Just before Zhordania departed for Tiflis on May 22, he and the Georgians of the Transcaucasian delegation approved Avalov's draft of a declaration of independence. There was now no turning back. Two days later Avalov and von Wesendonck put the finishing touches on a temporary pact. Then Chkhenkeli, in a wire coded by General Odishelidze, warned the Georgian National Council that any further delay in proclaiming independence could have disastrous consequences. 112 Only an independent Georgia protected by Germany would be spared Turkish invasion. It was already decided that Count von Schulenburg would serve as the Kaiser's representative in Tiflis.
On May 25 an aide of von Lossow's received the completed texts of the agreements and took them aboard the "Minna Horn." It was then that General von Lossow informed the Transcaucasian delegation that he had news of the impending collapse of the Republic and was departing to receive new instructions. The Georgians alone knew that the "Minna Horn" was sailing for the nearby port of Poti, where, immediately following the declaration of independence, members of their newly formed cabinet would hasten to sign the documents officially. Avalov wrote in his diary, "We are finishing the behind-the-scenes work at full speed." On the next day, May 26, he added, "The delegation begins to disperse, but the necessarily secret work has passed unnoticed. Nobody, it seems, suspects what is to happen today and tomorrow." 113
Meanwhile, in Tiflis, the Georgian Social Democrat leaders met behind closed doors. Zhordania now championed the ideal of an independent Georgia and condoned the dissolution of the Transcaucasian Federation. He expressed his sympathy for the Armenians, who were destined for the worst possible fate. He added, however, that the responsibility for the tragedy lay with the political party which directed the Armenian people. 114 Then he departed for Batum for the final time to see that all had been properly arranged. Just after von Lossow had set sail at midnight on May 25, Zhordania met with Khatisian to explain that, because the Armenians continued to resist the Turkish forces and because of the intolerable chaos in Transcaucasia, Georgia would be obliged to declare its independence. The realities of the hour were vivid as he told his Armenian friend and associate of many years: "We cannot drown with you. Our people want to save what they can. You, too, are obligated to seek an avenue for agreement with the Turks. There is no other way!" 115 An hour later, Noi Zhordania left for Tiflis to witness the death of the Democratic Federative Republic of Transcaucasia and to assist the birth of the independent Republic of Georgia.
The momentum of decisive Transcaucasian events increased steadily in the few weeks between April 22 and May 26. The Turks had entered Batum without a battle and had driven Transcaucasia to declare independence from Russia. The fall of Kars brought Turkey all the territories ceded by Article IV of Brest-Litovsk and opened the way toward the heartlands of Turan. The episode also intensified the mutual distrust of the Transcaucasian peoples. Attempts to negotiate with the enemy at Batum were hindered by disunity within the Transcaucasian delegation and the seemingly insatiable territorial hunger of the Ittihadist rulers of the Ottoman Empire. Georgians and Armenians realised that the narrow path that might lead to their salvation passed through Berlin. Success depended upon exploiting German-Turkish rivalry, as only a determined Germany could attain the eastward drive of Enver Pasha. By May 26 the Georgians had attained their goal. The Tatars, on their part, were not dissatisfied, for Turkish armies continued to advance over the southern regions of Transcaucasia. The Armenians, possessing neither the ports, the raw materials, nor the diplomatic astuteness of the Georgians and, unlike the Tatars, lacking strong cultural, religious, and racial bonds with the invader, were to be left in the lurch as the Transcaucasian Seim assembled to certify its own demise.
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