Germany pushed for the independence of the First Georgian Republic following the First World War and was one of the first countries to recognize the newly formed state in 1918, making it the protectorate of the German Empire.

In the 21st century, the two countries also cooperated militarily during the decades-long campaign in Afghanistan, where Georgia was one of the largest troop contributors and at times operated under German command.

Upon witnessing the oppression of local peasants due to their non-Lutheran faith or as a result of their participation in separatist movements, the Emperor arranged for their settlement in the suburbs of Tiflis, the historical capital of Georgia, with the aim of forming agricultural colonies.

Two months later another group of colonists founded a settlement on the bank of the Asureti River and named it Elisabethtal, after the Emperor's wife Elisabeth Alexeievna.

To maintain its fledgling sovereignty and keep both Russia and Turkey at bay, Georgia became a protectorate of the German Empire, which sent a contingent of troops under the leadership of General Friedrich Freiherr Kress von Kressenstein.