The Caucasian War (1817 - 1864) - long-term military operations of the Russian Empire in the Caucasus, which ended with the annexation of this region to Russia.

This conflict began the difficult relationship between Russian people and Caucasians, which has not stopped to this day.

The name “Caucasian War” was introduced by R. A. Fadeev, a military historian and publicist, a contemporary of this event, in 1860.

However, both before Fadeev and after him, pre-revolutionary and Soviet authors preferred to use the term “Caucasian wars of the empire,” which was more correct - the events in the Caucasus represent a whole series of wars, in which Russia’s opponents were different peoples and groups.

Causes of the Caucasian War

• At the beginning of the 19th century (1800-1804), the Georgian Kartli-Kakheti kingdom and several Azerbaijani khanates became part of the Russian Empire; but between these regions and the rest of Russia there were lands of independent tribes who carried out raids on the territory of the empire.
• A strong Muslim theocratic state emerged in Chechnya and Dagestan - the Imamat, headed by Shamil. The Dagestan-Chechen Imamate could become a serious adversary of Russia, especially if it received the support of such powers as the Ottoman Empire.
• We should not exclude the imperial ambitions of Russia, which wanted to spread its influence in the east. The independent mountaineers were a hindrance to this. Some historians, as well as Caucasian separatists, consider this aspect to be the main reason for the war.

Russians were familiar with the Caucasus before. Even during the collapse of Georgia into several kingdoms and principalities - in the middle of the 15th century - some rulers of these kingdoms asked for help from Russian princes and tsars. And, as you know, he married Kuchenya (Maria) Temryukovna Idarova, the daughter of a Kabardian prince.

Of the major Caucasian campaigns of the 16th century, Cheremisov’s campaign in Dagestan is famous. As we see, Russia’s actions in relation to the Caucasus were not always aggressive. It was even possible to find a truly friendly Caucasian state - Georgia, with which Russia was united, of course, by a common religion: Georgia is one of the most ancient Christian (Orthodox) countries in the world.

The lands of Azerbaijan also turned out to be quite friendly. From the second half of the 19th century, Azerbaijan was completely overwhelmed by a wave of Europeanization associated with the discovery of rich oil reserves: Russians, British and Americans became regular guests in Baku, whose culture the locals willingly adopted.

Results of the Caucasian War

No matter how severe the battles with the Caucasians and other close peoples (Ottomans, Persians) were, Russia achieved its goal - it subjugated the North Caucasus. This affected relations with local peoples in different ways. It was possible to reach an agreement with some by returning the selected arable land to them in exchange for a cessation of hostilities. Others, like the Chechens and many Dagestanis, harbored a grudge against the Russians and throughout subsequent history made attempts to achieve independence - again by force.

In the 1990s, Chechen Wahhabis used the Caucasian War as an argument in their war with Russia. The significance of the annexation of the Caucasus to Russia is also assessed differently. The patriotic environment is dominated by the idea expressed by the modern historian A. S. Orlov, according to which the Caucasus became part of the Russian Empire not as a colony, but as an area equal to other regions of the country.

However, more independent researchers, and not only representatives of the Caucasian intelligentsia, talk about the occupation. Russia seized the territories that the mountaineers considered theirs for many centuries, and began to impose its own customs and culture on them. On the other hand, “independent” territories inhabited by uncultured and poor tribes professing Islam could at any time receive support from major Muslim powers and become a significant aggressive force; more than likely they would have become colonies of the Ottoman Empire, Persia, or some other eastern state.

And since the Caucasus is a border area, it would be very convenient for Islamic militants to attack Russia from here. Having put a “yoke” on the rebellious and warlike Caucasus, the Russian Empire did not take away their religion, culture and traditional way of life; Moreover, capable and talented Caucasians received the opportunity to study at Russian universities and subsequently formed the basis of the national intelligentsia.

Thus, father and son Ermolov raised the first professional Chechen artist - Pyotr Zakharov-Chechen. During the war, A.P. Ermolov, while in a destroyed Chechen village, saw a dead woman on the road and a barely alive child on her chest; this was the future painter. Ermolov ordered army doctors to save the child, after which he handed him over to the Cossack Zakhar Nedonosov to be raised. However, it is also a fact that a huge number of Caucasians emigrated to the Ottoman Empire and the countries of the Middle East during the war and after it, where they formed significant diasporas. They believed that the Russians had taken their homeland away from them.

The official date confirming the victory of the Russian Empire in the Caucasian War is May 21, 1864. It was on this day that the tsarist troops occupied the last center of resistance of the Circassian Ubykh tribe - the Kbaadu tract (now the settlement of Krasnaya Polyana, Krasnodar Territory). It is considered the moment of the end of hostilities, despite the fact that in fact the resistance of the mountaineers continued until the end of the year. And spontaneous uprisings in Chechnya and Dagestan flared up periodically throughout the decade.

Even today, when 151 years have passed since the events described, attempts to play the nationalist card on the political cloth of the modern North Caucasus, using facts and circumstances taken out of context, continue. In this case, objective reality is completely ignored.
There are a great many scientific and pseudo-scientific works on the topic of the Caucasian War - it has been of constant interest to researchers for many years. These questions are still very relevant today. Including due to the noticeable activity of external forces in “groping for weak points” in the mentality of the region’s residents.

