200 years ago, in October 1817, the Russian fortress Pregradny Stan was built on the Sunzha River (now the village of Sernovodskoye in Chechen Republic). This event is considered the beginning of the Caucasian War, which lasted until 1864.

Why did the highlanders of Chechnya and Dagestan declare jihad on Russia in the 19th century? Can the resettlement of Circassians after the Caucasian War be considered genocide? Was the conquest of the Caucasus a colonial war? Russian Empire? The candidate spoke about this historical sciences, Senior Researcher and Netherlands Institute advanced research in the field of humanitarian and social sciences Vladimir Bobrovnikov.

An Atypical Conquest

“Lenta.ru”: How did it happen that first the Russian Empire annexed Transcaucasia and only then the North Caucasus?

Bobrovnikov: Transcaucasia had great geopolitical significance, which is why it was conquered earlier. The principalities and kingdoms of Georgia, the khanates on the territory of Azerbaijan and Armenia became part of Russia at the end of the 18th - first quarter of the XIX century. The Caucasian War was largely caused by the need to establish communications with Transcaucasia, which had already become part of the Russian Empire. Shortly before it began, the Georgian Military Road was built, connecting Tiflis (the name of the city of Tbilisi until 1936 - approx. "Tapes.ru") with a fortress built by the Russians in Vladikavkaz.

Why did Russia need Transcaucasia so much?

This region was very important from a geopolitical point of view, so Persia, the Ottoman and Russian empires fought over it. As a result, Russia won this rivalry, but after the annexation of Transcaucasia, the unreconciled North Caucasus, as they said then, prevented the establishment of communications with the region. Therefore, we had to conquer it too.

Painting by Franz Roubaud

A well-known publicist of the 19th century justified the conquest of the Caucasus by the fact that its inhabitants are “natural predators and robbers who have never left and cannot leave their neighbors alone.” What do you think - was it typical? colonial war or the forced pacification of “wild and aggressive” mountain tribes?

Danilevsky’s opinion is not unique. They described their new colonial subjects in Great Britain, France and other European countries in a similar way. colonial powers. Already at a later date Soviet era and in the 1990s, a historian from North Ossetia, Mark Bliev, tried to revive the rationale for the Caucasian War in the fight against mountaineer raids and created an original theory of the raiding system, due to which, in his opinion, mountain society lived. However, his point of view was not accepted in science. It also does not stand up to criticism from the point of view of sources indicating that the mountaineers obtained their livelihood from cattle breeding and agriculture. The Caucasian war for Russia was a colonial war, but not entirely typical.

What does it mean?

It was a colonial war with all the cruelties that accompanied it. It can be compared with the conquest of India by the British Empire or the conquest of Algeria by France, which also dragged on for decades, if not half a century. The participation of Christian and partly Muslim elites of Transcaucasia in the war on the side of Russia was atypical. From them came famous Russian politicians- for example, Mikhail Tarielovich Loris-Melikov from the Armenians of Tiflis, who rose to the post of head of the Terek region, later appointed Governor-General of Kharkov and, finally, head of the Russian Empire.

After the end of the Caucasian War, a regime was established in the region that cannot always be described as colonial. Transcaucasia received an all-Russian provincial system of government, and different regimes of military and indirect government were created in the North Caucasus.

The concept of “Caucasian War” is very arbitrary. In fact, it was a series of military campaigns of the Russian Empire against the highlanders, between which there were periods of truce, sometimes long. The term “Caucasian War”, coined by the pre-revolutionary military historian Rostislav Andreevich Fadeev, who wrote the book “Sixty Years of the Caucasian War” at the request of the Caucasian governorship in 1860, became established only in the late Soviet literature. Until the mid-twentieth century, historians wrote about the “Caucasian wars.”

From adat to sharia

Was the Sharia movement in Chechnya and Dagestan a reaction of the mountain people to the onslaught of the Russian Empire and the policies of General Ermolov? Or, on the contrary, did Imam Shamil and his murids only spurred Russia to more decisive actions in the Caucasus?

The Sharia movement in the Northeast Caucasus began long before Russia entered the region and was associated with Islamization public life, life and rights of the highlanders in the 17th-18th centuries. Rural communities were increasingly inclined to replace mountain customs (adat) with the legal and everyday norms of Sharia. Russian penetration into the Caucasus was initially perceived loyally by the mountaineers. Only the construction of the Caucasian line across the entire North Caucasus, starting from its northwestern part in last third XVIII century, led to the displacement of the highlanders from their lands, counter-resistance and a protracted war.

Quite soon, resistance to Russian conquest took the form of jihad. Under his slogans, at the end of the 18th century, there was an uprising of the Chechen Sheikh Mansur (Ushurma), which the Russian Empire hardly suppressed. The construction of the Caucasus Line in Chechnya and Dagestan contributed to the beginning of a new jihad, in the wake of which an imamate was created that resisted the empire for more than a quarter of a century. Its most famous leader was Imam Shamil, who ruled the state of jihad from 1834 to 1859.

