In middle XVIII Ossetia (Alania) was an independent country - a confederation of self-governed states.
There existed two kingdoms on territory of current Georgia – the Kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti and the Kingdom of Imereti, and three princedoms – Guria, Mingrelia and Svanetia. At different extents they depended of Turkey and Iran.
1774 - Voluntary entrance of the united Ossetia into the Russian State;
1782 - Erekle II, the king of Kartli-Kakheti, asked the Russian Empress Catherine II to accept his kingdom under the protection of the Russian Empire;
1783 - The Treaty of Georgievsk was signed, under which the Kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti passed under Russian protectorate;
1801 - The Kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti was annexed to the Russian State
1810 - The Kingdom of Imereti joined the Russian State
1828 – The Princedom of Guria joined the Russian State
1854 - Svanetia joined the Russian State
1857 – Mingrelia joined the Russian State
Up to 1917 – South Ossetia was among provinces of the Russian State
May 26, 1918 – The Georgian Democratic Republic was proclaimed
1918 – Six Congresses of South Ossetia’s representatives were held (the Ossetian National Council), which confirm the people’s will to remain within Russia. The people of South Ossetia refuse to be subordinated to the Menshevik government of Georgia.
June 1920 – Genocide is launched against South Ossetian people by the Georgian Democratic Republic. More than five thousand people became victims of the genocide, more than a hundred of villages were committed to flames and over fifty thousand refugees from South Ossetia were driven out to North Ossetia.
February 25, 1921 – Establishment of Soviet power in Georgia
March 4, 1921 – Soviet power was proclaimed in South Ossetia, and new government agencies were established; refugees from South Ossetia began to return from North Ossetia.
April 20, 1922 – The South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast was established, its territory was included in the Georgian Soviet Socialistic Republic within the USSR. The decree “On the formation of the South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast and its inclusion in the Georgian Soviet Socialistic Republic” is the only legal act, according to which the territory of South Ossetia could have been considered a part of the GSSR.
1988 – The GSSR pursues the policy, aimed at securing Georgian nation’s priority in all spheres of the community’s life. The idea of secession from the USSR was imposed on masses. The rights and interest of non-Georgian nations started being violated.
1988, summer – autumn – Anti-Ossetian campaign is launched by Georgian informal nationalistic organizations. Grievous insults in relation to the Ossetians are voiced through mass media, and theses that the Ossetians are “newcomers” are propagandized. The term “Samachablo” is implemented.
July 15, 1989 – Start of the armed Georgian-Abkhaz conflict and new round of calls for and steps to abolish the autonomous formations.
November 10, 1989 – A decision to transform the South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast into the Autonomous Republic as a part of the GSSR was taken at the extraordinary XII Session of the Soviet of People's Deputies of South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast. That decision was submitted to the Supreme Soviet of the GSSR for consideration. Georgia put the question of secession from the USSR and nearly all autonomous oblasts within the USSR increased their statuses up to autonomous republics.
November 16, 1989 – The Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the GSSR canceled the decision on transforming the autonomous oblast into the autonomous republic taken at the South Ossetian Oblast Soviet.
April 26, 1990 – The Law of the USSR on the Division of Powers between the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the Subjects of the Federation was passed.
June 20, 1990 – All legal acts, adopted after the sovietization of Georgia in 1921, were declared at the extraordinary XV Session of the Supreme Soviet of Georgia illegal and not meeting the interests of Georgia. The laws, according to which South Ossetia was a part of Georgia, including the decree “On the formation of the South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast and its inclusion in the Georgian Soviet Socialistic Republic,” were no longer valid in Georgia. In other words, in legal relations, the Supreme Soviet of the GSSR excluded South Ossetia from the GSSR.
September 20, 1990 – The decision to transform the South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast into the South Ossetian Soviet Democratic Republic as a part of the USSR was taken at the XIV Session of the South Ossetian Oblast Soviet. The Declaration on national sovereignty and the Resolution on the functioning of the USSR’s Constitution in territory of South Ossetia were adopted.
October 16, 1990 - The XV (I) Session of the South Ossetian Oblast Soviet passed the Declaration on Sovereignty and fixed the date of Parliamentary elections in South Ossetia on December 9, 1990.
November 23, 1990 – Georgia refused to sign the new Union Treaty
November 28, 1990 - The status of the Republic of South Ossetia was again confirmed at the extraordinary XVI (II) Session of the Soviet of People's Deputies of South Ossetia. The word “Democratic” was taken out of the name of the state, and the aspiration to become an independent Subject with the right of signing the new Union Treaty was reiterated.
January 6, 1991 – Open military aggression against South Ossetia was launched by Georgia
March 17, 1991 – All-union referendum on conservation of the USSR took place. The referendum was held in South Ossetia, but not in Georgia.
March 31, 1991 - Georgia held a referendum on secession from the USSR. The referendum wasn’t held in South Ossetia.
December 20, 1991 – The Belovezh Treaty was signed, the USSR disintegrated.
December 21, 1991 – Acceptance of the Declaration on Independence of South Ossetia by the Supreme Council of the Republic of South Ossetia
January 19, 1992 – A referendum is held in South Ossetia to establish an independent state and to reunite with Russia. Over 99% vote in favor.
May 29, 1992 - The Supreme Council of the Republic of South Ossetia adopted the Act of Declaration of Independence of the Republic of South Ossetia.
July 31, 1992 – Admission of Georgia to membership in the UN (by that time the territory of South Ossetia had no relation to the territory of Georgia).
2004, summer – Another military aggression of Georgia against South Ossetia
August 8, 2008 – Broad-scale military aggression of Georgia against South Ossetia
August 26, 2008 – Recognition of the Independence of the Republic of South Ossetia by the Russian Federation, which was followed by recognitions by several other states
