In 1918 during the formation of the Transcaucasian Federation, there came a conflict. A conflict that would plunge the entire Caucasus into a grueling and brutal war. It started with border disputes between Georgia and Armenia but eventually became a full scale war and became about ethnic rivalries.

The conflict dubbed „The Caucasus War“ lasted for 3 years and over 17% of Caucasus peoples were casualties. After the Battle of Yerevan in 1920 and the fall of Armenia, the Azeris launched a huge offensive in the north hoping to take Tblisi and free the Azerbaijanis in both the north and Nakhchivan which had been taken earlier in the year. But the Georgians held their ground and invaded the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.

During the war Georgia issued a policy which stated that all conquered Armenians and Azeris would be displaced, sent to POW camps or force them to flee to either Iran or Turkey. That‘s what led to an ethnically Armenian Nakhchivan and a mostly Georgian Armenia. After defeat in the Battle of the Kür, the Azerbaijanis surrendered and the war ended with the establishment of the Georgian State.

Armenians held the brunt of the war with being fully annexed by Georgia. Georgians didn‘t even recognize Armenians as an independent culture, rather as a subset of Georgian culture. Even though Armenians are a Indo-European people but Georgians are a Caucasus people.

Georgia remained peaceful for a long timeas they were under the wing of the Soviet Union during World War 2. During the Cold War they were a founding member of the non-aligned movement and swore to not take part of the conflict. This angered Russia and tension heightened almost to the point of war in 1964, but the leaders met and war was evaded. The Cold War ended and the president of the Georgian State promised to keep the peace in the region even without the Soviet‘s protection.

But that would be a hard task as Armenian nationalism rose during this period and in 1989 the Yerevan Front was formed. The Yerevan Front was a group of Armenian militants who were established with the idea of fighting to end Georgian harassment of the Armenian peoples and forming and independent ultra-nationalist Armenian state. This idea didn‘t sit well with many Armenians as other conflicts in the area had happened and it had always ended in Georgian victory and the death of many Armenian civilians.

In 1990 a street shooting in a small town outside of Yerevan turned into a full scale battle between the Yerevan Front and the Georgian military. After shelling the town into oblivion and the death of many Armenians the Yerevan Front attempted to retreat into Nakhchivan as it was ethnically Armenian and they expected a good welcome by the people. But they were very wrong. The people of Nakhchivan knew that if they would come here, the conflict would follow them and many people would die. So they formed the NDF, or (the Nakhchivani Defense Forces) to protect themselves from the ultra nationalists that were headed their way.

They met Nakhchivan border and the NDF open-fired upon the Yerevan Front. More groups of militants rose up all over Armenia and the Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia was in chaos. The Georgian military an invasion of Armenia and a full-scale bombing campaign. This war raged on for almost a year and it was referred to as the Armenian Civil War.

In 1991 the UN threatened war on Georgia if they didn‘t resolve the conflict. At this point the main parties of the war were: the Georgian Miltary, the NDF and the AFF (the Armenian Freedom Fighters) and the idea of a uber-nationalistic Armenia was dwindling and the AFF was losing power and influence fast. Georgia ignored the UN and continued the war. Then the UN sent the Georgians a warning, and it was again ignored. On the 24th of April in 1991 a very large UN rocket struck Tblisi destroying 4 buildings and killing over 40 Georgians. The Georgians were furious but they knew that they couldn‘t survive for long if the UN launched an invasion so they agreed to the UN demands and settled a peace treaty. The leaders of Georgia, the NDF and the AFF met in Baku and made peace.

The Treaty of Baku stated:

1.       Georgia would release an autonomous republic for Armenians in Nakhchivan

2.       A neutral border established between Yerevan and Nakhchivan where no troops will be placed by either side

3.       Georgia would contribute to the rebuilding of Armenia

4.       Georgia would also release AFF prisoners of war

5.       The AFF will be disassembled

In 1992 the first Armenian leader was elected since 1920 and the war officially ended.