Why did the war in the northeast Caucasus end earlier than in the northwest?

In the North-Eastern Caucasus, where the center of resistance to Russia was located for a long time (mountainous Chechnya and Dagestan), the war ended thanks to the successful policy of the governor of the Caucasian prince, who blocked and captured Shamil in the Dagestan village of Gunib in 1859. After this, the imamate of Dagestan and Chechnya ceased to exist. But the mountaineers Northwestern Caucasus(Trans-Kuban Circassia) Shamil was practically not subordinated and continued to wage a partisan fight against the Caucasian army until 1864. They lived in inaccessible mountain gorges near the Black Sea coast, through which they received help from the Ottoman Empire and Western powers.

Painting by Alexey Kivshenko “Surrender of Imam Shamil”

Tell us about the Circassian Muhajirdom. Was it a voluntary resettlement of the mountaineers or their forced deportation?

The resettlement of the Circassians (or Circassians) from the Russian Caucasus to the territory of the Ottoman Empire was voluntary. It was not for nothing that they likened themselves to the first Muslims, who in 622 voluntarily left with the Prophet Muhammad from pagan Mecca to Yathrib, where they built the first Muslim state. Both of them called themselves muhajirs who migrated (hijra).

No one deported Circassians inside Russia, although entire families were exiled there for criminal offenses and disobedience to authorities. But at the same time, Muhajirism itself was a forced expulsion from the homeland, since its main reason was the expulsion from the mountains to the plain at the end of the Caucasian War and after it. The military authorities of the northwestern part of the Caucasian line saw in the Circassians elements harmful to the Russian government and pushed them to emigrate.

Didn’t the Circassian-Adygs originally live on the plain, around the Kuban River?

During Russian conquest, which lasted from the end of the 18th century to the mid-1860s, the place of residence of the Circassians and other indigenous inhabitants of the Northwestern and Central Caucasus changed more than once. Military operations forced them to seek refuge in the mountains, from where they, in turn, were evicted by the Russian authorities, forming large settlements of Circassians on the plain and in the foothills within the Caucasian line.

Caucasian muhajirs

But were there plans to evict the highlanders from the Caucasus? Let us at least recall the project of “Russian Truth” by Pavel Pestel, one of the leaders of the Decembrists.

The first mass migrations took place during the Caucasian War, but they were limited to the North Caucasus and Ciscaucasia. The Russian military authorities resettled entire villages of pacified mountaineers within the Caucasian line. The imams of Dagestan and Chechnya pursued a similar policy, creating villages of their supporters from the plains in the mountains and relocating rebellious villages. The exodus of the highlanders beyond the Caucasus to the Ottoman Empire began at the end of the war and continued until the fall of the tsarist regime, mainly in the second third of the 19th century. It especially affected the North-West Caucasus, the vast majority of the indigenous population of which left for Turkey. The impetus for muhajirism was forced relocations from the mountains to the plain, surrounded by Cossack villages.

Why did Russia drive only Circassians to the plains, and pursue a completely different policy in Chechnya and Dagestan?

Among the Muhajirs there were also Chechens and Dagestanis. There are many documents about this, and I personally know their descendants. But the overwhelming majority of emigrants were from Circassia. This is due to differences in the military administration of the region. Supporters of the eviction of the highlanders to the plain and further to the Ottoman Empire prevailed in the Kuban region, created in 1861 on the territory of the present Krasnodar region. The authorities of the Dagestan region opposed the resettlement of the highlanders to Turkey. The heads of the Caucasian Line units, transformed into regions after the war, had broad powers. Supporters of the eviction of the Circassians were able to convince the Caucasian governor in Tiflis that they were right.

Relocations later affected the North-Eastern Caucasus: Chechens were deported from the Caucasus by Stalin in 1944, mass relocation Dagestanis to the plain occurred in the 1950-1990s. But this is a completely different story that has nothing to do with muhajirism.

Why was the policy of the Russian Empire regarding the resettlement of highlanders so inconsistent? At first she encouraged the resettlement of the highlanders to Turkey, and then suddenly decided to limit it.

This was due to changes in the Russian administration of the Caucasus region. At the end of the 19th century, opponents of muhajirism came to power here, considering it inappropriate. But by this time, most of the highlanders of the Northwestern Caucasus had already left for the Ottoman Empire, and their lands were occupied by Cossacks and colonists from Russia. Similar changes in colonization policies can be found among other European powers, notably France in Algeria.

Tragedy of the Circassians

How many Circassians died during their migration to Turkey?

Nobody really counted. Historians from the Circassian diaspora talk about the extermination of entire peoples. This point of view appeared among contemporaries of the Muhajir movement. The expression of the pre-revolutionary Caucasus expert Adolphe Berger that “Circassians... were laid in the cemetery of peoples” became popular. But not everyone agrees with this, and the size of emigration is estimated differently. The famous Turkish explorer Kemal Karpat numbers up to two million Muhajirs, and Russian historians talk about several hundred thousand emigrants.

