Recent sociological surveys about Stalin’s cultic figure have shown that positive attitudes toward him are higher in his homeland, Georgia than in the other former Soviet republics. For this, scholars have started researching the connection between Georgian Stalinism and nationalism. Although the studies have shown that there are apparent links between the Stalinist discourse and the Georgian national narrative, the origins of the nationalist forms, that created the fertile basis for the emergence of Georgian Stalinism, remains under-researched. The existing archival proof that Stalin was personally involved in the editing of the first official history textbook of Georgia makes such analysis especially relevant. For this, drawing upon the Georgian history textbooks published before and during Stalin’s rule and archival materials, this paper attempts to identify the changes made in the Georgian national narrative following Stalin’s instructions and examine how these alterations have influenced the intertwinement of his cultic image with the Georgian nationalist forms. The paper argues that the looming associations between Stalin’s cult and the prominent Georgian historical figures have emerged out of the Stalinist history textbooks, penetrated the sphere of Georgian nationalism, gave rise to the myths about Stalin’s Georgian patriotism and crystallised into the locally-nationalist form of Stalinism.
