On January 6, 1992 armed opposition forces overthrew Zviad Gamsakhurdia, the first democratically elected president of post-Soviet Georgia, ending about two weeks of urban warfare in central Tbilisi and driving him into exile. Gamsakhurdia's increasingly authoritarian rule had alienated much of the political and military elite. At the end of 1991 paramilitary groups and rebel National Guard units, unified under the warlords Tengiz Kitovani and Jaba Ioseliani with the former prime minister Tengiz Sigua, launched an armed uprising.
From December 22, 1991 heavy fighting raged on Rustaveli Avenue, centered on a siege of the parliament building where Gamsakhurdia was holed up in a bunker. On January 2, 1992 the opposition proclaimed a Military Council. On January 6, 1992 Gamsakhurdia fled the country.
The Military Council took power and later brought in Eduard Shevardnadze.
Researched Details
Researched
Independent research, added record by record. Hover any label for what it means.
Target identified in Coup Atlas research: President Zviad Gamsakhurdia, overthrown in the Tbilisi War that ended on January 6, 1992; he fled the country.
RESEARCHED NAME
Key figures
Zviad Gamsakhurdia (president overthrown)
Tengiz Kitovani (paramilitary and National Guard leader)
Jaba Ioseliani (Mkhedrioni militia leader)
Sources
The 1991 to 1992 Georgian coup, also known as the Tbilisi War, was an internal military conflict in the newly independent Republic of Georgia from 22 December 1991 to 6 January 1992, pitting National Guard factions loyal to President Zviad Gamsakhurdia against paramilitary organizations unified under warlords Tengiz Kitovani, Jaba Ioseliani, and Tengiz Sigua, and it ended with the exile of the first democratically elected president of Georgia after two weeks of violent clashes on Rustaveli Avenue.
SOURCE REVIEWEDWikipedia, 1991-1992 Georgian coup d'etatopen source ↗
On 2 January 1992 opposition leaders announced the establishment of a Military Council which became the only government recognized by the opposition, with Kitovani and Ioseliani proclaiming themselves Council leaders and nominating Sigua as head of government, and the council signed decrees deposing the Gamsakhurdia cabinet and abolishing the constitution.
SOURCE REVIEWEDWikipedia, 1991-1992 Georgian coup d'etatopen source ↗
Following Gamsakhurdia's fall a Military Council led by Kitovani, Ioseliani, and Sigua took power in Tbilisi and assured the return of Eduard Shevardnadze, the coup having triggered the Georgian Civil War, with Gamsakhurdia isolated in a bunker in the parliament building during the siege.
SOURCE REVIEWEDWikipedia, 1991-1992 Georgian coup d'etatopen source ↗
On 26 August 1991 Gamsakhurdia had banned the Communist Party for allegedly supporting the Moscow coup, Kitovani had left Tbilisi in an August 1991 mutiny with a force of armed men, and by early January 1992 Gamsakhurdia's troops consisted of just a few hundred guards as he asked the Georgian people from his bunker to ignore the Military Council's decrees.
SOURCE REVIEWEDWikipedia, 1991-1992 Georgian coup d'etatopen source ↗
Editorial Note
Fate coding: the deposed president Zviad Gamsakhurdia fled the country on or about January 6, 1992 as the opposition prevailed, matching the dataset's fled-the-country fate; he was not killed in the coup (he died in 1993 during a later failed comeback amid the civil war, a separate matter). Coding note: the dataset labels this a rebel coup, accurately, an armed uprising by paramilitary groups and mutinous National Guard units against the elected president. Nature recorded: the fighting, known as the Tbilisi War, ran from December 22, 1991 to January 6, 1992 and centered on a siege of the parliament building where Gamsakhurdia was bunkered; the victors formed a Military Council under Kitovani and Ioseliani that dissolved the legislature and later installed Eduard Shevardnadze. Context recorded and handled neutrally: Gamsakhurdia's increasingly authoritarian rule and his moves against rivals (including banning the Communist Party after the Moscow coup and the earlier Kitovani mutiny) are cited as documented background; the coup triggered the wider Georgian Civil War. This is part of the post-Soviet turmoil across the former USSR in this period. Neutrality maintained on a contested subject.
Cross-Reference
Only one dataset carries it. One of the three reference datasets we check against carries this event; the others do not list it. That is not a contradiction — the datasets cover different periods and use different thresholds — but it means the record has had less outside corroboration.
Identifiers for finding this same event in the other datasets:
Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: President Zviad Gamsakhurdia, overthrown in the Tbilisi War that ended on January 6, 1992; he fled the country..
Baseline coding: Incumbent executive removed from power. Recorded leader fate: deposed; fled the country. The baseline file does not name individual targets; researched names are kept in a separate layer.
Baseline Dataset Citation
Cline Center Coup d’État Project Dataset, v2.2.2
Peyton, Buddy, Joseph Bajjalieh, Michael Martin, and Andrea Gerald. 2026. Cline Center Coup d’État Project Dataset. Cline Center for Advanced Social Research. V.2.2.2. February 17. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. doi: 10.13012/B2IDB-9651987_V10
“Georgians Create Powerful Presidency, Elect Gamsakhurdia,” April 15, 1992
The Independent
“Rebel ultimatum to Gamsakhurdia,” January 3, 1992
United Press International
“Georgian President Flees, Opposition In Control,” January 6, 1992
This is the citation trail carried by the baseline dataset, grouped by outlet and rejoined from the line-wrapped original. Coup Atlas has not independently re-checked every document; read the original before citing a specific claim. URLs the import damaged beyond safe repair are shown as plain text and listed in citations-report.md. How this list is built →