Why such a difference in numbers?

There were no statistics kept in the North Caucasus before its Russian conquest. The Ottoman side recorded only legal immigrants, but there were also many illegal immigrants. Nobody really counted those who died on the way from mountain villages to the coast or on ships. And there were also muhajirs who died during quarantine in the ports of the Ottoman Empire.

Painting “Storm of the village of Gimry” by Franz Roubaud

In addition, Russia and the Ottoman Empire were not immediately able to agree on joint actions on organizing resettlement. When Muhajirism faded into history, its study in the USSR was under an unspoken ban until late Soviet times. During the Cold War, cooperation between Turkish and Soviet historians in this area was practically impossible. Serious study of muhajirism in the North Caucasus began only at the end of the twentieth century.

So this question still remains poorly understood?

No, quite a lot has already been written about this and seriously over the past quarter century. But the field for a comparative study of archival data about the Muhajirs in the Russian and Ottoman empires still remains - no one has yet specifically carried out such a study. Any figures about the number of muhajirs and those killed during emigration that appear in the press and on the Internet must be treated with caution: they are either greatly underestimated, since they do not take into account illegal emigration, or are very overestimated. A small part of the Circassians later returned to the Caucasus, but the Caucasian War and the Muhajir movement completely changed the confessional and ethnic map of the region. The Muhajirs largely shaped the population of the modern Middle East and Turkey.

Before the Olympics in Sochi, they tried to use this topic for political purposes. For example, in 2011, Georgia officially recognized “the mass extermination of the Circassians (Adygs) during the Russian-Caucasian War and their forced expulsion from their historical homeland as an act of genocide.”

Genocide is an anachronistic term for the 19th century and, most importantly, an overly politicized term, associated primarily with the Holocaust. Behind it is a demand for the political rehabilitation of the nation and financial compensation from the legal successors of the perpetrators of the genocide, as was done for the Jewish diaspora in Germany. This was probably the reason for the popularity of this term among activists from the Circassian diaspora and Circassians of the North Caucasus. On the other hand, the organizers of the Olympics in Sochi unforgivably forgot that the place and date of the Olympics are connected historical memory Circassians with the end of the Caucasian War.

Painting by Peter Gruzinsky “Abandonment of the village by the mountaineers”

The trauma inflicted on the Circassians during the Muhajir era cannot be hushed up. I cannot forgive this to the bureaucrats responsible for organizing the Olympics. At the same time, the concept of genocide also disgusts me - it is inconvenient for a historian to work with it, it limits the freedom of research and does not correspond much to the realities of the 19th century - by the way, no less cruel in the attitude of Europeans towards the inhabitants of the colonies. After all, the natives were simply not considered people, which justified any cruelty of conquest and colonial administration. In this regard, Russia behaved in the North Caucasus no worse than the French in Algeria or the Belgians in the Congo. Therefore, the term “muhajirism” seems to me much more adequate.

The Caucasus is ours

Sometimes you hear that the Caucasus has never been completely pacified and has forever remained hostile to Russia. It is known, for example, that even with Soviet power in the post-war years it was not always calm there, and the last abrek of Chechnya was shot only in 1976. What do you think about this?

The eternal Russian-Caucasian confrontation is not historical fact, but an anachronistic propaganda cliche, again in demand during the two Russian-Chechen campaigns of the 1990-2000s. Yes, the Caucasus survived the conquest of the Russian Empire in the 19th century. Then the Bolsheviks conquered it a second time and no less bloodily in 1918-1921. However, the work of historians today shows that conquest and resistance did not determine the situation in the region. Much higher value there was interaction with Russian society. Even chronologically, the periods of peaceful coexistence were longer.

The modern Caucasus is largely a product of imperial and Soviet history. As a region, it was formed precisely at this time. Already in the Soviet era, its modernization and Russification took place.

It is significant that even Islamic and other radicals opposing Russia often publish their materials in Russian. The words that the North Caucasus did not voluntarily become part of Russia and will not voluntarily leave it seem to me to be more consistent with the truth.

Caucasian War (briefly)

Brief description of the Caucasian War (with tables):

Historians usually call the Caucasian War a long period of military actions between the North Caucasian Imamate and the Russian Empire. This confrontation was fought for the complete subjugation of all the mountainous territories of the North Caucasus, and was one of the most fierce in the nineteenth century. The war period covers the time from 1817 to 1864.

Tight political relations the peoples of the Caucasus and Russia began immediately after the collapse of Georgia in the fifteenth century. After all, starting from the sixteenth century, many states of the Caucasus range were forced to ask for protection from Russia.

As main reason war historians highlight the fact that Georgia was the only Christian power that was regularly attacked by nearby Muslim countries. More than once Georgian rulers asked for Russian protection. So, in 1801, Georgia was formally included in Russia, but was completely isolated from the Russian Empire neighboring countries. IN in this case There was an urgent need to form the integrity of Russian territory. This could be realized only if other peoples of the North Caucasus were subjugated.

