Mountainous Republic of the Northern Caucasus

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 state that emerged during the Russian Civil War and operated from 1917 to 1922. It originated from the consolidation of various ethnic groups, including the Circassians, Chechens, Karachays, Ossetians, Balkars, Ingush, and Dagestanis, following the congress of North Caucasian peoples on 6 March.
The MRNC (Mountainous Republic of the Northern Caucasus) 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 , the MRNC had a population of approximately 11 million. Throughout its existence, the capital of the MRNC relocated from Vladikavkaz to Nazran and ultimately settled in Temir-Khan-Shura.
It broke away from the Russian Empire during the February Revolution, just before the outbreak of the Russian Civil War. The state was captured by Soviet Russian forces in 1921, who transformed it into the Mountain Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic.
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. Tapa Tchermoeff was appointed as Chairman of the Executive Committee. In August 1917, the Central 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 Tapa Tchermoeff, 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 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 liberated 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 (RSFSR).
Prominent government figures, 1917–1919
See also
Caucasian Imamate (1828–1859)
North Caucasian Soviet Republic (1918)
Mountain Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (1921–1924)
Confederation of Mountain Peoples of the Caucasus (1989–2000)
Prometheism
Notes
Bibliography
"Caucasian Republic Mission to the Peace Conference Appeal for Help", The Morning Post, London, Friday 4 April 1919.
J. "Obedinennyi Kavkaz" ("Vereinigtes Kaukasien"), 1–3 (30–32), München, 1954.
Baddeley, J. F., 1908, The Russian Conquest of the Caucasus, Longmans, Green, and Co., London
Madeleine Henrey, Madeleine Grown Up, J. M. Dent & Sons, London, 1954.
Kathleen R. Jackson, Marat Fidarov, Essays on the History of the North Caucasus, HHN Media, New York, 2009.
Storozhenko (ed.), Ingushetia and Chechen Republic Map, Northern Caucasian Aerogeodesic Company of Roskartografia, Russia, 1995.
Levan Z. Urushadze, "About the history of the question of unity of the Caucasian Peoples". J. "Amirani", XIII, Montreal‐Tbilisi, 2005, pp. 72–87.
«Союз горцев Северного Кавказа и Горская республика. История несостоявшегося государства. 1917-1920», М.М. Вачагаев, 2018
States and territories established in 1917
States and territories disestablished in 1922
Post–Russian Empire states
History of the North Caucasus
Countries and territories where Chechen is an official language
Transcontinental countries
Former countries of the interwar period
1917 establishments in Europe
1922 disestablishments in Europe