European Feminism and Georgia
In 1905, the population of Western Georgia rebelled against Russian colonial rule and proclaimed the Gurian Republic in Guria. In 1906, Russia sent punitive troops who raided villages, burned houses, and killed and arrested people.
Varlam Cherkezishvili, a Georgian immigrant to Britain, brought to Georgia the famous Irish feminist Nannie Dryhurst and her friend Henry Nevinson, a correspondent for the Daily Chronicle and Manchester Guardian. They brought money raised by British women for Georgian women who had suffered from Russian punitive raids. The appeal to British women was signed by 150 women, who wrote: “In our deep despair we turn to you – women of free countries. We ask you to raise your voices in defense of the Georgian women, humiliated and outraged in her honor and her womanhood…” With Nevinson’s help, this appeal was published in The Daily Chronicle, The Daily News, The Tribute and The Times on June 23, 1906. In response, 4,000 women in Britain and Ireland signed a petition to Edward Gray, the British Foreign Secretary, asking him to intervene and protect Georgia.
The Foreign Secretary had to respond to the citizens of his country. In his reply, he wrote that he was aware of the dire situation but feared that external intervention could further worsen the situation of Georgians on the ground.
Unfortunately, these actions did not lead to any tangible success, but these events have gone down in history as a significant example of people’s diplomacy and feminist activism.