Such Caucasian states as Ossetia and Kabarda became part of Russia almost voluntarily. But the rest (Dagestan, Chechnya and Adygea) put up fierce resistance, categorically refusing to submit to the empire.

In 1817, the main stage of the conquest of the Caucasus by Russian troops under the command of General A. Ermolov began. It is interesting that it was after Ermolov’s appointment as army commander that the Caucasian War began. In the past, the Russian authorities treated the peoples of the North Caucasus rather softly.

The main difficulty in conducting military operations during this period was that at the same time Russia had to participate in the Russian-Iranian and Russian-Turkish war.

The second period of the Caucasian War is associated with the emergence of a common leader in Dagestan and Chechnya - Imam Shamil. He was able to unite disparate peoples dissatisfied with the empire and start a war of liberation against Russia. Shamil managed to quickly form a powerful army and wage successful military operations against Russia for more than thirty years.

After a series of failures in 1859, Shamil was captured and then exiled with his family to Kaluga region for settlement. With his removal from military affairs, Russia managed to win a lot of victories, and by 1864 the entire territory of the North Caucasus became part of the empire.

Many of us know firsthand that the history of Russia was built on a succession of military battles. Each of the wars was an extremely difficult, complex phenomenon, leading to both human losses, on the one hand, and an increase Russian territory, its multinational composition - on the other. One of these important and long-lasting wars was the Caucasian War.

The hostilities lasted for almost fifty years - from 1817 to 1864. Many political scientists and historians are still arguing about the methods of conquering the Caucasus and assessing this historical event ambiguous. Someone says that the mountaineers initially had no chance to resist the Russians, waging an unequal struggle with tsarism. Some historians emphasized that the imperial authorities did not set themselves the goal of establishing peaceful relations with the Caucasus, but its total conquest and the desire to subjugate the Russian Empire. It should be noted that for a long time the study of the history of the Russian-Caucasian War was in deep crisis. These facts once again prove how difficult and intractable this war turned out to be for the study of national history.

The beginning of the War and its causes

Relations between Russia and mountain peoples have had a long and difficult historical connection. On the part of the Russians, repeated attempts to impose their customs and traditions only outraged the free highlanders, giving rise to their discontent. On the other hand, the Russian emperor wanted to put an end to the raids and attacks, robberies of the Circassians and Chechens on Russian cities and villages stretching on the border of the empire.

The clash of completely dissimilar cultures gradually grew, strengthening Russia's desire to subjugate the Caucasian people. With strengthening foreign policy, the ruler of the empire, Alexander the First, decided to expand Russian influence over the Caucasian peoples. The goal of the war on the part of the Russian Empire was the annexation of the Caucasian lands, namely Chechnya, Dagestan, part of the Kuban region and Black Sea coast. Another reason for entering the war was to maintain stability Russian state, since the British, Persians and Turks were looking at the Caucasian lands, this could turn into problems for the Russian people.

The conquest of the mountain people became a pressing problem for the emperor. It was planned to close the military issue with a resolution in their favor within several years. However, the Caucasus stood against the interests of Alexander the First and two subsequent rulers for half a century.

Progress and stages of the war

In many historical sources narrating the course of the war, indicating its key stages

Stage 1. Partisan movement (1817 – 1819)

Commander-in-Chief Russian army General Ermolov led a rather fierce struggle against disobedience Caucasian people, relocating him to the plains among the mountains for total control. Such actions provoked violent discontent among the Caucasians, strengthening the partisan movement. Guerrilla warfare began in the mountainous regions of Chechnya and Abkhazia.

In the first years of the war, the Russian Empire used only a small part of its fighting forces to subjugate the Caucasian population, as it was simultaneously waging war with Persia and Turkey. Despite this, with the help of Yermolov's military literacy, the Russian army gradually ousted the Chechen fighters and conquered their lands.

Stage 2. The emergence of muridism. Unification of the ruling elite of Dagestan (1819-1828)

This stage was characterized by some agreements among the current elites of the Dagestan people. A union was organized in the fight against the Russian army. A little later, a new religious movement appears against the backdrop of an ongoing war.

The confession, called Muridism, was one of the branches of Sufism. In a way, Muridism was a national liberation movement of representatives of the Caucasian people with strict adherence to the rules prescribed by religion. The Muridians declared war on the Russians and their supporters, which only intensified the fierce struggle among the Russians and Caucasians. At the end of 1824, the organized Chechen uprising began. Russian troops were subject to frequent raids by the mountaineers. In 1825, the Russian army won a number of victories over the Chechens and Dagestanis.

Stage 3. Creation of the Imamate (1829 – 1859)

It was during this period that a new state was created, spreading across the territories of Chechnya and Dagestan. The founder of a separate state was the future monarch of the highlanders - Shamil. The creation of the Imamate was caused by the need for independence. The Imamate defended the territory not captured by the Russian army, built its own ideology and centralized system, created his own political postulates. Soon, under the leadership of Shamil, the progressive state became a serious opponent of the Russian Empire.