It would seem that everything had been written and proven a long time ago: the empire defended its borders and geopolitical interests, and the highlanders fought for their independence. But, as they say, there are nuances. The fact is that basic provisions are often interpreted with a “pulling of the blanket” over oneself. What is happening is not an objective understanding of historical facts, but manipulation of the minds and moods of the descendants of the participants in those tragic events. Pure psychology, which takes into account the acutely personal perception of this topic by many people. Examples are not hard to find.

Myth one. The Empire fought against the mountain peoples with the goal of their direct destruction. Not this way. Tsarist Russia ruled state policy in the region, and its key opponents were the powerful powers of that time. The mountain peoples found themselves caught between the millstones of the interests and ambitions of the strongest states. Tragedy? Undoubtedly. Both individual people and small ethnic groups as a whole. But was there genocide and the desire to erase from the earth at all costs not only the physical foundation, but also the memory of the proud highlanders? Nothing like this.

There was a war going on. War is terrible, cruel and merciless. An enemy on the battlefield was destroying another enemy. The stronger one won. But we were not talking about the extermination of peoples - on national or religious grounds. Against. There are plenty of examples of allied relations with Russia among many representatives of the Caucasus. And these are not only cases of kunakism, but also truly close military cooperation with individual state entities in the Caucasus. There are many examples; just look at the ratio of the opposing sides in a given conflict - in any reference material on this topic.

Many voluntary units of Armenians, Georgians, Tatars, Chechens and representatives of other Caucasian peoples fought in the Russian army. And they fought very honorably. Among the officers of the Caucasian army there were many representatives of local ethnic groups. Prince Meshchersky in his travel diary, published in 1876, wrote: “The Caucasus was conquered both by the weapons of the Russians... and by the weapons of the natives of the Caucasus...”. Those who forget about this betray the memory of the true patriots of their land, who only wanted prosperity and peace for it.
One can also speculate on what would have happened to many of the small peoples of the Caucasus if they had not become part of a huge strong power. The fate of some previously very prominent ethnic groups in other territories of the planet, which have now not only lost their self-determination, but also their self-identification, speaks volumes. However, history does not tolerate the subjunctive mood. What happened happened. You can't turn back time.

Myth two. The Caucasians had no positive choice; they were doomed either to “centuries of slavery” or to total destruction. Lie. Despite the rabid criticism of the concept of the voluntary entry of the peoples of the Caucasus into Russia (which was especially evident during the “parade of sovereignties” of the 90s), it is impossible to ignore the objective facts of non-violent solidarity in this process.
It was not peoples who fought. The military-political elite fought. The peoples wanted to live peacefully and were ready, if not for assimilation, then certainly for peaceful coexistence. This can be confirmed by the further harmonious and equal development of Caucasian ethnic groups within the territorial borders of Russia. They were guaranteed religious freedom and socio-cultural development - both in the Tsarist and Soviet periods. This trend has continued and been realized in modern conditions to such an extent that it has simply lost its relevance for discussion.
What kind of “Russian slavery” can we talk about if in the future the Caucasians repeatedly proved their loyalty and devotion to their state with their unprecedented military and labor exploits? Suffice it to recall the exploits of the sons of the Caucasus during the Great Patriotic War. Is this how slaves protect their slave owners? No. This is how citizens of one great country defend their Motherland.
What kind of oppression of the rights of Caucasian nationalities can we talk about, if in tsarist and Soviet times, and in modern reality, representatives of the mountainous region played and are playing a huge role in the life of the greatest country, and also really influence its further development? Examples of personalities are so obvious that there is no need to even cite them!
Those who today, at the behest of overseas conductors, today sing about the notorious “Caucasian genocide” should be reminded of the truly real genocide committed by the ancestors of the State Department curators of color revolutions - the destruction by the colonialists of the indigenous population of North America. For some reason, it is not customary to remember how many millions of aborigines were then virtually exterminated in the process of “civilization of indigenous peoples.” And even more, our “foreign partners” do not like to raise the topic of the state of the remnants of the indigenous tribes of the continent in what is now the United States today. Degradation and extinction on reservations - or complete assimilation.
Is this the situation in Russia today for the “conquered” Caucasian peoples? Answer this question yourself. Only honestly.

Myth three- about the permanence of the Caucasian war. Like, it never ended. Resistance is hidden, but lives. The free land will sooner or later throw off the yoke of the imperial conquerors and gain long-awaited freedom. Thus, to replace the failed slogan-question “Does Russia need the Caucasus?” follows the opposite, but involved in the same test: “Does the Caucasus need Russia?”
A typical provocation, a sophisticated lie based on the substitution of concepts. For a small handful of extremists, incited from abroad, unreasonably continue to associate themselves with the entire population of the region. Alas, a certain part of this population (especially among young people) recklessly falls for provocations, becoming infected with the ideas of separatism. That's what they're counting on. Fortunately, this is not a defining trend. The majority of people understand: the questions “who needs whom?” - have absolutely no rational basis. The Caucasus is Russia. Russia is the Caucasus as well.

