Mountainous Republic of the Northern Caucasus | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1918 [1] –1919 [2] | |||||||||
Capital | Temir-Khan-Shura | ||||||||
Religion | Sunni Islam (majority and state-backed faith) Russian Orthodox Church (minority) | ||||||||
Demonym(s) | North Caucasian | ||||||||
Government | Confederated parliamentary republic under a provisional government | ||||||||
Prime Minister | |||||||||
• 11 May 1918 – December 1918 | Tapa Tchermoeff | ||||||||
• December 1918 – 12 May 1919 | Pshemakho Kotsev | ||||||||
Establishment | |||||||||
History | |||||||||
6 March 1917 | |||||||||
• Independence declared | 11 May 1918 | ||||||||
September 1919 | |||||||||
• Established | 1918 [9] | ||||||||
• Disestablished | 1919 [2] | ||||||||
Area | |||||||||
• Total | 430,874 km2 (166,361 sq mi) | ||||||||
Population | |||||||||
• 1919 census | 11,221,860 [10] | ||||||||
Currency | Tumen | ||||||||
| |||||||||
Today part of | Russia |
The Mountainous Republic of the Northern Caucasus (MRNC), also referred to as the United Republics of the North Caucasus, Mountain Republic, or the Republic of the Mountaineers, was a short-lived state in Eastern Europe. It encompassed the easternmost portions of the North Caucasus and emerged during the Russian Civil War and existed from 1918 to 1919. It formed as a consolidation of various Caucasian ethnic groups, including the Abazins, Circassians, Chechens, Karachays, Ossetians, Balkars, Ingush, and Dagestanis.
The MRNC encompassed the former territories of Terek Oblast and Dagestan Oblast within the Russian Empire. These territories now constitute the present-day republics of Chechnya, Ingushetia, North Ossetia–Alania, Kabardino-Balkaria, Dagestan, and a portion of Stavropol Krai in the Russian Federation. Spanning approximately 430,874 square kilometers (166,361 sq mi), the MRNC had a population of approximately 11.2 million. Throughout its existence, the capital of the MRNC relocated from Vladikavkaz to Nazran and ultimately settled in Temir-Khan-Shura.
The MRNC broke away from the Russian Empire after the February Revolution, just before the outbreak of the Russian Civil War. The Russian Volunteer Army captured the state in 1919, and it ceased to exist. [2] However, in September 1919, the North Caucasian Emirate was proclaimed as the successor of the Mountain Republic. [8] However, in August 1920, it was captured by the Soviet Russia, which led to an uprising. [11] In April 1921, the Mountain Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was established by the Bolsheviks within the RSFSR, but the uprising lasted until 1925. [12]
The Union consisted seven "states" distributed on a national basis and united under a confederative principle within the territories: Dagestan, Ingushetia, Chechnya, North Ossetia–Alania, Circassia (including West Circassia, although the union had control only over East Circassia), Karachay-Balkaria, the Nogai steppes, and also asserted claims in Abkhazia. [6] [13] [14]
The Cabinet of Ministers of the Mountain Republic comprised representatives from nearly all regions of the North Caucasus.[ citation needed ]
The Union of the Peoples of the Northern Caucasus was established in March 1917 and an Executive Committee was elected to oversee its operations. Abdulmajid Tapa Tchermoev was appointed as Chairman of the Executive Committee. In August 1917, the Executive Committee decided to readopt the 1847 constitution of Imam Shamil.[ citation needed ]
The independent republic was declared on 11 May 1918 at the time of the collapse of the Russian Tsarist empire during the Russian Revolution of 1917. The new republic established a government led by Prime Minister Tchermoev, Rashid Khan Kaplanov, and Haidar Bammate. [15] The capital was initially Vladikavkaz but was later relocated to Temir-Khan-Shura after being occupied by the Red Army. [15] [16] The Republic received support from Said Shamil, the grandson of Imam Shamil, and gained international recognition from various countries. The United Kingdom formed an alliance with Russian general Anton Denikin and made efforts to reinstate Tsarist rule in the region. [16]
During the Brest-Litovsk negotiations, an effort was made to dispatch delegates to represent the Republic under Ottoman supervision. However, the Ottomans later declined this association due to an unfavorable response from the Bolsheviks. On 30 May 1918, the Bolshevik government issued a diplomatic note declaring their non-recognition of the MRNC. [16] In March 1919, a delegation led by Tapa Tchermoeff and Ibrahim Bey Gaydarov went to Paris to participate in the Treaty of Versailles and sought international recognition of the Republic's independence. [17]
The Dagestan cavalry regiments, units within the Caucasian Native Cavalry Division, pledged their allegiance to the Mountainous Republic and Ottoman pashas of Circassian descent arrived with their forces to provide assistance. An army was formed and participated in confrontations against General Anton Denikin's Volunteer Army. With backing from the North Caucasus Army, led by Yusuf Izzet Pasha, the Caucasus region was liberated from Soviet Russia. [17]
Following the conclusion of World War I and the withdrawal of Turkish troops, the Mountain government underwent reorganization. In late 1918, Pshemaho Kotsev was confirmed as leader of the coalition cabinet in the Mountain Congress held in Temir-Khan-Shura. Hostilities ended in January 1920 with Denikin's army defeat by the 11th Red Army. In January 1921, the Red Army occupied the Mountain Republic and established the Soviet Mountain Republic within the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic.
