Wikipedia

Draft:Russian conquest of Kabarda


Russian conquest of Kabarda
Part of Russo-Circassian War
Date1818-1822
Location
Circassia
Result Russian victory
Belligerents
Russian Empire Russian Empire Circassia Circassia
Commanders and leaders
Russian Empire Aleksey Yermolov Circassia Shuwpagwe Qalawebateqo
Strength
50,000+ 30,000+
Casualties and losses
Heavy Heavy

History

edit
 
Russian military camp in the Caucasus

In 1817, Russian veteran general Aleksey Yermolov arrived in the Caucasus. Deciding that Circassians would not surrender, General Yermolov concluded that "terror" would be effective.[1] Russia began to destroy Circassian fortresses, villages and towns and slaughter the people.[2][3][1]

In May 1818, the village of Tram was surrounded, burnt, and its inhabitants killed by Russian forces under the command of General Ivan Petrovich Delpotso, who took orders from Yermolov and who then wrote to the rebel forces:[4]

"This time, I am limiting myself on this. In the future, I will have no mercy for the guilty brigands; their villages will be destroyed, properties taken, wives and children will be slaughtered."

— Ivan Petrovich Delpotso

The Russians also constructed several more fortifications during that year. During the whole period from 1779 to 1818, 315,000 of the 350,000 Kabardian Circassians had reportedly been killed by the Russian armies.[4]

These brutal methods annoyed the Circassians even more, and many Circassian nobles, even those who had been in blood feuds for centuries, joined hands to resist harder, many Russian armies were defeated, some completely destroyed. In Europe, especially in England, great sympathy for the Circassians who resisted the Russians was starting to form.[5] In response to persistent Circassian resistance and the failure of their previous policy of building forts, the Russian military began using a strategy of disproportionate retribution for raids. With the goal of imposing stability and authority beyond their current line of control and over the whole Caucasus, Russian troops retaliated by destroying villages or any place that resistance fighters were thought to hide, as well as employing assassinations and executions of whole families.[6]

Understanding that the resistance was reliant on being fed by sympathetic villages, the Russian military also systematically destroyed crops and livestock.[3] These tactics further enraged natives and intensified resistance to Russian rule. The Russians began to counter this by modifying the terrain, in both the environment and the demographics. They cleared forests by roads, destroyed native villages, and often settled new farming communities of Russians or pro-Russian Orthodox peoples. The complete destruction of villages with everyone and everything within them became a standard action by the Russian army and Cossack units, marking the beginning of the Circassian genocide.[7] Nevertheless, the Circassian resistance continued. Villages that had previously accepted Russian rule were found resisting again, much to the ire of Russian commanders.[8] The complete destruction of villages with everyone and everything within them became a standard action by the Russian army and Cossack units, marking the beginning of the Circassian genocide.[7] Nevertheless, the Circassian resistance continued. Villages that had previously accepted Russian rule were found resisting again, much to the ire of Russian commanders.[9]

In September 1820, Russian forces began to forcibly resettle inhabitants of Eastern Circassia. Throughout the conflict, Russia had employed a tactic of divide and rule,[10] and following this, the Russians began to encourage the Karachay-Balkar tribes, who had previously been subjugated by the Circassians, to rise up and join the Russian efforts.[4] Military forces were sent into Kabardia, killing cattle and causing large numbers of inhabitants to flee into the mountains, with the land these inhabitants had once lived on being acquired for the Kuban Cossacks. The entirety of Kabardia (Eastern Circassia) was then declared property of the Russian government.[11]

General Yermolov accelerated his efforts in Kabardia, with the month of March 1822 alone seeing fourteen villages being displaced as Yermolov led expeditions.[4] The construction of new defensive lines in Kabardia led to renewed uprisings, which were eventually crushed and the rebellious lords had their much needed peasant work forces freed by the Russian forces in order to discourage further uprisings. The area was placed under Russian military rule in 1822, as Kabardia eventually fully fell.

Notes

edit
  1. ^ a b Ahmed 2013, p. 161.
  2. ^ King, Ghost of Freedom, p47-49. Quote on p48:This, in turn, demanded...above all the stomach to carry the war to the highlanders themselves, including putting aside any scruples about destroying, forests, and any other place where raiding parties might seek refuge... Targeted assassinations, kidnappings, the killing of entire families and the disproportionate use of force became central to Russian operations...
  3. ^ a b King, Charles (2008). The Ghost of Freedom: A History of the Caucasus. New York City, NY: Oxford University Press. p. 74. ISBN 978-0-19-517775-6.
  4. ^ a b c d Natho, Kadir (2005). "The Russo-Circassian War". Archived from the original on 2022-05-12. Retrieved 2024-07-08.
  5. ^ King, Ghost of Freedom, p93-94
  6. ^ King, Ghost of Freedom, pp. 47–49. Quote on p. 48:This, in turn, demanded ... above all the stomach to carry the war to the highlanders themselves, including putting aside any scruples about destroying, forests, and any other place where raiding parties might seek refuge. ... Targeted assassinations, kidnappings, the killing of entire families and the disproportionate use of force became central to Russian operations...
  7. ^ a b King, Charles (2008). The Ghost of Freedom: A History of the Caucasus. New York City, NY: Oxford University Press. pp. 74–75. ISBN 978-0-19-517775-6.
  8. ^ King, Charles (2008). The Ghost of Freedom: A History of the Caucasus. New York City, NY: Oxford University Press. pp. 93–94. ISBN 978-0-19-517775-6.
  9. ^ King, Charles (2008). The Ghost of Freedom: A History of the Caucasus. New York City, NY: Oxford University Press. pp. 93–94. ISBN 978-0-19-517775-6.
  10. ^ Henze, Paul B. The North Caucasus Barrier: The Russian Advance Towards The Muslim World
  11. ^ Baddeley p.135
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Draft:Russian_conquest_of_Kabarda&oldid=1234061479"