I remember that at the very height of the first Chechen conflict, the author of these lines had a conversation with an average resident of the rebellious republic. A completely successful mediocre entrepreneur who has honestly earned his fair share of bread and butter throughout the previous years. He said the following:
“Why do I need war? I have everything: a house, parents, two sons and a daughter, a wife. I had my own business, which I did honestly with people whose nationality I did not ask. I have freedom and honor. Who will take them away from me? Nobody. I don't need war, I need peace. I don't know what to do here now. I’ll probably go to Moscow or St. Petersburg and wait there...”
Need I say that many residents of the republic shared the same opinion? But their wishes were not taken into account; others, whose names are known, decided everything for them. Active attempts are being made to determine people's own destiny even now.
One can recall many more myths and speculations about today's date. For what? They, unfortunately, will inevitably be uttered in connection with the anniversary of the Caucasian War on the pages of a certain type of information resources. Just don’t be mistaken about the purpose for which this will be done.

And here it is once again appropriate to recall the great poet, Dagestani by nationality, citizen of the world and son of a great country, Rasul Gamzatov: “We did not enter Russia voluntarily and we will not leave it voluntarily.”
These words have the deepest meaning. The inclusion of the Caucasus into the empire was accompanied by many tragic circumstances. But it ultimately turned out to be fateful. The small peoples of the Caucasus have received the best chance to preserve their culture, language, traditions, identity and beliefs - not in self-isolation, but in a friendly family of other ethnic groups of a huge state. And they are ready to defend this new reality.

In the topic of today - “The Day of the End of the Caucasian War” - the key word is “end”. The war ended 151 years ago. And, thank God, it’s over. Death has stopped, mass tragedies and hardships have stopped. Any peace is better than war. Moreover, the future has shown not only the safe aspects of the peace process, but also its prospects for the further development of the Caucasian peoples.
This is a date with a lot of tragedy in it. But there is immeasurably more good in it. There is no need to explain this to anyone who connects their thoughts with peace and creation.

On the one hand, civil strife, the slave trade, and raids by Persian and Turkish troops stopped, the economic and cultural development of the peoples of the region accelerated, their interaction grew, and the diverse ties of the North Caucasian peoples with Russia expanded.

Russian culture and secular education penetrate into mountain society, mainly into the elite strata. On its basis, the mountain peoples develop social thought and enlightenment (Shora Nogmov, Khan-Girey, Kazi-Atazhukin, K. Khetagurov)

On the other hand, this is a great tragedy that brought troubles and destruction, enormous material and human losses to both local peoples and the Russian Empire. Among the tragic events associated with the end of the war, muhajirism (resettlement) occupies a special place.

After the end of the war, colonization of the region by immigrants from Russia intensified. It was accompanied by a significant change in the ethnic picture of the North Caucasus, the formation of new land relations, changes in ecology, and the further destruction of the traditional economic culture of the region.

Conquest of the highlanders of the North Caucasus and the long Caucasian War of 1817-1864. brought significant human and material losses to Russia. During the war, about 96 thousand soldiers and officers of the Caucasian Corps suffered. The bloodiest period was the period of the struggle against Shamil, during which more than 70 thousand people were killed, wounded and captured. Material costs were also very significant: Yu. Kosenkova, based on data from A.L. Ghisetti, indicates that in the 40s - 50s. XIX century the maintenance of the Caucasian Corps and the conduct of the war cost the state treasury 10 - 15 million rubles. in year.

In general, we can conclude that the successful completion of the war strengthened Russia’s international position and increased its strategic power. In economic and commercial-industrial relations, according to M. Hammer, the conquest of the Caucasus region facilitated trade between Europe and Asia and provided Russian industry with an extensive market for the sale of factory and industrial products.

The Caucasian War had enormous geopolitical consequences. Reliable communications were established between Russia and its Transcaucasian periphery due to the fact that the barrier separating them, which was the territories not controlled by St. Petersburg, disappeared. Russia managed to firmly establish itself in the most vulnerable and strategically very important sector of the Black Sea - on the North-East coast, the same thing happened with the north-western part of the Caspian Sea, where St. Petersburg had not felt entirely confident before. The Caucasus took shape as a single territorial and geopolitical complex within the imperial “supersystem” - a logical result of Russia’s southern expansion. Now it could serve as a secure rear and a real springboard for advancing to the southeast, to Central Asia, which was also of great importance for the development of the imperial periphery. Russia has set a course to conquer this unstable region, open to external influence and international rivalry. In an effort to fill the political vacuum that had formed there, she looked for “natural” borders for herself, from the point of view not only of geography, but also of state pragmatism, which demanded the division of spheres of influence and the establishment of a regional balance of power with another giant - the British Empire. In addition, Russia's penetration into Central Asia gave St. Petersburg a powerful lever of pressure on London in Middle Eastern and European affairs, which it successfully used.

After the end of the war, the situation in the region became much more stable. Raids and riots began to happen less frequently. In many ways, this was a change in the ethnic and demographic situation in the war-torn territories. A significant part of the population was evicted outside the Russian state (the so-called muhajirism). People from the inner provinces of Russia, Cossacks, and foreign mountaineers settled on the abandoned lands.

However, Russia provided itself with problems for a long time by including “restless”, freedom-loving peoples - echoes of this can be heard to this day. According to M. Feigin, the current problems in the North Caucasus, which he proposes to call the “second Caucasian War,” originate in a complex of unresolved problems of the Caucasian War of the 19th century. Feigin M.

A very important circumstance that determined changes in the self-awareness of the mountaineers in favor of Russia was the nature of the population management established in the imamate, which turned out to be difficult for tribes not accustomed to obedience. At the same time, those under Shamil’s rule saw that “the life of peaceful villages... under the auspices of the Russians is much calmer and more abundant.” This is what forced them, according to N.A. Dobrolyubov, to make, in the end, the appropriate choice, “with the hope of peace and the convenience of everyday life.”

