THE RUSSO-CHECHEN PROBLEM: A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

Abstract

The Chechens are Caucasian people whose distinct identity was noted as early as the Seventh Century. Like other peoples of Eastern Europe and Central Asia, they became subjects of different empires, before they embraced Islam in the Sixteenth Century. As the modern age dawned, the Chechens were subdued by the Tsarist Empire after which generations passed in tribulation. War after war followed. The Chechens were Sufis, however, the orders they followed were not monastic but militant. The Bolshevik Revolution 1917 provided, so they thought, an opportunity to break off the shackles of centuries, but this phase lasted only from 1919 to 1921, thereafter Chechnya became a part of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, along with other nations of  Caucasia and Central Asia. At long last when the U.S.S.R. disintegrated, and other neighboring states like Georgia and other Central Asian states gained independence as detailed below, the Chechens waged a war and expelled Russian troops from their territory. Chechnya also refused to join the Commonwealth of Independent States, a regional arrangement by which Russia sought to regain some influence in lost territories. This phase lasted from 1994 to 1996. Since during its period of independence, Chechnya could not establish an effective central authority, and was divided between factional war lords, Russia was able to re-impose its rule in Chechnya. The war against terror did not end, and only in 2009, did the Russian Federation announced its success against “terrorists”. There are parallels between Chechnya and Afghanistan. Both had a period of independence in which they were unable to overcome factional war lords, but while Russia was able to re-occupy Chechnya, it was not able to re-occupy Afghanistan. In this paper an attempt has been made to study a significant variable in what is sometimes termed as Historical Determinism.