Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- Notes on the Contributors
- Map 1 Chechnya
- Map 2 The Caucasus region
- 1 Introduction: Why Chechnya?
- 2 Chechnya in Russia and Russia in Chechnya
- 3 Chechnya and Tatarstan: Differences in Search of an Explanation
- 4 The Chechen War in the Context of Contemporary Russian Politics
- 5 A Multitude of Evils: Mythology and Political Failure in Chechnya
- 6 Chechnya and the Russian Military: A War Too Far?
- 7 The Chechen Wars and the Struggle for Human Rights
- 8 Dynamics of a Society at War: Ethnographical Aspects
- 9 Chechnya: The Breaking Point
- 10 Globalisation, ‘New Wars’, and the War in Chechnya
- 11 Western Views of the Chechen Conflict
- 12 A War by Any Other Name: Chechnya, 11 September and the War Against Terrorism
- 13 The Peace Process in Chechnya
- Afterword
- Appendix 1 The Khasavyurt Peace Agreement
- Appendix 2 Treaty on Peace and the Principles of Mutual Relations between the Russian Federation and the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria
- Further Reading
4 - The Chechen War in the Context of Contemporary Russian Politics
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 March 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- Notes on the Contributors
- Map 1 Chechnya
- Map 2 The Caucasus region
- 1 Introduction: Why Chechnya?
- 2 Chechnya in Russia and Russia in Chechnya
- 3 Chechnya and Tatarstan: Differences in Search of an Explanation
- 4 The Chechen War in the Context of Contemporary Russian Politics
- 5 A Multitude of Evils: Mythology and Political Failure in Chechnya
- 6 Chechnya and the Russian Military: A War Too Far?
- 7 The Chechen Wars and the Struggle for Human Rights
- 8 Dynamics of a Society at War: Ethnographical Aspects
- 9 Chechnya: The Breaking Point
- 10 Globalisation, ‘New Wars’, and the War in Chechnya
- 11 Western Views of the Chechen Conflict
- 12 A War by Any Other Name: Chechnya, 11 September and the War Against Terrorism
- 13 The Peace Process in Chechnya
- Afterword
- Appendix 1 The Khasavyurt Peace Agreement
- Appendix 2 Treaty on Peace and the Principles of Mutual Relations between the Russian Federation and the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria
- Further Reading
Summary
In December 1994, the Russian federal authorities launched their first attempt to suppress Chechen separatism by military action. After fierce fighting, the Russian army brought practically the whole territory of the republic under its formal control. It was at this point, however, that a guerrilla war started, and the Russian forces began to suffer defeats and considerable losses. According to official figures (probably understated), the military action of 1994–6 cost the lives of more than 30,000 Chechens, and 5,300 Russian soldiers. This war, the economic cost of which is estimated at $5.5 billion (not including the cost of rebuilding the ruined Chechen economy and social sector), was among the main causes of the Russian economic crisis of August 1998, when the state found itself unable to honour its immense debts.
The two-year military operation ended with the signing of the so-called Khasavyurt agreement in August 1996, which allowed for presidential and parliamentary elections in Chechnya. The Russian authorities recognized the winner of the presidential elections, Aslan Maskhadov, as the legitimate head of a Chechen Republic as part of the Russian Federation; this was confirmed by a raft of legislation. In March 1997 Maskhadov went to Moscow and signed a treaty with the President of Russia, Boris Yeltsin, by which both sides committed themselves to seeking only peaceful solutions to disputes arising between the Russian Federation and the Chechen Republic.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- ChechnyaFrom Past to Future, pp. 67 - 78Publisher: Anthem PressPrint publication year: 2005