Thus, the results of the Caucasian War were ambiguous. On the one hand, they allowed Russia to solve its problems, provided markets for raw materials and sales, and a profitable military-strategic springboard for strengthening its geopolitical position. At the same time, the conquest of the freedom-loving peoples of the North Caucasus, despite certain positive aspects for the development of these peoples, left behind a set of unresolved problems that fell to the Soviet Union and then to the new Russia. Our country has provided itself with problems for a long time by including “restless”, freedom-loving peoples - echoes of this can be heard to this day.

The development of the Russian Empire was a long and ambiguous historical process, which was objective in nature. The rapid territorial growth of the Russian Empire in the 18th century led to the fact that the borders came very close to the North Caucasus. It was necessary, from a geopolitical point of view, to find a reliable natural barrier in the form of the Black and Caspian Seas and the Main Caucasus Range.

The country's economic interests required stable trade routes to the East and the Mediterranean, which could not be achieved without mastering the Caspian and Black Sea coasts. The North Caucasus itself had various natural resources (iron ore, polymetals, coal, oil), and its steppe part, in contrast to the poor soils of historical Russia, had rich black soil.

In the second half of the 18th century, the North Caucasus turned into an arena of struggle between the world's major powers, who did not want to give in to each other. Traditionally, the contender was. The first attempts at Turkish expansion began in the second half of the 15th century in the form of building various fortresses and, jointly with the Crimean Khan, campaigns against the highlanders.

Since the 1560s, the penetration of Turkey's oldest rival has continued. At the beginning of the 16th century, the Persians managed to capture Derbent, a Shiite city, and gain a foothold in the southern plains of Dagestan. During a series of Turkish-Iranian wars, Dagestan changed hands several times, with Iran seeking to take control of the mountainous interior of Dagestan. The last active attempts of this kind were made in 1734-1745, that is, the period of campaigns Nadir Shah.

The rivalry between the two eastern states led to human losses and economic decline of the local Caucasian peoples, but neither the Turks nor the Iranians were ever able to bring the mountainous regions of the North Caucasus under complete control. Although in the 18th century Transkuban was considered the territory of the Ottoman Empire, and the south of Dagestan was considered to be in the zone of interests of Iran. The British and French actively opposed Russia's advance into the North Caucasus. Their diplomats and advisers constantly incited the Shah and Sultan's courts to war with Russia.

Stages of Russian colonization of the North Caucasus

It was not only political rivalry that forced Russia to intensify its inclusion of the Caucasian lands. This was facilitated by previous relations with the peoples of the North Caucasus, starting and ending. In addition to government actions during the 16th-18th centuries, streams of peasants also rushed to the Caucasus, who settled in various places, thus acting as conductors of Russian influence.

• 16th Century - the emergence of free settlements of the Terek and Greben Cossacks;
• 80s of the 17th century - settlement of part of the Don Cossacks-schismatics on Kum, then on the Agrakhan River, in the possessions Shamkhal Tarkovsky;
• from 1708 to 1778 - the Nekrasov Cossacks lived in the lower Kuban, participated in the uprising of Kondraty Bulavin and escaped from the tsarist massacre in the Kuban.

Russia's strong takeover and systematic consolidation of the North Caucasus turned out to be associated with the 18th century and the construction of cordon fortifications. The first act was the resettlement to the left bank of the Terek and the founding of five fortified towns. The following actions were:

• in 1735 - construction of the Kizlyar fortress;
• in 1763 - construction of Mozdok;
• in 1770 - the resettlement of part of the Cossacks of the Volga army to the Terek.

After the successful completion of the Russian-Turkish war of 1768-1774, the opportunity arose to connect the Terek line with the Don lands. Thus, the (Caucasian) unfolds, where the Khopersky regiment and the remnants of the Volga army are stationed.

In 1783, the Crimean Khanate annexed Russia, and the border in the North-West Caucasus was established along the right bank of the Kuban. After the victory in the Russian-Turkish war of 1787-1791, the government of Catherine II was actively settling the Kuban border.

In 1792-1793, the former Cossacks, the Black Sea Cossack Army, were stationed from Taman to modern Ust-Labinsk. In 1794 and 1802, settlements appeared along the middle and upper reaches of the Kuban River, where the Cossacks of the Don and Catherine’s troops were transferred to live.

As a result of the victorious wars with Iran and Turkey (1804-1813, 1826-1828, 1806-1812, 1828-1829), the entire Transcaucasus joined the Russian Empire and thus the question of the final inclusion of the North Caucasus into the Russian Empire arose.

The Caucasian War as a clash of two different civilizations

Attempts to extend Russian administrative control to the lands of the mountaineers provoke resistance from the latter and, as a result, a historical phenomenon arises that will later be called Caucasian War. Assessing these events, even from the perspective of modern science, seems to be a complex process.

Many researchers emphasize that the construction of cordon lines and the emergence of the first settlements led to a change in the raiding orientation of the highlanders. For example, in the first half of the 18th century, the Cossacks of the Terek Line constantly repelled the raids of the Vainakhs and the peoples of Dagestan. In response to these attacks, punitive expeditions were organized, reprisals. Thus, a state of permanent war arose, which in turn was the result of a collision of two different worlds with their own mental attitudes.

