Abstract:
Desertion created severe complications in founding the regular army of the first democratic republic of Georgia (1918-1921). A slight cast of a glance over the archival materials makes us sure in it. As many as 2707 soldiers fled from the army from November 1920 till the beginning of January 1921. What were the reasons of all these? Initially it was a complex social environment in the country which used to find its reflection on the army too. There were problems of ill-equipped barracks, food and various diseases in Georgian army. In some units, it was followed by the brutal treatment of private soldiers from the side of officers and under-officers. Also should be considered that the horrible results of WWI and the revolution aggravated negative public sentiment towards military service. It was accompanied by Bolsheviks’ antigovernment agitation in the army units. The liberal approach of the government of Georgian democratic re-public to the resolution of desertion problem turned out to be ineffective.
