The Chechen Republic (Rus: Чече́нская Респу́блика; Chechen: Нохчийн Республика)
This is one of the most difficult features we'll have written on RUA. How it might be possible to cover so much history, backgound, culture, and political realities about an area of the world which is intentionally misunderstood and misconstrued, is beyond the abilities of even the most dedicated.
Mendeleyev will also admit that his heart is in this subject. While as an Orthodox Christian and general admirer of things Russian, despite those who say that this is a fight between Christian ideals and Muslim expansion, this writer's heart says otherwise. This is a struggle for independence by a people who historically have been unfairly dominated and arbitrarily ruled by a giant neighbor against its will.
In fact, one could easily question the whims of a country which at the same time denies rights of independence to one group of people while at the other time claiming to rescue breakaway republics from its neighbors next door. One easily understands however when realizing that Chechnya possesses two assets coveted by the KGB Colonel running Russia, namely oil and pipelines which carry oil from Russia to the West.
Most folks refer to this region informally as Chechnya (Russian: Чечня́; Chechen: Нохчийчоь) althought sometimes it is referred to as Ichkeria, too. Chechnya is a federal republic and Grozy its largest city and capital. It is a federal subject of Russia, located in the Northern Caucasus mountains, in the Southern Federal District.
To understand its location, Chechnya borders 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.
The republic proclaimed its independence in late 1991 under leader Dzokhar Dudayev, and fought two devastating wars with the Russian Federation which denounced the secession. Chechen society has traditionally been organized around many autonomous local clans, called teips. Even today, many Chechens consider themselves loyal to their teip and this is one reason why it has been difficult to forge a united political front against Russia.
Following the forced incorporation of neighbouring Dagestan into the Empire in 1803-1813, Imperial Russian forces under Aleksey Yermolov began moving into highland Chechnya in 1830 to secure Russia's borders with the Ottoman Empire. In the course of the prolonged Caucasian War, the Chechens, along with many peoples of the Eastern Caucasus, united into the Caucasian Imamate to resist the invasion and Russian domination.
After the end of the Caucasus War, the region enjoyed a relative peace. By the end of the 19th century, major oil deposits were discovered around Grozny (1893) which along with the arrival of the railroad (early 1890s), brought economic prosperity to the region. The discovery of oil however meant the death for Chechnen dreams of independence.
During World War II, despite the fact that about 40,000 Chechens and Ingush fought in the Red Army (50 of them received the highest recognition of the Hero of the Soviet Union), the Soviet government accused them of cooperating with the Nazi invaders, who had controlled the western parts of Chechnya-Ingushetia for several months of the 1942/1943 winter. It was claimed that some Chechens were eager to show the Nazis mountain passes leading to Azerbaijan, whose oil reserves were the goal of Germany's Operation Blue.
On orders from Lavrenty Beria, the head of the NKVD, the entire Chechen and Ingush population of the republic were deported by freight trains to Kazakhstan. Done in February during the mountains bitter cold, approximately 60% of the Chechens and Ingushs died from the cold because trains were not equiped with heating equipment.
The Checheno-Ingush ASSR was transformed into Grozny Oblast (that also included some other territories) and parts of it were given to North Ossetia (part of Prigorodny District), Georgian SSR and Dagestan ASSR. In 1949 Soviet authorities erected a statue of 19th century Russian general Aleksey Yermolov in Grozny. The inscription read,
"There is no people under the sun more vile and deceitful than this one."The Chechens were allowed to return only in 1957, four years after Stalin's death in 1953. In 1991 Chechnya declared independence along with other former Soviet republics. Civil war began between the Russians who had been transplanted into the region during the Stalin years and the separatists.
Russian federal forces overran Grozny in November, 1994. "Grozny" naturally brings to mind Ivan Grozny and the word means "fearsome" or "dangerous" in Russian. Although the forces achieved some initial successes, the federal military made a number of critical strategic blunders during the Chechnya campaign and was widely perceived as incompetent.
Watch a fierce
batttle in Grozny here. Russia shelled the city for two months before entering.
Led by Aslan Maskhadov, separatists conducted successful guerrilla operations from the mountainous terrain. By March 1995, Aslan Maskhadov became leader of the Chechen resistance. This is now called the
first Chechnen War.The
second Chechnen War began on October 1, 1999 when Russian troops entered Chechenya. Much better trained and prepared than in the first war, by December all of the northern steppe regions were conquered, and Grozny was encircled, which finally surrendered in early February 2000. By late spring all of the lowland, and most of the mountainous territory was successfully re-claimed by the federal forces.
After several years of military administration, in 2002, a local government was formed by loyal Chechens headed by Akhmad Kadyrov. However the insurgency continued, and spread to neighbouring regions with high profile clashes such as the Battle of Nalchik and the
Beslan School siege.
Beslan mother mourns.
Even in the presence of Russian security troops, some Chechens whisper about relatives and friends who disappeared after being detained at Russian checkpoints, known as blokposti, which dominate every major intersection in the city. "There is not even the most elementary safety. People can't be sure they will even be alive tomorrow," says Ruhman Musayeva, a TV producer.
Even in war, life goes on.
Watch a
wedding celebration take place in the midst of a war!
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