The annexation of Eastern Georgia (1801) in governmental discussions: Between the monarch’s will and collegiality

Abstract. The article explores the process of discussing and making a decision on the annexation of Eastern Georgia to the Russian Empire in 1801. It analyzes the discussion in the State Council, where the positions of supporters of annexation and advocates of internal reforms clashed. Special attention is given to the role of General C.F. Knorring, whose reports became a key argument in favor of annexation. The article examines the contradiction between collegial discussion and the formal principle of the monarch’s sole will. The author shows how geopolitical considerations and the idea of “imperial altruism” overcame Alexander I’s doubts, and the region’s administrative structure was modeled after the administration of Lithuania.

Keywords: the Russian Empire, Eastern Georgia, Alexander I, the State Council, decision making, collegiality, C.F. Knorring, imperial politics, administrative management, and geopolitics.