The "Congress of the Peoples of the North Caucasus", a political organization operating in the 21st century, has invoked the Mountainous Republic to advocate for the cooperation of different Northern Caucasus separatist groups in their struggle against Russia. [18]
Chechnya, officially the Chechen Republic, is a republic of Russia. It is situated in the North Caucasus of Eastern Europe, between the Caspian Sea and Black Sea. The republic forms a part of the North Caucasian Federal District, and shares land borders with Georgia to its south; with the Russian republics of Dagestan, Ingushetia, and North Ossetia–Alania to its east, north, and west; and with Stavropol Krai to its northwest.
The history of Chechnya may refer to the history of the Chechens, of their land Chechnya, or of the land of Ichkeria.
The North Caucasus, or Ciscaucasia, is a region in Europe governed by Russia. It constitutes the northern part of the wider Caucasus region, which forms the natural border between Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is bordered by the Sea of Azov and Black Sea to the west, the Caspian Sea to the east, and the Caucasus Mountains to the south. The region shares land borders with the South Caucasus countries of Georgia and Azerbaijan. Located in the south of the region, Mount Elbrus is the tallest peak in Europe. Among its urban centres, Krasnodar is the most populous.
Kumyks are a Turkic ethnic group living in Dagestan, Chechnya and North Ossetia. They are the largest Turkic people in the North Caucasus.
Dagestan, officially the Republic of Dagestan, is a republic of Russia situated in the North Caucasus of Eastern Europe, along the Caspian Sea. It is located north of the Greater Caucasus, and is a part of the North Caucasian Federal District. The republic is the southernmost tip of Russia, sharing land borders with the countries of Azerbaijan and Georgia to the south and southwest, the Russian republics of Chechnya and Kalmykia to the west and north, and with Stavropol Krai to the northwest. Makhachkala is the republic's capital and largest city; other major cities are Derbent, Kizlyar, Izberbash, Kaspiysk, and Buynaksk.
Ingushetia or Ingushetiya, officially the Republic of Ingushetia, is a republic of Russia located in the North Caucasus of Eastern Europe. The republic is part of the North Caucasian Federal District, and shares land borders with the country of Georgia to its south; and borders the Russian republics of North Ossetia–Alania to its west and north and Chechnya to its east and northeast.
The Caucasian Imamate, also known as the NorthCaucasus Imamate, was a state established by the imams in Dagestan and Chechnya during the early-to-mid 19th century in the North Caucasus, to fight against the Russian Empire during the Caucasian War, where Russia sought to conquer the Caucasus in order to secure communications with its new territories south of the mountains.
Sheikh Mansur was a Chechen military commander and Islamic leader who led an anti-Russian North Caucasian resistance, known as the Sheikh Mansur Movement. He was influential in the resistance against Catherine the Great's imperialist expansion into the Caucasus during the late 18th century. Sheikh Mansur is considered the first leader of the resistance in the North Caucasus against Russian imperialism. He remains a hero of the Chechen and North Caucasian peoples in general, and their struggle for independence.
The Dagestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (1921–1991), abbreviated as Dagestan ASSR or DASSR and also unofficially known as Soviet Dagestan or just simply Dagestan, was an autonomous republic of the Russian SFSR within the Soviet Union. This "Land of Mountains" was known also for having a "mountain of peoples," with more than thirty ethnic groups indigenous to the territory. This region was absorbed in to the Russian Empire in 1813 after the signing of the Treaty of Gulistan, and subsequently became a breeding ground for early revolutionary fervor in the Russian Revolution due its people's discontent with being part of the empire.
Tapa Bey Ortsu Tchermoev was a North Caucasian statesman of Chechen origin, general, oil magnate and the first prime minister of the Mountainous Republic of the Northern Caucasus. He was in office from 11 May 1918 until December 1918. His official title was General Tchermoeff, Prime Minister of the Mountainous Republic of the Northern Caucasus.
The North Caucasian Emirate was a mainly Avar and Chechen Islamic state that existed in the territory of Chechnya and western Dagestan during the Russian Civil War from September 1919 to March 1920. The emirate's temporary capital was established in the village of Vedeno and its leader, Uzun-Hajji (Узун-Хаджи), was given the title "His Majesty the Imam and the Emir of the North Caucasus Emirate, Sheikh Uzun Khair Haji Khan ".