For the mountaineers themselves, raids were an organic component of their life; they provided material benefits, created a heroic aura around the successful leaders of the raids, and were a source of pride and worship. For the Russian administration, raids are crimes that must be suppressed and punished.

Starting from the 18th century, the so-called voluntary entry of a number of local peoples into the Russian Empire was noted. For example, in 1774, Ossetian Christians, several Vainakh societies took the oath of allegiance to Russia, and in 1787, the Digorians took the oath of allegiance to Russia. All these acts did not indicate the final entry of these peoples into the Empire. Many mountain owners and societies often maneuvered between Russia, Turkey and Iran and wanted to maintain independence for as long as possible.

Thus, under the terms of the Kuchuk-Kainardzhi peace of 1774, Kabarda was finally included in the Russian Empire, however, a few years later, 1778-1779, the Kabardian princes and their subjects repeatedly tried to attack the Azov-Mozdok line.

Mountain owners and societies categorically rejected and did not want to live according to Russian laws. For example, in 1793, courts for the clan elite were established in Kabarda, that is, now Kabardian princes and nobles should be tried not according to adats, but according to Russian laws. This led in 1794 to a rebellion among the Kabardians, which was suppressed by force.

The greatest resistance to Russia arises among the mountaineers of the Northwestern Caucasus (Cherkessia) and the Northeastern Caucasus (Chechnya and Dagestan). This leads to the Caucasian War (1817-1864).

The chronology of the Caucasian War is still disputed. This historical phenomenon turned out to be ambiguous, since the participation of each of the Caucasian peoples in this war was different. For example, they practically did not participate. The Karachais remained loyal until 1828, only then a three-day campaign against them was needed.

On the other hand, there was stubborn resistance, which lasted for several decades, from the Chechens, Circassians, Avars and a number of others. The development of this war was influenced by external forces - Turkey, Iran, England and France.

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Progress of hostilities

To illuminate the course of the war, it would be advisable to highlight several stages:

Ermolovsky period (1816--1827),

· Beginning of gazavat (1827--1835),

· Formation and functioning of the Imamate (1835-1859) Shamil,

· End of the war: the conquest of Circassia (1859--1864).

As already noted, after the transfer of Georgia (1801 - 1810) and Azerbaijan (1803 - 1813) to Russian citizenship, the annexation of the lands separating Transcaucasia from Russia and the establishment of control over the main communications was considered by the Russian government as the most important military-political task . However, the mountaineers did not agree with this state of events. The main opponents of the Russian troops were the Adygs of the Black Sea coast and the Kuban region in the west, and the highlanders in the east, united in the military-theocratic Islamic state of the Imamate of Chechnya and Dagestan, headed by Shamil. At the first stage, the Caucasian War coincided with Russian wars against Persia and Turkey, and therefore Russia was forced to conduct military operations against the highlanders with limited forces.

The reason for the war was the appearance of General Alexei Petrovich Ermolov in the Caucasus. He was appointed in 1816 commander-in-chief of the Russian troops in Georgia and on the Caucasian line. Ermolov, a European-educated man, a hero of the Patriotic War, carried out a lot of preparatory work in 1816-1817 and in 1818 suggested that Alexander I complete his policy program in the Caucasus. Ermolov set the task of changing the Caucasus, putting an end to the raiding system in the Caucasus, with what is called “predation.” He convinced Alexander I of the need to pacify the highlanders solely by force of arms. Soon the general moved from individual punitive expeditions to a systematic advance deep into Chechnya and Mountainous Dagestan by surrounding mountainous areas with a continuous ring of fortifications, cutting clearings in difficult forests, building roads and destroying “rebellious” villages.

His activities on the Caucasian line in 1817 - 1818. the general started from Chechnya, moving the left flank of the Caucasian line from the Terek to the river. Sunzha, where he strengthened the Nazran redoubt and founded the fortification of Pregradny Stan in its middle reaches (October 1817) and the Grozny fortress in the lower reaches (1818). This measure stopped the uprisings of the Chechens living between Sunzha and Terek. In Dagestan, the highlanders who threatened Shamkhal Tarkovsky, captured by Russia, were pacified; To keep them in submission, the Vnezapnaya fortress was built (1819). An attempt to attack it by the Avar Khan ended in complete failure.

In Chechnya, Russian troops destroyed auls, forcing the Chechens to move further and further from Sunzha into the depths of the mountains or move to a plane (plain) under the supervision of Russian garrisons; A clearing was cut through the dense forest to the village of Germenchuk, which served as one of the main defensive points of the Chechen army.

In 1820, the Black Sea Cossack Army (up to 40 thousand people) was included in the Separate Georgian Corps, renamed the Separate Caucasian Corps and also strengthened. In 1821, the Burnaya fortress was built, and the crowds of the Avar Khan Akhmet, who tried to interfere with Russian work, were defeated. The possessions of the Dagestan rulers, who united their forces against Russian troops on the Sunzhenskaya line and suffered a series of defeats in 1819-1821, were either transferred to Russian vassals with subordination to Russian commandants, or became dependent on Russia, or were liquidated. On the right flank of the line, the Trans-Kuban Circassians, with the help of the Turks, began to disturb the borders more than ever; but their army, which invaded the land of the Black Sea army in October 1821, was defeated.

