The Chechen conflict is a situation that arose in Russia in the first half of the 90s, shortly after the collapse of the Soviet Union. On the territory of the former Chechen-Ingush Autonomous SSR, the movement of separatists has intensified. This led to an early declaration of independence, as well as the formation of the unrecognized Republic of Ichkeria and two Chechen wars.
Backstory
The prehistory of the Chechen conflict dates back to the pre-revolutionary period. Russian settlers appeared in the North Caucasus in the 16th century. During the time of Peter I, Russian troops began to carry out regular campaigns that fit into the general strategy for the development of the state in the Caucasus. True, at that time there was no goal to annex Chechnya to Russia, but only to maintain calm on the southern borders.
From the beginning of the 18th century, operations were regularly carried out to pacify unruly tribes. By the end of the century, the authorities begin to take steps to strengthen their positions in the Caucasus, a real militarycolonization.
After the voluntary entry of Georgia into Russia, the goal appears to take possession of all the North Caucasian peoples. The Caucasian War begins, the most violent periods of which fall on 1786-1791 and 1817-1864.
Russia suppresses the resistance of the highlanders, some of them move to Turkey.
The period of Soviet power
During the years of Soviet power, the Gorskaya SSR was formed, which included modern Chechnya and Ingushetia. By 1922, the Chechen Autonomous Region was separated from it.
During the Great Patriotic War, it was decided to forcibly evict Chechens due to the destabilization of the situation in the republic. The Ingush followed them. They were resettled in Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. The resettlement took place under the control of the NKVD, led by Lavrenty Beria personally.
In 1944, about 650 thousand people were resettled in just a few weeks. According to modern historians, more than 140 thousand of them died in the first few years of exile.
The Chechen-Ingush SSR that existed at that time was liquidated, it was restored only in 1957.
The birth of ideas of separatism
The modern Chechen conflict originated in the second half of the 80s. It is worth noting that there were no economic justifications for this at that time. The republic was one of the poorest, mainly existed on subsidies from the center.
In Chechnya, oil production was carried out, but at a very low level, and there were no other natural resources at all. The industry was tied to oil, which was brought fromregions of Western Siberia and Azerbaijan. Many Chechens who returned after deportation did not find work, so they lived on subsistence farming.
At the same time, the separatist movement quickly gained support in the countryside. It was formed by leaders from the outside, those who made a career outside of Chechnya, because everything suited the local officials. So, one of the leaders was the "working" poet Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev, who convinced the only Chechen general in the Soviet army at that time, Dzhokhar Dudayev, to return to his historical homeland and lead the national uprising. He commanded a division of strategic bombers in Estonia.
The birth of the Chechen state
Many find the roots of the modern Chechen conflict in 1990. It was then that the idea of creating a separate state was born, which would secede not only from Russia, but also from the Soviet Union. The Declaration of Sovereignty was adopted.
When a referendum on the integrity of the Soviet Union was initiated in the USSR in 1991, Chechnya and Ingushetia refused to hold it. These were the first attempts to destabilize the situation in the region, extremist leaders began to appear.
In 1991, Dudayev set about creating independent government bodies in the republic that were not recognized by the federal center.
Independent Chechnya
In September 1991, an armed coup took place in Chechnya. The local Supreme Council was dispersed by representatives of gangs. The formal reason was that the partyBosses in Grozny supported the State Emergency Committee on August 19.
The Russian parliament has agreed to the creation of a Provisional Supreme Council. But three weeks later, the National Congress of the Chechen People, headed by Dudayev, dissolved it, announcing that it was taking over all power.
In October, Dudayev's National Guard occupied the House of Trade Unions, where the Provisional High Council and the KGB settled. On October 27, Dudayev was proclaimed President of the Chechen Republic.
Elections to the local parliament were held. According to experts, about 10 percent of voters took part in them. At the same time, more people voted at polling stations than voters were assigned to him.
