ABSTRACT
This chapter describes how Lakoba consolidated his network in the leadership positions in the government of Soviet Abkhazia and his early conflicts, first with his rival Efrem Eshba over whether to emphasize the formal independent status of Abkhazia or the advantages to be gained through Soviet nationality policy, and then with a group of Georgian and Russian Bolsheviks over who would control the region. These early conflicts ultimately demonstrated that because of Soviet nationality policy, the Abkhaz group could not be removed. The chapter also describes two further conflicts that Lakoba engaged in and ultimately won against several rival groupings in 1921–1923, including one led by Aleksei Argba, who would return to threaten Lakoba again in the future.
