Posted on 08/11/2008 12:21:15 AM PDT by Schnucki
1237-40 - Mongols invade Russia, forcing Ossetians to migrate south over the Caucasus mountains to present-day Georgia.
18th and 19th centuries – The Russian empire extends to the Caucasus, provoking strong resistance from the people of the north Caucasus. The South Ossetians do not join the uprising, some preferring to side with the Russian army.
1801 - South Ossetia and Georgia are annexed by Russia and absorbed into the Russian empire.
1918 – Georgia declares independence following the Russian revolution.
1921 – The Red Army invades. The South Ossetians are accused of siding with the Kremlin.
1922 - Georgia becomes a founder member of the Soviet Union. The South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast (district) is created within Georgia in April 1922.
1989 - Demands for more autonomy in the South Ossetia region lead to violent clashes between Georgians and Ossetians.
1990-91 – South Ossetia declares its intentions to secede, leading to more clashes.
1991 – The Soviet Union collapses.
1992 – South Ossetians vote in favour of independence in an unrecognised referendum. Hundreds die in sporadic violence, which continues until June when Russian, Georgian and South Ossetian leaders meet to sign an armistice and agree the creation of a tripartite peacekeeping force.
November 1993 - South Ossetia drafts its own constitution.
November 1996 - South Ossetia elects its first president.
December 2001 - South Ossetia elects wrestling champion Eduard Kokoity as president in unrecognised elections.
2002 – Kokoity asks Moscow to recognise the republic's independence and absorb it into Russia.
2003 – The Georgian president, Eduard Shevardnadze, is toppled in the rose revolution.
2004 - Mikhail Saakashvili wins Georgian presidential election and declares his intentions to bring breakaway regions of South Ossetia, Abkhazia and Ajaria back into the fold.
2006 - South Ossetians vote overwhelmingly in favour of independence from Tbilisi
(Excerpt) Read more at guardian.co.uk ...
Thank you for posting the timeline.
2008.....U.S. and NATO intervene in yet another military dispute. It is decided that Ossesians are to be bussed across border to mother Russia. Problem solved. Peace reigns for milenia.
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