# Mountainous Republic of the Northern Caucasus

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 transcontinental state in Eurasia. It encompassed the entirety of the North Caucasus and emerged during the Russian Civil War and existed from 1917 to 1919. It formed as a consolidation of various North 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. However, in September 1919, the North Caucasian Emirate was proclaimed as the successor of the Mountain Republic. However, in August 1920, it was captured by the Soviet Russia, which led to an uprising. In April 1921, the Mountain Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was established by the Bolsheviks within the RSFSR, but the uprising lasted until 1925.

## State formation

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.
The Cabinet of Ministers of the Mountain Republic comprised representatives from nearly all regions of the North Caucasus.

## History

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.
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. The capital was initially Vladikavkaz but was later relocated to Temir-Khan-Shura after being occupied by the Red Army. 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.
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. 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.
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 captured from Soviet Russia.
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.

### Legacy

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.

## Prominent government figures, 1917–1919

* Leaders of the MRNC, with Prime Minister Tapa Tchermoeff seated in the center of the front row.
* Abdulmajid Tapa Tchermoeff, oil industrialist, first chairman of the Central Committee and first prime minister, Chechen. Died in Switzerland in 1937.
* Rashid Khan Kaplanov, second Chairman of the Central Committee, Minister of the Interior. Assassinated by the Bolshevik government in 1937.
* Pshemakho Kotsev, second prime minister, Kabardian Circassian. Died in Istanbul in 1962.
* Haidar Bammate, Foreign Minister, Kumyk. Died in Paris in 1965.
* Vassan-Girey Jabagiyev, Minister of Finance, Ingush. Died in Istanbul in 1961.
* Nukh-bek Tarkovskiy, Military Minister, Kumyk. Died in Switzerland in 1951.
* Ibrahim Bey Gaydarov, Minister of Posts and Telegraph, Lezgian. Died in Ankara in 1949.
* Adil-Gerey Daidbekov, Minister of Transportation, Kumyk. Died in Baku in 1946.
* Alikhan Kantemir, the official representative in neighboring countries (Azerbaijan, Georgia), Muslim Ossetian. Died in Munich in 1963.
* Tadjuddin Penzulayev, Minister of Justice, Kumyk. Killed by the Bolsheviks in 1937. Co-author of Mikhail Bulgakov's piece "Children of Mulla".
* Muhiddin Penzulayev, Minister of Communications, Kumyk. Died in 1942. Brother of Tadjuddin Penzulayev.