Introduction to Geopolitics

TRIANGLE STATE
CIRCLE STATE
Figure 5.5
Ethnic cleansing: expansion.

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and composed primarily of Chechens and Ingushes as the dominant ethnic groups in the
region. Most Chechens are Sunni Muslims. Chechen and Russian civilians alike have
suffered in the conflict. Approximately 200,000 to 250,000 Chechens have been forced
to leave their homes, most of them during the Russian invasion of 1999, while Russian
civilians have had to live in fear of suicide bombings and various other forms of terrorist
attacks throughout Russia. For more information on the conflict refer to the readings
listed at the end of this chapter and the specific sources cited. The purposes of this case
study are:
■
to provide historical background to help you interpret a recurrent geopolitical
conflict;
■
to illustrate how nationalist conflicts are viewed differently by different social
groups;
■
to offer a concrete example of the concepts discussed in the chapter.
History of the conflict
1893
While industrialization was sweeping over Russia, oil was discovered in
Chechnya (which was at this time a part of Russia)—the area became increas-
ingly important to Russia.
1890s Russia built the Vladikaukaz railroad line through Chechnya—Chechnya was a
key route to southern regions of Russia.
1914
By this time, Chechen oil comprised 14 percent of Russia’s oil production.
1917
Beginning of the Bolshevik Revolution—Tsar Nicholas II and then the
Provisional Government were both ousted by the Bolshevik Party.
1918
The Mountain Republic was established, only to be taken back by Lenin in 1921.
1922
The Mountain Republic was officially dissolved into the Chechen Autonomous
oblast on November 30.
1923
Lenin’s Congress officially adopts the policy of 
korenizatsiya
(indigenization),
encouraging different nations to use their languages and celebrate their cultures:
instilling a sense of ethnic and national awareness in minority groups.
1934
The Chechen Autonomous oblast merged with the Ingush Autonomous oblast.
1936
The combined oblast rises to the status of Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic
(ASSR).
1944
Stalin begins deporting Chechen and Ingush people to Siberia and Central Asia,
accusing them of conspiring with Nazis.
■
“On February 23, 1944 over 500,000 Chechens and Ingush were transported
to northern Kazakhstan for an exile that lasted 13 years” (German, 2003, 
p. 4). Chechen language publications were banned and the term “Chechen”
[plus descriptive terms of other nationalities that had been deported] was
erased from Soviet textbooks and encyclopedias.
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1957
January—Nikita Khrushchev re-establishes the Chechen-Ingush ASSR.
■
“The return of the deportees did aggravate tensions in this region, which
could not support an influx of people who were without homes or employ-
ment” (German, 2003, p. 19).
1985
Gorbachev rises to power.
■
“The advent of glasnost and perestroika [the political and social changes
that signaled the collapse of the Communist Party’s control of the Soviet
Union], and consequent relaxation of previous restrictions, heralded the
appearance of popular fronts demanding greater autonomy for the manifold
ethnic groups” (German, 2003, p. 14).
1991
The collapse of the Soviet Union.
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November 1—Dzhokhar Dudayev, after winning a presidential poll,
proclaims Chechnya independent of Russia.
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Russian President Yeltsin declares Martial Law in Chechnya and Ingushia,
sending 1,000 Internal Affairs Ministry troops—but they leave without ever
disembarking from their aircrafts as crowds block the airport.
■
Chechnya begins to develop its army. It is to consist of 11,000–12,000 
troops with approximately 40 tanks and 50 units of various armored equip-
ment.
1990
November—Former Communist leaders “convoked a Chechen National Con-
gress . . . and invited the recently promoted General Dudaev—who had never
lived in Chechnya—to head the nationalist movement” (Evangelista, 2002, 
p. 16).
1992
Chechnya adopts a Constitution.
1994
Russian troops invade Chechnya to end the independence movement.
■
During the 20-month war that follows, approximately 100,000 people, many
of them civilians, are killed.
1995
Chechen rebels seize hundreds of hostages at a hospital in Budennovsk, southern
Russia. Over 100 are killed in the initial raid and the subsequent unsuccessful
Russian commando operation.
1996
April—President of Chechnya, Dudayev, is killed by a Russian missile attack.
Succeeded by Zemlikhan Yandarbiyev.
May—Yeltsin signs short-lived peace agreement with Yandarbiyev.
August—Chechen rebels attack Grozny (rebel chief of staff Aslan Maskhadov and
Yeltsin’s security chief Alexander Lebed sign the Khasavyurt Accords—cease-
fire).
November—agreement of Russian troops’ withdrawals.
1997
January—Aslan Maskhadov wins Chechen presidential elections. His presidency
is recognized by Russia.
I N T R O D U C T I O N   T O   G E O P O L I T I C S
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1999
January—Maskhadov announces his three-year plan to phase in Islamic Shariah
Law.
March—Moscow’s top envoy to Chechnya is declared missing (his body is found
in Chechnya one year later).
July/August—Chechen insurgents begin crossing the border into Dagestan to
assist the overthrow of the Russian government and the establishment of a
separate state. Maskhadov tried to maintain friendly relations with Russia and
appealed to Chechens to leave Dagestan.
September—a series of bombings targeting Russian civilians, attributed to
Chechen rebels, provoked the Russian government to take action.
■
Approximately 300 Russian civilians killed.
October—Russian government launches assault into Chechnya and recaptures
the breakaway regions of Dagestan.
■
It is estimated that approximately 200,000 refugees flee Chechnya for neigh-
boring Russian republics.
2000
Russian troops capture Grozny. Russia declares rule of Chechnya. War continues
in mountainous areas.
June—Akhmat Kadyrov is named the head of administration in Chechnya by the
Russian government.
2001
January—rumors of human rights atrocities begin to circulate in the Chechen
village of Dachny.
February—the first body found in a mass grave in Dachny.
■
After later inspection, it was reported that 48 bodies were found, 34 of which
were never to be identified.
2002
October—Chechens seize an 800-person theater in Moscow.
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One man shot and killed by the hostage-takers.
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118 civilians (along with 50 hostage-takers) die as a result of gas used by
the Russian government to flush out the terrorists.
2003
March—Chechens vote in referendum that makes Chechnya a separatist 
republic within Russia. Multiple suicide bombings occur following the 
referendum.
Akhmat Kadyrov becomes the official president (many groups question the legit-
imacy of the elections).
2004
February—former Chechen president, Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev, is murdered in a
car bombing in Qatar.
■
Two Russian intelligence officers are sentenced to life in prison after admit-
ting that the attack was ordered by the Russian government.
May 9—Akmat Kadyrov and five others are killed in a bombing in a stadium in
Grozny. Some 56 people are wounded in the attack.
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■
“The blast comes a few weeks after Putin, in his annual state of the nation
address, proclaimed the ‘military phase of the conflict may be considered
closed’ in Chechnya” (CNN, 2004).
■
Warlord, Shamil Basayev, declares responsibility for the attack.
The conflict spreads into neighboring Ingushetia—known to be a peaceful safe-
haven.
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“A year ago it was an idyllic farming region but now many locals refer to
it as ‘a second Chechnya’ ” (Walsh, 2004).
■
Cassette tapes surfaces with a Russian soldier’s confession to the kidnap-
ping of a senior aide to the top prosecutor of Ingushetia—this aide was
pursuing prosecutions against Russian soldiers who were accused of abuses.
Experiencing the conflict
Anna Politkovskaya is a leading investigative reporter for the Russian newspaper,