History of Chechnya

Chechen society has traditionally been organized around many autonomous local clans, called teips. Even today, many Chechens consider themselves loyal to their teip and tukkhum above all; this is one reason why it has been difficult to forge a united political front against Russia.

Earliest recorded history

From the 7th century through the 16th century Chechens and Ingushes were mostly Christians and pagans but then the influence of Islam spread until Sufi Muslims became the majority. Later the conflicts intensified with their Christian neighbours such as Georgians and Cossacks, as well as with the Buddhist Kalmyks.

Russian Empire

Russian influence started as early as the 16th century when Ivan the Terrible founded Tarki in 1559 where the first Cossack army was stationed. The Russian Terek Cossack Host was established in lowland Chechnya in 1577 by free Cossacks resettled from Volga River Valley to the Terek River Valley. In 1783 Russia and the eastern Georgian kingdom of Kartl-Kakheti (which had been devastated by Turkish and Persian invasions) signed the Treaty of Georgievsk, according to which Kartli-Kakheti was to receive Russian protection.

In order to secure communications with Georgia and other regions of the Transcaucasia the Russian Empire began spreading her influence into the Caucasus mountains; It soon met with fierce resistance from the mountain tribes. In 1785, a holy war was declared on the Russians by Sheikh Mansur, who was captured in 1791 and died a few years later.

Following the 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 and resisted fiercely, led by the Dagestani commanders Ghazi Mohammed, Gamzat-bek and Imam Shamil, but Chechnya was finally absorbed into the Russian Empire in 1859 after Shamil's capture.

The long and brutal war caused a prolonged wave of emigration until the end of the 19th century. Thousands of highlanders moved to Turkey and other countries of the Middle East, while Terek Cossacks and Armenians settled in Chechnya. During the Russo-Turkish War, 1877-78 the highlanders rose against Russia once more, but they were defeated again.

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 (then administered as part of the Terek Oblast).

Soviet Union

During the Russian Civil War the Northern Caucasus switched hands several times between Denikin's Volunteer Army, the Bolshevik Red Army and the Mountainous Republic of the Northern Caucasus, who allied with the Bolsheviks as they promised them greater autonomy and self-rule. Following the end of the conflict in 1921, the Chechnya-Ingushetia had been first made part of the Soviet Mountain Republic, and after it was disbanded in 1924 received the official status of an autonomous republic within the Soviet Union in 1936. The republic included not only the ethnically Chechen mountains but also large stretches of steppe inhabited by the Terek Cossacks.

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 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. First part of 478 479 people deported since February 23 to 29, second part of circa 6.000 people sent two days later due heavy snow. During deportation 88 454 of Chechen and Ingushs died from the cold because trains were not equipped with any heating system. During next three years died circa 100.000 peoples in deportation.

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. Territories that had been transferred to Ossetia and Dagestan were not returned to restored Checheno-Ingushetia. On the other hand several regions such as the Naursky district and Schelokovsky Districts of Stavropol Kray (historically always part of Russia, and populated by Terek Cossacks) that was not part of the pre-1944 republic were added on.

The returning Chechens were encouraged to settle in the lowland steppe regions, and in Grozny itself rather than the historical mountainous districts. This caused extensive friction which erupted into the 1958 Grozny riots, between the Russian and Chechen population of the city.

In the 20th century, some lowland territories of Chechnya changed their owners several times. After the Russian Civil War, lands populated by Terek Cossacks and Russian colonists were granted to Chechens and Ingush as a reward for their support of the Bolsheviks against the White movement. Later these lands were partially returned to the Cossacks or Ossetians.

Post-Soviet Chechnya

After the demise of the Soviet Union, the situation in Chechnya became unclear. Below is the chronology of that time:

