In 1817, the Caucasian War began for the Russian Empire, which lasted for almost 50 years. The Caucasus has long been a region to which Russia wanted to expand its influence, and Alexander I, against the backdrop of foreign policy successes, decided on this war. It was assumed that it would be possible to achieve success in a few years, but the Caucasus has become big problem Russia for almost 50 years. Interestingly, this war was caught by three Russian emperors: Alexander 1, Nicholas 1 and Alexander 2. As a result, Russia emerged victorious, however, the victory was given with great efforts. The article offers an overview of the Caucasian War of 1817-1864, its causes, the course of events and the consequences for Russia and the peoples of the Caucasus.
Causes of the war
At the beginning of the 19th century, the Russian Empire actively directed efforts to seize lands in the Caucasus. In 1810, the Kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti joined it. In 1813, the Russian Empire annexed the Transcaucasian (Azerbaijan) Khanates. Despite the declaration of obedience by the ruling elites and consent to annexation, the regions of the Caucasus inhabited by peoples, mainly professing Islam, declare the beginning of the struggle for liberation. Two main regions are being formed, in which there is a readiness for disobedience and an armed struggle for independence: the western (Circassia and Abkhazia) and the North-Eastern (Chechnya and Dagestan). It was these territories that became the main arena of military operations in 1817-1864.
Historians identify the following main reasons for the Caucasian War:
- The desire of the Russian Empire to gain a foothold in the Caucasus. Moreover, not only include the territory in its composition, but fully integrate it, including by extending its legislation.
- The reluctance of some peoples of the Caucasus, in particular the Circassians, Kabardians, Chechens and Dagestanis, to join the Russian Empire, and most importantly, their readiness to conduct armed resistance to the invader.
- Alexander 1 wanted to rid his country of the endless raids of the peoples of the Caucasus on their lands. The fact is that since the beginning of the 19th century, numerous attacks by individual detachments of Chechens and Circassians on Russian territories with the aim of robbery have been recorded, which created great problems for the border settlements.
Stroke and milestones
The Caucasian War of 1817-1864 is a vast event, but it can be divided into 6 key stages. Next, we will consider each of these stages.
The first stage (1817-1819)
This is the period of the first partisan actions in Abkhazia and Chechnya. The relationship between Russia and the peoples of the Caucasus was finally complicated by General Ermolov, who began to build fortified fortresses to control the local peoples, and also ordered the resettlement of the highlanders to the plains around the mountains for stricter supervision over them. This triggered a wave of protest, which further intensified the guerrilla war and further exacerbation of the conflict.
Caucasian War Map 1817 1864
Second stage (1819-1824)
This stage is characterized by agreements between the local ruling elites of Dagestan regarding joint military operations against Russia. One of the main reasons for the unification is that the Black Sea Cossack Corps was redeployed to the Caucasus, which caused massive discontent with the Caucasians. In addition, during this period, battles took place in Abkhazia between the army of Major General Gorchakov and local rebels, who were defeated.
Third stage (1824-1828)
This stage begins with the uprising of Taymazov (Beibulat Taymiev) in Chechnya. His troops tried to capture the Groznaya fortress, but near the village of Kalinovskaya, the rebel leader was captured. In 1825, the Russian army also won a number of victories over the Kabardians, which led to the so-called pacification of Greater Kabarda. The center of resistance completely moved to the northeast, to the territory of the Chechens and Dagestanis. It was at this stage that the current in Islam “muridism” emerged. Its basis is the duty of ghazavat - a holy war. For the mountaineers, the war with Russia becomes a duty and part of their religious beliefs. The stage ends in 1827-1828, when the new commander of the Caucasian corps, I. Paskevich, was appointed.
Muridism is an Islamic teaching on the path to salvation through linked warfare - ghazavat. The basis of Murism lies in the obligatory participation in the war against the "infidels".
Historical reference
Fourth stage (1828-1833)
In 1828, a serious complication of relations between the highlanders and the Russian army took place. Local tribes create the first mountain independent state during the war years - the imamate. The first imam was Gazi-Muhamed, the founder of Muridism. He was the first to proclaim a gazavat to Russia, but in 1832 he died during one of the battles.
Fifth stage (1833-1859)
The longest period of the war. It lasted from 1834 to 1859. During this period, the local leader Shamil declares himself imam and also declares the gazavat of Russia. His army takes control of Chechnya and Dagestan. For several years Russia completely loses this territory, especially during its participation in the Crimean War, when all military forces were sent to participate in it. As for the hostilities themselves, then long time they were conducted with varying degrees of success.
The turning point came only in 1859, after Shamil was captured near the village of Gunib. This was a turning point in the Caucasian War. After the capture, Shamil was taken to the central cities of the Russian Empire (Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kiev), arranging meetings with the top officials of the empire and generals-veterans of the Caucasian War. By the way, in 1869 he was released on a pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina, where he died in 1871.
Sixth stage (1859-1864)
After the defeat of Imamate Shamil from 1859 to 1864, the final period of the war took place. These were small local resistances that were quickly eliminated. In 1864, the resistance of the mountaineers was completely broken. Russia ended a difficult and problematic war for itself with a victory.
Main results
The Caucasian War of 1817-1864 ended in victory for Russia, as a result of which several tasks were solved:
- The final seizure of the Caucasus and the spread of its own administrative structure and legal system there.
- Strengthening influence in the region. After the capture of the Caucasus, this region becomes an important geopolitical point for increasing influence in the East.
- The beginning of the settlement of this region by Slavic peoples.
But despite the successful conclusion of the war, Russia acquired a complex and turbulent region, which required increased resources to maintain order, as well as additional protection measures in connection with Turkey's interests in this area. Such was the Caucasian War for the Russian Empire.
Caucasian War 1817-1864
“It is just as difficult to enslave the Chechens and other peoples of the region as it is to smooth out the Caucasus. This is not done with bayonets, but with time and education.<….>they will make another expedition, knock down a few people, crush the crowd of unsettled enemies, lay some fortress and return home to wait again for autumn. This course of affairs can bring great personal benefits to Yermolov, while Russia has no<….>But absolutely so, in this continuous war there is something majestic, and the temple of Janus for Russia, as for ancient Rome, will not be lost. Who, besides us, can boast that he has seen the eternal war? ". From a letter from M.F. Orlov to A.N. Raevsky.
There were still forty-four years left until the end of the war. Is it not true, something reminiscent of the current situation in the Russian Caucasus?
Formally, the beginning of this undeclared war between Russia and the mountain peoples of the northern slope of the Caucasus can be attributed to 1816, when Lieutenant General Alexei Petrovich Ermolov, the hero of the Borodino battle, was appointed commander-in-chief of the Caucasian army.
In fact, Russia's penetration into the North Caucasus region began long before and proceeded slowly but stubbornly. Back in the 16th century, after the capture of the Astrakhan Khanate by Ivan the Terrible, on west bank The fortress of Tarki was laid at the mouth of the Terek River, which became the starting point of penetration into the North Caucasus from the Caspian Sea, the birthplace of the Terek Cossacks.
In the kingdom of Grozny, Russia acquires, albeit more formally, a mountainous region in the Center of the Caucasus - Kabarda. In 1557, the main prince of Kabarda, Temryuk Idarov, sent an official embassy with a request to accept Kabarda "under the high arm" of mighty Russia for protection from the Crimean Turkish invaders. On the eastern coast of the Sea of Azov, near the mouth of the Kuban River, there is still the city of Temryuk, founded in 1570 by Temryuk Idarov, as a fortress to protect against the raids of the Crimeans.
Since Catherine's times, after the victorious Russian-Turkish wars for Russia, the annexation of the Crimea and the steppes of the Northern Black Sea region, the struggle for the steppe space of the North Caucasus began - for the Kuban and Tere steppes. Lieutenant-General Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov, appointed in 1777 as the corps commander in the Kuban, directed the capture of these vast spaces. It was he who introduced the practice of scorched earth in this war, when everything that was rebellious was destroyed. The Kuban Tatars as an ethnos disappeared forever in this struggle.
To consolidate the victory in the conquered lands, fortresses are founded, interconnected by cordon lines, separating the Caucasus from the already annexed territories. Two rivers become a natural border in the south of Russia: one flowing from the mountains to the east into the Caspian - Terek and the other, flowing west to the Black Sea - Kuban. By the end of the reign of Catherine II along the entire space from the Caspian to the Black Sea, at a distance of almost 2000 km. along the northern shores of the Kuban and Terek there is a chain of defensive structures - the "Caucasian Line". For the cordon service, 12 thousand Black Sea, former Zaporozhian Cossacks were resettled, who located their villages along the northern bank of the Kuban River (Kuban Cossacks).
The Caucasian line is a chain of small fortified Cossack villages surrounded by a moat, in front of which there is a high earthen rampart, on it a strong fence made of thick brushwood, a watchtower, and several cannons. From fortification to fortification, a chain of cordons - several dozen people in each, and between the cordons there are small guard detachments "pickets", about ten people.
According to the testimony of contemporaries, this region was distinguished by an unusual relationship - many years of armed confrontation and at the same time mutual penetration of different cultures of the Cossacks and highlanders (language, clothing, weapons, women). "These Cossacks (Cossacks living on the Caucasian line) differ from the mountaineers only in their unshaven head ... weapons, clothing, harness, grips - all mountainous.< ..... >Almost all of them speak Tatar, make friends with the highlanders, even kinship by mutually abducted wives - but in the field, enemies are inexorable. " A.A. Bestuzhev-Marlinsky. Ammalat-bek. Caucasian reality. Meanwhile, the Chechens were no less afraid and suffered from the raids of the Cossacks than they were from them.
The king of the united Kartliya and Kakheti, Irakli II, turned in 1783 to Catherine II with a request to accept Georgia into Russian citizenship and to protect it by Russian troops. The Georgievsky treatise of the same year establishes Russia's protectorate over Eastern Georgia - Russia's priority in Georgia's foreign policy and protecting it from the expansion of Turkey and Persia.
The fortress on the site of the aul Kapkai (mountain gates), erected in 1784, receives the name Vladikavkaz - who owns the Caucasus. Here, near Vladikavkaz, the construction of the Georgian Military Road begins - a mountain road through the Main Caucasian ridge, connecting the North Caucasus with the new Transcaucasian possessions of Russia.
In 1801, Alexander I published a manifesto, according to which Kartliya and Kakheti, at the request of their other ruler, Tsar George, the heir of Irakli II, were completely reunited with Russia. Artli-Kakhetian kingdom no longer exists. The response from the neighboring countries of Persia and Turkey was unequivocal. Supported alternately by France and then England, depending on the events in Europe, they enter a period of many years of wars with Russia, which ended in their defeat. Russia has new territorial acquisitions, including Dagestan and a number of khanates of northeastern Transcaucasia. By this time, the principalities of Western Georgia: Imereti, Mingrelia and Guria voluntarily became part of Russia, however, maintaining their autonomy.
But the North Caucasus, especially its mountainous part, is still far from submission. The oaths given by some North Caucasian feudal lords were mostly declarative. Virtually all mountainous area The North Caucasus was not subject to the Russian military administration. Moreover, dissatisfaction with the tough colonial policy of tsarism of all strata of the mountain population (the feudal elite, clergy, mountain peasantry) caused a number of spontaneous uprisings, which were sometimes massive. There is still no reliable road connecting Russia with its now vast Transcaucasian possessions. Traffic along the Georgian Military Highway was dangerous - the road was subject to attacks by the mountaineers.
With the end of the Napoleonic wars, Alexander I forced the conquest of the North Caucasus. The first step on this path is the appointment to Lieutenant General A.P. Ermolov as the commander of the Separate Caucasian Corps, managing the civilian unit in Georgia. In fact, he is a governor, a full-fledged ruler of the entire region (officially, the post of governor of the Caucasus will be introduced by Nicholas I only in 1845).
For the successful fulfillment of the diplomatic mission to Persia, which prevented the Shah's attempts to return to Persia at least part of the lands that had gone to Russia, Ermolov was promoted to general from infantry and, according to Peter's "table of ranks", becomes a full general.
