Editing Adjara (section)

=== Georgian Democratic Republic===
In 1918, Georgia regained its independence as a [[Democratic Republic of Georgia|democratic republic]] and Adjara became part of it. However, in April 1918, the [[Ottoman Empire]] invaded Georgia and captured Batumi. The operation was conducted on 13-14 April 1918, with the 37th Division entering Batumi under the command of Colonel [[Kâzım Karabekir]].<ref>{{cite journal|last=Gürbüz|first=Musa|date=2009|title=Turkish Military Activities in the Caucasus Following the 1917 Russian Revolution: The Battle of Sardarabad and its Political Consequences|journal=Review of Armenian Studies|url=https://dergipark.org.tr/en/download/article-file/777679|volume=19-20}}</ref>

On 4 June 1918, the [[Treaty of Batum]] was signed, under which Georgia was forced to cede Adjara to the Ottoman Empire.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Varshalomidze|first=Archil|date=2019|title=South-Western Georgia (Ajara) within the Geostrategic Interests of the Ottoman Empire in the First Quarter of XX Century|journal=Herald of Oriental Studies|url=https://hos.openjournals.ge/index.php/hos/article/download/2805/2955}}</ref> However, due to the Ottoman defeat in the First World War and the [[Treaty of Mudros]], the Ottomans soon withdrew the territory.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Saparov|first=Arsène|date=March 2012|title=Why Autonomy? The Making of Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region 1918-1925|journal=Europe-Asia Studies|volume=64|issue=2|page=284|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41478346|doi=10.1080/09668136.2011.642583|jstor=41478346 |s2cid=154783461 |url-access=subscription}}</ref> The British warship {{HMS|Liverpool|1909|6}}) troops in entered Batumi in 1918,<ref>{{cite journal|last=Rose|first=John D.|date=April 1980|title=Batum as Domino, 1919–1920: The Defence of India in Transcaucasia|journal=The International History Review|volume=2|issue=2|page=266|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/40105753|doi=10.1080/07075332.1980.9640214|jstor=40105753 }}</ref> and Adjara was temporarily placed under the British Military Governor [[James Cooke-Collis]], who established the Council for the Administration of Batoum and its Region to administer the region in December 1918. The British withdrew in 1920 and Adjara rejoined the [[Democratic Republic of Georgia]].<ref>{{cite news|date=7 July 2020|title=Batumi: Travails of the City|website=[[Civil Georgia]]|url=https://civil.ge/archives/358559|access-date=5 March 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Rose|first=John D.|date=April 1980|title=Batum as Domino, 1919–1920: The Defence of India in Transcaucasia|journal=The International History Review|volume=2|issue=2|page=286|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/40105753|doi=10.1080/07075332.1980.9640214|jstor=40105753 }}</ref> The British administration ceded the region to the [[Democratic Republic of Georgia]] on July 20, 1920.<ref name=experiment>{{cite book|access-date=2022-09-05|date=2017|edition=1st|first1=Eric|isbn=978-1-78699-092-1|last1=Lee|location=[[London]]|pages=135|publisher=ZED Books|title=The Experiment: Georgia's Forgotten Revolution 1918-1921|url=https://www.bloomsburycollections.com/book/the-experiment-georgia-s-forgotten-revolution-19181921/}}</ref> It was granted autonomy under the Georgian constitution adopted in February 1921 when the [[Red Army invasion of Georgia|Red Army invaded Georgia]].<ref name=constitution1921>{{Cite web| url=https://matiane.wordpress.com/2012/09/04/constitution-of-georgia-1921/ | title=Constitution Of Georgia (1921), Article 107| date=4 September 2012|publisher=Matiane |access-date=2022-09-05}}</ref> Turkey reinvaded Adjara in March 1921, although Georgians defeated Turks in the [[Battle of Batumi]] and [[Ankara]]'s government ceded the territory to Georgia under Article VI of [[Treaty of Kars]] on the condition that autonomy be provided for the [[Islam|Muslim]] population, while Turkish commodities were guaranteed free transit through the port of [[Batumi]].{{sfn|George|2009|p=100}}{{sfn|George|2009|p=105}}<ref>{{Cite web| url=https://www.deutscharmenischegesellschaft.de/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/Vertrag-von-Kars-23.-Oktober-1921.pdf | title=Treaty of Kars (Treaty of Friendship between Turkey, the Socialist Soviet Republic of Armenia, the Azerbaijan Socialist Soviet Republic, and the Socialist Soviet Republic of Georgia) |date=1921-10-23 | accessdate=2022-03-03 }}</ref> The Soviets established in 1921 the [[Adjarian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic]] within the [[Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic]] in accord with this clause, thus Adjara remained part of Georgia. The autonomous republic was the only autonomous unit in the USSR based solely on religion.{{efn|The other autonomous unit based on an ethnoreligious factor was the [[Jewish Autonomous Oblast]].}}<ref name=coene>{{cite book |last1=Coene |first1=Frederik |date=2010 |title=The Caucasus, an introduction |edition=1st |publisher=Routledge |location=[[London]] |pages=162 |isbn=9780415666831| url=https://www.routledge.com/The-Caucasus---An-Introduction/Coene/p/book/9780415666831 |access-date=2022-09-05}}</ref> However, Stalin's definition of what constituted a nation was based on language. Without their own language, Adjars did not develop a strong sense of national identity, separate from Georgian.{{sfn|Kaufman|2001|p=124}} Moreover, the Soviet atheist ideology dampened religious practice.{{sfn|George|2009|p=105}} In the 1920s, the Ajars rebelled against the Soviet anti-Islamic activities, as well as against the collectivization reforms.{{sfn|George|2009|p=105}} The armed uprising began in the mountainous regions of Adjara in April 1929. Soviet troops were deployed in response and swiftly quelled the revolt.<ref>Peter Malcolm Holt, Ann K. S. Lambton, Bernard Lewis (1977), The Cambridge history of Islam, p. 639. [[Cambridge University Press]], {{ISBN|0-521-29136-4}}</ref>