In 1822, to completely pacify the Kabardians, a series of fortifications were built at the foot of the Black Mountains, from Vladikavkaz to the upper reaches of the Kuban. In 1823 - 1824 The actions of the Russian command were directed against the Trans-Kuban highlanders, who did not stop their raids. A number of punitive expeditions were carried out against them.

In Dagestan in the 1820s. A new Islamic movement began to spread - muridism (one of the directions in Sufism). Ermolov, having visited Cuba in 1824, ordered Aslankhan of Kazikumukh to stop the unrest caused by the followers of the new teaching. But he was distracted by other matters and could not monitor the execution of this order, as a result of which the main preachers of Muridism, Mulla-Mohammed, and then Kazi-Mulla, continued to inflame the minds of the mountaineers in Dagestan and Chechnya and proclaim the proximity of gazavat, that is, a holy war against the infidels . The movement of the mountain people under the flag of Muridism was the impetus for expanding the scope of the Caucasian War, although some mountain peoples (Kumyks, Ossetians, Ingush, Kabardians, etc.) did not join this movement.

In 1825, there was a general uprising of Chechnya, during which the highlanders managed to capture the Amiradzhiyurt post (July 8) and tried to take the Gerzel fortification, rescued by the detachment of Lieutenant General D.T. Lisanevich (July 15). The next day, Lisanevich and General Grekov, who was with him, were killed by the Chechens. The uprising was suppressed in 1826.

From the very beginning of 1825, the coasts of the Kuban again began to be subject to raids by large parties of Shapsugs and Abadzekhs; The Kabardians also became worried. In 1826, a number of expeditions were made to Chechnya, cutting down clearings in dense forests, laying new roads and restoring order in villages free from Russian troops. This ended the activities of Ermolov, who in 1827 was recalled by Nicholas I from the Caucasus and sent into retirement for his connections with the Decembrists.

Period 1827--1835 associated with the beginning of the so-called gazavat - the sacred struggle against the infidels. The new Commander-in-Chief of the Caucasian Corps, Adjutant General I.F. Paskevich abandoned a systematic advance with the consolidation of the occupied territories and returned mainly to the tactics of individual punitive expeditions, especially since at first he was mainly occupied with wars with Persia and Turkey. The successes he achieved in these wars contributed to maintaining external calm in the country; but muridism spread more and more, and Kazi-Mulla, proclaimed imam in December 1828 and the first to call for ghazavat, sought to unite the hitherto scattered tribes of the Eastern Caucasus into one mass hostile to Russia. Only the Avar Khanate refused to recognize his power, and Kazi-Mulla’s attempt (in 1830) to take control of Khunzakh ended in defeat. After this, the influence of Kazi-Mulla was greatly shaken, and the arrival of new troops sent to the Caucasus after the conclusion of peace with Turkey forced him to flee from his residence, the Dagestan village of Gimry, to the Belokan Lezgins.

In 1828, in connection with the construction of the Military-Sukhumi road, the Karachay region was annexed. In 1830, another defensive line was created - Lezginskaya. In April 1831, Count Paskevich-Erivansky was recalled to command the army in Poland; in his place were temporarily appointed commanders of the troops: in Transcaucasia - General N.P. Pankratiev, on the Caucasian line - General A.A. Velyaminov.

Kazi-Mulla transferred his activities to the Shamkhal possessions, where, having chosen as his location the inaccessible tract Chumkesent (not far from Temir-Khan-Shura), he began to call all the mountaineers to fight the infidels. His attempts to take the fortresses of Burnaya and Vnezapnaya failed; but the movement of General G.A. was also unsuccessful. Emanuel to the Aukhov forests. The last failure, greatly exaggerated by the mountain messengers, increased the number of Kazi-Mulla’s followers, especially in central Dagestan, so that in 1831 Kazi-Mulla took and plundered Tarki and Kizlyar and attempted, but unsuccessfully, with the support of the rebel Tabasarans (one of the mountain peoples Dagestan) to capture Derbent. Significant territories (Chechnya and most of Dagestan) came under the authority of the imam. However, from the end of 1831 the uprising began to decline. The detachments of Kazi-Mulla were pushed back to Mountainous Dagestan. Attacked on December 1, 1831 by Colonel M.P. Miklashevsky, he was forced to leave Chumkesent and went to Gimry. Appointed in September 1831, the commander of the Caucasian Corps, Baron Rosen, took Gimry on October 17, 1832; Kazi-Mulla died during the battle.

Gamzat-bek was proclaimed the second imam, who, thanks to military victories, rallied around himself almost all the peoples of Mountainous Dagestan, including some of the Avars. In 1834, he invaded Avaria, treacherously took possession of Khunzakh, exterminated almost the entire khan’s family, which adhered to a pro-Russian orientation, and was already thinking about conquering all of Dagestan, but died at the hands of an assassin. Soon after his death and the proclamation of Shamil as the third imam, on October 18, 1834, the main stronghold of the Murids, the village of Gotsatl, was taken and destroyed by a detachment of Colonel Kluki von Klugenau. Shamil's troops retreated from Avaria.

On the Black Sea coast, where the highlanders had many convenient points for communication with the Turks and trading in slaves (the Black Sea coastline did not yet exist), foreign agents, especially the British, distributed anti-Russian appeals among the local tribes and delivered military supplies. This forced Baron Rosen to instruct General A.A. Velyaminov (in the summer of 1834) a new expedition to the Trans-Kuban region to establish a cordon line to Gelendzhik. It ended with the construction of fortifications of Abinsky and Nikolaevsky.