Ermolov began fighting in 1817. "The Caucasus is a huge fortress, defended by a half-million garrison. An assault will be expensive, so let us lead a siege," he said, and moved from the tactics of punitive expeditions to a systematic advance deep into the mountains.
In 1817-1818. Ermolov advanced deep into the territory of Chechnya, pushing the left flank of the "Caucasian Line" to the border of the Sunzha River, where he founded several fortified points, including the Groznaya fortress (since 1870 the city of Grozny, now the destroyed capital of Chechnya). Chechnya, where the most militant of the mountain peoples lived, covered at that time with impenetrable forests, was a natural, inaccessible fortress, and in order to overcome it, Ermolov cut down wide clearings in the forests, providing access to the Chechen auls.
Two years later, the "line" was transferred to the foot of the Dagestan Mountains, where fortresses were also built, connected by a system of fortifications with the Groznaya fortress. The Kumyk plains are separated from the highlanders of Chechnya and Dagestan, driven into the mountains.
In support of the armed uprisings of the Chechens defending their land, the majority of the Dagestani rulers in 1819 united in a military union. Persia, extremely interested in the confrontation of the mountaineers with Russia, behind which England also stood, is helping the Union with money.
The Caucasian corps was reinforced to 50 thousand people, the Black Sea Cossack army, another 40 thousand people. In 1819-1821, Ermolov undertook a series of punitive raids into the mountainous regions of Dagestan. The highlanders resist desperately. Independence for them is the main thing in life. No one showed obedience, not even women and children. It can be said without exaggeration that in these battles in the Caucasus every man was a warrior, every aul was a fortress, every fortress was the capital of a warlike state. There is no talk about losses, the result is important - Dagestan, it would seem, is completely conquered.
In 1821-1822, the center of the Caucasian line was promoted. Fortifications, built at the foot of the Black Mountains, closed the exits from the gorges of Cherek, Chegem, Baksan. Kabardians and Ossetians were pushed back from areas convenient for agriculture.
An experienced politician and diplomat, General Yermolov, understood that it was practically impossible to end the resistance of the mountaineers by force of arms alone, only by punitive expeditions. Other measures are also needed. He declared the rulers subject to Russia free from all duties, free to dispose of the land at their own discretion. For the local princes and shahs who recognized the power of the tsar, the rights over the former subordinate peasants were also restored. However, this did not lead to appeasement. The main force opposing the invasion was still not the feudal lords, but the mass of free peasants.
In 1823, an uprising broke out in Dagestan, raised by Ammalat-bek, to suppress which Ermolov took several months. Until the outbreak of the war with Persia in 1826, the region was relatively calm. But in 1825, in the already conquered Chechnya, an extensive uprising broke out, led by the famous rider, national hero Chechnya - Bey Bulat, which covered the whole of Greater Chechnya. In January 1826, a decisive battle took place on the Argun River, in which the forces of many thousands of Chechens and Lezghins were scattered. Ermolov went through all of Chechnya, cutting down forests and severely punishing rebellious auls. The lines involuntarily come to mind:
But behold - the East is raising a howl! ...
Hang down the head of the snow,
Humble yourself, Caucasus: Ermolov is coming! A.S. Pushkin. "Prisoner of the Caucasus"
It is best to judge how this war of conquest in the mountains was waged, according to the commander-in-chief himself: “The rebellious villages were ravaged and burned, orchards and vineyards were cut down to the root, and after many years the traitors will not come to their primitive state. execution ... "In Lermontov's poem" Izmail-bek "it sounds like this:
Auls are burning; they have no protection….
Like a beast of prey to a humble abode
The winner bursts in with bayonets;
He kills elders and children,
Innocent maidens and mothers
He caresses with a bloody hand ...
Meanwhile, General Ermolov is one of the most progressive major Russian military leaders of that time. Opponent of the Arakcheev settlements, drills and bureaucracy in the army, he did a lot to improve the organization of the Caucasian corps, to facilitate the life of the soldiers in their essentially unlimited and powerless service.
The "December events" of 1825 in St. Petersburg were also reflected in the leadership of the Caucasus. Nicholas I recalled, as it seemed to him, the unreliable, close to the circles of the Decembrists "lord over the entire Caucasus" - Ermolov. He was unreliable since the time of Paul I. For belonging to a secret officers' circle, opposed to the emperor, Ermolov served several months in the Peter and Paul Fortress and served exile in Kostroma.
In his place, Nicholas I appointed General of the cavalry I.F. Paskevich. During his command, there was a war with Persia in 1826-27 and with Turkey in 1828-29. For the victory over Persia, he received the title of Count of Erivan and Field Marshal's epaulettes, and three years later, after brutally suppressing the uprising in Poland in 1831, he became the Most Serene Prince of Warsaw, Count Paskevich-Erivansky. A rare double title for Russia. Only A.V. Suvorov had such a double title: Prince of Italy, Count Suvorov-Rymniksky.
From about the mid-twenties of the 19th century, even under Yermolov, the struggle of the highlanders of Dagestan and Chechnya acquired a religious connotation - muridism. In the Caucasian version, muridism proclaimed that the main path of rapprochement with God lies for every "seeker of truth - murid" through the fulfillment of the commandments of the ghazavat. Fulfilling Sharia without ghazavat is not salvation.
The wide spread of this movement, especially in Dagestan, was based on the rallying on religious grounds of the multilingual mass of the free mountain peasantry. By the number of languages spoken in the Caucasus, it can be called a linguistic "Noah's ark." language groups, more than forty dialects. Especially colorful in this regard is Dagestan, where there were even one-aul languages. The success of Muridism also contributed to the fact that Islam penetrated into Dagestan as early as the 12th century and had deep roots here, while in the western part of the North Caucasus it began to establish itself only in the 16th century, and two centuries later the influence of paganism was still felt here.
What the feudal rulers did not succeed in: princes, khans, beks — to unite the Eastern Caucasus into a single force — was succeeded by the Muslim clergy, who combined religious and secular principles in one person. The Eastern Caucasus, infected with the deepest religious fanaticism, became a formidable force, to overcome which Russia with its two hundred thousandth army took almost three decades.
At the end of the twenties, Mullah Gazi-Muhammad was proclaimed the imam of Dagestan (imam in translation from the Arabic language - standing in front). Fanatic, passionate preacher of ghazavat, he managed to excite the mountain masses with promises of heavenly bliss and, no less important, promises full independence from any authority other than Allah and Sharia. The movement covered almost all of Dagestan. The opponents of the movement were only the Avar khans, who were not interested in the unification of Dagestan and acted in alliance with the Russians. Gazi-Mukhammed, who carried out a series of raids on the Cossack villages, captured and devastated the city of Kizlyar, died in battle while defending one of the villages. His ardent adherent and friend - Shamil, wounded in this battle, survived.
The Avar bek Gamzat was proclaimed imam. Opponent and murderer of the Avar khans, he himself, two years later, perishes at the hands of conspirators, one of whom was Hadji Murad - the second figure after Shamil in the Gazavat. The dramatic events that led to the death of the Avar khans, Gamzat, and even Hadji Murad himself formed the basis of Leo Gorskaya Tolstoy's story "Hadji Murad".
After the death of Gamzat, Shamil, having killed the last heir of the Avar Khanate, becomes the imam of Dagestan and Chechnya. A brilliantly gifted person who studied with the best teachers of grammar, logic and rhetoric of the Arabic language in Dagestan, Shamil was considered an outstanding scientist of Dagestan. A man with an unyielding, firm will, a brave warrior, he knew how not only to inspire and arouse fanaticism in the highlanders, but also to subordinate them to his will. His military talent and organizational skills, endurance, ability to choose the right moment to strike created many difficulties for the Russian command during the conquest Eastern Caucasus... He was neither an English spy, much less anyone's protege, as Soviet propaganda once represented him. His goal was one - to preserve the independence of the Eastern Caucasus, to create his own state (theocratic in form, but, in fact, totalitarian)
Shamil divided the regions subject to him into "naibstva". Each naib had to come to war with a certain number of soldiers, organized in hundreds, dozens. Realizing the importance of artillery, Shamil created a primitive production of cannons and ammunition for them. But still the nature of the war for the highlanders remains the same - partisan.
Shamil transferred his residence to the village of Ashilta, away from the Russian possessions in Dagestan, and from 1835-36, when the number of his adherents increased significantly, he began to attack Avaria, devastating its villages, most of which swore allegiance to Russia.
In 1837, a detachment of General K.K. Feze. After a fierce battle, the general took and completely destroyed the village of Ashiltu. Shamil, surrounded at his residence in the village of Tilitle, sent envoys to express submission. The general went to negotiations. Shamil sent three amanats (hostages), including his sister's grandson, and swore allegiance to the king. Having missed the opportunity to capture Shamil, the general extended the war with him for another 22 years.
In the next two years, Shamil made a number of raids on Russian-controlled villages and in May 1839, upon learning of the approach of a large Russian detachment, led by General P.Kh. Grabbe, takes refuge in the aul of Akhulgo, which he turned into an impregnable fortress for that time
The battle for the aul Akhulgo, one of the fiercest battles of the Caucasian war, in which no one asked for mercy, and no one gave it. Women and children, armed with daggers and stones, fought on an equal basis with men or committed suicide, preferring death to captivity. In this battle, Shamil loses his wife, son, his sister, nephews, over a thousand of his supporters perish. Shamil's eldest son, Jemal-Eddin, was taken hostage. Shamil barely escapes from captivity, hiding in one of the caves above the river with only seven murids. For the Russians, the battle also cost almost three thousand people killed and wounded.
At the All-Russian Exhibition in Nizhny Novgorod in 1896 in a building specially constructed in the form of a cylinder with a circumference of 100 meters with a high half-glass dome, the battle panorama "Storming the aul of Akhulgo" was exhibited. The author is Franz Roubaud, whose name is well known to Russian lovers of fine art and history from his two later battle panoramas: "Defense of Sevastopol" (1905) and "Battle of Borodino" (1912).
Time after the capture of Akhulgo, the period of Shamil's greatest military successes. An unreasonable policy towards Chechens, an attempt to take their weapons from them, lead to a general uprising in Chechnya. Chechnya joined Shamil - he is the ruler of the entire Eastern Caucasus.
His base is in the village of Dargo, from where he made successful raids into Chechnya and Dagestan. Having destroyed a number of Russian fortifications and partly their garrisons, Shamil captured hundreds of prisoners, including even high-ranking officers, dozens of guns. The apogee was the capture by him at the end of 1843 of the village of Gergebil, the main stronghold of the Russians in Northern Dagestan. The authority and influence of Shamil increased so much that even the Dagestani beks in the Russian service, with high ranks, passed to him.
In 1844, Nicholas I sent to the Caucasus the commander of the troops and the governor of the emperor with extraordinary powers, Count M.S. Vorontsov (from August 1845 he was a prince), the same Pushkin "half-my-lord, half-merchant", one of the best administrators of Russia at that time. Prince A.I. Baryatinsky is a friend of the childhood and youth years of the heir to the throne - Alexander. However, at the initial stages, their high ranks do not bring success.
In May 1845, the governor himself assumed command of the formation aimed at capturing the capital of Shamil - Dargo. Dargo is captured, but Shamil intercepts the transport with food and Vorontsov is forced to retreat. During the retreat, the detachment was completely defeated, having lost not only all property, but also over 3.5 thousand soldiers and officers. Unsuccessful for the Russians was the attempt to regain the village of Gergebil, the assault of which cost very heavy losses.
The turning point begins after 1847 and is associated not so much with partial military successes - the capture of Gergebil after the second siege, as with the decline in Shamil's popularity, mainly in Chechnya. There are many reasons for this. This is dissatisfaction with the harsh Sharia regime in relatively wealthy Chechnya, the blocking of predatory raids on Russian possessions and Georgia and, as a result, a decrease in the income of the Naibs, the rivalry of the Naibs among themselves. Liberal policy and numerous promises to the highlanders who expressed obedience, especially inherent in Prince A.I. Baryatinsky, who in 1856 became the commander-in-chief and governor of the tsar in the Caucasus. The gold and silver he handed out worked no less strongly than the "fittings" - rifled guns - the new weapon of the Russians.
