To avoid a violent regime change in Georgia, Eduard Shevardnadze resigned his presidency once it became clear that his support was gone.
Published November 25, 2003
Peaceful revolutions depend on rulers as well as the ruled. Eduard Shevardnadze, one of the heroes of the largely bloodless collapse of the Soviet Union, made many mistakes as president of the former Soviet republic of Georgia. In his final act in power, however, Shevardnadze did his people one last favor, ensuring that Georgia's change of government would be accompanied by flowers and fireworks instead of bullets and bombs.
Faced with spreading street protests and growing divisions within his own security forces, Shevardnadze chose to resign rather than try to cling to power through force. Mikhail Saakashvili, the most charismatic leader of the movement that toppled the government, acknowledged Shevardnadze's statesmanship Sunday: "By his resignation, he avoided spilling blood in the country. History will judge him kindly."
Much of Shevardnadze's performance in 12 years as president will not be judged kindly. Georgia is a chronically poor and corrupt region, and Shevardnadze did little to live up to the early promise that was attached to Georgia's first post-Soviet administration. In the end, Shevardnadze's government was clearly part of the problem. Parliamentary elections earlier this month were broadly judged to have been rigged in the government's favor. That betrayal of Georgia's fragile democracy was the last straw for Shevardnadze's opponents.
Yet Shevardnadze hardly was to blame for all of Georgia's problems. His government inherited social and economic crises, and it continued to be crippled by heavy-handed pressure from Moscow. Russian President Vladimir Putin never respected Georgia's nominal independence, maneuvering instead to maintain influence over strategic interests such as a new pipeline that will be a huge source of oil for the West. Shevardnadze was an internationally admired figure who was able to win military and economic aid from the United States and stand up to Russia's bullying. Georgia's new leaders will have to show that they have the strength and independence to avoid falling back into a traditional role as Moscow's puppets.
Shevardnadze's achievements transcend the unfortunate final days of his presidency. As Soviet foreign minister under Mikhail Gorbachev, Shevardnadze played a crucial diplomatic role in the dramatic events that produced a peaceful end to the Cold War. For an outside world that was not immediately certain of Gorbachev's intentions, Shevardnadze was a familiar and trusted presence.
His time as president was, perhaps predictably, a disappointment. But this indispensable figure of the Soviet Union's peaceful revolution was a patriot to the end. Offered a chance this week to retreat to a comfortable exile in Germany, Shevardnadze decided to stay to witness the next chapter in his people's experiment in post-Soviet democracy. "Although I love Germany very much," Shevardnadze said, "my homeland is Georgia and I owe it to her to stay here."
