CHECHNYA - Chechen Republic / Чеченская Республика / Нохчийн Республика

Chechnya (Russian: Чечня́, romanized: Chechnyá; Chechen: Нохчийчоь, Noxçiyçö), officially the Chechen Republic (Russian: Чече́нская Респу́блика, romanized: Chechénskaya Respúblika; Chechen: Нохчийн Республика, Noxçiyn Respublika), is a federal subject (a republic) of the Russian Federation. It is located in the North Caucasus, and within 100 kilometres (62 miles) of the Caspian Sea. The capital of the republic is the city of Grozny. As of the 2010 Russian Census, the republic was reported to have a population of 1,268,989 people. Situated in the eastern part of the North Caucasus, partially in Eastern Europe, Chechnya is surrounded on nearly all sides by Russian Federal territory. In the west, it borders North Ossetia and Ingushetia, in the north, Stavropol Krai, in the east, Dagestan, and to the south, Georgia. Its capital is Grozny. The languages used in the Republic are Chechen and Russian. Chechen belongs to the Vaynakh or North-central Caucasian language family, which also includes Ingush and Batsb. Some scholars place it in a wider North Caucasian languages.

On December 21, 1917, Ingushetia, Chechnya, and Dagestan declared independence from Russia and formed a single state: "United Mountain Dwellers of the North Caucasus" (also known as the Mountainous Republic of the Northern Caucasus) which was recognised by major world powers. The capital of the new state was moved to Temir-Khan-Shura (Dagestan). In 1921 the Russians attacked and occupied the country and forcefully absorbed it into the Soviet state. The Caucasian war for independence restarted, and the government went into exile. During Soviet rule, Chechnya and Ingushetia were combined to form Checheno-Ingush Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. In the 1930s Chechnya was flooded with many Ukrainians fleeing the Holodomor. As a result, many of the Ukrainians settled in Chechen-Ingush ASSR permanently and survived the famine.

Although over 50,000 Chechens and over 12,000 Ingush were fighting against Nazi Germany on the front line (including heroes of the USSR: Abukhadzhi Idrisov, Khanpasha Nuradilov, Movlid Visaitov), and although Nazi German troops were fought to a complete stop at two Chechen-Ingush ASSR cities Malgobek and Ordzhonikidze (renamed to Vladikavkaz) after capturing half of the Caucasus in less than a month; Chechens and Ingush were falsely accused as Nazi supporters and entire nations were deported during Operation Lentil to the Kazakh SSR (later Kazakhstan) in 1944 near the end of World War II where over 60% of Chechen and Ingush populations perished.

The territory of the Chechen-Ingush Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was divided between Stavropol Krai (where Grozny Okrug was formed), the Dagestan ASSR, the North Ossetian ASSR, and the Georgian SSR. The Chechens and Ingush were allowed to return to their land after 1956 during de-Stalinisation under Nikita Khrushchev when Chechen-Ingush Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was restored but both boundaries and ethnic composition of the territory significantly changed. There were many (predominantly Russian) migrants from other parts of the Soviet Union, who often settled in the abandoned family homes of Chechens and Ingushes. The republic lost its Prigorodny District which transferred to North Ossetian ASSR but gained predominantly Russian Naursky District and Shelkovskoy District that is considered the homeland for Terek Cossacks.

The Russification policies towards Chechens continued after 1956, with Russian language proficiency required in many aspects of life to provide Chechens better opportunities for advancement in the Soviet system. On November 26, 1990, the Supreme Council of Chechen-Ingush ASSR adopted the "Declaration of State Sovereignty of the Chechen-Ingush Republic". This declaration was part of the reorganisation of the Soviet Union. This new treaty would have been signed August 22, 1991, which would have transformed 15 republic states into more than 80. The August 19–21, 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt led to the abandonment of this reorganisation.

With the impending dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, an independence movement, the Chechen National Congress, was formed, led by ex-Soviet Air Force general and new Chechen President Dzhokhar Dudayev. It campaigned for the recognition of Chechnya as a separate nation. This movement was opposed by Boris Yeltsin's Russian Federation, which argued that Chechnya had not been an independent entity within the Soviet Union—as the Baltic, Central Asian, and other Caucasian States had—but was part of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and hence did not have a right under the Soviet constitution to secede. It also argued that other republics of Russia, such as Tatarstan, would consider seceding from the Russian Federation if Chechnya were granted that right. Finally, it argued that Chechnya was a major hub in the oil infrastructure of Russia and hence its secession would hurt the country's economy and energy access.

In the ensuing decade, the territory was locked in an ongoing struggle between various factions, usually fighting unconventionally and forgoing the position held by the several successive Russian governments through the current administration.

After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Chechen-Ingush ASSR was split into two parts: the Republic of Ingushetia and the Chechen Republic. The latter proclaimed the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, which sought independence. Following the First Chechen War with Russia, Chechnya gained de facto independence as the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria. Russian federal control was restored during the Second Chechen War. Since then there has been a systematic reconstruction and rebuilding process, though sporadic fighting continues to take place in the mountains and southern regions into 2019.

 

The covers posted by Elita from Grozny on August 27, 2018