The last major successful raid of Shamil took place in 1854 on Georgia during the Eastern (Crimean) War of 1853-1855. The Turkish sultan, interested in joint actions with Shamil, awarded him the title of Generalissimo of the Circassian and Georgian troops. Shamil gathered about 15 thousand people and, breaking through the cordons, descended into the Alazani Valley, where, having ruined several of the richest estates, captured the Georgian princesses: Anna Chavchavadze and Varvara Orbeliani, the granddaughters of the last Georgian king.
In exchange for the princesses, Shamil demands the return of Jemal-Eddin's son, captured in 1839, by that time he was already a lieutenant of the Vladimir Uhlan regiment and a Russophile. It is possible that under the influence of his son, but rather because of the defeat of the Turks near Kars and in Georgia, Shamil active action did not undertake in support of Turkey.
With the end of the Eastern War, Russian active operations resumed, primarily in Chechnya. Lieutenant General N.I. Evdokimov, the son of a soldier and a former soldier himself - the main associate of the prince. Baryatinsky on the left flank of the Caucasian line. His seizure of one of the most important strategic objects - the Argun gorge and generous promises of the governor to the obedient highlanders, decide the fate of Big and Small Chechnya. In the power of Shamil in Chechnya, only wooded Ichkeria, in the fortified village of Vedeno, he concentrates his forces. With the fall of Vedeno, after his assault in the spring of 1859, Shamil lost the support of all of Chechnya, his main support.
The loss of Vedeno was for Shamil and the loss of the Naibs who were closest to him, one after the other who went over to the side of the Russians. An expression of obedience by the Avar khan and the surrender of a number of fortifications by the Avars deprives him of any support in Avaria. The last place where Shamil and his family stay in Dagestan is the village of Gunib, where he is with about 400 murids loyal to him. After taking the approaches to the aul and its complete blockade by troops under the command of the governor himself, Prince. Baryatinsky, on August 29, 1859, Shamil surrendered. General N.I. Evdokimov receives from Alexander II the title of Russian count, becomes a general from infantry.
The life of Shamil with his entire family: wives, sons, daughters and sons-in-law in the Kaluga golden cage under the watchful eye of the authorities is already the life of another person. After repeated requests, he was allowed in 1870 to travel with his family to Medina (Arabia), where he died in February 1871.
With the capture of Shamil, the Eastern zone of the Caucasus was completely conquered. The main direction of the war shifted to the western regions, where, under the command of the already mentioned General Evdokimov, the main forces of the 200,000th Separate Caucasian Corps were moved.
The events unfolding in the Western Caucasus were preceded by another epic.
The result of the wars of 1826-1829. appeared treaties concluded with Iran and Turkey, according to which the Transcaucasia from the Black to the Caspian Sea became Russian. With the annexation of Transcaucasia, the eastern coast of the Black Sea from Anapa to Poti is also the possession of Russia. The Adjara coast (principality of Adjara) became part of Russia only in 1878.
The actual owners of the coast are the highlanders: Circassians, Ubykhs, Abkhazians, for whom the coast is vitally important. Through the coast, they receive help from Turkey, England with food, weapons, emissaries arrive. Without owning the coast, it is difficult to subdue the highlanders.
In 1829, after signing a treaty with Turkey, Nicholas I wrote in a rescript addressed to Paskevich: “Having thus finished one glorious deed (the war with Turkey), you will have another, in my eyes just as glorious, and in reasoning there is much direct benefit more important is the pacification of the mountain peoples forever or the extermination of the disobedient. " It's that simple - extermination.
Proceeding from this command, in the summer of 1830 Paskevich made an attempt to seize the coast, the so-called "Abkhaz expedition", occupying several settlements on the Abkhaz coast: Bombara, Pitsunda and Gagra. Further advance from the Gagra gorges broke up against the heroic resistance of the Abkhaz and Ubykh tribes.
Since 1831, the construction of defensive fortifications of the Black Sea coastline begins: fortresses, forts, etc., blocking the exit of the mountaineers to the coast. Fortifications were located at river mouths, in valleys or in long-standing settlements that previously belonged to the Turks: Anapa, Sukhum, Poti, Redut-Kale. The advance along the seashore and the construction of roads with the desperate resistance of the mountaineers cost countless casualties. It was decided to establish fortifications by landing troops from the sea, and this required a considerable number of lives.
In June 1837 the fortification of the "Holy Spirit" was founded at Cape Ardiler (in Russian transcription - Adler). During the landing from the sea, ensign Alexander Bestuzhev-Marlinsky, a poet, writer, publisher, ethnographer of the Caucasus, an active participant in the events of "December 14", died or went missing.
By the end of 1839, defensive structures already existed in twenty places along the Russian coast: fortresses, fortifications, forts that made up the Black Sea coastline. Familiar names of the Black Sea resorts: Anapa, Sochi, Gagra, Tuapse - places of former fortresses and forts. But the mountainous regions are also rebellious.
The events associated with the founding and defense of the strongholds of the Black Sea coastline are perhaps the most dramatic in the history of the Caucasian War. There is still no land road along the entire coastline. The supply of food, ammunition and other things was carried out only by the sea, and in the autumn-winter period, during storms and storms, it is practically nonexistent. The garrisons, from the Black Sea battalions of the line, remained in the same places during the entire existence of the "line", virtually without change and, as it were, on the islands. On the one hand the sea, on the other - on the surrounding heights the mountaineers. It was not the Russian army that held back the highlanders, but they, the highlanders, held the garrisons of the fortifications under siege. Yet the biggest scourge was the damp Black Sea climate, disease and, above all, malaria. Here is just one fact: in 1845, 18 people were killed along the entire "line", and 2427 died of diseases.
At the beginning of 1840, a terrible famine broke out in the mountains, forcing the mountaineers to look for food in the Russian fortifications. In February-March, they raided a number of forts and seized them, completely destroying the few garrisons. Almost 11 thousand people took part in the storming of Fort Mikhailovsky. A private of the Tenginsky regiment, Arkhip Osipov, blows up a powder magazine and perishes himself, taking another 3000 Circassians with him. On the Black Sea coast, near Gelendzhik, there is also a resort town - Arkhipovoosipovka.
With the beginning of the Eastern War, when the position of the forts and fortifications became hopeless - the supply was completely interrupted, the Black Sea Russian fleet was flooded, the forts between two fires - the highlanders and the Anglo-French fleet, Nicholas I decided to abolish the "line", withdraw the garrisons, blow up the forts, which and was urgently fulfilled.
In November 1859, after the capture of Shamil, the main forces of the Circassians, led by Shamil's emissary, Mohammed-Emin, surrendered. The land of the Circassians was cut by the Belorechensk defense line with the Maikop fortress. The tactics in the Western Caucasus are Yermolov's: deforestation, construction of roads and fortifications, displacement of the highlanders into the mountains. By 1864, the troops of N.I. Evdokimov occupied the entire territory on the northern slope of the Caucasian ridge.
No wild freedom love! A.S. Pushkin. "Prisoner of the Caucasus".
The first uprising already in the pacified Chechnya broke out almost a year after its conquest of Prince. Baryatinsky. Then they were repeated more than once. But these are only riots of the subjects of His Highness the Sovereign Emperor, requiring only pacification, and pacified.
And yet, historically, the annexation of the North Caucasus to Russia was inevitable - that was the time. But there was logic in the cruel war of Russia for the Caucasus, in the heroic struggle of the mountaineers for their independence.
That makes it all the more senseless, both an attempt to restore the Sharia state in Chechnya at the end of the twentieth century, and Russia's methods of countering this. Thoughtless, indefinite war of ambition - countless sacrifices and suffering of nations. The war that turned Chechnya, and not only Chechnya, into a training ground for Islamic international terrorism.
1. Background of the Caucasian War
The war of the Russian Empire against the Muslim peoples of the North Caucasus was aimed at annexing this region. As a result of the Russian-Turkish (in 1812) and Russian-Iranian (in 1813) wars, the North Caucasus was surrounded by Russian territory. However, the imperial government did not manage to establish effective control over it for many decades. The mountain peoples of Chechnya and Dagestan have long lived largely through raids on the surrounding plains, including Russian Cossack settlements and soldiers' garrisons. When the mountaineers' raids on Russian villages became unbearable, the Russians responded with reprisals. After a series of punitive operations, during which Russian troops mercilessly burned the "guilty" auls, the emperor in 1813 ordered General Rtishchev to change tactics again, "to try to establish calm on the Caucasian line with friendliness and condescension."
However, the peculiarities of the mentality of the mountaineers hindered the peaceful settlement of the situation. Peacefulness was seen as a weakness, and the raids on the Russians only intensified. In 1819, almost all the rulers of Dagestan united in an alliance to fight the Russians. In this regard, the policy of the tsarist government moved to the establishment of direct rule. In the person of General A.P. Ermolov, the Russian government found the right person to implement these ideas: the general was firmly convinced that the entire Caucasus should become part of the Russian Empire.
2. Caucasian War 1817-1864
Caucasian War
Caucasian War of 1817-64, military actions associated with the annexation of Chechnya, Mountainous Dagestan and the North-Western Caucasus by Tsarist Russia. After the annexation of Georgia (1801 10) and Azerbaijan (1803 13), their territories were separated from Russia by the lands of Chechnya, Mountainous Dagestan (although legally Dagestan was annexed in 1813) and the North-West Caucasus, inhabited by warlike mountain peoples who raided the Caucasian fortified line, interfered with relations with the Caucasus. After the end of the wars with Napoleonic France tsarism was able to activate fighting in this district. General A.P. Ermolov moved from separate punitive expeditions to a systematic advance into the depths of Chechnya and Mountainous Dagestan by encircling mountainous areas with a continuous ring of fortifications, cutting openings in rugged forests, laying roads and destroying "recalcitrant" villages. This forced the population to either move to the plane (plain) under the supervision of the Russian garrisons, or go into the depths of the mountains. Started the first period of the Caucasian War with the order of May 12, 1818, General Ermolov to cross the Terek. Ermolov drew up a plan of offensive actions at the forefront of which was the extensive colonization of the region by the Cossacks and the formation of "strata" between the hostile tribes by resettling the devoted tribes there. In 1817 18. the left flank of the Caucasian line was moved from the Terek to the river. Sunzha in the middle reaches of which was in October 1817. the fortification of Pregradny Stan was laid, which was the first step of a systematic advance into the depths of the territories of the mountain peoples and, in fact, laid the foundation for K.V. in the lower reaches of the Sunzha, the Groznaya fortress was founded. The continuation of the Sunzhenskaya line was the fortress Vnezapnaya (1819) and Burnaya (1821). In 1819 the Separate Georgian Corps was renamed the Separate Caucasian Corps and reinforced up to 50 thousand people; Ermolov was also subordinate to the Black Sea Cossack army (up to 40 thousand people) in the North-West Caucasus. In 1818. a number of Dagestan feudal lords and tribes united in 1819. began a march to the Sunzhenskaya line. But in 1819 21gg. they suffered a series of defeats, after which the possessions of these feudal lords were either transferred to the vassals of Russia with subordination to the Russian commandants (the lands of the Kazikumukh Khan Kyurin Khan, the Avar Khan Shamkhal Tarkovsky), or became dependent on Russia (the Karakaytag Utsmiya lands), or liquidated with the introduction of Russian administration ( Khanate Mehtulinskoe, as well as the Azerbaijani khanates Sheki, Shirvan and Karabakh). In 1822 26. a number of punitive expeditions were carried out against the Circassians in the Trans-Kuban region.
