Back in the USSR

Zaal Andronikashvili

“Imperia Of Caucasian Nations Was Hardly Breathing on the Eurasian Crossroad”

Levan Sanikidze

Statement of the president of Georgia about introduction of military education in public schools of Georgia means to restore forms and practice of the soviet ideology.

On January 12, 2010, President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili stated that military-patriotic education shall be introduced in public schools. The term supposedly sounded strange to the president later and he has not mentioned military-patriotic education any longer. “We have abolished it earlier (military patriotic education)…it is elementarily necessary to explain our children at least something about our country.” Maybe, the president really thinks that pupils shall not learn anything about their country from Geography, Literature and History. Or what they learn from these subjects requires additional interpretation. In order to explain everything to the children, different subject is necessary and it is “military patriotism”. Explanation means to understand correctly. Correctly means how the president understands it.

Pitkin Make Contorted Face!

Let us try to find out how the president understands “it.”

“Military-patriotic education means civil defense education, increasing military spirit – what was characteristic for Georgian people and peoples living in Georgia historically; as well as teaching military history of Georgia,” President’s spokesperson explained his words.

Let us start from the formula “peoples who have lived in Georgia historically”. Maybe, the spokesperson of the president tries to remove the accusation of ethno-nationalism from the president. But it is evident that Mrs. Manjgaladze avoids the term “citizen of Georgia.” This replacement is important because citizen is associated with his/her state and the values of the state, rational identification, free opinion, free choice. Military patriotism, first of all, means effective union of territory, ethnos and person (let us remember „за Родину! за Сталина! “or „Ein Land, ein Volk, ein Führer“). Thus we will learn what kind of people our president wants to grow up in Georgia – they will not be citizens but affective, easily governed and ruled crowd.

Comments of Mrs. Manjgaladze shows element of military-patriotic mythology: Georgian and (people historically living in Georgia) have it in the character which shall be increased. Increase of natural character is responsibility of the ministries of defense and education. The point is that both ministries are headed with former ministers of penitentiary department. Since 2010, the ministry of education will rely on repressive, totalitarian and militarist spirit.

It is interesting how president of Georgia is going to increase military spirit?

Introduction of military-patriotic education means the president finally declined liberal values. When values are mixed up in Georgia, the president tries to find his own ideological place. Post-soviet Georgia has known only three versions of nationalism so far – mystic ethno-nationalism of Zviad Gamsakhurdia, late president of Georgia; religious nationalism of the Orthodox Church of Georgia and liberal nationalism which is established by think tanks supporting the National Movement. Military patriotism of the president is the fourth form of the nationalism. It differs from the so-called Constitutional patriotism (which relies on the principle of citizenship) and from religious patriotism which is established by the patriarchate. If the religious patriotism claims the religion has saved Georgia and will still save it, military patriotism claims sword has saved Georgia and it will happen like that in future too. Religious patriotism is newer and Catholicos Patriarch of Georgia Ilia II is its author. Military patriotism is preached by the novels of Konstantine Gamsakhurdia and Levan Sanikidze.

Novels of Konstantine Gamsakhurdia and Levan Sanikidze as well as historiography of Soviet Georgia have soviet ideological roots.

Political history, as well as history of wars, was ideological fundament of soviet imperialism. The author of this soviet meta-narrative was Ioseb Stalin. Formula of his socialist realism meant to put socialist context in national frame.

National form in Georgia became the nationalist mythology based on fetishism of the history of middle ages. Future military patriots shall be brought up with the nationalist ideology which was established and developed during soviet regime.

Military patriotism, similar to jingoism, is form of extreme nationalism which uses outside threats for the mobilization of crowds. Military-patriotic education based on the extreme nationalism is a typical totalitarian practice which is established by similar enthusiasm of national-socialism and bolshevism. Military-patriotic education in soviet schools was part of Stalin’s project to turn the Soviet Union into one military camp. Today, we can find similar practice only in post-soviet states. Although we should decline soviet heritage and neglect everything soviet, restoration of military-patriotic education in Georgian schools in fact means return in the soviet past.

   „Спасение утопающих дело рук самих утопающих“
  
Introduction of military-patriotism in schools, more precisely, restoration of it is directly connected with new defense doctrine of the president of Georgia. He thinks, “Only 16, 20 and 22 thousands of soldiers cannot defend a state of 5 million people.” If we discuss this sentence more attentively, we will realize that the president considers the appreciated defense policy of recent years to be disaster and tells us: armed forces of Georgia cannot implement its goals and will never do their job in future either. Consequently, the president makes genius conclusion in the view of defense strategy: “Georgia and Georgian people should be able to protect their villages and district.” That means, “State of 5 million people shall be looked after by 5 million people as well as those Georgians who live abroad.” State of 5 million people shall be defended by 5 million people; more precisely, everybody should defend his/her village and district.

The president, who preached in 2007, that Georgia is a strong country because it has strong armed forces and police. Today he says each of us should defend our village and district. We can ask how a person manages to be the commander-in-chief of the country who has such impression about defense (not to speak about his opinion about education). Or maybe we will change the question: how the state manages to have such a commander-in-chief who has similar opinion about defense?

The problem is not only defense: if one of the functions of the state is “monopoly on legitimate physical force” or “monopoly of power” (Max Veber), then the president of Georgia denies to defend the state which is the main monopoly of the state and declares to his population that they should defend themselves.

It will be strange why the president does not decline other monopolies of the state. But the president does not request five million Georgians to defend him and the homeland but he demands them to do it. Citizen of Georgia shall be free in their decision to sacrifice their lives to the country. However, freedom is Leninist sense for the president of Georgia. “Freedom is reasonable necessity.”  Understanding the necessity, as we have already discussed above, means “correct” interpretation for the president. Military patriotism is compulsory or totalitarian patriotism.

Initiative of the president of Georgia to introduce military-political education in public schools is establishment not only totalitarian ideology and restoration of the practice, but it is sign of complete political bankruptcy. The president states he is eager to rule the country but do not have enough resources for it. The only thing, the politically bankrupt president has, is creation of the army of supporters who will be brought up by totalitarian methods and ura-patriotic ideology.

Source: http://azrebi.ge