Chechnya

The Chechen Republic (Chechen: ??????? ??????????/Noxçiyn Respublika, Russian: ????????? ??????????), informal Chechnya (Chechen: ????????/Noxçiyçö/Nokhchiyno, Russian: ?????), sometimes incorrectly refered to as Ichkeria, Chechnia or Chechenia, is currently a constituent republic of the Russian Federation. Bordering Stavropol Krai to the northwest, the republic of Dagestan to the northeast and east, Georgia to the south, and the republics of Ingushetia and North Ossetia to the west, it is located in the Northern Caucasus mountains, in the Southern Federal District.

History

Main article: History of Chechnya

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Early history

Chechnya is a region in the Northern Caucasus which has constantly fought against foreign rule, beginning with the Ottoman Turks in the 15th century. Eventually the Chechens were converted to Islam and tensions began to die down with the Turks, however conflicts with their Christian neighbours such as Georgians and Cossacks as well as with the Buddhist Kalmyks intensified. The current resistance to Russian overlordship began during the late 18th century (1785-1791) under Mansur Ushurma -- a Chechen Naqshbandi (Sufi) Sheikh -- with the support of many Muslim ethnicities throughout the Northern Caucasus. Mansur hoped to establish a Transcaucasus Islamic state under shari'a law, but was ultimately unable to do so because of both Russian resistance and opposition from many Chechens (who had only recently been converted to Islam). Its banner was again picked up by Imam Shamil, who fought the Russians from 1834 until 1859. He was ultimately defeated after fighting the Russians across both Chechnya and Dagestan. In 1869 he was given permission to retire to the holy city of Mecca, and he travelled there through Istanbul. He died in Medina in 1871 while visiting the city, and was buried the Jannatul Baqi which is also the site where many important personalities from Islamic history are buried. His two sons became officers in the Russian army.

Related Topics:
Caucasus - Ottoman Turks - Islam - Georgians - Cossacks - Kalmyks - 18th century - 1785 - 1791 - Mansur Ushurma - Naqshbandi - Sufi - Transcaucasus - Shari'a - Imam Shamil - 1834 - 1859 - Dagestan - 1869 - Mecca - Medina - 1871

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Soviet rule

Chechen rebellions would characteristically flame up whenever the Russian state faced a period of internal uncertainty. Rebellions occurred during the Russo-Turkish War (See Russo-Turkish War, 1877-78), the Russian Revolution of 1905, the Russian Revolution of 1917, Russian Civil War, and Collectivization. Under Soviet Rule, Chechnya was combined with Ingushetia to form the autonomous republic of Chechen-Ingushetia in the late 1930s. The Chechens, though, again rose up against Soviet rule during the 1940s, resulting in the deportation of the Chechen population to the Kazakh SSR (later Kazakhstan) and Siberia during World War II. Stalin and others argued this was necessary in order to stop the Chechens from providing assistance to the Germans during the Second World War. Although the German front never made it to the border of Chechnya, an active guerrilla movement threatened to undermine the Soviet defenses of the Caucasus (noted writer Valentin Pikul' claims in his historical account Barbarossa that while the city of Grozny was being prepared for a siege in 1942, all of the air bombers stationed on the Caucasian front had to be directed at quelling the Chechen insurrection instead of fighting the German siege of Stalingrad). As well, incidents of covert German airdrops into Chechnya and interceptions of radio exchanges between German and Chechen rebels were frequent. The Chechens were allowed to return to their homeland after 1956 during the de-Stalinization which occurred under Nikita Khrushchev.