• sometime during the Soviet era, there was the Chechen-Ingush Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, consisting of Chechnya and Ingushetia. In 1990 it was renamed to the Chechen-Ingush Republic.
• On September 1, 1991, some Chechen politicians formed the "National Congress of Chechen People", which declared that part of the Chechen-Ingush Republic had become an independent state called the Chechen Republic; they stated that supreme power was given to the Executive Committee, led by Dzhokhar Dudayev.
• On September 2, 1991, a group of religious and public figures made a petition, claiming that the Executive Committee was not legitimate and that actions of the Committee would inevitably lead to bloodshed.
• On September 6, 1991, the building of the Supreme Soviet was occupied by Dzhokhar Dudayev's guards.
• On September 15, 1991, a last session of the Supreme Soviet of the Chechen-Ingush Republic took place, and it decided to dissolve itself (under the request of Dudayev's guards).
• On October 1, 1991, some of the ex-deputies decided to divide the republic into the Chechen Republic and the Ingush Republic.
• On October 27, 1991, an unofficial election was held. Less than 20% (probably 12%) of the population participated, and Dzhokhar Dudayev was elected. Many false ballots were made, so the number of ballots significantly exceeded number of registered voters.
• On November 1, 1991, Dudayev issued a decree of Chechen independence (Указ об "Об объявлении суверенитета Чеченской Республики с 1 ноября 1991 г.")
• On November 2, 1991, the 5th Assembly of People's Deputies of RSFSR (the Russian parliament of that time) took place. A resolution was issued stating that the Chechen Supreme Soviet and President were not legitimate.
• On May, 1993, the Chechen parliament and the Muftiat (Islamic high council) made an appeal to the Chechen people to defend the old constitution and restore legitimate power. The decision of the Chechen constitutional court was that Dudayev's actions were illegal.

The civil war then started. The Russian federal government refused to recognize Chechen independence and made several attempts to take full control of the territory of the Chechen Republic. The federal government supported a failed coup designed to overthrow Dudayev in 1994.

Simultaneously the 300,000 strong non-Chechen minority, primarily ethnic Russians as well as Armenians and Jews were forced to flee the republic.

First Chechen War (1994-1996)

Main article: First Chechen War

Russian federal forces overran Grozny in November, 1994. 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. Led by Aslan Maskhadov, separatists conducted successful guerrilla operations from the mountainous terrain. By March 1995, Aslan Maskhadov became leader of the Chechen resistance.

In June, 1995, Chechen guerrillas occupied a hospital in the southern Russian town of Budyonnovsk (in Stavropol Krai), taking over 1,000 hostages. Federal forces attempted to storm the hospital twice and failed; the guerrillas were allowed to leave after freeing their hostages. This incident, televised accounts of war crimes and mass destruction, and the resulting widespread demoralization of the federal army, led to a federal withdrawal and the beginning of negotiations on March 21, 1996.

Separatist President Dudayev was killed in a Russian rocket attack on April 21, 1996 and the Vice-president Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev became president. Negotiations on Chechen independence were repeatedly finally tabled in August 1996, leading to the end of the war and withdrawal of federal forces.

Aslan Maskhadov was elected President in 1997, but was unable to consolidate control as the wartorn republic devolved into regional bickering among local teip leaders and organized criminal factions.

Second Chechen War and its consequences

Main article: Second Chechen War

Chechnya map

In August 1999 renegade Chechen and Arab commanders led a large group of militants into Dagestan. Headed by Shamil Basayev and Amir Khattab, the insurgents fought Russian forces in Dagestan for a week before being driven back into Chechnya proper. On September 9, 1999, Chechens were blamed for the bombing of an apartment complex in Moscow and several other explosions in Russia.

These events were viewed by Russia's new prime minister Vladimir Putin as a violation of the Khasav-Yurt Accord by the Chechen side. Thus, on October 1, 1999, 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. In 2003, referendum on constitution and presidential election were held. Since then more measures have been passed ending military administration and replacing it with civil apparatus.

The Chechen separatists initially resisted fiercely, and several high-profile battles resulted in their victories such as the Battle of Hill 776 and Zhani-Vedeno ambush. Nonetheless the success in establishing a loyal Chechen militia and the actions of Russian Special Forces meant that in 2002 Putin announced that the war was officially over, and large scale operations involving regular army has ceased.

However the Insurgency continued, and has spread to neghbouring regions with high profile clashes such as the Battle of Nalchik and the Beslan School siege. Yet after the deaths of prominent leaders Aslan Maskhadov and Shamil Basayev, insurgency has slowly died down.

Both the federal and separatist armies have been widely criticized by human rights groups such as Amnesty International for alleged war crimes committed during the two Chechen wars, including well-documented accusations on both sides of rape, torture, looting, and the murder of civilians.

The two wars have left millions of people living in poverty, up to half a million refugees (particularly ethnic Russians), and most of the infrastructure destroyed. Since then Northern Chechnya and Grozny have been rebuilt.

See also

• History of post-Soviet Russia

External links

• "(in English and Russian) Official rebel website". Archived from the original on 2007-04-04., the Chechenpress.
• History of Chechnya at ChechnyaFree.ru, Official Russian government website
• "The history of the ChRI (in Russian)". Archived from the original on 2006-08-25.
• FIDH: Terror and Impunity : A Planned System
• Russia's Splitting Headache - A Brief History Of Chechnya