Church-State Relations in the Democratic Republic of Georgia (1918-1921)

Abstract

Democratic Republic of Georgia (1918-1921) was one of the unique states in the first quarter of XX century. Despite the historical relations between the Church and the State in Georgia, the social-democratic government changed its official policy and chose French secularism, which was very unusual for the country. This was incorporated in the Constitution of 1921. This article is about the Georgian church-state relations during 1918-1921, the positive and negative aspects of the chosen form of secularism and the challenges that the newly independent State faced in the sphere of religious freedom until the Soviet occupation.

Keywords

• Georgian Orthodox Church
• separation
• Democratic Republic of Georgia
• freedom of religion
• secularism
• religious freedom