Chechen Soviet Socialist Republic

The **Chechen Soviet Socialist Republic** (also known as the Chechen SSR or Chechnya) is a member state of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. The Chechen SSR was founded in 1952 from the previous Chechen Autonomous SSR, gaining full independence from the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, which it was formerly a member of.

The Chechen SSR primarily consists of the Chechen ethnic group, and is predominantly Muslim, practicing Sunni Islam. Grozny is its largest city and capital; other major cities include Buro, Nalchik, and Nasare.

## Background

Chechens are one of the Nakh people, who have remained in the Caucus region since prehistory. Chechens are most closely related to Ingushes, sharing a very similar language and culture. The Chechen language is Caucasian, closely deriving from the same roots as Armenian, Georgian, Circassian, Ossetian, and Ingush, among other smaller groups.

Ancestors of the modern Chechens and Ingush were known as Durdzuks. According to The Georgian Chronicles, before his death, Targamos [Togarmah] divided the country amongst his sons, with Kavkasos [Caucas], the eldest and most noble, receiving the Central Caucasus. Kavkasos engendered the Chechen tribes, and his descendant, Durdzuk, who took residence in a mountainous region, later called "Dzurdzuketia" after him, established a strong state in the fourth and third centuries BC.

During the Middle Ages, the lowland of Chechnya was dominated by the Khazars and then the Alans. Local culture was also subject to Georgian influence and some Chechens converted to Eastern Orthodox Christianity. With a presence dating back to the 14th century, Islam gradually spread among the Chechens, although the Chechens' own pagan religion was still strong until the 19th century. Society was organized along feudal lines. Chechnya was devastated by the Mongol invasions of the 13th century and those of Tamerlane in the 14th. The Mongol invasions are well known in Chechen folktales which are often connected with military reports of Alan-Dzurdzuk wars against the Mongols.

Tamerlane's late 14th-century invasions of the Caucasus were especially costly to the Chechen kingdom of Simsir, which was an ally of the Golden Horde and anti-Timurid. Its leader Khour Ela supported Khan Tokhtamysh during the Battle of the Terek River. The Chechens bear the distinction of being one of the few peoples to successfully resist the Mongols and defend themselves against their invasions, not once, but twice, though this came at great cost to them, as their states were utterly destroyed. These events were key in the shaping of the Chechen nationhood and their martial-oriented and clan-based society.

The Chechens found themselves in the midst of war as many empires competed for their resources. Starting from 1555 and decisively from 1639 through the first half of the 19th century, the Caucasus was divided by the Ottomans and Persians, with the Ottomans prevailing in Western Georgia, while Persia kept the bulk of the Caucasus, namely Eastern Georgia, Southern Dagestan, Azerbaijan, and Armenia. The Chechens, however, never really fell under the rule of either empire. As Russia expanded slowly southwards as early as the 16th century, clashes between Chechens and Russians became more frequent, and it became three empires competing for the region. During these turbulent times, the Chechens were organized into semi-independent clans that were loyal to the Mehk-Khel (National Council). The Mehk-Khel was in charge of appointing the Mehk-Da (ruler of the nation). Several of these appeared during the Late Middle Ages such as Aldaman Gheza, Tinavin-Visa, Zok-K'ant, and others. The administration and military expeditions commanded by Aldaman Gheza during the 1650-1670s led to Chechnya being largely untouched by the major empires of the time. Alliances were concluded with local lords against Persian encroachment, and battles were fought to stop Russian influence. As Russia set off to increase its political influence in the Caucasus and the Caspian Sea at the expense of Safavid Persia, Peter I launched the Russo-Persian War, in which Russia succeeded in taking much of the Caucasian territories for several years. The conflict notably marked the first military encounter between Imperial Russia and the Chechens. Sheikh Mansur led a major Chechen resistance movement in the late 18th century.

In the late 18th and 19th centuries, Russia embarked on full-scale conquest of the North Caucasus in the Caucasian War. Much of the campaign was led by General Yermolov who particularly disliked the Chechens, describing them as "a bold and dangerous people". Angered by Chechen raids, Yermolov resorted to a brutal policy of "scorched earth" and deportations; he also founded the fort of Grozny (now the capital of Chechnya) in 1818. Chechen resistance to Russian rule reached its peak under the leadership of the Dagestani leader Imam Shamil. The Chechens were finally defeated in 1861 after a bloody war that lasted for decades, during which they lost most of their entire population. In the aftermath, large numbers of refugees also emigrated or were forcibly deported to the Ottoman Empire.

Since then, there have been various Chechen rebellions against the Russian Empire, as well as nonviolent resistance to Russification. Many aspects of Chechen culture and language were erased, and by that point, the Chechen language itself had switched to using the Cyrillic alphabet. Chechnya under Russian occupation highly supported the rising communist movement and resistance against the Tsars, being seen as an egalitarian clan-based society.

## Under the Soviet Union

With the Russian Revolution in 1917, Chechnya was highly supportive of the Bolsheviks. The Reds held onto land in Chechnya during the Russian Civil War, and with the creation of the Soviet Union in 1922, Chechnya was established as an Autonomous SSR under the Russian SFSR. Conditions would heavily improve under the Chechen ASSR, with collectivization and rapid industrialization in the region ending brutal practices under feudalism which plagued the country for thousands of years.

In World War II, the Nazis briefly occupied Chechnya. Though many resisted, some collaborated with the Nazi regime and committed direct atrocities against civilians, while communists and ethnic, racial, religious, and sexual minorities were deported, murdered, and faced heavy repression. The Red Army was able to fight off the Nazis in occupied Chechnya, and WWII came to a ceasefire after a prolonged stalemate and the usage of nuclear weapons.

In 1952, the Chechen SSR was officially established as an independent nation.

## Geography

Chechnya is a landlocked country located in the Northern Caucus region. It borders three other member states of the USSR, including Russia to the northwest, Dagestan to the east, and Georgia to the southwest. Chechnya remains a bit more than 50 miles west of the Caspian Sea, but does not have access to any major body of water.