Chechen Republic: Steps towards a Nation-State

Conflict in the breakaway Russian province of Chechnya has been a brutal process of nationalist geopolitics. The struggle is about, on the one hand, the territorial integrity of Russia and, on the other hand, the desire by Chechens for their independent country. The population of Chechnya is approximately one million and Chechens and Ingushes are the dominant ethnic groups in the region. Most Chechens are Sunni Muslims. Grozny is the capital and largest city.

Historical Background

• In1893, while industrialization was sweeping over Russia, oil was discovered in Chechnya (which was at this time a part of Russia)—the area became increasingly important to Russia. In 1890s, Russia built the Vladikaukaz railroad line through Chechnya—Chechnya was a key route to southern regions of Russia. By 1914, Chechen oil comprised 14 percent of Russia’s oil production.
• In 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.
• In 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”. 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.
• In 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 employment”.
• In 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”.

Struggle for a Nation-State

• There is a fight over the establishment of Chechnya as an independent nation-state as the Muslim majority driven by the nationalism.
• Many Chechens believed in a harsh break from Russia, and the construction of an Islamic state “encompassing Chechnya and Dagestan and perhaps other Muslim peoples of the North Caucasus”. The nationalist visions of Chechnya rested upon a shared and dominant history of injustice at the hands of the Russian government, dating from Stalin’s regime.
• After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 on November 1—Dzhokhar Dudayev, after winning a presidential poll, proclaims Chechnya independent of Russia. 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.
• In 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.
• In 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.
• 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.

Hostility in Russia against Chechens and Ingushetia

• Residents of Moscow were hostile to Chechen and Ingushetia refugees, especially after the hostage, bombings and kidnapping activities claimed by Chechen fighters.
• Various abuses of ethnic Chechens in Moscow that include: arbitrary identity checks and detention, the planting of drugs or weapons, obstruction of registration in Moscow, harassment of unregistered Chechens in schools, and pressure on landlords to evict Chechen tenants.
• However, the development of terrorist attacks has resulted in a greater support for the war among Russian civilians. For example, the bombing of an apartment building that housed only civilians, and other terrorist attacks, had “a traumatic and galvanizing effect on Russian public opinion, comparable to what happened in the United States after the attacks of September 11, 2001. They provoked widespread and uncritical support for expanding the war against Chechnya”.
• Popular sentiment in Russia toward the conflict is a combination of animosity toward the Chechens, especially the refugees, but also discomfort over the conduct of the war, and the situation of the draftees.

Internal geopolitics on Chechnya

• Russian policy toward Chechnya has been contested, though on the whole the attitude of the political parties is toward a violent end of the conflict to maintain Chechnya as part of Russia. United Russia, a pro-Putin party, hated by Chechen separatists, wishes that Chechnya remain a part of Russia. The Communist Party (of the Soviet Union/of the Russian Federation) also wants Chechnya to remain part of Russia.
• Vladimir Putin using the US’s War on Terrorism as a vehicle to strengthen his commitment to the conflict and justify its continuation. Putin made links between Chechen terrorists and al-Qaeda, saying that some of the fighters were trained in the same Afghan camps. Prior to the beginning of the War on Terror, the countries of the EU were very critical of Russia’s handling of the Chechen issue.
• Russia used this opportunity to convince the rest of the world of its shared values. For example, at a meeting of the world economic leaders in February 2002, Russia’s Prime Minister Mikhail Kasianov said “Russia understands better than any other nation what has happened in America”.
• There are also different views of the conflict from the Chechen perspective. Though a sense of national identity is shared, some, such as, the Chechen leader, Maskhadov, fought for a moderate form of independence—with a peaceful break from Russia, followed by cooperation with Moscow and other regional neighbors.

Conclusion

Nationalist sentiments have risen from the continued fight with Russia: “The deportations failed to break Chechen resistance and instead contributed to an abiding attachment to the homeland and a smoldering sense of grievances”. This conflict is likely to continue. Given the role of Russia as ally in the War on Terror, producer of oil and natural gas, and influential power in Central Asia and Trans-Caucus region, Chechnya will be a part of the geopolitical calculations of Russia and other countries.