So, the third imam was the Avar Shamil, originally from the village. Gimry. It was he who managed to create the imamate - a united mountain state on the territory of Dagestan and Chechnya, which lasted until 1859.

The main functions of the imamate were the defense of the territory, ideology, ensuring law and order, economic development, and solving fiscal and social problems. Shamil managed to unite the multi-ethnic region and form a coherent centralized system of government. The head of state - the great imam, “father of the country and checkers” - was a spiritual, military and secular leader, had enormous authority and a decisive voice. All life in the mountain state was built on the basis of Sharia - the laws of Islam. Year after year, Shamil replaced the unwritten law of customs with laws based on Sharia. Among his most important acts was the abolition of serfdom. The Imamate had an effective armed force, including cavalry and foot militia. Each branch of the military had its own division.

The new commander-in-chief, Prince A.I. Baryatinsky, paid his main attention to Chechnya, the conquest of which he entrusted to the head of the left wing of the line, General N.I. Evdokimov - an old and experienced Caucasian; but in other parts of the Caucasus the troops did not remain inactive. In 1856 and 1857 Russian troops achieved the following results: the Adagum Valley was occupied on the right wing of the line and the Maikop fortification was built. On the left wing, the so-called “Russian road”, from Vladikavkaz, parallel to the ridge of the Black Mountains, to the fortification of Kurinsky on the Kumyk plane, is completely completed and strengthened by newly built fortifications; wide clearings have been cut in all directions; the mass of the hostile population of Chechnya has been driven to the point of having to submit and move to open areas, under state supervision; The Aukh district is occupied and a fortification has been erected in its center. In Dagestan, Salatavia is finally occupied. Several new Cossack villages were established along Laba, Urup and Sunzha. The troops are everywhere close to the front lines; the rear is secured; vast expanses of the best lands are cut off from the hostile population and, thus, a significant share of the resources for the fight are wrested from the hands of Shamil.

On the Lezgin line, as a result of deforestation, predatory raids gave way to petty theft. On the Black Sea coast, the secondary occupation of Gagra marked the beginning of securing Abkhazia from incursions by Circassian tribes and from hostile propaganda. The actions of 1858 in Chechnya began with the occupation of the Argun River gorge, which was considered impregnable, where N.I. Evdokimov ordered the foundation of a strong fortification, called Argunsky. Climbing up the river, he reached, at the end of July, the villages of the Shatoevsky society; in the upper reaches of the Argun he founded a new fortification - Evdokimovskoye. Shamil tried to divert attention by sabotage to Nazran, but was defeated by a detachment of General I.K. Mishchenko and barely managed to escape into the still unoccupied part of the Argun Gorge. Convinced that his power there had been completely undermined, he retired to Veden - his new residence. On March 17, 1859, the bombardment of this fortified village began, and on April 1 it was taken by storm.

Shamil fled beyond the Andean Koisu; all of Ichkeria declared its submission to us. After the capture of Veden, three detachments headed concentrically to the Andean Koisu valley: Chechen, Dagestan and Lezgin. Shamil, who temporarily settled in the village of Karata, fortified Mount Kilitl, and covered the right bank of the Andean Koisu, opposite Conkhidatl, with solid stone rubble, entrusting their defense to his son Kazi-Magoma. With any energetic resistance from the latter, forcing the crossing at this point would cost enormous sacrifices; but he was forced to leave his strong position as a result of the troops of the Dagestan detachment entering his flank, who made a remarkably courageous crossing across the Andean Koisu at the Sagytlo tract. Shamil, seeing danger threatening from everywhere, fled to his last refuge on Mount Gunib, having with him only 332 people. the most fanatical murids from all over Dagestan. On August 25, Gunib was taken by storm, and Shamil himself was captured by Prince A.I. Baryatinsky.

Conquest of Circassia (1859--1864). The capture of Gunib and the capture of Shamil could be considered the last act of the war in the Eastern Caucasus; but there still remained the western part of the region, inhabited by warlike tribes hostile to Russia. It was decided to conduct actions in the Trans-Kuban region in accordance with the system adopted in recent years. The native tribes had to submit and move to the places indicated to them on the plane; otherwise, they were pushed further into the barren mountains, and the lands they left behind were populated by Cossack villages; finally, after pushing the natives from the mountains to the seashore, they could either move to the plain, under our closest supervision, or move to Turkey, in which it was supposed to provide them with possible assistance. To quickly implement this plan, I.A. Baryatinsky decided, at the beginning of 1860, to strengthen the troops of the right wing with very large reinforcements; but the uprising that broke out in the newly calmed Chechnya and partly in Dagestan forced us to temporarily abandon this. Actions against the small gangs there, led by stubborn fanatics, dragged on until the end of 1861, when all attempts at indignation were finally suppressed. Then only it was possible to begin decisive operations on the right wing, the leadership of which was entrusted to the conqueror of Chechnya, N.I. Evdokimov. His troops were divided into 2 detachments: one, Adagumsky, operated in the land of the Shapsugs, the other - from Laba and Belaya; a special detachment was sent to operate in the lower reaches of the river. Pshish. In autumn and winter, Cossack villages are established in the Natukhai district. The troops operating from the direction of Laba completed the construction of villages between Laba and Belaya and cut through the entire foothill space between these rivers with clearings, which forced the local communities to partly move to the plane, partly to go beyond the pass of the Main Range.

