Ossetia - Recent History

Recent History

For earlier history, see Alans, Sarmatians

• 1774 — North Ossetia becomes part of the Russian Empire
• 1801 — The modern-day South Ossetia territory, belonging to Prince Machabeli within the Kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti, becomes part of the Russian Empire, along with Georgia
• 1922 — Ossetia is divided into two parts: North Ossetia remains a part of Russian SFSR, South Ossetia remains a part of Georgian SSR.
• 20 September 1990 independent Republic of South Ossetia. The republic remained unrecognized, yet it detached itself from Georgia de facto. In the last years of the Soviet Union, ethnic tensions between Ossetians and Georgians in Georgia's former Autonomous Oblast of South Ossetia (abolished in 1990) and between Ossetians and the Ingush in North Ossetia evolved into violent clashes that left several hundreds dead and wounded and created a large tide of refugees on both sides of the border.

Although a Russian-mediated and Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe-monitored ceasefire was implemented in South Ossetia in 1992, the Georgian-Ossetian conflict still remains unresolved even though a recent peace plan proposed by the government of Georgia promised the South Ossetians larger autonomy and pledged expanded international involvement in the political settlement of the conflict. Meanwhile, the South Ossetian secessionist authorities demand independence or unification with North Ossetia under the Russian Federation while the international community refuses to recognize South Ossetia as an independent country and considers the area part of Georgia.

On Sunday 12 November 2006, South Ossetians (mostly ethnic Ossetians) went to the polls to vote in a referendum regarding the region's independence from Georgia. The result was a "yes" to independence, with a turnout above 95% from those among the territory's 70,000 people who were eligible to vote at that time. There was also a vote in favour of a new term for South Ossetia's president, Eduard Kokoity.