Caucasian War

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Construction of the Georgian Military Road through disputed territories was a key factor in the eventual Russian success

A Scene from the Caucasian War, by Franz Roubaud

Russian Invasion of the Caucasus, better known in Russia as the Caucasian War of 1817-1864, was a series of military actions of Imperial Russia against Chechnya, Dagestan and Northwestern Caucasus aimed at conquering these territories. Modern conflicts in this area of the Caucasus are rooted in this 19th-century war.

Three Russian Tsars waged this war: Alexander I, Nicholas I, and Alexander II. The leading Russian commanders were Aleksey Petrovich Yermolov in 1816-1827, Mikhail Semyonovich Vorontsov in 1844-1853, and Aleksandr Baryatinskiy in 1853-1856. The writers Mikhail Lermontov and Leo Tolstoy took part in the hostilities, and the Russian poet Alexander Pushkin referred to it in his Byronic poem The Prisoner of Caucasus (1821).

The Russian invasion was met with fierce resistance. The first period, coincidentally ended with the death of Alexander I and Decembrist Revolt in 1825, achieved surprisingly little success against "a handful of savages", as compared with the then recent defeat of Napoleon.

During 1825-1830 there was little activity, since Russia was engaged in wars with Turkey and Persia. After considerable successes in both wars, Russia resumed the activity in the Caucasus, again met with resistance, notably led by Ghazi Mollah, Gamzat-bek and Hadji Murad. They were followed by Imam Shamil, who led the montaigneers from 1834 until his capture by Dmitry Milyutin in 1859.

The second break was truce with Shamil in March 1855 while Russia was engaged in the Crimean War. However the truce was short and the war resumed that same year.

The Caucasian War ended with Russia conquering the North Caucasus, Shamil swearing allegiance to the Tsar and moving to live in Central Russia. The end was declared on June 2 (May 21 (O.S.)), 1864, by Tsar's manifesto.

Among the events after the end of the war, a tragic page in the history of indigenous peoples of Caucasus was Muhajirism, or population transfer of Muslim population into the Ottoman Empire.