Relying on the 11th Red Army of Soviet Russia operating in neighboring Azerbaijan, the Bolsheviks attempted to take control of a military school and government offices in the Georgian capital of Tiflis on May 3.

In his April 30 speech, Georgian Premier Noe Zhordania stated that his country had been prepared to come to aid to Azerbaijan provided that the latter's own people fought for their independence.

[1] Sergo Ordzhonikidze, a Bolshevik commissar with the Red Army in the Caucasus and close ally of Joseph Stalin, tried to persuade the Russian leader Lenin to allow an advance into Georgia.

Following the restive May 1 International Workers' Day manifestations and unrest in Tiflis, the Bolsheviks formed and supported armed groups to take control of government buildings.

Having successfully dealt with the unrest in Tiflis, the Georgian government concentrated all its forces on the border with Azerbaijan and repulsed the Red Army detachments, staging a counter-offensive.