Book Talk | Georgian and Soviet

Soviet Georgia received the same nation-building template as other national republics of the USSR. Stalin's Georgian heritage, intimate knowledge of Caucasian affairs, and personal involvement in local matters as he ascended to prominence left Soviet Georgia to confront a distinct set of challenges after his death in 1953. Today, Georgia still grapples with the legacies of its Soviet century, and the Stalin factor likewise lingers as new generations of Georgians reevaluate the symbiotic relationship between Soso Jughashvili and his native land. In this book talk, Claire Kaiser will present her work Georgian and Soviet, which demonstrates the decisive role of the postwar and post-Stalin era in the creation of a "Georgian" Georgia. She will define the role of the Stalin cult in the construction of modern Georgian nationhood, and explore how de-Stalinization changed Georgia's populace and the unusual imperial relationship between Moscow and Tbilisi.