Georgia, 2003 — forced resignation
Event Summary
On 23 November 2003 President Eduard Shevardnadze of Georgia resigned in the face of the mass protests known as the Rose Revolution, ending eleven years of rule. The trigger was the disputed 2 November parliamentary election: official results declared a pro-Shevardnadze bloc the winner, but independent exit polls and international observers found the vote rigged and favoring the opposition National Movement of Mikheil Saakashvili. Weeks of peaceful demonstrations followed, drawing tens of thousands to Tbilisi amid public anger over corruption, economic collapse, and unpaid salaries and pensions.
On 22 November, as Shevardnadze addressed the newly convened parliament, protesters led by Saakashvili, carrying red roses to signal peaceful intent, stormed the chamber; the president was hustled out by his guards and Saakashvili took the podium. Shevardnadze declared a state of emergency but found the security forces would not defend him. After mediation involving the Russian foreign minister, he announced his resignation on 23 November.
He was allowed to remain in Georgia and live peacefully. Saakashvili won the 4 January 2004 presidential election.
Researched Details
Researched
Independent research, added record by record. Hover any label for what it means.
Sources
Editorial Note
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:
- Cline Center id
37211232003
How the match is made is described in crossref-report.md.
Outcome and Target
Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: President Eduard Shevardnadze, forced to resign; allowed to remain in Georgia and was not physically harmed.
Baseline coding: Incumbent executive removed from power. Recorded leader fate: deposed; not physically harmed. The baseline file does not name individual targets; researched names are kept in a separate layer.
Baseline Dataset Citation
Baseline Source-Document Entries
Wikipedia
New York Times
The Gazette
Wall Street Journal
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 →