Historian Simon Maskharashvili believes the new addendum will put an end to what he calls a myth of Russo-Georgian centuries-long friendship. He says it could be cast aside, if disagreements between Moscow and Tbilisi over South Ossetia and Abkhazia, which Georgia calls «occupied territories» will be settled.

But Manana Nikolaishvili, President of Georgian Education League, believes focusing on Russia lone is unfair. She says Georgia has repeatedly been under attack from Persian and Ottoman Turk forces, to name a few, and so a special textbook should be written for each such occupation – without a nod to Georgia's current trend in foreign relations.

“According to the authors of the textbook, the small but proud Georgia fought with Turks, Persians and other enslavers, but couldn't manage to fight against Russian imperial forces,” said professor of Moscow State University for Foreign Affairs Vladimir Medinsky in an interview to Russian newspaper Vremya Novostey.

He goes on to add that, “Georgian children have no idea that the Russian Empire took their ancestors under its helm only after a series of insistent requests to do so by the Georgian rulers – after Turks and Persians put the Georgian people on the brink of extinction.”

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Fact box

Starting in the 14th century, Georgia – then broken into several smaller kingdoms – came under repeated attacks from the Turks and Iran for more than 400 years.

Some of the invaders, like Shah Abbas, sought to annihilate the Georgian people altogether. Georgia turned to Russia in the 18th century, seeking protection from its large neighbour, with whom it shared one, but vital, trait – Christianity.

The Treaty of Grigorievsk put Georgia under the protectorate of the Russian Empire, but Georgian nobility felt the status did not provide sufficient safety measures.

It took Russian Emperor Pavel I one year to finally decide to annex Georgia, after a request from the dying Georgian king Gheorgi XII.

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The changes to the curriculum come just a week after Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili announced his readiness to start a dialogue with Russia on all disagreements between two countries.

Historian Zurab Bragvadze says such inconsistency in rhetoric is indicative of the Georgian authorities' inability to work out a stable policy towards its relations with Moscow.

“Where's the logic?” asked Bragvadze, “Is raising children, who will see Russia as a monster, their end goal? Years later these children will have to build new relations with Russia.”

Irina Galushko, RT, Tbilisi