From Conquest to Deportation

For more than two centuries the remote and mountainous region of the North Caucasus has been either partly or wholly under Russian rule. Of all the frontier lands of Russia’s vast empire – known for seven decades as the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics – this has often been the most troublesome to its masters. The topography of the North Caucasus, with mountains and valleys dividing it into a great number of separate communities often with separate languages, makes it a complex area to study and a difficult one to write about as a totality. Each of the main indigenous ethnic groups, which include the Ingush, Chechen, Dagestanis, Kabardino-Balkars, Karachais, and Ossetes, has at least one distinct language of its own, as well as dialects. More important still are the differences – not always defined by ethnicity – in culture, religion, social traditions and organisation, and political thought. Perović is Professor of Eastern European History at the University of Zurich and a specialist in Russian and Soviet history. His book was originally written in German; it gives the impression of having been very ably translated. The author writes both lucidly and succinctly, taking the reader through two centuries of Russian influence, rule, or domination in a skilfully composed, well-documented text. It is to a great extent a story of conflict, as it remains today despite current appearances. The deportations referred to are the exile of great numbers of North Caucasians to Ottoman in territory in 1864, and the more lethal mass transportations of Chechens, Ingush and others to Central Asia by order of Stalin in 1943–1944. Russian policies vis-à-vis Islam and Muslims do feature in the book, though not very prominently.