Description
Book SynopsisGeorgian social democracy was the most successful social democratic movement in Russia. Despite its size, it produced many of the leading revolutionaries of 1917. In the first of two volumes, Jones writes the history of this movement, which represented one of the earliest examples of European social democracy at the turn of the 20th century.
Trade ReviewA splendid account, which breaks new ground. Stephen Jones brings Georgian Marxism back to life on its own terms and in its own time. He is brilliant at setting the national, social, and cultural context, and he succeeds in relating the Georgian movement to the wider frame of Russian imperial and indeed global history. -- Robert Service, author of
Stalin: A BiographyThis fine book breaks new ground in its original and persuasive narrative of a unique social movement. Georgian Social Democracy was the first Marxist movement in the world to gain massive peasant support, something later achieved in China and Vietnam, but in the Georgian case also established a successful democratic socialist government in a time of revolution and civil war. The Georgians managed to marry socialism, democracy, and a moderate, tolerant form of nationalism. There are lessons to be learned in this history. -- Ronald Grigor Suny, author of
The Soviet ExperimentThis is the first detailed study in English of Georgian social democracy based on archival and secondary sources in the Georgian language as well as in Russian. For this reason alone, it should hold a lasting place in the growing literature on the regional and ethnic revolutionary movements in the Russian Empire. -- Alfred J. Rieber * Journal of Modern History *
Table of ContentsPreface 1. The Historical Context 2. The Intellectual Roots of Georgian Social Democracy 3. The Mesame Dasi 4. The Working People 5. The Split 6. The Gurian Republic 7. 1905 8. New Directions 9. War and Revolution 10. Conclusion Abbreviations Notes Bibliography Index