The result of Yermolov's actions was the subordination of almost all of Dagestan, Chechnya and Trans-Kuban. General I.F. Paskevich abandoned the systematic advancement with the consolidation of the occupied territories and returned mainly to the tactics of individual punitive expeditions, although the Lezgin line was created under him (1830). In 1828, in connection with the construction of the Military-Sukhumi road, the Karachay region was annexed. The expansion of the colonization of the North Caucasus and the cruelty of the aggressive policy of Russian tsarism caused spontaneous mass demonstrations of the highlanders. The first of them took place in Chechnya in July 1825: the highlanders, led by Bey-Bulat, captured the post of Amirajiyurt, but their attempts to take Gerzel and Groznaya failed, and in 1826. the uprising was suppressed. At the end of the 20s. in Chechnya and Dagestan, a movement of highlanders arose under the religious shell of Muridism, part of which was a ghazavat (Jihad) "holy war" against the "infidels" (that is, the Russians). In this movement, the liberation struggle against colonial expansion tsarism was combined with an uprising against the oppression of local feudal lords. The reactionary side of the movement was the struggle of the top of the Muslim clergy for the creation of a feudal-theocratic state of the imamate. This isolated the supporters of Muridism from other peoples, inflamed fanatical hatred of non-Muslims, and most importantly, preserved the backward feudal forms of social structure. The movement of the mountaineers under the flag of Muridism was the impetus for the expansion of the scale of KV, although some peoples of the North Caucasus and Dagestan (for example, the Kumyks, Ossetians, Ingush, Kabardins, etc.) did not join this movement. This was explained, firstly, by the fact that some of these peoples could not be carried away by the slogan of Muridism due to their Christianization (part of the Ossetians) or the weak development of Islam (for example, the Kabardians); secondly, the tsarist policy of "carrot and stick", with the help of which he managed to win over to his side a part of the feudal lords and their subjects. These peoples did not oppose Russian rule, but their position was difficult: they were under the double oppression of tsarism and local feudal lords.
Second period of the Caucasian War- represent a bloody and formidable period of muridism. At the beginning of 1829, Kazi-Mulla (or Gazi-Magomed) arrived in Tarkovskoe Shankhalstvo (a state on the territory of Dagestan in the late 15th - early 19th centuries) with his sermons, while receiving complete freedom of action from the shamkhal. Gathering his comrades-in-arms, he began to bypass the aul after the aul urging "sinners to take the righteous path, instruct the lost and crush the criminal authorities of the auls." Gazi-Magomed (Kazi-mulla), proclaimed imam in December 1828. and put forward the idea of uniting the peoples of Chechnya and Dagestan. But some feudal lords (Avar Khan, Shamkhal Tarkovsky, etc.), who adhered to the Russian orientation, refused to recognize the power of the Imam. An attempt by Gazi-Magomed to capture in February 1830. the capital of the Accident Khunzakh did not succeed, although the expedition of the tsarist troops in 1830. in Gimry failed and only led to an increase in the influence of the imam. In 1831. the murids took Tarki and Kizlyar, besieged Burnaya and Vnezapnaya; their detachments also operated in Chechnya, near Vladikavkaz and Grozny, and with the support of the insurgent Tabasaran they laid siege to Derbent. Significant territories (Chechnya and most of Dagestan) were under the rule of the imam. However, since the end of 1831. the uprising began to decline due to the withdrawal from the murids of the peasantry, dissatisfied with the fact that the imam did not fulfill his promise to eliminate class inequality. As a result of large expeditions of Russian troops in Chechnya, undertaken by the appointed in September 1831. Commander-in-Chief in the Caucasus, General G.V. Rosen, the detachments of Gazi-Magomed were pushed back to Gorny Dagestan. The imam with a handful of murids took refuge in Gimry, where he died on October 17, 1832. when the aul was captured by Russian troops. The second imam was proclaimed Gamzat-bek, whose military successes attracted almost all the peoples of Mountainous Dagestan, including some of the Avars, to his side; however, the ruler of Avaria, khansha Pakhu-bike, refused to oppose Russia. In August 1834. Gamzat-bek captured Khunzakh and exterminated the family of the Avar khans, but as a result of a conspiracy of their supporters he was killed on September 19, 1834. In the same year, Russian troops, in order to suppress the relations of the Circassians with Turkey, conducted an expedition to the Trans-Kuban region and laid the fortifications of Abinskoe and Nikolaevskoe.
Shamil was proclaimed the third imam in 1834. The Russian command sent a large detachment against him, which destroyed the village of Gotsatl (the main residence of the murids) and forced Shamil's troops to retreat from Avaria. Believing that the movement was largely suppressed, Rosen was inactive for 2 years. During this time, Shamil, choosing the aul of Akhulgo as his base, subdued some of the elders and feudal lords of Chechnya and Dagestan, cruelly cracking down on those feudal lords who did not want to obey him, and won wide support among the masses. In 1837. detachment of General K.K.Fezi occupied Khunzakh, Untsukul and part of the village of Tilitl, where Shamil's detachments departed, but due to heavy losses and lack of food, the tsarist troops found themselves in a difficult situation, and on July 3, 1837. Fezi signed a truce with Shamil. This truce and the withdrawal of the tsarist troops were in fact their defeat and strengthened the authority of Shamil. In the Northwest Caucasus, Russian troops in 1837. laid the fortifications of the Holy Spirit, Novotroitskoye, Mikhailovskoye. In March 1838. Rosen was replaced by General E.A. Golovin, under whom in the North-West Caucasus in 1838. Fortifications were created Navaginskoe, Velyaminovskoe, Tenginskoe and Novorossiyskoe. The truce with Shamil turned out to be temporary, and in 1839. hostilities resumed. Detachment of General P.Kh. Grabbe after an 80-day siege on August 22, 1839. took possession of the residence of Shamil Akhulgo; the wounded Shamil with the murids broke through to Chechnya. On the Black Sea coast in 1839 fortifications were laid Golovinskoye, Lazarevskoye and created the Black Sea coastline from the mouth of the river. Kuban to the borders of Samegrelo; in 1840. the Labinsk line was created, but soon the tsarist troops suffered a number of major defeats: the revolted Circassians in February April 1840. captured the fortifications of the Black Sea coastline (Lazarevskoe, Velyaminovskoe, Mikhailovskoe, Nikolaevskoe). In the Eastern Caucasus, an attempt by the Russian administration to disarm the Chechens provoked an uprising that engulfed all of Chechnya, and then spread to Gorny Dagestan. After stubborn battles in the area of the Gekhi forest and on the river. Valerik (July 11, 1840) Russian troops occupied Chechnya, the Chechens went to Shamil's troops operating in Northwestern Dagestan. In 1840 43, despite the reinforcement of the Caucasian corps with an infantry division, Shamil won a number of major victories, occupied Avaria and established his power in a significant part of Dagestan, expanding the territory of the imamate more than twice and increasing the number of his troops to 20 thousand people. In October 1842. Golovin was replaced by General A. I. Neigardt and 2 more infantry divisions were transferred to the Caucasus, which made it possible to push back Shamil's troops somewhat. But then Shamil, again seizing the initiative, took Gergebil on November 8, 1843 and forced the Russian troops to leave Avaria. In December 1844, Neigardt was replaced by General M.S. Vorontsov, who in 1845. captured and destroyed the residence of Shamil aul Dargo. However, the highlanders surrounded Vorontsov's detachment, which barely managed to escape, having lost 1/3 of the composition, all the guns and the baggage train. In 1846 Vorontsov returned to the Yermolov tactics of conquering the Caucasus. Shamil's attempts to disrupt the enemy's offensive were unsuccessful (in 1846 the breakthrough into Kabarda failed, in 1848 the fall of Gergebil, in 1849 the failure of the storming of Temir-Khan-Shura and the breakthrough in Kakheti); in 1849-52 Shamil managed to take Kazikumukh, but by the spring of 1853. his detachments were finally driven out of Chechnya to Gorny Dagestan, where the situation of the mountaineers also became difficult. In the North-Western Caucasus in 1850 the Urupskaya line was created, and in 1851 the uprising of the Circassian tribes led by the governor of Shamil Mohammed-Emin was suppressed. On the eve of the Crimean War of 1853-56, Shamil, counting on help from Great Britain and Turkey, stepped up his actions and in August 1853. tried to break through the Lezgi line at Zagatala, but failed. In November 1853, Turkish troops were defeated at Bashkadyklar, and the attempts of the Circassians to seize the Black Sea and Labinsk lines were repelled. In the summer of 1854, Turkish troops launched an offensive against Tiflis; at the same time, Shamil's detachments, having broken through the Lezgin line, invaded Kakheti, captured Tsinandali, but were detained by the Georgian militia, and then defeated by Russian troops. The defeat in 1854-55. the Turkish army finally dispelled Shamil's hopes for outside help. By this time, which had begun in the late 40s, deepened. internal crisis of the imamate. The actual transformation of the governors of Shamil naibs into selfish feudal lords, who, with their brutal rule, caused indignation of the mountaineers, exacerbated social contradictions, and the peasants began to gradually withdraw from Shamil's movement (in 1858 in Chechnya, in the Vedeno region, an uprising even broke out against Shamil's rule). The weakening of the imamate was also facilitated by the devastation and great human losses in a long unequal struggle in conditions of a shortage of ammunition and food. The conclusion of the Paris Peace Treaty of 1856. allowed tsarism to concentrate significant forces against Shamil: the Caucasian corps was transformed into an army (up to 200 thousand people). The new commanders-in-chief, General N. N. Muravyov (1854 56) and General A.I. Baryatinsky (1856 60) continued to tighten the blockade ring around the imamate with a firm consolidation of the occupied territories. In April 1859, Shamil's residence, aul Vedeno, fell. Shamil with 400 murids fled to the village of Gunib. As a result of concentric movements of three detachments of Russian troops Gunib was surrounded and on August 25, 1859. taken by storm; almost all murids were killed in battle, and Shamil was forced to surrender. In the North-West Caucasus, the disunity of the Circassian and Abkhaz tribes facilitated the actions of the tsarist command, which took fertile lands from the mountaineers and transferred them to the Cossacks and Russian settlers, carrying out the mass eviction of mountain peoples. In November 1859. the main forces of the Circassians (up to 2 thousand people) capitulated, led by Muhammad-Emin. The Circassian lands were cut by the Belorechenskaya line with the Maikop fortress. In 1859 61gg. the construction of glades, roads and the settlement of the lands seized from the highlanders was carried out. In the middle of 1862. resistance to the colonialists increased. For the occupation of the territory remaining with the mountaineers with a population of about 200 thousand people. in 1862, up to 60 thousand soldiers were concentrated under the command of General N.I. Evdokimov, who began to advance along the coast and deep into the mountains. In 1863 the tsarist troops occupied the territory between the rivers. Belaya and Pshish, and by mid-April 1864 the entire coast to Navaginsky and the territory up to the river. Laba (along the northern slope of the Caucasian ridge). Only the highlanders of the Akhchipsu society and a small tribe of Khakuchei in the valley of the river did not obey. Mzymta. Driven to the sea or driven into the mountains, the Circassians and Abkhazians were forced to either move to the plain, or, under the influence of the Muslim clergy, emigrate to Turkey. The unpreparedness of the Turkish government to receive, accommodate and feed the masses of people (up to 500 thousand people), the arbitrariness and violence of the local Turkish authorities and the difficult living conditions caused a large death rate among the immigrants, a small part of whom returned to the Caucasus again. By 1864, Russian administration in Abkhazia, and on May 21, 1864, the tsarist troops occupied the last center of resistance of the Circassian Ubykh tribe, the Kbaadu tract (now Krasnaya Polyana). This day is considered the date of the end of the KV, although in fact hostilities continued until the end of 1864, and in the 60 70s. anti-colonial uprisings took place in Chechnya and Dagestan.
Do not think that the North Caucasus independently decided to ask Russia for citizenship, and without any problems became part of it. The reason and consequence of the fact that today Chechnya, Dagestan and others belong to the Russian Federation was the Caucasian War of 1817, which lasted about 50 years and was ended only in 1864.
The main reasons for the Caucasian war
Many modern historians call the desire of the Russian Emperor Alexander I by any means to annex the Caucasus to the territory of the country as the main prerequisite for the start of the war. However, if you look at the situation deeper, this intention was caused by fears for the future of the southern borders of the Russian Empire.
Indeed, for many centuries such strong rivals as Persia and Turkey have looked at the Caucasus with envy. Allowing them to spread their influence over and take control of it was a constant threat to their own country. That's why military confrontation was the only way to solve the problem.
Akhulgo translated from the Avar language means "Nabatnaya Gora". There were two auls on the mountain - Old and New Akhulgo. The siege by Russian troops, led by General Grabbe, lasted for 80 long days (from June 12 to August 22, 1839). The purpose of this military operation was the blockade and the capture of the imam's headquarters. The aul was stormed 5 times, after the third assault, the terms of surrender were offered, but Shamil did not agree to them. After the fifth assault, the village fell, but people did not want to surrender, they fought to the last drop of blood.
