David Ghambashidze: Representative of the First Georgian Republic to his Britannic Majesty’s Government (1918-1921)
David Ghambashidze: Representative of the First Georgian Republic to his Britannic Majesty’s Government (1918-1921)

Summary/Abstract: This article is dedicated to the remarkable personality of David Ghambashidze, the First Georgian Republic’s diplomatic representative to the United Kingdom. I describe his loyal service to his country’s interests, as well as his more clandestine efforts to thwart opponents and rivals in the Georgian Government. Ghambashidze’s personal attributes, his ambitious pragmatism, and his excellent diplomatic skills allowed him to accomplish these disparate, yet necessary challenges. He won substantial respect and trust from the British Government and was considered the most pro-British Georgian politician. Despite not being a member of the ruling Social-Democratic party he was granted cart-blanche by the Georgian government. He was clearly politically adroit, and not above acting with the necessary moral equivocation of a diplomat seeking to preserve both his country and himself. His loyalty to his government and his country, however, was unwavering. He made consistent efforts to move the British to recognize Georgia. He worked to acquire food, munitions, and loans for Georgia, and even wrote two books in English on Georgian national resources in order to attract British investment. This article is based exclusively on hitherto unused historic sources. There are materials from the British Foreign Office Archives, the Georgian National Archives, and the Italian Foreign Ministry Archives, as well as books and newspaper articles which have never before appeared in Georgian scholarship. Aside from David Ghambashidze, the article aims further to reveal unknown details of the First Georgian Republic’s diplomacy.

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