[5] The Tbilisi Tragedy, coupled with the military failure in Afghanistan and the collapse of the Iron Curtain that separated Western world from the Eastern Bloc led to a chain reaction that saw the Baltic states declare their independence in 1990.

Soon, Soviet authorities, under pressure of mass revolts, allowed multi-party elections in October 1990, which saw Round Table, the alliance led by Zviad Gamsakhurdia, winning majority of seats in the Supreme Council, culminating the end of 69 years long rule of Communist Party.

[15] Journalists were routinely excluded from press conferences and public television often accused its competition to be at the service of Moscow,[15] while death threats and false criminal investigations were used by Tbilisi against renegade news anchors.

[22] On 23 August, Gamsakhurdia issued a presidential decree abolishing the position of commander of the National Guard, dismissing Kitovani, and brought the troops entirely within the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Gia Karkarashvili, who leads the Military Council's war efforts, claims that the other side has no more than 250–300 men by 4 January,[41] while the Russian news agency Interfax reported 300–500 Zviadist soldiers the day before.

[47] Starting on 22 December, Tetri Artsivi (თეთრი არწივი, or "White Eagle"), a paramilitary group of around 80 men led by warlord Gia Karkarashvili and operating in the South Ossetia war, leaves Tskhinvali to assist the opposition.

However, following the arrest of Nodar Giorgadze, head of the militia and Deputy Minister of Defense, rumors about his execution in the presidential bunker lead to the Union formally joining arms with the opposition.

[57] Some analyze this weapons distribution scheme to be the natural result of the lack of order among remaining Soviet armies after the downfall of the USSR, given the harsh economic conditions of the Caucasus and the corruption of high-ranking military officials.

Giorgi Arveladze, a Mkhedrioni officer (and future Minister of the Economy), is sent to inspect the surroundings of Parliament to confirm the location of governmental troops and soon, Rustaveli Avenue is blocked from the public, with both sides using buses and armed vehicles to isolate the most popular street of Tbilisi.

[61] With just the Kashveti Church serving as a buffer between both camps, government authorities send Mayor Tamaz Vashadze of Tbilisi and deputy Avtandil Rtskhiladze on a negotiation mission one last time before the beginning of the hostilities, but the two are kidnapped by Sigua's forces.

[61] Khatiashvili joins the opposition on the first day of fighting, while Communications Minister Phelix Tkebuchava, stays formally inside the government but collaborates with coup leaders by cutting the phone lines of Parliament.

[61] During the afternoon, Ilia II, Catholicos-Patriarch of the Georgian Orthodox Church, makes an appearance on Rustaveli Avenue, asking both sides to agree on peace, while remaining neutral during the conflict, a position that would later be criticized heavily by some Gamsakhurdia supporters.

[65] Russian TV, meanwhile, provides footage of vehicles armed with rocket launchers pointed at the Parliament building, before the beginning of a second attack against the structure, led by Tengiz Sigua himself, who predicts an imminent victory.

[62] Gamsakhurdia recalls the remaining parts of his National Guard in Tbilisi in order to attempt a breach through the opposition's barricades outside the city, thus putting an end to any large Georgian military presence in South Ossetia.

[70]" On 28 December, it becomes clear that government forces have lost all control outside of the presidential bunker and Tengiz Kitovani, followed by a Mkhedrioni detachment, captures the former Soviet office of the KGB in the Gldani neighborhood, where several opposition leaders are imprisoned.

[71] On their way, the Kitovani troops burn down several buildings of strategic importance, including the National Bank of Georgia and the Ministry of Internal Affairs,[71] leading to the destruction of nearly 210,000 documents (or 80% of the entirety) of governmental archives from the Soviet era.

[75] The main battle on 2 January takes place during the evening when, around 18:00, governmental troops attack with trace fire the Iveria Hotel, controlled by the opposition and less than one kilometer north of the Parliament building and which includes a Red Cross station.

Thus, while Georgian television falls under opposition control on 1 January,[74] all programming is stopped in western Georgia, which had remained loyal to Gamsakhurdia, thanks to the capture of the broadcasting tower of Kutaisi by Zviadists.

[90] During that same interview, he refused a new offer to negotiate his resignation with the opposition and compared the shooting to the January 1991 events in Lithuania, when Soviet troops shot and killed several protesters fighting for independence.

[92] Following false rumors on the executions of Nodar Giorgadze and Jemal Koteliani, two members of the government imprisoned in the bunker by Gamsakhurdia, the Military Council draws up plans to launch a new attack against the Parliament.

[44] On 4 January, while Jaba Ioseliani announces a plan to abolish the presidency and institute a parliamentary system in Georgia,[47] the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Prosecutor General's Office pledge allegiance to the Military Council.

While the residents leave massively the center of Tbilisi,[90] Tengiz Kitovani wins a new fight on the Zulabashvili Brothers Street,[90] behind the Parliament building, finalizing the surrounding of the last government stronghold.

[70] On 5 January, Russian newspaper Postfactum publishes an interview with an anonymous presidential guard that accuses the President of having forbidden any escape of his troops, threatening any soldier attempting to flee with execution.

[97] Opposition forces penetrate then into the abandoned and ruined Parliament, some supporting columns of which are entirely destroyed, proclaiming victory against the Gamsakhurdia government and freeing the 40 prisoners left in the bunker (two of which are taken to a local hospital after showing signs of torture.

[102] While some reports show that the exiled Georgians are attempting to reach Baku before crossing the Russian border into Daghestan,[102] Gamsakhurdia ends up in the Armenian town of Idzhevan, in northern Armenia, with a following of 150,[88] in the evening.

[107] The Red Cross establishes a station in the Iveria Hotel, less than 900 meters from the Parliament building,[47] and a volunteer rescue service called Santeli (სანთელი, "candle") is formed to aid civilians affected by the conflict.

[114] The same day, Zviad Gamsakhurdia and his family take a private plane with a Georgian pilot and leave Armenia for Grozny, the capital of Ichkeria, whose president, Dzhokhar Dudayev, still recognized the legitimacy of the government in exile.

[116] The latter, who had already announced his support of the opposition and his offer to come to Georgia's aid since 5 January,[117] becomes the new head of state and has to spend several years to establish his central power, facing the militaristic ambitions of both Tengiz Kitovani and Jaba Ioseliani.

[c] On 4 January, Tengiz Epitashvili, the presidential representative in the South Ossetian conflict, joins the Military Council and pledges to keep his last National Guard bastions in place to protect Georgian territories;[109] but the same day, opposition leaders offer a ceasefire and a peace proposal to the separatists.

The dozens of true opposition parties are not participating in the conflict and prefer to wait before expressing themselves on the subject.On 11 March 2005, the Georgian Parliament adopted a resolution calling the 1991–1992 events a "violent and anti-constitutional military coup".