The battle was terrible, women took an active part in it with weapons in their hands, children threw stones at the storming men, they had no thought of mercy, they preferred death to captivity. Huge losses were suffered by both sides. Only a few dozen companions, led by the imam, managed to escape from the aul.
Shamil was wounded, in this battle he lost one of his wives and their infant son, and the eldest son was taken hostage. Akhulgo was completely destroyed and to this day the village has not been rebuilt. After this battle, the highlanders briefly began to doubt the victory of Imam Shamil, since the aul was considered an unshakable fortress, but despite its fall, the resistance continued for about 20 more years.
From the second half of the 1850s, St. Petersburg intensified its actions in an effort to break the resistance, generals Baryatinsky and Muravyov managed to take Shamil and his army into a ring. Finally, in September 1859, the imam surrendered. In St. Petersburg, he met with Emperor Alexander II, and then was settled in Kaluga. In 1866, Shamil, already an elderly man, accepted Russian citizenship there and received hereditary nobility.
Results and outcomes of the 1817-1864 campaign
Conquest southern territories It took Russia about 50 years. It was one of the most protracted wars in the country. The history of the Caucasian War of 1817-1864 was long, researchers are still studying documents, collecting information and chronicling military operations.
Despite its duration, it ended in victory for Russia. The Caucasus accepted Russian citizenship, and Turkey and Persia henceforth had no opportunity to influence local rulers and incite them to unrest. Results of the Caucasian War of 1817-1864 are well known. It:
- consolidation of Russia in the Caucasus;
- strengthening of the southern borders;
- elimination of mountain raids on Slavic settlements;
- the ability to influence Middle East politics.
Another important result is the gradual fusion of the Caucasian and Slavic cultures. Despite the fact that each of them has its own characteristics, today the Caucasian spiritual heritage has firmly entered the general cultural environment of Russia. And today the Russian people live peacefully side by side with the indigenous population of the Caucasus.
10.07.2010 – 15:20 – Natpress
A source: cherkessian.com
May 21, 2010 marked the 146th anniversary of the day in 1864, in the Kbaada (Kuebyde) tract of the Black Sea coast (now the Krasnaya Polyana ski resort, near Sochi), a military parade took place on the occasion of the victory over the Adyghe Country - Circassia and its deportation population to the Ottoman Empire. The parade was hosted by the brother of Emperor Alexander II - Grand Duke Michael.
The war between Russia and Circassia lasted 101 years, from 1763 to 1864.
As a result of this war, the Russian Empire lost over a million healthy men; destroyed Circassia, its long-standing and reliable ally in the Caucasus, acquiring in return the weak Transcaucasia and ephemeral plans to conquer Persia and India.
As a result of this war ancient country- Circassia disappeared from the world map, the Circassian (Adyghe) people - a longtime ally of Russia, suffered genocide - lost 9/10 of their territory, over 90% of the population, were scattered all over the world, suffered irreparable physical and cultural losses.
Currently, the Circassians have the largest relative diaspora in the world - 93% of the people live outside their historical homeland. Of the peoples of modern Russia, the Circassian diaspora ranks second in the world after the Russian.
All researchers admit that ANALOGUES TO THE CHERKESS RESISTANCE OF THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE HAS NOT BEEN OBSERVED IN THE WORLD HISTORY!
During the war with Circassia, five emperors were replaced on the Russian throne; The Russian Empire defeated Napoleon, captured Poland, the Crimean Khanate, the Baltic States, Finland, annexed the Transcaucasus, won four wars with Turkey, defeated Persia (Iran), defeated the Chechen-Dagestan imamate of Shamil, taking him prisoner, but could not conquer Circassia. It became possible to conquer Circassia only in one way - by expelling its population. According to General Golovin, the war in the Caucasus consisted of one-sixth of the income of the huge empire. At the same time, the main part of the Caucasian army fought against the Country of Adygs.
TERRITORY AND POPULATION OF CHERKESIA
Circassia occupied the main part of the Caucasus - from the coast of the Black and Azov Seas to the steppes of modern Dagestan. At a certain time, the East Cherkess (Kabardian) villages were located along the coast of the Caspian Sea.
Eastern Circassia (Kabarda) occupied the territories of modern Kabardino-Balkaria, Karachay-Cherkessia, the southern part of the Stavropol Territory, the entire flat part of North Ossetia, Ingushetia and Chechnya, the toponymy of which has still retained many Adyghe names (Malgobek, Psedakh, Argun, Beslan, Gudermes etc.). Abazins, Karachais, Balkars, Ossetians, Ingush and Chechen societies were dependent on Kabarda.
Western Circassia occupied the territory of modern Krasnodar Territory... Later, Tatar tribes settled to the north of the Kuban.
At that time, the population of Eastern Circassia (Kabarda) was estimated at 400 - 500 thousand people. Western Circassia, according to various estimates, numbered from 2 to 4 million people.
Circassia has lived under the threat of external invasions for centuries. To ensure their safety and survival, there was only one way out - the Circassians had to turn into a nation of warriors.
Therefore, the whole way of life of the Circassians became highly militarized. They developed and perfected the art of waging war, both horse and foot.
Centuries passed in a state of permanent war, so a war, even with a very strong enemy, was not considered something special in Circassia. The internal structure of the Circassian society guaranteed the country's independence. In the Land of the Adygs, there were special classes of society - pshi and uorki. In many regions of Circassia (Kabarda, Beslenei, Kemirgoy, Bzhedugia and Hatukay), the uorkas accounted for almost a third of the population. Their exclusive occupation was war and preparation for war. For the training of soldiers and the improvement of military skills, there was a special institute "zek1ue" ("rider"). And in Peaceful time detachments of Warks, numbering from a few to several thousand, made long campaigns.
None of the peoples of the world has brought military culture to such completeness and perfection as among the Circassians.
During the time of Tamerlane, the Circassian Warkas raided even Samarkand and Bukhara. Neighbors, especially the wealthy Crimean and Astrakhan khanates, were also subjected to constant raids. "... Most willingly, the Circassians go hiking in winter, when the sea freezes over to plunder Tatar villages, and a handful of Circassians put a whole crowd of Tatars to flight." “One thing I can praise in the Circassians, - wrote the Governor of Astrakhan to Peter the Great, - that they are all such warriors that cannot be found in these countries, because there are a thousand Tatars or Kumyks, there are quite two hundred Circassians here”.
Crimean nobility sought to educate their sons in Circassia. “Their country is a school for the Tatars, who have every man who has not studied military affairs and good manners in Circassia, it is considered "tentek", i.e. an insignificant person. "
"Khan's male children are sent to the Caucasus, from where they return to their parental home as boys."
"The Circassians are proud of the nobility of blood, and the Turks show them great respect, they call them" Circassian spaga ", which means a noble, equestrian warrior."
"The Circassians always invent something new in their manners or weapons, in which the surrounding peoples imitate them so ardently that the Circassians can be called the French of the Caucasus."
The Russian Tsar Ivan the Terrible, in search of allies against the Crimean Khanate, could count only on Circassia. And Circassia was looking for an ally in its fight against the Crimean Khanate. The military-political alliance concluded between Russia and Circassia in 1557 turned out to be very successful and fruitful for both sides. In 1561 he was reinforced by a marriage between Ivan the Terrible and the Kabardian princess Guashane (Maria). Kabardian princes lived in Moscow under the name of the princes of Cherkassk, and had a tremendous influence. (The places of their original residence opposite the Kremlin are still called Bolshoy and Maly Cherkassky lanes). The first Russian generalissimo was Circassian. In the "time of troubles" the question of the candidacy of Prince Cherkassky for the Russian throne was considered. The first tsar in the Romanov dynasty, Mikhail, was the nephew of the Cherkasskys. The cavalry of its strategic ally, Circassia, took part in many of Russia's campaigns and wars.
Circassia expelled from itself a huge number of soldiers not only to Russia. The geography of the military otkhodniki Circassia is extensive and includes countries from the Baltic to North Africa. In the literature, the Circassian military migrations to Poland, Russia, Egypt, and Turkey are widely covered. All of the above fully applies to the related country of Circassia - Abkhazia. In Poland and the Ottoman Empire, the Circassians enjoyed great influence in the highest echelons of power. For almost 800 years, the Circassian sultans ruled Egypt (Egypt, Palestine, Syria, part of Saudi Arabia).
Circassian Etiquette of War
In Circassia, which has been waging war for centuries, the so-called "Culture of War" has developed. Is it possible to combine the concept of "war" and "culture"?
War - such was the constant external background against which the Circassian people developed. But in order to remain human in the war, to follow the rules of the Circassian etiquette "Work Khabze", many norms have been developed that regulate relations between people during the war. Here is some of them:
1). The extraction was not an end in itself, but was only a SIGN, a SYMBOL of military valor. It was popularly condemned for the Works to be rich, to have luxury items, with the exception of weapons. Therefore, according to Work Khabze, the booty should have been given to others. It was considered shameful to acquire it without a fight, which is why riders were always looking for the possibility of a military clash.
2). During hostilities, it was considered categorically unacceptable to set fire to dwellings or crops, especially bread, even from enemies. Here is how the Decembrist AA Bestuzhev-Marlinsky, who fought in the Caucasus, describes the attack of the Kabardians: “In addition to booty, many prisoners and captives were a reward of courage. Kabardians invaded houses, took away what was more valuable or what came to hand in a hurry, but did not burn houses, did not deliberately trample the fields, did not break vineyards. "Why touch the work of God and the work of man," they said, and this rule of the mountain robber, who is not terrified by any villainy, "is a valor that the most educated peoples could be proud of, if they had it."
Actions of the Russian army in the Russian-Circassian war of 1763-1864 did not fit into this idea of war, but, nevertheless, even to their detriment, the Circassians tried to be true to their ideas. I. Drozdov, an eyewitness and participant in the war in the Caucasus, wrote in this regard: "The knightly way of waging war, constant open meetings, gathering in large masses - accelerated the end of the war."
3). It was considered unacceptable to leave the bodies of dead comrades on the battlefield. DA Longworth wrote about this: “In the character of the Circassians there is, perhaps, no trait more deserving of admiration than caring for the fallen - about the poor remains of the dead who can no longer feel care. If any of the compatriots fell in battle, many Circassians rush to that place in order to take out his body, and the heroic battle that follows ... often entails dire consequences ... "
4). It was considered a great shame in Circassia to fall alive into the hands of the enemy. Russian officers who fought in Circassia noted that it was very rarely possible to take Circassians prisoner. Even women in the surrounded villages often preferred death to captivity. A historical example of this is the destruction of the village of Khodz by the tsarist troops. Women, in order not to fall into the hands of the enemy, killed themselves with scissors. Respect and compassion, admiration for the courage of the inhabitants of this Circassian village were reflected in the Karachai-Balkarian song "Ollu Khozh" ("Great Hodz").
Johann von Blaramberg noted: "When they see that they are surrounded, they give their lives dearly, never surrendering."
Chief of the Caucasian line, Major General K.F. Stahl wrote: “To surrender to prisoners of war is the height of disgrace, and therefore it never happened that an armed soldier surrendered. Having lost his horse, he will fight with such ferocity that he will finally make him kill himself. "
“Seeing all the paths to salvation cut off,” testified the Russian officer Tornau, “they killed their horses, lay behind their bodies with a rifle on a suction cup, and fired back as long as possible; firing the last charge, they broke guns and checkers and met death with a dagger in their hands, knowing that with this weapon they could not be captured alive. " (Rifles and checkers were broken so that they would not get to the enemy).
Cherkess war tactics
Ukrainian scientist-Caucasian specialist of the early twentieth century V. Gatsuk gave precise characterization the war of Circassia for independence: “they have been successfully fighting for their homeland and freedom for many years; many times they sent their mounted militias to Dagestan to help Shamil, and their forces broke down in front of the huge numerical superiority of the Russian troops. "
The military culture of Circassia was at a very high level.