At the end of February 1862, Evdokimov’s detachment moved to the river. Pshekh, to which, despite the stubborn resistance of the Abadzekhs, a clearing was cut and a convenient road was laid. All inhabitants living between the Khodz and Belaya rivers were ordered to immediately move to Kuban or Laba, and within 20 days (from March 8 to 29), up to 90 villages were resettled. At the end of April, N.I. Evdokimov, having crossed the Black Mountains, descended into the Dakhovskaya Valley along the road that the mountaineers considered inaccessible to us, and set up a new Cossack village there, closing the Belorechenskaya line. Our movement deep into the Trans-Kuban region was met everywhere by desperate resistance from the Abadzekhs, reinforced by the Ubykhs and other tribes; but the enemy’s attempts could not be crowned with serious success anywhere. The result of the summer and autumn actions of 1862 on the part of Belaya was the strong establishment of Russian troops in the space limited on the west by the rivers Pshish, Pshekha and Kurdzhips.

At the beginning of 1863, the only opponents of Russian rule throughout the Caucasus region were the mountain societies on the northern slope of the Main Range, from Adagum to Belaya, and the coastal tribes of Shapsugs, Ubykhs, etc., who lived in the narrow space between the sea coast and the southern slope The main ridge, the Aderby valley and Abkhazia. The final conquest of the country fell to the lot of Grand Duke Mikhail Nikolaevich, appointed governor of the Caucasus. In 1863, the actions of the troops of the Kuban region. should have consisted of spreading Russian colonization of the region simultaneously from two sides, relying on the Belorechensk and Adagum lines. These actions were so successful that they put the mountaineers of the northwestern Caucasus in a hopeless situation. Already from mid-summer 1863, many of them began to move to Turkey or to the southern slope of the ridge; most of them submitted, so that by the end of summer the number of immigrants settled on the plane, along the Kuban and Laba, reached 30 thousand people. At the beginning of October, the Abadzekh elders came to Evdokimov and signed an agreement according to which all their fellow tribesmen who wanted to accept Russian citizenship pledged no later than February 1, 1864 to begin moving to the places indicated by him; the rest were given 2 1/2 months to move to Turkey.

The conquest of the northern slope of the ridge was completed. All that remained was to move to the southwestern slope in order to, going down to the sea, clear the coastal strip and prepare it for settlement. On October 10, our troops climbed to the very pass and in the same month occupied the river gorge. Pshada and the mouth of the river. Dzhubgi. The beginning of 1864 was marked by unrest in Chechnya, stirred up by followers of the new Muslim sect of Zikr; but these unrest were soon pacified. In the western Caucasus, the remnants of the highlanders of the northern slope continued to move to Turkey or to the Kuban plane; from the end of February, actions began on the southern slope, which ended in May with the conquest of the Abkhaz tribe Akhchipsou, in the upper reaches of the river. Mzymty. The masses of native inhabitants were pushed back to the seashore and were taken to Turkey by arriving Turkish ships. On May 21, 1864, in the camp of the united Russian columns, in the presence of the Grand Duke Commander-in-Chief, a thanksgiving prayer service was served to mark the end of a long struggle that had cost Russia countless victims.

Results and consequences of the war

The process of integration of the North Caucasus was a unique event in its own way. It reflected both traditional schemes that corresponded to the national policy of the empire in the annexed lands, as well as its own specifics, determined by the relationship between the Russian authorities and the local population and the policy of the Russian state in the process of establishing its influence in the Caucasus region.

The geopolitical position of the Caucasus determined its importance in expanding Russia's spheres of influence in Asia. Most assessments of contemporaries - participants in military operations in the Caucasus and representatives of Russian society show that they understood the meaning of Russia's struggle for the Caucasus.

In general, contemporaries’ understanding of the problem of establishing Russian power in the Caucasus shows that they sought to find the most optimal options for ending hostilities in the region. Most representatives of government authorities and Russian society were united by the understanding that the integration of the Caucasus and local peoples into the common socio-economic and cultural space of the Russian Empire required some time.

The results of the Caucasian War were Russia’s conquest of the North Caucasus and its achievement of the following goals:

· strengthening the geopolitical position;

· strengthening influence on the states of the Near and Middle East through the North Caucasus as a military-strategic springboard;

· acquisition of new markets for raw materials and sales on the outskirts of the country, which was the goal of the colonial policy of the Russian Empire.

The Caucasian War had enormous geopolitical consequences. Reliable communications were established between Russia and its Transcaucasian lands due to the fact that the barrier separating them, which was the territories not controlled by Russia, disappeared. After the end of the war, the situation in the region became much more stable. Raids and rebellions began to happen less frequently, largely because the indigenous population in the occupied territories became much smaller. The slave trade on the Black Sea, which had previously been supported by Turkey, completely ceased. For the indigenous peoples of the region, a special system of government, adapted to their political traditions, was established - the military-people's system. The population was given the opportunity to decide their internal affairs according to folk customs (adat) and Sharia law.

However, Russia provided itself with problems for a long time by including “restless”, freedom-loving peoples - echoes of this can be heard to this day. The events and consequences of this war are still painfully perceived in the historical memory of many peoples of the region and significantly affect interethnic relations.