Marika Khujadze

Marika Khujadze
Born	18 August 1888 (place), Ruvelkan Socialist Republic
Died	10 May 1989(1989-05-10) (aged 100) Antánas, Tandar, Gylias
Occupation	Activist military adventurer warlord writer politician
Organization	Sakarvelbos Damouk’ideblobis Modzraoba

Marika Khujadze (Karvelebi: მარიკა ხუჯაძე; 18 August 1888 – 10 May 1989) was a Karvelebi activist, military adventurer, warlord, writer, and politician. She was an influential leader and ideologist of the Karvelebi independence movement, seeking an independent Zemplen, and was one of the founders of the Sakarvelbos Damouk’ideblobis Modzraoba.

Early life

Marika Khujadze was born on 18 August 1888 in (place). She was born into a family of Karvelebi farmers, who were politically active. She attended vocational school and studied engineering.

Her interest in politics was aroused by her parents, initially supporters of the Ruvelkan Socialist Republic who later turned against the regime for its bureaucratisation and chauvinism towards ethnic minorities. She joined the army during the Syaran-Ruvelkan War, and was embittered by the experience of seeing Syara seize most of Zemplen, including her hometown.

Military career

Ruvelkan Civil War

Following the 1914 December Uprising, Khujadze interrupted her studies and volunteered on the side of the Zemplen Peoples’ Republic. When the Zemplen People's Republic was overrun by the Syaran intervention in the Ruvelkan Civil War, she turned to guerrilla warfare. She advanced in ranks during the civil war, but was frustrated that Zemplen remained part of Syara at its end.

The civil war was crucial in forming Khujadze's ideology of a "free, independent, and socialist Zemplen": free of both Ruvelkan and Syaran dominance, and a decentralised socialist republic, rejecting the centralisation and authoritarianism of the Ruvelkan Socialist Republic. She resolved that Zemplen would need to be liberated by force, and thus she would commit herself to gaining further military experience for the cause.

Megelan

She relocated to Alscia in 1918, remaining there long enough to join the Border Guard and attend its military academy. She then traveled to Megelan during its Warlord Era. She managed to attract a few followers and form her own faction, which controlled territory in northern Megelan bordering Delkora. Her intention was to secure support for the Karvelebi cause by gaining military experience and the solidarity of other countries undergoing their own civil wars or independence struggles.

Khujadze stood out among Megelanese warlords: she was the only major warlord of foreign descent, and made efforts to modernise the poor and relatively undeveloped territory she controlled. She developed her ideology through practical experiments, reuniting agrarian socialism, anarchism in governance, and nationalism as a source of military recruitment and morale. She attended mainly to military matters, but occasionally made suggestions regarding public investment in industries, infrastructure development, and establishing schools.

During this period, she wrote On Guerrilla Warfare, published in 1938. Part memoir and part military manual, the book established her as one of Tyran's leading theoreticians of guerrilla warfare, and became widely circulated. Khujadze's theory emphasised the democratic and socialist aspect of guerrilla tactics, and harnessing local patriotism in order to mobilise popular sentiment in support of insurgency.

Free Territories

With her territory overrun by other factions, Khujadze left Megelan in 1940, crossing the border into Delkora. From Delkora, she traveled to the Free Territories and joined the People's Army.

She served with distinction in the Liberation War, being repeatedly elected commander by her unit, and participating in the Battle of Mytin. Away from the battlefield, she was active in politics, being elected delegate to the General Council on a few occasions. She was a major advocate of the People's Army accepting foreign military support in order to guarantee its victory, and was frequently a liaison with Acrean military advisers owing to her conventional military background.

During the war, Khujadze traveled frequently to Ruvelka, seeking to both gain Ruvelkan support for the Free Territories and bolster the Karvelebi cause. She was one of the founders of the Sakarvelbos Damouk’ideblobis Modzraoba in 1942, and became one of the leading figures of Zemplen nationalism. Although her goal was still Zemplen independence, she considered Syara the bigger threat, and tactically accepted an alliance with the Ruvelkan authorities.

Later life

After the Liberation War, Khujadze divided her time between Ruvelka and Gylias. She spent more time in Gylias for safety reasons after Syara classified the SDM as a terrorist organisation in 1962; Gylias' rejection of Syaran extradition requests strained relations between the two countries.

Khujadze published an autobiography in 1968, which focused more on her life as a military adventurer, and wrote several more theoretical works about warfare. She was elected to the Gacar Regional Council in 1970 and 1974 as an Independent Regional Alliance for Minorities candidate supported by Veterans for a Just Peace. She continued to advocate Zemplen independence, forming friendships with prominent Karvelebi Gylians like Ludmila Canaşvili, and helped bring the government in exile of the Zemplen People's Republic to Gylias, and was elected its President in 1972.

As the Zemplen conflict raged on, Khujadze found her leadership position in the SDM increasingly challenged by a new generation. While Khujadze supported the targeted campaign of bombings and assassinations to pressure the Syaran government and weaken its control over Zemplen, the more radicalised younger generation favoured a more indiscriminate application of terror tactics.

Death

Khujadze died in Antánas on 10 May 1989. She was cremated and buried in the town.

Her will specified that her ashes be returned to Zemplen after it achieved its freedom. They were returned to her hometown in 2010, after the Zemplen War, at the same time that the government in exile legally dissolved and transferred its credentials to the new Zemplen Autonomous Region government. The return of Khujadze's ashes caused controversy among Zemplen nationalists, as Zemplen had not become independent but rather part of Ruvelka.

Legacy

Khujadze is an influential figure in Karvelebi nationalism, with the Karvelebi Freedom Movement claiming allegiance to Khujadzist ideals. She is also recognised as a leading theorist of guerrilla warfare whose works have influenced insurgent and guerrilla movements throughout Tyran.

Khujadze is a controversial figure in Syara, where she is regarded as a terrorist, and her positive reputation in Gylias was a factor in poor relations between the two countries.