For a successful fight against the Adygs, the Russian army was forced to adopt all of its elements - from weapons (checkers and Circassian sabers, daggers, Circassian saddles, Circassian horses) and uniforms (Circassian coat, burka, fur hat, gazyri, etc.) to methods of conducting battle. At the same time, borrowing was not a matter of fashion, but a matter of survival. However, in order to catch up in combat qualities with the Circassian cavalry, it was necessary to adopt the entire system of training a warrior in Circassia, and this was impossible.
“From the first time, the Cossack cavalry had to yield to the Circassian cavalry,” wrote Major General I.D. Popko - and then she was never able to take an advantage over her, or even catch up with her. "
In the literature, the memoirs of eyewitnesses, there is a lot of evidence of the Circassian warfare.
"The riders attacked the enemy with whips in their hands and only twenty paces away they grabbed their guns, fired once, threw them over the shoulders and, revealing a sword, struck a terrible blow, which was almost always fatal." It was impossible to miss from a distance of twenty paces. The Cossacks, having taken over the checkers, galloped, lifting them up, unnecessarily bothering their hand, and depriving themselves of the opportunity to make a shot. In the hands of the attacking Circassian was only a whip, with which he accelerated the horse.
“The Circassian warrior jumps from his saddle to the ground, throws a dagger into the chest of the enemy's horse, jumps into the saddle again; then he stands up straight, strikes his opponent ... and all this while his horse continues a full gallop. "
In order to upset the ranks of the enemy, the Circassians began to retreat. As soon as the ranks of the enemy, carried away by the pursuit, were upset, the Circassians threw themselves at him with checkers. This technique was called "Shu k1apce." Such counterattacks were notable for such swiftness and onslaught that, according to E. Spencer, the enemy "is literally blown to shreds within a few minutes."
As swift and unexpected as these counterattacks were, retreats occurred just as quickly. The same Spencer wrote that "their manner of fighting is to disappear after a violent attack, like lightning, in the forests ...". It was useless to chase them in the forest: as soon as the enemy turned in the direction from which the most intense shelling was coming or when an attack took place, they immediately disappeared and began shelling from a completely different direction.
One of the Russian officers noted: “The area is such that a battle will break out in a clearing and end in a forest and a ravine. That enemy is such that if he wants to fight, it is impossible to resist him, and if he does not want to, it is impossible to overtake him. "
The Circassians attacked the enemies with the battle cries "Eue" and "Marzhe". Polish volunteer Teofil Lapinsky wrote: “Russian soldiers who turned gray in the war with the mountaineers told that this terrible cry, repeated by a thousandth echo in the forest and mountains, near and far, in front and behind, right and left, penetrates to the bone marrow and produces the troops are more frightening than the whistle of bullets. "
Briefly and succinctly described this tactic M.Yu. Lermontov, who fought in the Caucasus:
But the Circassians do not give rest,
They will hide, then they will attack again.
They are like a shadow, like a smoky vision,
And far and near at the same moment.
WHAT IS THE WAR CALLED: CAUCASIAN, RUSSIAN-CAUCASIAN OR RUSSIAN-CHERKASSIAN?
In Russian history, the "Caucasian War" refers to the war that Russia waged in the Caucasus in the 19th century. It is surprising that the time interval of this war is calculated from 1817-1864. In a strange way, they disappeared somewhere from 1763 to 1817. During this time, the Eastern part of Circassia - Kabarda was mainly conquered. The question of how to call the war to Russian historians, and how to calculate its chronology is the sovereign business of Russian historical science. She can call the "Caucasian" war that Russia waged in the Caucasus and arbitrarily calculate its duration.
Many historians have correctly noted that in the name "Caucasian" war it is completely incomprehensible who fought with whom - either the peoples of the Caucasus among themselves, or something else. Then, instead of the vague term "Caucasian" war, some scientists suggested the term "Russian-Caucasian" war of 1763-1864. This is slightly better than the "Caucasian" war, but also incorrect.
First, of the peoples of the Caucasus, only Circassia, Chechnya and Gorny Dagestan fought against the Russian Empire. Secondly, “Russko-” reflects NATIONALITY. "Caucasian" - reflects GEOGRAPHY. If we use the term "Russian-Caucasian" war, it means that the Russians were at war with the Caucasian ridge. This is, of course, unacceptable.
Circassian (Adyghe) historians should write history from the point of view of the Circassian (Adyghe) people. In any other case, it will be anything but national history.
Russia began military operations against the Circassians (Adygs) in 1763, having built the Mozdok fortress in the center of Kabarda. The war ended on May 21, 1864. There are no ambiguities here. Therefore, the war between Russia and Circassia is correctly called Russian-Circassian, and its time interval is from 1763 to 1864.
Doesn't this name of the war ignore Chechnya and Dagestan?
First, Circassia and the Chechen-Dagestan imamate did not act as a united front against the expansion of the Russian Empire.
Secondly, if the Chechen-Dagestan imamate fought under religious slogans, then Circassia, which was never distinguished by religious fanaticism, fought for national independence - "the preaching of muridism ... did not have much influence on people who have remained Muslims only by name", - General R. Fadeev wrote about the Circassians (Adygs).
Thirdly, Circassia did not receive any specific support from the Chechen-Dagestani imamate.
Thus, in that war, the Circassians (Adygov) were united only by geographical proximity with the Chechen-Dagestan imamate. Shamil's attempt to come to Kabarda was made several years after the conquest of the latter. The reduction in the number of Kabarda from 500 thousand to 35 thousand people made further resistance virtually impossible.
You can often hear that Circassia and the Chechen-Dagestan imamate were united by the presence of a common enemy. But here is not complete list the sides with which the Russian Empire fought during the war with Circassia: France, Poland, the Crimean Khanate, four times with Turkey, Persia (Iran), the Chechen-Dagestan imamate. Then all of them will also have to be taken into account in the name of the war.
The name "Russian-Circassian War" does not pretend to include actions in the Chechen-Dagestan imamate or in other regions. The Russo-Circassian War is the war of the Russian Empire against Circassia.
The Circassians (Adygs) call this war "Urys-Adyghe zaue", literally: "Russian-Circassian war." This is what our people should call her. The Circassians waged war, REGARDLESS OF ANYONE. The country of Adygs fought a war NOT RECEIVING AID FROM ANY STATE IN THE WORLD. On the contrary, Russia and the Circassian "ally" Turkey have repeatedly entered into an agreement with each other, used the Muslim clergy of Circassia to implement the ONLY way to conquer our country - to expel its population. The conquest of the Country of Adygs lasted from 1763 to 1864 - the "Caucasian" war began in Circassia and ended in Circassia.
THE START OF THE WAR
What is the reason for the outbreak of war between old allies - Russia and Circassia? TO mid XVIII the territorial expansion of the Russian Empire reached the Caucasus. With the voluntary annexation of the weak Transcaucasian territories to Russia (the so-called "Georgia", that is, the "kingdoms" of Kartli-Kakheti, Imereti, etc.), the situation worsened - the Caucasus turned out to be a barrier between Russia and its Transcaucasian possessions.
In the second half of the 18th century, the Russian Empire began active military operations to conquer the Caucasus. This made a war with the dominant country of the Caucasus - Circassia inevitable. For many years she was a consistent and reliable ally of Russia, but she could not give up her independence to anyone. Thus, the Circassians, a people of warriors, faced a clash with the strongest empire in the world.
BRIEF SKETCH OF CONQUERING EASTERN CHERKESIA (KABARDS)
The conquest of the Caucasus The Russian autocracy decided to start from the Eastern region of Circassia - Kabarda, which at that time occupied vast territories. The most important roads in Transcaucasia passed through Kabarda. In addition, the influence of Kabarda on the other peoples of the Caucasus was enormous. Abaza, Karachais, Balkar societies, Ossetians, Ingush and Chechens were culturally and politically dependent on the Kabardian princes. Major General V.D. Popko wrote that "peasant Chechnya" followed the rules of etiquette of "knightly Kabarda" as best she could. According to the Russian historian VA Potto, author of the five-volume monograph “The Caucasian War”, “The influence of Kabarda was enormous and was expressed in the slavish imitation of the surrounding peoples in their clothing, weapons, customs and customs. The phrase "he is dressed ..." or "he drives like a Kabardian" sounded the greatest praise in the lips of neighboring peoples. " Having conquered Kabarda, the Russian command hoped to seize the strategic route to the Transcaucasus - the Daryal Gorge was also controlled by the Kabardian princes. The conquest of Kabarda, in addition to giving control over the Central Caucasus, was supposed to have an impact on all the peoples of the Caucasus, especially on the Western (Zakuban) Circassia. After the conquest of Kabarda, the Caucasus was divided into two isolated regions - Western Circassia and Dagestan. In 1763, on the Kabardian territory, in the tract Mozdok (Mesdegu - "Deaf forest"), without any agreement with Kabarda, a fortress of the same name was built. To the demand to tear down the fortress, Russia responded with a categorical refusal, deploying additional armed forces to the conflict area. An open demonstration of aggression by Russia quickly united the whole of Kabarda. The warks of Western Circassia also came to participate in the battles. Russian historian V.A. Potto wrote: “In the Kabardians, the Russians found very serious opponents who had to be reckoned with. Their influence on the Caucasus was enormous ... ”The long-standing alliance with Russia played against Kabarda. Russian generals reproached the Circassians for violating the long-standing allied relations that had developed between their ancestors by opposing Russia. To this the princes of Kabarda replied: "Get out of our lands, destroy the fortresses, return the fugitive slaves, and - you know that we know how to be worthy neighbors."
The generals used the scorched earth tactics, trampled crops, drove away livestock. Hundreds of villages were burned. Thus, the tsarist command fueled the class struggle in Kabarda, accepting fugitive peasants and inciting them to oppose the rulers, posing as the defender of the oppressed classes. (In the Russian Empire itself, called the "gendarme of Europe", headed by one of the most odious and ferocious emperors - Nicholas I, no one thought about Russian peasants). In addition, it was announced to the neighboring peoples that after the victory over Kabarda, they would be allocated flat lands at the expense of Kabarda, and they would get rid of dependence on the Kabardian princes. As a result, "the Caucasian peoples watched with joy the weakening of the Kabardians."
During the war, all Kabardian villages located in the region of the Caucasian Mineral Waters and Pyatigorye were destroyed, the remnants were resettled beyond the river. Malka, and on the “liberated” territory new fortresses were erected, including the fortification of Konstantinogorsk (Pyatigorsk). In 1801, the fortress Kislye Vody (Kislovodsk) was laid in the Nartsana tract ("drink of the narts", in Russian transcription - narzan), which cut the roads to Western Circassia. Kabarda was finally cut off from the rest of Circassia. A big blow to Kabarda was the plague epidemic (in Circassian "emyne uz") at the beginning of the 19th century. The long war contributed to the spread of the epidemic. As a result, the population of Kabarda decreased by 10 times - from 500 thousand people to 35 thousand.
On this occasion Russian generals noted with satisfaction that now the depopulated Kabarda cannot fully use its terrible weapon - the swift strikes of thousands of cavalry. However, the resistance continued. On the Kumbaley River (Kambileyevka, which is now located on the territory of modern North Ossetia and Ingushetia), a grandiose battle took place, in which Kabarda was defeated. It is to this period that the proverb “Emynem k'elar Kumbaleim ikha” refers (“Whoever escaped the plague took the Kumbaley away”). Mountain Kabardian villages were carried out on the plane, a line of fortresses cut them off from the mountains, which were always strongholds when repelling the enemy. One of these fortresses was the Nalchik fortress. In 1827, General Yermolov made a campaign in weakened Kabarda. Many princes and warks, retreating with battles along the Baksan gorge, went through the Elbrus region to Western Circassia to continue resistance, forming there auls of "fugitive Kabardians". Many left for Chechnya, where to this day there are many Circassian surnames and teips. Thus, Kabarda was finally conquered for 60 years. Its territory has decreased 5 times, and the population from 500 thousand to 35 thousand. The dreams of the generals came true - to bring Kabarda to the state of other mountain peoples.
Some Ossetian, Ingush societies and Tatar societies (modern Balkars), having freed themselves from Kabardian dependence, took the oath of office to Russia. Karachay was annexed during a one-day battle on October 30, 1828.