Dudaev's Congress announced general mobilization and alerted its own National Guard.
November 1, Dudayev issued a decree on independence from the RSFSR and the USSR. He was not recognized by either the Russian authorities or foreign states.
Confrontation with the federal center
The Chechen conflict escalated. On November 7, Boris Yeltsin declared a state of emergency in the republic.
In March 1992, the Chechen parliament approved a constitution declaring Chechnya an independent Soviet state. At that time, the process of ousting Russians from the republic took on the character of a real genocide. During this period, the trade in arms and drugs flourished, duty-free export and import, as well as theft of petroleum products.
At the same time, there was no unity in the Chechen leadership. The situation escalated so much that in April Dudayev dissolvedlocal authorities and began to lead in manual mode. The opposition asked for help from Russia.
The First Chechen War
The armed conflict in the Chechen Republic officially began with President Yeltsin's decree on the need to stop the activities of illegal armed groups. Detachments of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia and the Ministry of Defense entered the territory of Chechnya. Thus began the Chechen conflict of 1994.
About 40 thousand soldiers entered the territory of the republic. The number of the Chechen army was up to 15 thousand people. At the same time, mercenaries from countries near and far abroad fought on the side of Dudayev.
The world community did not support the actions of the Russian authorities. First of all, the United States demanded a peaceful settlement of the conflict.
One of the bloodiest battles was the assault on Grozny on New Year's Eve 1995. Fierce battles were fought, only by February 22 it was possible to establish control over the Chechen capital. By the summer, Dudayev's army was practically defeated.
The situation turned after the attack of militants under the command of Basayev on the city of Budennovsk in the Stavropol Territory. The attack resulted in the death of 150 civilians. Negotiations began, which paralyzed the security forces. The complete defeat of Dudayev's troops had to be postponed, they got a respite and regained their strength.
In April 1996, Dudayev was killed by a rocket attack. It was calculated by the signal of a satellite phone. Yandarbiev became the new leader of Chechnya, who in AugustIn 1996, he signed the Khasavyurt Agreement with the Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation Alexander Lebed. The question of the status of Chechnya was postponed until 2001.
It was not possible to suppress the resistance of the separatists in the Russian-Chechen conflict, despite a significant superiority in strength. The indecisiveness of the military and political leadership played a role. As well as unreliable borders in the Caucasus, which is why the militants regularly received money, weapons and ammunition from abroad.
Causes of the Chechen conflict
To summarize, the negative socio-economic situation was an important reason for the conflict. Experts note the high level of unemployment, the reduction or complete liquidation of industries, the delay in pensions and wages, social benefits.
All this was exacerbated by the demographic situation in Chechnya. A large number of people moved to the city from the countryside, and this contributed to the forced deviation. Ideological components also played their role, when criminal criteria and values began to be elevated to the rank.
There were also economic reasons. The Declaration of Chechen Independence proclaimed a monopoly on industrial and energy resources.
Second Chechen War
The second war actually lasted from 1999 to 2009. Although the most active phase took place in the first two years.
What led to this Chechen war? The conflict arose after the formationpro-Russian administration headed by Akhmat Kadyrov. The country adopted a new constitution that stated that Chechnya was part of Russia.
These decisions had many opponents. In 2004, the opposition organized the assassination of Kadyrov.
In parallel, there was a self-proclaimed Ichkeria, led by Aslan Maskhadov. It was destroyed during a special operation in March 2005. Russian security forces regularly destroyed the leaders of the self-proclaimed state. In subsequent years, they were Abdul-Khalim Sadulaev, Dokku Umarov, Shamil Basaev.
Since 2007, the youngest son of Kadyrov, Ramzan, has become the president of Chechnya.
The solution to the Chechen conflict was the solution of the most pressing problems of the republic in exchange for the loy alty of its leaders and people. In the shortest possible time, the national economy was restored, cities were rebuilt, conditions were created for work and development within the republic, which today is officially part of Russia.
