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Dateline: 09/20/99
(The wolf is the symbol of the Chechen
Republic. In Chechen language " borz" represents freedom and
independence.)
Chechnya has been in the
news,
quite frequently, of late. As the
ongoing, almost ancient, ethnic conflict between the people of this region
and Russia escalates, so does the issues of human rights, freedoms and
cultural diversity of the Russian Federation.
Background
. . .
The Chechens are the ancient peoples of, and thus,
indigenous to the
North
Caucasus. Their language is an unique one, closely associated only
with that of the
Ingush.
The Chechens and their ancestors have apparently lived in their North
Caucasus homeland for several thousand years. During their long history,
they have battled against the Iranian Alans and the
Mongol
Golden Horde (map).
In the early 1800's, an ever expanding Imperial Russia, conquered the
Chechens, after a lengthy engagement. Chechnya, officially, became a part
of Russia in 1859.
Conflict with Imperial Russia is as old as the Impire,
itself. The most distinctive regions of resistance were Chechnya and the
bordering region of Dagestan.
The North Caucasus Republic of the
early 1900's, which included Chechnya, declared its independence in May of
1918, not long after the Bolshevik revolution. This region became known as
the North Causasian Emirate, as of September, 1919. Early the
following year, the Red Army invaded Chechnya in response to the rebellion
against the Bolsheviks. This rebellion was finally put down in late 1921.
The Congress of the Mountain People met
January,1921. It was led by
Iosef
Stalin (born Iosef Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili of Georgia), the Peoples'
Commissar of Nationalities. The Congress formed the Mountainous
Soviet Republic of the Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic
(RSFSR).
The following, albeit brief, period of peace was shattered by the
political oppression and implementation of
collectivization
which characterized the 1920's and '30's. Civil unrest and rebellion
resulted and escalated until the dawn of WWII. The rebels of Chechnya and
Ingush anxiously awaited the German troops and saw the Nazis as their,
would be, liberators. This treason to the Soviet was used against the
people of this region and resulted in their massive
deportation,
from their ancient homelands, to other parts of the Soviet Union.
Eventually, thanks to the fact that
Nikita
Khrushchev saw the deportations a contradiction to Lenin's ideals,
the Chechno-Ingush republic was restored and many deported people returned
to their homelands (1957). Regardless, the Islamic mountain folk have
never given any credence to the Russian, or Soviet, claim to their land.
From the early 1960's to the 1990's, there existed a period of relative
calm over this issue.
In November of 1990, the Supreme Soviet of the
Chechno-Ingush Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic adopted the Declaration
of State Sovereignty of the Chechen-Ingush Republic. The
document declared Chechyna to be a sovereign state, equal to the other,
then, Soviet states. This action was not unlike similar declarations made
by other Soviet autonomous republics of the time. Thanks to the escalating
power struggle between factions led by
Boris
Yeltsin and
Mikhail
Gorbachev, these declarations received little notice from the
Kremlin.
Boris Yeltsin, however, took notice and used this ethnic
unrest to advance his cause. He gained considerable support and votes from
these non-Russian ethnic groups and regions by promising to increase their
autonomy and to forgive the anti-Russian activities of their rebels.
Roughly 80% of Chechno-Ingush voters voted for Yeltsin in the first
presidential election of June 12, 1991.
In the Dec. 12, 1993, Russian Constitution (Article
65), Chechnya is listed, among others, as being component of
the Russian Federation. Prior to the ratification of this Constitution,
Chechens seceded from Russia and declared their independence on November
2, 1991. They passed a
constitution,
on March 17, 1992, and have considered themselves to be an independent
state, with a president and parliament, ever since.
The
People . . .
Chechens are mountain, tribal clan folk with a dynamic
sense of independence. The Russia poet,
Mikhail
Lermontov, summed these peoples' character best when he wrote; Their
god is freedom, their law is war (1832). Sometime, beginning in
the early 1600's, these tribal people were converted to
Sunni
Islam; the orthodox body of the Islamic faith; and the
Sufi sect. While
Islam is a key factor in Chechen culture, these people still hold true to
their ancestral clans when it comes to regional political and societal
concerns.
Chechnya is roughly 6,000 square miles. Georgia borders to
the south, Dagastan to the east and north and
Stavropol
Krai and
North
Ossetin to the northwest. The
Ingush
Republic lies to the west and this border is under dispute. Chechnya
is a geographical wonder. Fertile plains dominate the north, nurtured by
the Terek and Sunja Rivers (map).
The southern portion of the region is home to the heavily wooded foothills
and the northern slopes of the
Caucasus
mountains. The highest point, in Chechyna, is Mt. Elburz at 18,481
feet.
The last census (1989) reported a total regional population of 1,270,000.
Of the areas currently a part of Chechnya, there was a total population of
1,084,000. Roughly 715,000 of these were Chechens; 269,000 Russians; and
25,000 Ingush. The capital of Chechnya is Grozny
which is an important oil refining center. One of Grozny's most valuable
assets is its rail and pipeline networks; especially the Caspian oil
pipeline.
In the Dec. 12, 1993, Russian Constitution (Article
65), Chechnya is listed, among others, as being component of
the Russian Federation. Prior to the ratification of this Constitution,
Chechens seceded from Russia and declared their independence on November
2, 1991. They passed a
constitution,
on March 17, 1992, and have considered themselves to be an independent
state, with a president and parliament, ever since.
For
More Information . . .
Sep 1999: How
does it feel before the death? (Editorial)
Dec/Jan 1998:
Moscow's Caucasian
Minorities
June 1996: Yeltsin's
Last Stand: Democracy in Russia
Visit the Russian Culture
Book and
Video Stores.
Chechnya:
Tombstone of Russian Power
By Lieven, Anatol
Historical
account of the civil unrest which as
characterized this region since
1992. Hardcover.
Chechnya
By Gall, Carlotta / De Waal, Thomas
Calamity in the Caucasus.
Hardcover.
Russia
Confronts Chechnya
By Dunlop, John B.
Roots of a
Separatist Conflict. Hardcover.
Map provided by the
CIA
For the Public
Flags courtesy of
ITA's
Flags of All Countries
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