The Chechen conflict is a situation that arose in Russia in the first half of the 90s, shortly after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Separatist movement intensified on the territory of the former Chechen-Ingush Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. This led to the early proclamation of independence, as well as the formation of the unrecognized republic of Ichkeria and the two Chechen wars.
Background
The background to the Chechen conflict dates back to the pre-revolutionary period. Russian immigrants in the North Caucasus appeared in the XVI century. During the time of Peter I, Russian troops began to carry out regular campaigns that fit into the general strategy of the state’s development in the Caucasus. True, at that time there was no purpose to annex Chechnya to Russia, but only to maintain calm on the southern borders.
From the beginning of the 18th century, operations were regularly conducted to pacify uncontrollable tribes. By the end of the century, the authorities began to take steps to strengthen their positions in the Caucasus, a real military colonization began.
After Georgia’s voluntary accession to Russia, the goal appears to take possession of all the North Caucasian peoples. The Caucasian war begins, the most fierce periods of which fall on 1786-1791 and 1817-1864.
Russia suppresses the resistance of the highlanders, some of them are moving to Turkey.
The period of Soviet power
During the years of Soviet rule, the Gorskaya SSR was formed, which includes modern Chechnya and Ingushetia. By 1922, the Chechen Autonomous Region stood out from it.
During World War II, a decision was made to forcibly evict Chechens due to the destabilization of the situation in the republic. The Ingush also went after them. They were relocated to Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. The resettlement took place under the control of the NKVD, personally led by Lavrenty Beria.
In 1944, in just a few weeks, about 650 thousand people were resettled. According to modern historians, more than 140 thousand of them died in the first few years of exile.
The Chechen-Ingush SSR that existed at that time was liquidated, it was restored only in 1957.
The origin of the ideas of separatism
The modern Chechen conflict arose in the second half of the 80s. It is worth noting that there were no economic justifications for this at that time. The republic was one of the poorest, mainly existed on subsidies from the center.
Oil was produced in Chechnya, but at a very low level, and there were no other natural resources at all. The industry was tied to oil, which was brought from the regions of Western Siberia and Azerbaijan. Many Chechens who returned after deportation did not find a job, so they lived on subsistence farming.
At the same time, the separatist movement very quickly received support in the countryside. It was formed by outside leaders, those who made a career outside Chechnya, because local officials were happy with everything. So, one of the leaders was the "working" poet Zelimkhan Yandarbiev, who persuaded him to return to his historical homeland and lead the national uprising of the only Chechen general in the Soviet army - Dzhokhar Dudaev. He commanded a strategic bombers division in Estonia.
The emergence of the Chechen state
Many find the roots of the modern Chechen conflict in 1990. It was then that the idea of creating a separate state was born that would secede from not only Russia, but also the Soviet Union. The Declaration of Sovereignty was adopted.
When a referendum on the integrity of the Soviet Union was initiated in the USSR in 1991, they refused to hold it in Chechnya and Ingushetia. These were the first attempts to destabilize the situation in the region, extremist leaders began to appear.
In 1991, Dudaev began the creation of independent governing bodies in the republic, which were not recognized by the federal center.
Independent Chechnya
In September 1991, an armed coup took place in Chechnya. The local Supreme Council was dispersed by representatives of gangs. The formal reason was that the party bosses in Grozny on August 19 supported the GKChP.
The Russian parliament agreed to create an Interim High Council. But within three weeks, the National Congress of the Chechen people, which was headed by Dudayev, dismissed him, announcing that he was taking all the power.
In October, the national guard of Dudaev occupied the House of Trade Unions, in which the Provisional High Council and the KGB settled. On October 27, Dudayev was proclaimed president of the Chechen Republic.
The elections to the local parliament were held. According to experts, about 10 percent of voters participated in them. At the same time, more people voted at the polls than voters were assigned to it.
Dudaev’s Congress announced general mobilization and alerted its own National Guard.
On November 1, Dudaev issued a decree on independence from the RSFSR and the USSR. Neither the Russian authorities nor foreign states recognized him.
Confrontation with the federal center
The Chechen conflict escalated. On November 7, Boris Yeltsin declared a state of emergency in the republic.
In March 1992, the Chechen parliament approved a constitution declaring Chechnya an independent Soviet state. At that time, the process of ousting Russians from the republic took on the character of real genocide. During this period, arms and drug trafficking, duty-free export and import, and theft of petroleum products flourished.
Moreover, there was no unity in the Chechen leadership. The situation escalated so much that in April Dudayev dismissed local authorities and began to lead in manual mode. The opposition has asked for help from Russia.
First Chechen war
The armed conflict in the Chechen Republic officially began with the decree of President Yeltsin on the need to stop the activities of illegal armed groups. The detachments of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia and the Ministry of Defense entered Chechnya. Thus began the Chechen conflict in 1994.
About 40 thousand soldiers entered the territory of the republic. The size of the Chechen army was up to 15 thousand people. At the same time, mercenaries from the countries of near and far abroad fought on the side of Dudaev.
The world community did not support the actions of the Russian authorities. First of all, the USA demanded a peaceful settlement of the conflict.
One of the most bloody battles was the storming of Grozny on New Year's Eve 1995. Fierce battles were fought, only by February 22, managed to establish control over the Chechen capital. By the summer, the Dudaev army was almost defeated.
The situation turned after an attack by militants under the command of Basayev in the city of Budennovsk in the Stavropol Territory. The attack led to the deaths of 150 civilians. Negotiations began that paralyzed the security forces. The complete defeat of the Dudayev troops had to be postponed; they received a respite and regained strength.
In April 1996, Dudaev was killed by a missile strike. It was calculated by the signal of a satellite phone. The new leader of Chechnya was Yandarbiev, who in August 1996 signed the Khasavyurt agreement with Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation Alexander Lebed. The issue of the status of Chechnya was postponed until 2001.
It was not possible to suppress the separatist resistance in the Russian-Chechen conflict, despite significant superiority in strength. The indecision of the military and political leadership played a role. As well as unreliable borders in the Caucasus, which is why militants regularly received money, weapons and ammunition from abroad.
Causes of the Chechen conflict
To summarize, the negative socio-economic situation has become an important cause of the conflict. Experts note a high level of unemployment, a reduction or complete liquidation of industries, a delay in pensions and salaries, social benefits.
All this was compounded by the demographic situation in Chechnya. A large number of people moved to the city from the village, and this contributed to the forced deviation. Ideological components also played a role when criminal criteria and values began to be raised to the rank.
There were economic reasons. The declaration of Chechen independence proclaimed a monopoly on industrial and energy resources.
Second Chechen War
The second war actually lasted from 1999 to 2009. Although the most active phase occurred in the first two years.
What led to this Chechen war? The conflict arose after the formation of the pro-Russian administration, headed by Akhmat Kadyrov. The country adopted a new constitution, which claimed that Chechnya is part of Russia.
These decisions had many opponents. In 2004, the opposition organized the killing of Kadyrov.
In parallel, there was a self-proclaimed Ichkeria, led by Aslan Maskhadov. He was destroyed during a special operation in March 2005. Russian security forces regularly destroyed the leaders of the self-proclaimed state. In subsequent years, they were Abdul-Halim Sadulayev, Dokku Umarov, Shamil Basayev.
Since 2007, the youngest son of Kadyrov, Ramzan, has become the president of Chechnya.
The solution to the Chechen conflict was the solution to the most pressing problems of the republic in exchange for the loyalty of its leaders and people. The national economy was restored as soon as possible, cities were rebuilt, and conditions were created for work and development within the republic, which today is officially part of Russia.