Chechens and Ingush were resettled from the mountains to the deserted land of Malaya Kabarda (the plane of modern Chechnya and Ingushetia). The flat Kabardian lands were transferred to the Ossetians, Karachais and mountain societies (Balkars) being evicted from the mountains.
The conquest of Eastern Circassia (Kabarda) almost did not provoke any protest from other states. They considered Kabarda a part of the Russian Empire. But the territory of Western Circassia was not considered part of the Empire.
THE BEGINNING OF THE WAR IN WESTERN CHERKESIA
In 1829, the Russian Empire, using diplomatic tricks, declared itself the "master" of Western Circassia in the eyes of the international community.
Long before these events, the Ottoman Empire made attempts to conquer Circassia, including it in its composition. This was done both through the Crimean Khanate and through attempts to spread the Muslim religion in Circassia. There was only one military clash between Turkish troops and the Circassians - when they tried to land troops on the Circassian coast of the Black Sea and found a fortress. The landing was destroyed by a swift blow from the Circassian cavalry. After that, the Ottoman authorities began to negotiate and, having agreed with the local princes of Natukhay (the historical region of Circassia - the modern Anapa, Novorossiysk, Crimean, Gelendzhik and Abinsky districts of Krasnodar Territory), erected the fortresses of Anapa and Sudzhuk-kale. The assurances of the Turks about bringing the Circassians into citizenship did not at all correspond to reality.
"The Circassians still tolerated the Ottomans on their territory for a fee, but did not allow, or rather, mercilessly beat them at any attempt to interfere in their affairs." On their maps, passing off wishful thinking, the Turks drew Circassia included in the Ottoman Empire. Russia was quite happy with this. Having won the next Russian-Turkish war, she concluded the Andrianople peace, under the terms of which Turkey "ceded" to Russia Circassia, recognizing it "in the eternal possession of the Russian Empire." Thus, "the entire diplomatic corps of Europe turned out to be outwitted by Moscow's cunning."
As the founder of communism Karl Marx rightly noted, "Turkey could not cede to Russia what it did not own." He also emphasized that Russia is well aware of this: "Circassia has always been so independent from Turkey that while the Turkish Pasha was in Anapa, Russia entered into an agreement on coastal trade with the Circassian leaders." A Circassian delegation was sent to Istanbul to clarify relations with Turkey. The Turkish government suggested that the Circassians recognize Turkish citizenship and accept Islam, which was categorically rejected.
Having untied its hands internationally, Russia understood perfectly well that the Andrianople peace was "only a letter that the Circassians did not want to know", and that "only weapons can be forced into submission."
In 1830, hostilities against Western (Zakuban) Circassia were sharply intensified. The Adygs sent a delegation to the military command for negotiations. They were told that Circassia and its inhabitants were transferred by their master - the Turkish Sultan, Russia. The Circassians answered: “Turkey has never conquered our lands by force of arms and has never bought them for gold. How can she give something that does not belong to her? " One of the Adyghe elders figuratively explained how Turkey "presented" Circassia to Russia. Pointing to the general at the bird sitting in the tree, he said: “General! You good man... I give you this bird - it is yours! "
The Memorandum of the Union of Western Cherkess Tribes, sent to the Russian emperor, said: “We are four million and we are one from Anapa to Karachay. These lands belong to us: we inherited them from our ancestors and the desire to keep them in our power and is the reason for a long enmity with you ... Be fair to us and do not ruin our property, do not shed our blood if you are not called upon to do so. .. You are misleading the whole world by spreading rumors that we are a wild people and under this pretext you are waging a war with us; meanwhile, we are the same human beings as you are ... Do not seek to shed our blood, as WE DECIDED TO PROTECT OUR COUNTRY TO THE LAST EXTREME ... "
In Western Circassia, Russian generals also used the scorched earth tactics, destroying crops, stealing livestock, dooming the population to starvation. Hundreds of villages were burned, destroying all residents who did not have time to hide. The infamous mound of General Zass became widely known with human heads, built to intimidate the surrounding Circassian villages. Such actions of the general even aroused the outrage of the emperor himself. Such methods of warfare led to casualties among the civilian population, but in military terms, the Russian command suffered crushing defeats.
Whole punitive armies of 40-50 thousand people literally disappeared in Circassia. As one of the Russian officers wrote: “To conquer Georgia, two battalions were enough for us. In Circassia, whole armies simply disappear ... ”The Russian tsars staged a real massacre in Circassia not only for the Circassians, but also for their army. "The losses of the Russian army in Circassia," wrote the British officer James Cameron, an eyewitness of those events in 1840, "present a horrifying picture of human sacrifice."
BLOCADA BLACK SEA COAST
For the blockade of the Black Sea coast of Circassia on the Circassian coast of the Black Sea from Anapa to Adler, the so-called Black Sea coastline was erected, which consisted of many fortresses. Painting by I.K. Aivazovsky's "Landing in Subashi" captured the shelling of the Black Sea Fleet ships on the coast and the landing at the mouth of the Shakhe River, in Shapsugia (the historical region of Circassia - modern Tuapse region and Lazarevsky district of Sochi. Fort Golovinsky was founded there (named after General Golovin). the fortification was part of the Black Sea coastline, founded in 1838 with the aim of blocking the Black Sea coast of Circassia.
Adygs repeatedly destroyed the fortresses of this line. So, on February 19, 1840, the Circassians captured and destroyed the Lazarevsk fortress; March 12 - Velyaminovsk (Circassian name - Tuapse); April 2 - Mikhailovsk; April 17 - Nikolaevsk; May 6 - Navaginsk (Circassian name - Sochi). When the Circassians took the Mikhailovskaya fortress, the soldier Arkhip Osipov blew up a powder magazine. In honor of this event, the Mikhailovskaya fortress was renamed Arkhipo-Osipovka.
The head of the Black Sea coastline, General N.N. Raevsky, a friend of A.S. Pushkin, in protest against the policy of autocracy in Circassia, submitted a resignation letter to the Minister of War Count Chernyshev: actions in the Caucasus, and from this he was forced to leave the region. Our actions in the Caucasus are reminiscent of all the disasters of the Spanish conquest of America, but I see neither heroic deeds, nor conquest successes here ... ".
FIGHT AT THE SEA
A stubborn struggle was fought not only on land but also at sea. Since ancient times, the coastal Circassians (Natukhais, Shapsugs, Ubykhs) and Abkhazians were excellent sailors. Strabo also mentioned the Adyghe-Abkhazian piracy; in the Middle Ages it reached enormous proportions.
Circassian galleys were small and maneuverable; they could be easily hidden. “These vessels are flat-bottomed and are operated by 18 to 24 rowers. Sometimes ships are built that can accommodate 40 to 80 people, which, in addition to rowers, are driven by a corner sail. "
Eyewitnesses noted the high mobility, high speed and inconspicuousness of the Circassian ships, which made them extremely convenient for piracy. Sometimes ships were armed with cannons. The possessing princes of Abkhazia already in the 17th century produced huge galleys with a capacity of 300 people.
With the outbreak of the war with Russia, the Circassians used their fleet very effectively. The bulky Russian ships were completely dependent on the wind and did not have high maneuverability, which made them vulnerable to the Circassian galleys. Circassian sailors on large galleys with crews of 100 or more people entered battles with enemy ships. Small but numerous Circassian galleys also successfully attacked Russian ships. On their ships, they went out on moonless nights and sailed silently to the ship. “First, they shot down the people on the deck with rifles, and then they rushed to board with swords and daggers, and in a short time they decided the case ...”.
During the war and the blockade of the Circassian coast, the Circassian (Adyghe) delegations and embassies freely traveled by sea to Istanbul. Between Circassia and Turkey, despite all the efforts of the Black Sea fleet, up to the very last days of the war, about 800 ships were constantly cruising.
CHANGES IN THE TACTICS OF THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE IN THE WAR WITH CHERKESIA
How well the military organization of Circassia was adapted to the conduct of war is evidenced by a phrase from the letter of the Circassians to the Ottoman Sultan: “For many years we have been waging a war with Russia, but there is no big trouble in that. On the contrary, it allows us to have good production. " This letter was written in the 90th year of the war! At the same time, it should be noted that the size of the army that fought against Circassia was several times larger than the army put forward by Russia against Napoleon. In contrast to the Eastern Caucasus (Chechnya and Dagestan), where the war ended with the capture of Shamil, the war in Circassia was nationwide, total and uncompromising in nature and took place under the slogan of national independence. Because of this, the "hunt for the leaders" could not bring any success. “In this respect, as in everything else, the state of affairs was completely different in the western Caucasus (ie in Circassia) than in the eastern (Chechnya-Dagestan). Beginning with the fact that the Lezgins and Chechens were already accustomed to obeying ... by the power of Shamil: the Russian state had to overcome the imam, to take his place in order to command these peoples. In the Western Caucasus (Circassia), we had to deal with each person separately, ”wrote General R. Fadeev.
The classical ideas of defeating the enemy by capturing his capital, winning several general battles, also could not be realized in the war with Circassia.
The Russian military command began to realize that it was impossible to defeat Circassia without a change in war tactics. It was decided to completely evict the Circassians from the Caucasus and settle the country with Cossack villages. For this, the systematic seizure of individual parts of the country, the destruction of villages and the construction of fortresses and villages were assumed. ("Their land is needed, but there is no need for them themselves"). “The exceptional geographical position of the Circassian country on the shores of the European sea, which brought it into contact with the whole world, did not allow us to limit ourselves to the conquest of the peoples inhabiting it in the ordinary sense of the word. There was no other way to strengthen this land (Circassia) behind Russia, no doubt, how to make it truly Russian land ... ... the extermination of the mountaineers, their universal exile instead of subjugation. " the mountaineers all the coast ... Expulsion of the highlanders from the slums and the settlement of the western Caucasus (Circassia) with Russians - that was the plan for the war in the last four years ", - this is how General R. Fadeev talks about the plans of the genocide of the Circassians.
According to various plans, it was supposed to either resettle the Circassians to scattered villages inland, or squeeze them out to Turkey. Formally, they were also assigned swampy places in the Kuban, but in fact there was no choice. “We knew that the eagles would not go to the chicken coop,” wrote General R. Fadeev. In order for ALL the Adyghe population to go to Turkey, Russia entered into an agreement with it. Turkey sent emissaries to Circassia, bribed Muslim clergy to campaign for the move. The clergy painted the "beauty" of life in Muslim country, the emissaries promised that Turkey would provide them with the best lands, and subsequently help them return to the Caucasus. At the same time, Turkey sought to use the warlike people to keep the Yugoslav Slavs and Arabs in subjection, who sought to secede from the Ottoman Empire.
Circassians have always occupied strong positions in the highest echelons of power in Turkey. The mother of the Turkish Sultan was a Circassian. This was also used in campaigning.
It should be noted that high-ranking Circassians in Turkey, who strongly opposed this project and persuaded their compatriots not to succumb to agitation, were arrested by the Turkish government, many were executed.
However, the plans of the Russian Empire were postponed due to the Crimean War. The international position of Russia was aggravated. England and France did not recognize Russia's rights to Circassia. In many capitals of Europe, "Circassian committees" were created, which put pressure on their governments in order to provide assistance to Circassia. Admiration for the struggle of Circassia was expressed by the founder of communism Karl Marx. He wrote: “The formidable Circassians again won a series of brilliant victories over the Russians. Peoples of the world! Learn from them what the people who want to remain free are capable of! " Relations with Europe were aggravated not only because of the “Circassian issue”. In 1853 began " Crimean War»Russia with the Anglo-French coalition.
To everyone's surprise, the coalition, instead of landing troops on the Circassian coast of the Black Sea, landed in the Crimea. As Russian generals later admitted, the landing of the allies in Circassia, or at least the transfer of guns to Circassia, would have led to disastrous results for the Empire, and the loss of Transcaucasia. But the allied command landed in the Crimea, and even demanded from Circassia 20,000 cavalry for the siege of Sevastopol, without any promises of support for the war of independence. The assault on Sevastopol, the base of the fleet, after the Russian Black Sea fleet itself was flooded, had no military significance. The refusal of the allied command to land its troops on the coast of Circassia made it clear that no military assistance from the allies would have to be expected.
