack was a 16-year-old girl who tried to get away from the advancing soldiers, but was chased down and beaten to death near the steps of the government building, receiving blows to the head and chest. She was dragged out of the area by her mother, who was also attacked and wounded. This particularly violent attack was recorded on video from the balcony of a building located on the other side of the avenue. The video was used in the aftermath as evidence during Soviet politician Anatoly Sobchak's Parliamentary commission on investigation of events of April 9, 1989. Groups of Soviet soldiers were reported to chase individual victims, rather than dispersing the crowd.[5]

CN and CS gas were used against the demonstrators;[1] vomiting, respiratory problems and sudden paralyses of the nervous system were reported.[6]

The unarmed police officers attempted to evacuate the panicked group of demonstrators, however a video taken secretly by opposition journalists showed that soldiers did not allow doctors and emergency workers to help the injured people; even ambulances were attacked by the advancing soldiers[7] Captured on film, the image of a young man beating a tank with a stick became a symbol of the Georgian anti-Soviet movement.[8]

Victims

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The stampede as people fled from the attack resulted in the death of 19 people, among them 17 women. Autopsies conducted on the victims concluded the direct cause of death of all those who died, with the exception of one case of serious skull and brain injury, was suffocation (asphyxia) caused by both the compression of the body and the inhalation of chemical substances.[1]

On April 11, The Georgian TV showed the bodies of the 17 women violently killed, demonstrating alleged brutality by the Soviet soldiers, as the faces of the deceased women were hard to identify due to the facial injuries and blows to the head. The Soviet government blamed the demonstrators for the death of the 20 people, claiming that they had trampled each other while panicking and retreating from the advancing Soviet soldiers.[8] Ironically there was some truth in this, as Soviet troops had blocked all exits from the area except for one narrow passage, which made flight from the area difficult and induced a crowd crush and, possibly, some desperate defensive violence by the trapped demonstrators.[9]

Investigative reports

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Official Soviet reports blamed the demonstrators for causing the clash, saying that the troops were attacked with sticks and knives.[10] According to Tass, the soldiers followed orders not to use their weapons, but that extremists attacked them with pieces of metal, bricks and sticks. Tass described the demonstrators as stirring interethnic strife and calling for the overthrow of the Georgian government. General Secretary of the Soviet Communist Party Mikhail Gorbachev slammed "actions by irresponsible persons" for loss of life. He said that the disturbances sought to overthrow the Georgian government and stir ethnic tension in Georgia. A foreign ministry spokesman said that the clashes were sparked by "die-hard nationalists, extremists and political adventurists who are abusing democratization to the detriment of our new policy of openness and of our very society."[11][12]

A parliamentary commission on investigation of the events of April 9, 1989, in Tbilisi was launched by Anatoly Sobchak, a member of the Congress of People's Deputies of Soviet Union. After full investigation and inquiries, the commission confirmed the government's claim that the deaths had resulted from trampling, but another contributing factor had been the chemical substances used against the demonstrators. It condemned the military, which had caused the deaths by trying to disperse demonstrators. The commission's report made it more difficult to use military power against demonstrations of civil unrest in the Soviet Union. Sobchak's report presented a detailed account of the violence which was used against the demonstrators and recommended the full prosecution of military personnel responsible for the April 9 event.[6]

Response

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On April 10, the Soviet government issued a statement blaming the demonstrators for causing unrest and danger to the safety of the public.

On April 10, in protest against the crackdown, Tbilisi and the rest of Georgia went out on strike and a 40-day period of mourning was declared. People brought massive collections of flowers to the place of the killings. A state of emergency was declared, but demonstrations continued.

The government of the Georgian SSR resigned as a result of the event. Moscow claimed the demonstrators attacked first and the soldiers had to repel them. At the first Congress of People's Deputies (May–June 1989) Mikhail Gorbachev disclaimed all responsibility, shifting blame onto the army. The revelations in the liberal Soviet media, as well as the findings of the "pro-Perestroika" Deputy Anatoly Sobchak's commission of enquiry into the Tbilisi events, reported at the second Congress in December 1989, resulted in embarrassment for the Soviet hardliners and army leadership implicated in the event.

Legacy

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A memorial sculpture outside the Parliament building (pictured 2019)

The April 9 tragedy radicalised Georgian opposition to Soviet power. A few months later, a session of the Supreme Council of Georgian SSR, held on November 17–18, 1989, officially condemned the occupation[citation needed] and annexation of Democratic Republic of Georgia by Soviet Russia in 1921.

The events of April 9 also gave rise to the so-called 'Tbilisi Syndrome'. This syndrome was characterized by the reluctance of military officers and soldiers to take any tactical decisions or even obey orders without a clear trail of responsibility to a higher authority. It arose because of the Soviet leadership's refusal to take responsibility for the orders to clear the square and the commission report's and Shevardnadze's criticism of the military in general. 'Tbilisi Syndrome' continued to spread in the coming years, especially following events in Baku and Vilnius, and contributed in 1991 to the refusal of soldiers to prevent demonstrations during the August 1991 putsch.[13]

On March 31, 1991, Georgians voted overwhelmingly in favor of independence from the Soviet Union in a referendum. With a 90.5% turnout, approximately 99% voted in favor of independence. On April 9, the second anniversary of the tragedy, the Supreme Council of the Republic of Georgia proclaimed Georgian sovereignty and independence from the Soviet Union.

A memorial to the victims of the tragedy was opened at the location of the crackdown on Rustaveli Avenue on November 23, 2004.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g "ЗАКЛЮЧЕНИЕ Комиссии Съезда народных депутатов СССР по расследованию событий, имевших место в г. Тбилиси 9 апреля 1989 года". sobchak.org. Archived from the original on 2018-08-19. Retrieved 2019-04-09.
  2. ^ "Военная библиотека Федоровых". Военная библиотека Федоровых (in Russian). Retrieved 2019-04-09.
  3. ^ a b New Nations Rising: The Fall of the Soviets and the Challenge of Independence, Nadia Diuk, Adrian Karatnycky
  4. ^ Viktor Suvorov Spetsnaz, 1987, Hamish Hamilton Ltd, ISBN 0-241-11961-8
  5. ^ Documentary Film - The April 9, 1989 Tragedy on YouTube
  6. ^ a b Nationalist Violence and the State: Political Authority and Contentious Repertoires in the Former USSR, Mark R. Beissinger Comparative Politics, Vol. 30, No. 4 (Jul., 1998), pp. 26-27.
  7. ^ Defending the Border: Identity, Religion, And Modernity in the Republic of Georgia (Culture and Society After Socialism) , Mathijs Pelkmans pp. 127-39
  8. ^ a b Georgia: In the Mountains of Poetry, Peter Nasmyth, p 18
  9. ^ Lehrke, Jesse Paul (2013). The Transition to National Armies in the Former Soviet Republics, 1988-2005. London: Routledge. p. 42. ISBN 978-0-415-68836-9.
  10. ^ "Journal of Conflict Studies". journals.lib.unb.ca. Archived from the original on 2018-09-01. Retrieved 2019-04-20.
  11. ^ Associated Press, Toronto Star, Apr 13, 1989
  12. ^ "Gorbachev Sends Aide to Calm Soviet Georgia". Los Angeles Times. 1989-04-11. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved 2019-04-20.
  13. ^ Lehrke, Jesse Paul. The Transition to National Armies in the Former Soviet Republics, 1988-2005.” Oxfordshire, UK: Routledge (2013), Chapter 2 and 3.
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