It is well known that there are within the Russian frontiers peoples
not inferior in historical importance or intellectual development to
the regnant race, and we might reasonably suppose that Russophobes
would give us some information about those nations which would
probably be their allies in the struggle which they profess to consider
inevitable. Yet the course of action likely to be adopted by Poland,
Finland, or Georgia, in case of an Anglo-Russian war, is hardly ever
discussed, and when a passing reference is made to the matter, the
most erroneous ideas are expressed.
As far as I know, the only living English statesman who knows anything
at all about the condition of the Caucasus, is Professor James Bryce,
who, in a work published in 1877, records the impressions received
during a short visit made in the previous year. His remarks are
interesting in the highest degree, and exhibit a rare keenness of
insight; yet that part of them which refers more particularly to
Georgia is open to three very serious objections.
1. The shortness of the author's stay forced him to come to conclusions
which a longer experience would have modified very considerably. He
himself frankly acknowledged this in many places.
2. Mr. Bryce did not come into contact with any prominent Georgians;
he was, therefore, obliged to depend upon foreigners for information
about the political condition of the country and the aspirations of
the native population. This is why he said so little about Georgia in
the last chapter of his book. In that chapter the place of honour is
reserved for the Armenians, whose recognized champion our illustrious
fellow-countryman has now become.
3. There has, of late, been a great change in the country. The Georgia
of to-day is not the Georgia of 1876. Certain causes, which will be
touched upon in the present article, have, in the meantime, brought
about an awakening as sudden as it is complete.
There is one Englishman who could accurately describe the political
condition of Transcaucasia, and it is a subject for congratulation that
he is Her Majesty's Vice-Consul at Batum. When the British Government
wakes up to a recognition of the fact that we have interests to protect
in the region between the Black Sea and the Caspian, the consulate
in Tiflis (abolished in 1881, "because the objects for which it was
founded were not accomplished") may, perhaps, be re-established,
and in that case no more able and sympathetic consul could be chosen
than Mr. D. R. Peacock, who for so many years has upheld the honour
of our flag in the fever-stricken swamps of Poti and Batum.
The writer of the present article is well aware of his unfitness for
the task he has set himself, yet he feels sure that the result of
his unprejudiced observation cannot fail to be interesting; if he
only succeeds in provoking adverse criticism he will be satisfied,
for thereby attention will be drawn to a question the discussion
of which must lead to a far better understanding of many points of
vital importance.
At the very outset it is necessary to remove from the mind of the
reader an opinion which is almost universally held in Europe, and which
is, perhaps, the chief cause of that apathy with which politicians look
upon the Caucasus. It is generally believed, even by some of those
who have been in the country, that Transcaucasia is inhabited by a
vast number of tribes, more or less wild, having nothing in common
but the doubtful benefits of Russian rule. Nothing could be more
misleading. Students of ethnography may amuse themselves by making
elaborate investigations into the origin and characteristics of the
Khevsur, the Svan, the Pshav, the Osset, it is sufficient for us to
know that all these peoples are, politically at least, Georgians,
and have fought under the Kartvelian kings since the days of William
the Conqueror. Between the Caucasus, the Black Sea, the Caspian,
and the frontiers of Turkey and Persia, there are only three native
peoples who deserve our consideration, viz.:--
The various Lesghian tribes in the E., numbering about 1,500,000
The Armenians, in the S., numbering about 740,000
The Georgians, in the W., numbering over 1,000,000