Related Topics:
Russo-Turkish War, 1877-78 - Russian Revolution of 1905 - Russian Revolution of 1917 - Russian Civil War - Collectivization - Ingushetia - Chechen-Ingushetia - 1930s - 1940s - Kazakh SSR - Kazakhstan - Siberia - World War II - Stalin - Guerrilla - Caucasus - Valentin Pikul' - Barbarossa - Grozny - Siege of Stalingrad - 1956 - De-Stalinization - Nikita Khrushchev

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The russification policies towards Chechens continued after 1956, with Russian required in most aspects of life and for advancement in the Soviet system. Despite this some ethnic Chechens managed to achieve some top positions in the USSR (most notable Ruslan Khasbulatov (speaker of Soviet Supreme Soviet), Dzhokhar Dudaev (Soviet general), Doku Zavgaev (chairman of Chechen-Ingush ASSR), and Aslambek Aslakhanov (Soviet/Russian lawmaker). The Chechens remained peaceful and relatively loyal to the state until the introduction of Glasnost under Mikhail Gorbachev in the late 1980s.

Related Topics:
Ruslan Khasbulatov - Supreme Soviet - Dzhokhar Dudaev - Doku Zavgaev - Aslambek Aslakhanov - Glasnost - Mikhail Gorbachev

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

With the impending collapse of the Soviet Union, an independence movement, initially known as the Chechen National Congress, formed in 1990. This movement was ultimately opposed by Boris Yeltsin's Russian Federation, which argued: (1) Chechnya had not been an independent entity within the Soviet Union – as the Baltic, Central Asian, and other Caucasian States had – but was a part of the Russian Soviet Federal Socialist Republic and hence did not have a right under the Soviet constitution to secede; (2) Other ethnic groups inside Russia, such as the Tatars, would join the Chechens and secede from the Russian Federation if they were granted that right; and (3) Chechnya was at a major chokepoint in the oil-infrastructure of the country and hence would hurt the country's economy and control of oil resources.

Related Topics:
Independence - Boris Yeltsin - Russian Federation - Russian Soviet Federal Socialist Republic

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

First Chechen War

Dzhokhar Dudayev, the Republic of Chechnya's nationalist president, declared Chechnya's independence from Russia in 1991. He, however, failed to maintain control over the entire republic and saw his rule descend into chaos. Especially people of non-Chechen ethnic origin suffered under the anarchy as they could easily be killed by nationalistic gangs just to get in possession of their appartment or their car. Until 1994 several hundred thousands predominantly ethnic Russians fled Chechnya. In 1994 Russian President Boris Yeltsin ordered 40,000 troops retake Chechnya (see First Chechen War), after having been told by close advisors that it would be a popular, short, and victorious war. Yeltsin hoped to use the victory to overtake political opponents and win in the 1996 presidential elections, which was extremely uncertain as opponents within the former Communist Party and nationalists under Vladimir Zhirinovsky had gained a large amount of popular support while Yeltsin's approval ratings hovered in the single digits.

Related Topics:
Dzhokhar Dudayev - 1991 - 1994 - Russian President - Boris Yeltsin - First Chechen War - Vladimir Zhirinovsky

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Russia was quickly submerged in a quagmire like that of the Soviets in Afghanistan. Chechen insurgents inflicted humiliating losses on Russia's often demoralized and ill-equipped troops. Russian troops had not secured the Chechen capital of Grozny by year's end. They finally managed to gain control of it in February 1995 after heavy fighting. This was overturned again, when Chechen forces led by Shamil Basayev attacked the city in 1996. In addition to difficulties in the battlefield, heavy public opposition developed inside Russia itself, with critical media coverage pointing to the lack of training for Russian soldiers, their poor equipment, and the devastation within Chechnya itself. In August 1996 Yeltsin ultimately agreed to a ceasefire with Chechen leaders, and the Khasavyurt agreement declared that Chechnya's ultimate fate would be decided by the end of 2001. It was determined that between 80,000 and 100,000 (Russians and Chechens) died as a result of the invasion.

