The article refers to a bloody crackdown of peaceful demonstration by the Soviet troops in Tbilisi, Georgian SSR on March 9, 1956. State motto (Russian): Пролетарии всех стран, соединяйтесь! (Transliterated: Proletarii vsekh stran, soedinyaytes!) (Translated: Workers of the world, unite!) Capital Moscow Official language None; Russian (de facto) Government Federation of Socialist republics/ Communist state Area  - Total  - % water Largest on the planet 22,402,200 km² ?% Population  - Total  - Density 3rd before collapse 293,047,571 (July... Tbilisi (Georgian თბილისი) is the capital city of the country of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Kura (Mtkvari) river, at 41°43′N 44°47′E. Tbilisi is still sometimes known by its former Turkish name of Tiflis. ... State motto: პროლეტარ ყველა ქვეყნისა, შეერთდით! Official language Georgian since 1978 Capital Tbilisi Chairman of the Supreme Council Zviad Gamsakhurdia (at independence) Established In the USSR:  - Since  - Until February 25, 1921 December 30, 1922 April 9, 1991 Area  - Total  - % water Ranked 10th in former Soviet Union 69,700 km² -- Population  - Total (1989)  - Density Ranked... March 9 is the 68th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (69th in Leap years). ... 1956 (MCMLVI) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Background

On 25 February 1956, in a sensational speech to the 20th Congress of the CPSU, Nikita Khrushchev, a new Soviet leader, denounced the late dictator Joseph Stalin (born in Georgia) as a brutal despot, thus initiating policy of de-Stalinization. He said he wanted to break the "Stalin cult" that had held Soviet citizens in its thrall for 30 years. [1] February 25 is the 56th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1956 (MCMLVI) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union was held during February 14—February 26, 1956. ... Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchof (Khrushchev) (Russian: Ники́та Серге́евич Хрущёв listen â–¶(?), April 17, 1894 â€“ September 11, 1971) was the leader of the Soviet Union after the death of Joseph Stalin. ... â–¶ (help· info) (Russian, in full: Иосиф Виссарионович Сталин (Iosif Vissarionovich Stalin), real name: Иосиф Виссарионович Джугашвили (Joseph Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili), Georgian: იოსებ ჯუღაშვილი (Ioseb Jughashvili); (December 18 [O.S. December 6] 1878 (from birth certificate, but the date on his death certificate and the one commonly accepted as correct is March 5, 1879)) – March 5, 1953) was the Premier... De-Stalinization and the Khrushchev era For further details, see Nikita Khrushchev After Stalin had died in March 1953, he was succeeded by Nikita Khrushchev as First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party and Georgi Malenkov as Premier of the Soviet Union. ...

Khrushchev’s policy of de-Stalinization was a blow to Georgian pride if only because he cast aspersions on the Georgians themselves. Georgian youth, bred on the panegyrics and permanent praise of the “genius” of Stalin, was proud to consider him being a Georgian that ruled over great Russia, and, as believed widely, dominated the world. Now sudden shock of denigration of Stalin was considered as a révanche taken by Khrushchev over the dead giant of history, which was not very far from truth, and as national humiliation. De-Stalinization and the Khrushchev era For further details, see Nikita Khrushchev After Stalin had died in March 1953, he was succeeded by Nikita Khrushchev as First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party and Georgi Malenkov as Premier of the Soviet Union. ...

Massacre

Several days in advance of the third anniversary of Stalin’s death, groups of students participated in spontaneous demonstrations and meetings by the huge monument of the ‘Great Leader’ near the Kura embankment. The demonstrations in the capital triggered similar protests in other parts of the republic. The situation had become uncontrollable by March 5, when thousands of protesters accompanied by the cacophony of car sirens were chanting the slogan “Long Live Great Stalin, Long Live the Party of Lenin and Stalin, Long Live Soviet Georgia” near the Government House on Rustaveli Avenue. By 8 March, the protest had become apparently anti-Soviet. The most radical group of students demanded restoration of Georgia’s independence from the Soviet Union. Finally the officials allowed the celebration of the anniversary to be held, but when crowds of students moved through the streets towards the monuments, frightened Vasil Mzhavanadze, the local communist leader, lost control and passed on the responsibility to the army. Suddenly the shooting started from several buildings, and the army soldiers and tanks pursued the escaping students. Although no precise numbers of casualties is known, at least 150 young people were killed and several hundreds wounded and arrested. Kura (Georgian Mtkvari, Azerbaijani Kür) is a river in the Caucasus Mountains. ... { -style=float:right; |- | |- | |} March 5 is the 64th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (65th in leap years). ... March 8 poster from Portugal March 8 is the 67th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (68th in Leap years). ... Vasil Mzhavanadze (also Vasily; Georgian: ; Russian: ; Kutaisi, 20 September (O.S. 7 September) 1902 - 5 September 1988) was the First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Georgian SSR from September 1953 to September 28, 1972 and a member of the CPSUs Politburo from June 29, 1957 to December... Communism - Wikipedia /**/ @import /w/skins-1. ...

The March 9 tragedy had been a tabooed theme for decades. But the lesson was learned. For some twenty years no open confrontation ever took place, until the new generation of Georgian young people came too scene, so strong was the shock and bitter frustration. March 9 is the 68th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (69th in Leap years). ...

See also

• April 14 demonstrations in Tbilisi, 1978
• April 9 Tragedy

The April 9 Tragedy (or the Tbilisi Massacre of 9 April 1989) refers to the bloody events in Tbilisi, Georgia on April 9, 1989, when peaceful anti-Soviet and pro-independence demonstrations were brutally dispersed by the Soviet army using entrenching spades and toxic gas. ...

External links

• 70 years of Soviet Georgia
• Soviet journalist about the incidents in Georgia, March 1956
• L. Piradov’s Criticism of Student Behavior, 1956