Long period of time fighting were carried out with varying success for the warring parties. During all kinds of battles, Shamil showed himself to be a worthy commander and adversary. For a long time, Shamil raided Russian villages and fortresses.

The situation was changed by the tactics of General Vorontsov, who, instead of continuing the campaign mountain villages, sent soldiers to cut down clearings in difficult forests, erecting fortifications there and creating Cossack villages. Thus, the territory of the Imamate was soon surrounded. For some time, the troops under the command of Shamil gave a worthy rebuff to the Russian soldiers, but the confrontation lasted until 1859. In the summer of that year, Shamil, along with his associates, was besieged by the Russian army and captured. This moment became a turning point in the Russian-Caucasian War.

It is worth noting that the period of the struggle against Shamil was the bloodiest. This period, like the war as a whole, brought with it huge amount human and material losses.

Stage 4. End of the war (1859-1864)

The defeat of the Imamat and the enslavement of Shamil was followed by the end of military operations in the Caucasus. In 1864, the Russian army broke the long resistance of the Caucasians. The tedious war between the Russian Empire and the Circassian peoples ended.

Significant figures of the war

To conquer the mountaineers, uncompromising, experienced and outstanding military commanders were needed. Together with Emperor Alexander the First, General Ermolov Alexey Petrovich boldly entered the war. Already by the beginning of the war, he was appointed commander-in-chief of the troops of the Russian population on the territory of Georgia and the second Caucasian line.

Ermolov considered Dagestan and Chechnya the central place for the conquest of the mountain people, establishing a military-economic blockade of mountainous Chechnya. The general believed that the task could be completed in a couple of years, but Chechnya turned out to be too active militarily. The commander-in-chief’s cunning, and at the same time, simple plan was to conquer individual combat points, setting up garrisons there. He took away the most fertile pieces of land from the mountain dwellers in order to subjugate or exterminate the enemy. However, with his authoritarian disposition towards foreigners, in post-war period Ermolov, using small sums allocated from the Russian treasury, improved the railway, established medical institutions, facilitating the influx of Russians into the mountains.

Raevsky Nikolai Nikolaevich was no less valiant warrior of that time. With the rank of “cavalry general,” he skillfully mastered combat tactics and honored military traditions. It was noted that Raevsky’s regiment always showed the best qualities in battle, always maintaining strict discipline and order in the battle formation.

Another of the commanders-in-chief, General Alexander Ivanovich Baryatinsky, was distinguished by his military skill and competent tactics in commanding the army. Alexander Ivanovich brilliantly showed his mastery of command and military training in the battles of the village of Gergebil, Kyuryuk-Dara. For his services to the empire, the general was rewarded with the Order of St. George the Victorious and St. Andrew the First-Called, and by the end of the war he received the rank of field marshal general.

The last of the Russian commanders to wear honorary title Field Marshal General Dmitry Alekseevich Milyutin, left his mark in the fight against Shamil. Even after being wounded by a flying bullet, the commander remained to serve in the Caucasus, taking part in many battles with the highlanders. He was awarded orders Saint Stanislav and Saint Vladimir.

Results of the Russian-Caucasian War

Thus, the Russian Empire, as a result of a long struggle with the mountaineers, was able to establish its own in the Caucasus. legal system. Since 1864 it began to spread administrative structure empire, strengthening its geopolitical position. A special political system was established for the Caucasians, preserving their traditions, cultural heritage and religion.

Gradually, the anger of the mountaineers subsided towards the Russians, which led to the strengthening of the authority of the empire. Fabulous sums were allocated for the improvement of the mountain region, the construction of transport links, the construction of cultural heritage, construction educational institutions, mosques, shelters, military orphanages for residents of the Caucasus.

The Caucasian battle was so long that it had rather contradictory assessments and results. Internecine invasions and periodic raids by the Persians and Turks stopped, human trafficking was eradicated, and the economic rise of the Caucasus and its modernization began. It should be noted that any war brought with it devastating losses both for the Caucasian people and for the Russian Empire. Even after so many years, this page of history still requires study.

History of Russia from ancient times to the end of the 20th century Nikolaev Igor Mikhailovich

Caucasian War (1817–1864)

Caucasian War (1817–1864)

Russia's advance into the Caucasus began long before the 19th century. So, Kabarda back in the 16th century. accepted Russian citizenship. In 1783, Irakli II concluded with Russia Treaty of Georgievsk, according to which Eastern Georgia accepted the patronage of Russia. At the beginning of the nineteenth century. all of Georgia became part of the Russian Empire. At the same time, Russia continued its advance in Transcaucasia and Northern Azerbaijan was annexed. However, Transcaucasia was separated from the main territory of Russia Caucasus mountains, inhabited by warlike mountain peoples who raided lands that recognized Russian power and interfered with communications with Transcaucasia. Gradually, these clashes turned into a struggle of the mountaineers who converted to Islam under the flag of ghazavat (jihad) - a “holy war” against the “infidels.” The main centers of resistance of the mountaineers in the east of the Caucasus were Chechnya and Mountainous Dagestan, in the west - the Abkhazians and Circassians.