Related Topics:
Afghanistan - Grozny - 1995 - Shamil Basayev - 1996 - 2001

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Chechens elected Aslan Maskhadov as their president in 1997, but, due to the power of clans, militias, and criminal organizations within the republic, he was unable to assert complete control. Inside Russia itself, politics remained unstable, with a number of different individuals being appointed prime minister. As Yeltsin?s second term approached its end, the topic of Chechnya began to reappear. Under Prime Minister Sergei Stepashin, in power from May until August 1999, plans were prepared to re-establish control over Chechnya. On August 7th, invasion of Chechen forces – including a number of Arab and Dagestani extremists which were not affiliated with the Chechen government of Maskhadov – moved into Dagestan under the command of Basayev, Khattab and other Islamists. Stepashin was soon dismissed and replaced by Vladimir Putin, who was allegedly maneuvered into the position by the Oligarch Boris Berezovsky, on August 9. Putin promptly ordered Russian forces to Dagestan on August 12.

Related Topics:
Aslan Maskhadov - Sergei Stepashin - Dagestan - Khattab - Vladimir Putin - Boris Berezovsky - August 9 - August 12

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Second Chechen War

This incursion by Chechen forces resulted in Russian troops being placed along the border of the republic; and apartment bombings on September 1999 finally sparked the Russian army return into Chechnya. Bombs determined to be hexogen based were set off at apartment blocks at Buinaksk in Dagestan, Moscow, and Volgodonsk in Southern Russia. The Russian government immediately blamed Chechen terrorists, but failed to provide any substantial evidence to support its claims. It has since been alleged by some that FSB agents, rather than Chechen separatists, were behind the attacks. However, the invasion of Dagestan combined with shocking terrorist acts was enough to justify the military action to the Russian public. With the military extremely popular and associated with Putin, he and his parliamentary party "Unity" emerged victorious in the December 1999 Duma elections. This was a stunning turnaround, for only a number of months earlier a partnership between Moscow?s Mayor Yuri Luzhkov and former Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov in their party Fatherland – All Russia had been favored to win.

Related Topics:
Apartment bombings - 1999 - Hexogen - Buinaksk - Moscow - Volgodonsk - Yuri Luzhkov - Yevgeny Primakov - Fatherland – All Russia

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Today, Chechen separatists still claim an independent Chechnya and have orchestrated terrorist attacks in the republic and within Russia itself, leading President Putin to place the conflict within the guise of the War on Terrorism after the attacks of September 11th. These attacks have ranged from mass hostage-takings to rail, subway, and suicide bombings. The most memorable occurred in Moscow in October 23, 2002 where over 700 hostages were taken during the Moscow theater hostage crisis and in Beslan in September 2004, during the Beslan school hostage crisis where 1,200 were taken hostage at a school and over 330 were killed – half of whom were children. In the end, a decade of war has left most of Chechnya under the control of the Russian military. Fighting between the Russians and Chechen separatists continues, although primarily in the form of terrorist attacks as Chechen resistance in Chechnya itself has been largely defeated. At the same time, upwards of 100,000 (Chechens and Russians) have been killed within Chechnya as a result of the second Chechen war. The Russians and their Chechen allies have been accused of human rights abuses by international observers, such as the Russian group Memorial and the American organization Human Rights Watch. In this atmosphere, attempts to create a pro-Russian government have also been far from successful to date, as became apparent with the assassination of Akhmad Kadyrov in May 2004.

Related Topics:
War on Terrorism - Attacks of September 11th - Moscow - October 23 - 2002 - Moscow theater hostage crisis - Beslan - September 2004 - Beslan school hostage crisis - Memorial - Human Rights Watch - Akhmad Kadyrov

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Many Chechen separatist groups have become increasingly radicalized and fractured, with Shamil Basayev adopting a strongly Islamist position and inviting support from Arab Islamist organizations, such as Al-Qaeda. This was opposed by the now deceased moderate, Aslan Maskhadov, who was killed by Russian forces in March of 2005 and still publicly desired a negotiated settlement to the conflict up until his death. While the two may have stood together against what they saw as a Russian occupation, they ultimately differed greatly in both vision and ideology.

Related Topics:
Shamil Basayev - Islamist - Arab - Al-Qaeda - Aslan Maskhadov

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~