Between ideology and pragmatism: social democracy and the economic transition in Georgia 1918-21
The Democratic Republic of Georgia (1918-21) was a novel experiment in social democracy in the most unexpected time and place. Georgia was rural and mostly illiterate, and its leaders faced the complex tasks of nation and state building in conditions of external threat, internal conflict, and global economic depression. The first democratically elected social democratic government in Europe, it confronted the inevitable tensions between market principles and socialist ideals. The new government’s economic policies reflected the dilemmas and contradictions faced by all social democratic parties in a capitalist environment. The new leaders created a mixed economy, framed by social democratic goals, but driven by pragmatism. Economic pioneers, how successful were they in creating a sustainable economic system and a model for other European socialists to follow?