Conventionally, we can distinguish five main periods of the Caucasian War in the 19th century. The first - from 1817 to 1827, associated with the beginning of large-scale military operations by the governor in the Caucasus and commander-in-chief of the Russian troops, General A.P. Ermolov; the second – 1827–1834, when the formation of a military-theocratic state of the highlanders in the North Caucasus was underway and resistance to Russian troops intensified; the third - from 1834 to 1855, when the movement of the mountaineers was led by Imam Shamil, who achieved a number major victories over the royal troops; fourth - from 1855 to 1859 - the internal crisis of the Shamil Imamate, the strengthening of the Russian offensive, the defeat and capture of Shamil; fifth – 1859–1864 – end of hostilities in the North Caucasus.

Happy ending Patriotic War And foreign trip The Russian government intensified military operations against the mountaineers. The hero of the Patriotic War and very popular in the army, General A.P., was appointed governor in the Caucasus and commander of the troops. Eromolov. He abandoned individual punitive expeditions and put forward a plan to advance deep into the Northern and Eastern Caucasus with the goal of “civilizing” the mountain peoples. Ermolov pursued a tough policy of ousting the rebellious mountaineers from the fertile valleys into the highlands. For this purpose, construction began on the Sunzha line (along the Sunzha River), which separated the breadbasket of Chechnya from the mountainous regions. The long and exhausting war became fierce on both sides. The advancement of Russian troops in the highlands, as a rule, was accompanied by the burning of rebellious villages and the resettlement of Chechens under the control of Russian troops. The mountaineers made constant raids on villages loyal to Russia, seized hostages, livestock and tried to destroy everything that they could not take with them, constantly threatening Russian communications with Georgia and Transcaucasia. The advantage of Russian troops in weapons and military training compensated by complex natural conditions. Impenetrable mountain forests served as good protection for the mountaineers, who were well versed in familiar terrain.

From the second half of the 20s. XIX century Muridism, a doctrine that preached religious fanaticism and “holy war with the infidels” (gazavat), was spreading among the peoples of Dagestan and the Chechens. On the basis of muridism, a theocratic state - the imamate - began to form. The first imam in 1828 was Gazi-Magomed, who sought to unite all the peoples of Dagestan and Chechnya in this state to fight the “infidels.”

At the same time (1827), General Ermolov, who managed to significantly stabilize the situation in the Caucasus, was replaced by I.F. Paskevich. The new commander decided to consolidate Ermolov’s success punitive expeditions. The actions of the latter and the formation of the theocratic state of the mountaineers again led to an intensification of the struggle. The government of Nicholas I relied mainly on military force, constantly increasing the number of Caucasian troops. The mountain nobility and clergy, on the one hand, with the help of muridism, tried to strengthen their power and influence among the mountain peoples, on the other hand, muridism made it possible to mobilize the mountain people to fight the newcomers from the North.

The Caucasian War took on a particularly fierce and stubborn character after Shamil came to power (1834). Having become an imam, Shamil, who had military talent, organizational skills and strong will, managed to establish his power over the highlanders of Dagestan and Chechnya and organize stubborn and effective resistance to Russian troops for 25 years.

The turning point in the struggle came only after the end of the Crimean War (1856). The Caucasian Corps was transformed into the Caucasian Army, numbering 200 thousand people. The new commander-in-chief A.I. Baryatinsky and his chief of staff D.A. Milyutin developed a plan for waging a continuous war against Shamil, moving from line to line in summer and winter. Shamil’s Imamate also experienced depletion of resources and a serious internal crisis. The denouement came in August 1859, when Russian troops blocked the last fortification of Shamil - the village of Gunib.

However, for another five years the resistance of the mountaineers of the North-Western Caucasus - Circassians, Abkhazians and Circassians - continued.

From the book History. New complete guide schoolchildren to prepare for the Unified State Exam author Nikolaev Igor Mikhailovich

From the book Stratagems. ABOUT Chinese art live and survive. TT. 1, 2 author von Senger Harro

24.2. Bismarck fights in alliance with Austria [Danish War of 1864] and against it [ Austro-Prussian War 1866] Jin Wen compares the use of stratagem 24 by Sun Xi, an adviser to the Jin sovereign, with the behavior of the “Prussian iron chancellor Bismarck" ("Reception of Diplomacy -

From the book Full story Islam and Arab conquests in one book author Popov Alexander

The Caucasian War The knot of relations between Russia and the peoples of the Caucasus began a long time ago. Back in 1561, Tsar Ivan the Terrible married the Kabardian princess Maria Temryukovna, and this was the beginning of Russia’s rapprochement with the Caucasus. In 1582, residents of the vicinity of Beshtau,