The war ended with the defeat of Russia - it was forbidden to have its own fleet in the Black Sea and it was ordered to withdraw its troops from Circassia. England insisted on the immediate recognition of the independence of Circassia, but she was not supported by France, which was waging a war in Algeria. Thus, the victory of England and France over Russia did not bring tangible changes. Sensing the political weakness of its rivals, the Russian Empire decided to quickly implement its plan to expel the population of Circassia, regardless of any human and material means. It is interesting that the British Empire, having forbidden Russia to have a fleet on the Black Sea, suddenly began to allow Russia to use ships if they were intended to export the Circassians to Turkey. The change in British policy is clear from its newspapers of the time. Russian emperors they did not hide that after the conquest of the Caucasus, "weak and defenseless Asia" opens up in front of them. The British Empire feared that after the conquest of the country, the Circassians would be used by Russia to seize Persia and India. "At the disposal of Russia for the capture of Bombay and Calcutta will be the most militant people in the world" - the main idea of the English newspapers of that time. The British government also decided to facilitate the resettlement of the Circassians to Turkey in every possible way, allowing Russia, even in violation of the peace treaty, to use the fleet in the Black Sea.
Thus, the eviction was carried out with the full consent of the Russian, Ottoman and British empires, and was supported from within by the Muslim clergy against the background of an unprecedented scale of military action against Circassia.
EXPULSION OF CHERKES
Huge military forces were concentrated against Circassia. In 1861, the devil people were deported to Turkey. They were followed by the Kuban Kabardians, Kemirgoevites, and Abazins. In 1862, it was the turn of the Natukhais who lived in the Anapa and Tsemez (Novorossiysk) regions.
In the winter of 1863-1864. the troops were thrown against the Abadzekhs. Abadzekhia, filled with tens of thousands of refugees from the "conquered" regions of Circassia, resisted courageously and stubbornly, but the forces were unequal. The offensive in the winter resulted in large casualties among the population. "The destruction of stocks and pickles is destructive, the mountaineers are left completely homeless and extremely constrained in food", "no more than a tenth of the dead population fell from weapons, the rest fell from hardships and harsh winters spent under snowstorms in the forest and on bare rocks."
“A striking sight presented itself to our eyes on the way: the scattered corpses of children, women, old people, torn apart, half-eaten by dogs; immigrants exhausted by hunger and disease, barely raising their legs from weakness ... ”(officer I. Drozdov, Pshekh detachment).
All the surviving Abadzekhs moved to Turkey. “Out of greed, Turkish skippers piled the Circassians like a load, who hired their pots to the shores of Asia Minor, and, like a load, threw them overboard at the slightest sign illness. The waves threw the corpses of these unfortunates on the shores of Anatolia ... Hardly half of those who went to Turkey arrived at the place. Such a disaster and on such a scale has rarely befallen humanity. But it was only by horror that it was possible to act on these warlike savages ... ".
On February 28, 1864, the Dakhovsky detachment of General von Heyman, having crossed the Caucasian ridge along the Goytkh pass, entered the Black Sea Shapsugia and occupied Tuapse. Punitive operations began against the Shapsugs and Ubykhs. From 7 to 10 March, all the Circassian villages of the densely populated Black Sea valleys of Dederkoy, Shapsi and Makopse were exterminated. On March 11 and 12, all villages in the Tuapse and Ashe valleys were destroyed. On March 13-15, along the Psezuapse valley, "all the auls encountered were destroyed." March 23, 24 "on the river Loo, in the community of Vardane, all the villages were burned." From March 24 to May 15, 1864, all Circassian villages along the valleys of the Dagomys, Shakhe, Sochi, Mzymta and Bzyb rivers were destroyed.
“The war was fought by both sides with merciless cruelty. Neither the harsh winter nor the storms on the Circassian coast were able to stop the bloody struggle. Not a single day passed without a battle. The suffering of the Adyghe tribes surrounded on all sides by the enemy, which occurred due to a lack of funds, food and ammunition, surpassed everything that can be imagined ... ... on the shores of the Black Sea, under the sword of the winner, one of the bravest in everything was bleeding the globe peoples ... "
It was becoming impossible to defend the country. Emigration took on a monstrous scale. Circassians identified as soon as possible, for which they had to move to Turkey. Property and livestock were abandoned or sold for a pittance to the military and Cossacks. Huge masses of the population crowded along the entire Circassian coast of the Black Sea. The entire coast was littered with the bodies of the dead, interspersed with the living. People, having a meager food supply, sat on the shore, "experiencing all the blows of the elements" and waited for the opportunity to leave. The Turkish ships arriving every day were loaded with immigrants. But there was no way to transfer everyone at once. The ships were also hired by the Russian Empire. “The Circassians fired into the air with rifles, bidding farewell to their homeland, where the graves of their fathers and grandfathers were. Some by shooting in last time, threw expensive weapons into the depths of the sea. "
Specially dispatched detachments combed the gorges, looking for people who were trying to hide in hard-to-reach places. Of the 300 thousand Shapsugs, about 1 thousand people remained, scattered over the most inaccessible areas; 100 thousand Ubykhs moved out completely. Only one aul remained from Natukhay, named Suvorov-Cherkessky, but its population in 1924 was also resettled to the Adyghe Autonomous Region. Only one village remained of the large population of Abadzekhia in the Caucasus - the aul Hakurinohabl.
According to official figures from the Russian authorities, 418,000 Circassians were evicted. Of course, this number is underestimated. The desire of the official authorities to hide the scale of the genocide is evident. In addition, even these 418 thousand people are only displaced persons officially registered by the Russian authorities. Naturally, these figures are not able to take into account all the Circassians, "who absolutely had no interest in reporting who and where goes to Turkey." According to the Turkish "Mukhazhir Commission" (commission on migrants), 2.8 million people survived and were accommodated in the vilayets (regions) of the Ottoman Empire, of which 2.6 million are Circassians. And this despite the fact that a huge number of people died on the Black Sea coast and when moving. An Adyg proverb of that time says: "The road across the sea to Istanbul (Istanbul) is visible from the Circassian corpses." And 140 years after these events, the Primorye Circassians, who miraculously survived the Shapsugs, do not eat fish from the Black Sea.
There were also huge losses in the quarantine camps of settlers on the Turkish coast. It was an unprecedented humanitarian disaster. For example, the death rate from hunger and disease in the Achi-kale camp alone reached about 250 people a day, and these camps were located along the entire Turkish coast. The Turkish government, which did not expect such a large scale of resettlement, could not provide all the camps with food. Fearing epidemics, army units surrounded the camps. Turkey asked Russia to suspend the flow of refugees, but it only increased. The sultan's mother, a Circassian by birth, donated all her personal savings and organized a fundraiser to buy food for the Circassians. But it was not possible to save many, many thousands from starvation. "Parents sold their children to the Turks in the hope that at least they would eat a satisfying meal."
“My heart was overflowing with bitterness when I recalled the striking poverty of these unfortunates, whose hospitality I had enjoyed for so long,” “Poor, these Circassians, how unhappy they are,” I told him (the Turk) ...
Circassian women will be cheap this year at the bazaar, he answered me ... quite calmly, old pirate "
(French volunteer A. Fonville, based on the book "The Last Year of the War of Circassia for Independence, 1863-1864") By May 21, 1864, the last bastion of the Circassian resistance fell - the Kbaada tract (Kuebyde, now the Krasnaya Polyana ski resort, near Sochi).
There, in the presence of the brother of Emperor Alexander II - Grand Duke Mikhail, a victory parade took place on the occasion of the end of the Caucasian War and the eviction of the Circassians (Adygs) to Turkey.
The huge edge is empty. Of the four million population by 1865 in the Western Caucasus, only about 60 thousand people remained, settled in scattered villages, surrounded by Cossack villages. The eviction continued almost until the end of 1864, and by 1865, instead of the numerous and integral Circassian people - the dominant people of the Caucasus, there were only small, territorially divided ethnic "islets" of the Circassians.
The same fate befell Abkhazia, akin to the Circassians, in 1877. The total number of Circassians in the Caucasus after the war (excluding Kabardins) did not exceed 60 thousand people. Yes, the Circassians lost this war. In its consequences, it was a real national catastrophe for them. Over 90% of the population and about 9/10 of all lands were lost. But who can reproach the Circassian people for not defending their homeland, feeling sorry for themselves? That he did not fight for every inch of this land to the last warrior? In the entire history of Circassia, the ONLY army that managed to occupy this territory, at the cost of colossal sacrifices and incredible exertion of forces, was the Russian army, and even then, it was possible to do this only by expelling virtually the entire Circassian population.
Both during and after the end of the war, many participants in these events paid tribute to the courage with which the Circassians defended their homeland.
We could not retreat from the business we had begun and abandon the conquest of the Caucasus just because the Circassians did not want to submit ... Now that our power in the Caucasus is completely consolidated, we can calmly pay tribute to the heroism and selfless courage of the defeated enemy who honestly defended their homeland and your freedom to the point of complete exhaustion. "
In the book "The Last Year of the War of Circassia for Independence (1863-1864)" the Frenchman Fonville, an eyewitness to those events, described the Circassians who had moved to Turkey in the following way:
“Their sabers, daggers, carbines made some kind of special, impressive, warlike noise ... It was felt that this mighty people, even if they were defeated by the Russians, defended their country as much as they could, and ... there was no lack of courage in them nor in energy ". THE CHERKASSK PEOPLE LIKE LEFT INSIDE ... !!!
Here is how General R. Fadeev described the expulsion of the Circassian people: “The entire coast was humiliated by ships and covered with steamers. At each verst of 400 versts of its length, large and small sails gleamed, the masts rose, the pipes of the steamers smoked; the flags of our pickets were fluttering on each promontory; in each gully people crowded and there was a bazaar ... .. True, that was the funeral of the disappearing people: the movement thinned out as the coast became empty. But it was empty for a short time. On the abandoned ashes of the convicted Circassian tribe, a great Russian tribe has become ... the eastern coast with its magnificent beauty is now part of Russia .... The chaff is torn out, the wheat will sprout. "
And this is the general's forecast for the future of the Circassians: “... it's enough to look at the reports of the consuls to know how the Circassians are melting in Turkey; half of them have already been eliminated, there are no more women…. Turkish Circassians will last only one generation ... "
BUT THE CHERKESS (ADYG) PEOPLE HAS NOT DISAPPEARED! He survived, in spite of nothing, and confidently gets up on the path of renaissance!
According to the 2002 census, the Circassians (Adygs), for the first time after the Russian-Circassian war, again became the largest people of the Caucasus. The Circassian diaspora numbers, according to various estimates, from 5 to 7 million people who retain their national identity.
Adygs! Don't forget your great past, study your history! Take care of your language, your culture, your traditions and customs! Be proud of your ancestors, be proud that you belong to the Great Circassian People!
Do your best to revive it!
www.newcircassia.com, aheku.net May 23, 2007
LITERATURE
1.S. Hotko. History of Circassia. - S.-Pb, ed. St. Petersburg University, 2002.
2. A.S. Marzey. Circassian equestrianism - "Zek1ue". - Nalchik, El-Fa, 2004.
3. The North Caucasus in European literature of the XIII - XVIII centuries. Collection of materials. - Nalchik, El-Fa, 2006.
4. T.V. Polovinkin. Circassia is my pain. Historical sketch (the most ancient time - the beginning of the 20th century). - Maykop, Adygea, 2001.
5. N.F. Dubrovin. On the peoples of the Central and Northwestern Caucasus. - Nalchik, El-Fa, 2002.
6.T. Lapinsky. Highlanders of the Caucasus and their war of liberation against the Russians. - Nalchik, El-Fa, 1995.
7. E. Spencer. Travel to Circassia. - Maykop, Adygea, 1995
8. A. Fonville. The last year of the Circassian War of Independence 1863-1864. - Nalchik, 1991.
9.I. Blaramberg. Caucasian manuscript. - Stavropol Book Publishing House, 1992.
10.R. Fadeev. Caucasian War. - M., Algorithm, 2005.
11.V. A. Potto. Caucasian War, in 5 volumes - M., Tsentrpoligraf, 2006.
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