Question by Dubbi: What happened in the war between russia and georgia?
Why did russia invade georgia and what happend?
Answers and Views:
Answer by kyle p
whole lot of nothing then after 3 weeks of driving around an independent country or a province in rebellion (depending on who’s side your on) both sides decided to pretend it never happened
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AisuErufu says
The two have been quarreling for a very long time. Russia was upset at Georgia wanting to join NATO, and for understandable reasons. Russia has such a large border that it is difficult to defend, and so it uses the adjoining states as sort of a buffer against the West. When an adjoining state wants to join NATO or adopt a Western democracy, Russia feels threatened.
On the other hand, Georgia wants to be allowed into NATO very badly. Georgian presedent Saakashvili thought the US would back him up militarily if he started a war. We backed him in word, but not as much as he wanted.
The war part of this all involves South Ossetia. South Ossetia is a region directly north of Georgia. It used to have sovereignty, but basically that sovereignty was lost when it was absorbed into Georgia. South Ossetia's inhabitants are primarily Russian, and I believe something like 95% of their citizens have Russian visas. South Ossetia has been trying to regain it's sovereignty for a long time, and is recognized by Russia as a sovereign state (as well as Nicaragua), but no one else.
Georgia attacked South Ossetia first, without warning, in a civilian area. It was a horrible thing to do and was not fully represented here in the US. Russia stepped in to defend South Ossetia, but has been criticized for using too much force, and for having been so prepared with troops already on the border.
Both states did things wrong, but there is a strong bias in American news for Saakashvili because he is attempting to bring democracy to Georgia. If you do research you will find out that Saakashvili is in fact very warlike, and not at all a good leader.
I apologize for my personal bias–I don't like Saakashvili. But I'm not saying Russia is the good guy, either, far from it.
In any case, the fighting only lasted a short period of time and the Russians, who had invaded Georgia, were basically ordered to withdraw. They did so, but very slowly. Georgia and Russia have signed a peace plan.