From the book Textbook of Russian History author Platonov Sergey Fedorovich

§ 152. Russo-Persian War 1826–1828, Russo-Turkish War 1828–1829, Caucasian War In the first years of the reign of Emperor Nicholas I, Russia fought big wars in the east - with Persia (1826–1828) and Turkey (1828–1829). Relations with Persia became clouded in early XIX c., due to

From the book Russia and its “colonies”. Like Georgia, Ukraine, Moldova, the Baltics and Central Asia became part of Russia author Strizhova Irina Mikhailovna

Caucasian line Our possessions in the foothills of the Caucasus for a long time did not stray far from the mouth of the Terek. Only in 1735 was Kizlyar built near the sea. But little by little the Terek Cossacks increased with the influx of new Cossacks - settlers from the Don and Volga, as well as

From the book History of Denmark by Paludan Helge

The War of 1864 and the Peace of Vienna As already noted, the Danish government was surprisingly ill-prepared to resolve the conflict by military means. The army, which was in a state of reorganization, had insufficiently trained command staff and too few officers and

From the book Chronology of Russian history. Russia and the world author Anisimov Evgeniy Viktorovich

1864 Danish War There has long been a conflict between Denmark and Prussia over the border territories of the Duchy of Schleswig-Holstein, which Denmark has always considered its possessions. In 1863, according to the adopted constitution, Denmark annexed these territories to the kingdom. This

From the book History of Wars at Sea from Ancient Times to late XIX century author Shtenzel Alfred

Chapter III. Prussian-Danish War of 1864 Situation before the war Shortly after the end of the Prussian-Danish War of 1848-51, the great powers approved, according to the London Protocol on May 8, 1852, the procedure for further succession to the throne in Denmark in the event of the death of the Danish king

From the book The Genius of War Skobelev [“ White General»] author Runov Valentin Alexandrovich

German-Danish War of 1864 But wait until the end of hostilities when suppressing Polish uprising Mikhail Skobelev did not have the chance. Unexpectedly for himself, in the spring of 1864, he was recalled to St. Petersburg and summoned to the General Staff, where he received an order as a private citizen

From the book The Red Epoch. 70-year history of the USSR author Deinichenko Petr Gennadievich

New Caucasian War There are still numerous “hot spots” - military conflicts that have arisen within former Union after his death, they avoided Russian territory. In the summer of 1994, bloody battles began in our country. Initially, in clashes

From the book Shamil [From Gimr to Medina] author Gadzhiev Bulach Imadutdinovich

“CAUCASIAN SIBERIA” Shamil’s state, as we have already reported, was divided into districts, headed by naibs. The latter had many rights. And one of these rights is to put in prison mountaineers who are guilty of anything. Usually, places of detention were set up at the residence of the

From the book Through the pages of the history of Kuban (local history essays) author Zhdanovsky A. M.

From the book Russian History. Part II author Vorobiev M N

3. Caucasian War Speaking about other political phenomena, it should be noted what was happening in the Caucasus. The war there began under Emperor Alexander I and was determined by the course of events at the end of the 18th century, that is, the negotiations between Heraclius and Catherine made it necessary. Case

From the book History of Indonesia Part 1 author Bandilenko Gennady Georgievich

POPULAR MOVEMENTS OF THE EARLY XIX century. THE UPRISING OF THOMAS MATULESSI IN THE SOUTH MOLUKCAS (1817). PADR'S WAR IN CENTRAL SUMATRA (1821-1837) Restoration of archaic forms of colonial exploitation in the Moluccas (contingents), fears of the masses that the Dutch would resume hongi tochten

From the book The Case of Bluebeard, or Stories of People Who Became Famous Characters author Makeev Sergey Lvovich

Captive of the Caucasus Spring in Istanbul is similar to the stuffy Parisian summer, and only the breeze from the Bosphorus slightly eases the suffering of the European. In the spring of 1698, the French diplomat and royal adviser Count Charles de Ferriol went for a walk. He has long been accustomed to

From the book Unknown Separatism. In the service of the SD and Abwehr author Sotskov Lev Filippovich

CAUCASIAN CONFEDERATION The agreement on the creation of the Confederation of the Peoples of the Caucasus was signed in Brussels on July 14, 1934 by representatives of the national emigrant centers of Azerbaijan, the North Caucasus and Georgia. It proclaimed the following principles: Confederation

For the first time, Russian troops made a campaign in the Caucasus in 1594, during the reign of Boris Godunov. Campaigns in the Caucasus and Transcaucasia were led by Peter I and his immediate successors. During the reign of Catherine II, a more or less systematic advance of Russian troops and the Russian administration into the Caucasus began. In pre-revolutionary historiography, the generally accepted view was that the beginning of the Caucasian War coincided with the annexation of the East Georgian Kingdom to the Russian Empire. IN Soviet historiography At one time, it was customary to count the beginning of the Caucasian War from 1817, from the moment Ermolov assumed the position of commander-in-chief and began systematic campaigns against the mountain tribes. There is another noteworthy opinion: the beginning of the Caucasian War dates back to 1785, when Russian troops, during the movement of Sheikh Mansur, first encountered the teaching and practice of Muridism, which were so characteristic of the main campaigns of the Caucasian War in the 19th century, and the most prominent representative and leader of which Shamil was.