Historically, Dagestan consisted of a federation of mountainous principalities in the eastern part of the North Caucasus. Located at the crossroads of world civilizations of north and south, Dagestan was the scene of clashes of interests of many states and until the early 19th century, most notably between Iran and the Russian Empire.
The Chechen–Russian conflict was the centuries-long ethnic and political conflict, often armed, between the Russian, Soviet and Imperial Russian governments and various Chechen forces. The recent phase of the conflict started after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 and ended with the oppression of Chechen separatist leaders and crushing of the separatist movement in the republic proper in 2017.
Ibrahim Bey Gaydarov or İbrahim Gaydar Bey was a travel engineer, noble, nationalist activist and one of the Northern Caucasian intellectuals. In 1918–1919 he served as Minister of Transport, Post and Telegraph in the Mountainous Republic. In 1919 he participated in the Versailles Peace Conference in France.
Pshemakho Tamashevich Kotsev, was a North Caucasian writer, activist and second leader of the government of the Mountainous Republic of the Northern Caucasus of Circassian descent, being one of the most prominent political figures in the North Caucasus in 1917–1920.
The Khasavyurtovsky okrug was a district (okrug) of the Terek Oblast of the Caucasus Viceroyalty of the Russian Empire. The area of the Khasavyurtovsky okrug made up part of the North Caucasian Federal District of Russia. The district was eponymously named for its administrative centre, Khasavyurt.
Pan-Caucasianism is a political current supporting the cooperation and integration of some or all peoples of the Caucasus. Pan-Caucasianism has been hindered by the ethnic, religious and cultural diversity of the Caucasus, and frequent regional conflicts. Historically popular during the Russian Civil War, pan-Caucasianism has formed a part of the foreign policy of Georgia and Chechen militants since the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
Muhammad Said Shamil, also referred to in the North Caucasus as Muhammad Said Bey, or Said-Bek Shamil was a North Caucasian politician and émigré leader. The grandson of rebel leader Imam Shamil, Shamil was the monarch of the North Caucasian Emirate during the 1920–1921 Dagestan uprising before later going into exile. He was one of the leading figures of Prometheism, a Polish-led political project seeking to bring about the disintegration of the Soviet Union, and participated in several political projects by North Caucasian émigrés such as the Committee for the Independence of the Caucasus and the People's Party of Caucasian Highlanders. Shamil played a significant role in encouraging anti-communism in the Arab and Islamic world during the interwar period.
Najmuddin of Gotzo was a North Caucasian religious, military, and political leader who led multiple uprisings against the Bolsheviks during and after the Russian Civil War. A poet, alim, and teacher of Arabic prior to the Russian Revolution, Najmuddin first served as Mufti of the Mountainous Republic of the Northern Caucasus.
Uzun-Hajji of Salta was a North Caucasian religious, military, and political leader who was Emir of the North Caucasian Emirate during the Russian Civil War. The sheikh of a Naqshbandi Sufi tariqa and a political exile prior to the Russian Revolution, he was one of the leaders of the Dagestan-based Sharia Bloc in the Mountainous Republic of the Northern Caucasus, and he served as a member of parliament for the country.
On 11 May 1918 the independence of the Republic of the North Caucasus was declared. The government sought international recognition and when on 8 June 1918 a Treaty of Friendship was signed with Turkey this implied recognition of the new Republic.
The government of Kotsev was not able to defend its territory, and in May 1919 the White Army of Denikin conquered the territory of the Mountain Republic in Chechnya and Daghestan, and the Mountain Republic ceased to exist.
In 1919 Sheikh Uzun Haji, Pshemakho Kotsev and Sheikh Akushinskii called for a fight against the White or Volunteer Army of Denikin and in September 1919 the Emirate of the North Caucasus was proclaimed, comprising the North of Daghestan, Chechnya and part of Ingushetia. To secularist nationalists the Emirate was seen as the successor of the Mountain Republic.
On 11 May 1918 the independence of the Republic of the North Caucasus was declared. The government sought international recognition and when on 8 June 1918 a Treaty of Friendship was signed with Turkey this implied recognition of the new Republic.
In August 1920 however, the Bolshevik army attacked Chechnya from the north, and the leaders of the emirate called for a jihad, asking the grandson of Imam Shamil, Sait Shamil, to lead the fight. He was one of the two survivors of this fight and later fled to Turkey.
It took the Russians until 1925 to arrest and kill Gotsinskii. The uprising was inter alia successful because the Caucasians obeyed the requests of the Sufi clerics who organized the revolt. In April 1921 a Mountain ASSR, of which Chechen territory was part, was established within the RSFSR. On 20 January 1921 the Daghestan ASSR was declared. On 30 November 1922 a Chechen Autonomous Oblast was created.