TBILISI. Feb 27 (Interfax) - National flags on Georgian government institutions were lowered to half-mast on Saturday to mark Day of Occupation of Georgia.
Ninety-one years ago, on February 25, 1921, the 11th Red Army entered Tbilisi and proclaimed Soviet rule in Georgia.
Members of the incumbent Georgian government and a lot of contemporary Georgian historians are sure that, if there had been no Soviet rule in Georgia, the country would have achieved much more and would have been among the leading European countries now.
Modern Georgian historians also blame the-then government for declaring Georgia's neutrality in 1920, so depriving it of Europe's aid against Soviet Russia.
The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR) and the Georgian Democratic Republic had signed a peace treaty in May 1920. The RSFSR became the first great power to legally recognize the Georgian Democratic Republic and establish diplomat relations with it. Under the treaty, Soviet Russia unconditionally recognized Georgia's independence and committed not to interfere in its internal affairs.
However, in less than a year, on February 16, 1921, Soviet troops crossed Georgia's southern border. On February 25, units of the 11th Red Army entered Tiflis (Tbilisi), and the Soviets seized power in Georgia.