Causes (goals) of war

The beginning of the Caucasian War coincides with the first year of the current century, when Russia took the Georgian kingdom under its rule. This event determined the new relations of the state towards the semi-wild tribes of the Caucasus, from being alien to us, they became internal, and Russia had to subordinate them to its power. From here arose a long and bloody struggle. The Caucasus required great sacrifices. The occupation of the Transcaucasian regions was neither an accidental nor an arbitrary event in Russian history. It was prepared for centuries, was caused by great state needs and fulfilled itself. Back in the sixteenth century, when the Russian people grew up in solitude on the banks of the Oka and Volkhov, separated from the Caucasus by the wild desert, sacred duties and great hopes attracted the attention of the first tsars to this region. The domestic struggle against Islam, which was pressing Russia from all sides, was resolved. Through the ruins of the Tatar kingdoms, founded on Russian soil, a vast horizon to the south and east was opened to the Moscow state; there, in the distance, one could see free seas, rich trade, Georgians and Caucasian mountaineers of the same faith, then still half Christians, extending their hand to Russia. On the one hand, the Volga led the Russians to the Caspian Sea, surrounded by rich nations who did not have a single boat, to a sea without an owner; dominance on this sea necessarily led over time to dominion over the fragmented and powerless possessions of the Caspian Caucasus. On the other hand, the groans of Orthodox Georgia, trampled by barbarian invasions, exhausted by the endless struggle, which at that time was no longer fighting for the right to be an independent people, but only for the right not to renounce Christ, reached Russia. Muslim fanaticism, inflamed by this new teaching of Shiaism, was in full swing. Desperate to overcome the rigidity of the Christian tribe, the Persians systematically slaughtered the population of entire regions.

Regardless of the most significant interests, for which the possession of the Caucasus was already a matter of first importance for the Empire, on the one hand, on the religious issue, Russia could not refuse protection to Orthodox Georgia without ceasing to be Russia. With a manifesto on January 18, 1801, Pavel Petrovich accepted Georgia into the number of Russian regions, according to the will of the last Georgian king George XIII.

At that time, we had a dispute for dominance in the Black Sea with only Turkey. But Türkiye was already declared politically insolvent; she was already under the tutelage of Europe, which jealously guarded her integrity, because she could not take an equal part in the division. Despite this artificial balance, a struggle began between the great powers for predominant influence over Turkey and everything belonging to it. Europe penetrated Asia from two sides, from the west and south; For some Europeans, Asian issues acquired paramount, exceptional importance. Within the boundaries of Turkey, if not actual, then diplomatically assumed, were the Black Sea and Transcaucasia; this state extended its claims to the shores of the Caspian Sea and could easily realize them with its first success over the Persians. But the vaguely defined mass of the Turkish empire was already beginning to move from one influence to another. It was obvious that the dispute over the Black Sea, sooner or later, at the first convenient political combination, would become a European dispute and would be turned against us, because questions about Western influence or domination in Asia does not tolerate division; a rival there is fatal to European power. No matter whose influence or dominion extended to these countries (between which there were lands without a master, such as, for example, the entire Caucasian isthmus), it would become hostile towards us. Meanwhile, dominion over the Black and Caspian Seas, or in extreme cases, at least the neutrality of these seas, is a vital issue for the entire southern half of Russia, from the Oka to the Crimea, in which the main forces of the empire, both personal and material, are increasingly concentrated. This half of the state was created, one might say, by the Black Sea. Ownership of the coast made it the independent and richest part of the empire. A few years later, with the establishment of the Transcaucasian railway, which will necessarily attract extensive trade with upper Asia, with rapid development Volga and sea shipping company, with the established company of Asian trade, the deserted Caspian Sea will create for southeastern Russia the same situation that the Black Sea has already created for southwestern Russia. But Russia can protect its southern basins only from the Caucasian isthmus; a continental state like ours cannot maintain its importance, nor force respect for its will where its guns cannot reach on solid ground. If the horizon of Russia were closed to the south by the snowy peaks of the Caucasus Range, the entire western mainland Asia would be completely outside our influence and, given the current powerlessness of Turkey and Persia, would not have waited long for a master or masters. If this did not happen and will not happen, it is only because Russian army, standing on the Caucasian isthmus, can embrace the southern shores of these seas, stretching out its arms in both directions.

European trade with Persia and inner Asia, passing through the Caucasian isthmus, subject to Russian domination, promises positive benefits for the state; the same trade passing through the Caucasus, independent of us, would create an endless series of losses and dangers for Russia. The Caucasian army holds in its hands the key to the East; This is so well known to our ill-wishers that during the last war it was impossible to open an English pamphlet without finding in it talk about a means of clearing Transcaucasia of Russians. But if relations to the east are a matter of first importance for others, then for Russia they fulfill a historical necessity, which it is not in its power to evade.