Russia is often referred to as a "fighting nation," and in fact, there is a country that is more fierce than Russia, and that is Chechnya. In order to end this Russian-Ukrainian conflict as soon as possible, Russia sent Chechen troops to Ukraine, and at present, Chechen troops have occupied a large military base in Ukraine, smashed a nationalist battalion, and captured a large number of weapons and ammunition. However, in history, Chechnya has not submitted to Russia, and even let the Russian defense minister be punched in the face, how strong is Chechnya that can make the "hairy bear" cry? How did Russia bring it under its wing? Click on it and start talking now!
Located in the northern foothills of the Caucasus Mountains, Chechnya, although not part of the orthodox route connecting Asia-Europe trade routes, is the only way to pass through North Ossetia because of its relatively flat terrain. The geographical location is dangerous, which will lead to multi-party competition. Living in the mountains, let the Chechen people get used to this harsh living environment, live a similar life to the nomads, they advocate the use of violence to solve problems, whose fist is strong enough is the boss, over time, the local formation of a tough folk customs.
Before Putin, Lenin, Stalin, Yeltsin, and other leaders of the Soviet Union and Russia had failed to conquer Chechnya. Not only that, but many people believe that Chechnya and Russia are incompatible, and the reason why Chechens hate Russia can be traced back to 5 centuries ago. Between the 17th and 18th centuries, Chechnya was subjected to competition from persia, the Ottoman Empire, and the Russian Empire, which led to more than two centuries of war. Prior to this, the Ottoman Empire had already begun to invade the Chechen region since the 15th century. Perennial conquest has not only made the Chechen people suffer a lot, but also tempered their will and fighting ability, making them more advocating force.
Since the beginning of the 19th century, the Imam state of the Caucasus has continuously expanded its territory, and even directly touched the territory of Russia, russia launched a large-scale war in a rage, and in 1859, the imam state was completely annihilated, and Chechnya, which had been included in the territory of the imam state earlier, naturally merged into the Russian territory. After being occupied by Russia, the Chechen people never stopped resisting, countless riots occurred, and Russia paid a huge price in order to suppress the crazy Chechen army and civilians.
In 1867, the Russians began to impose tyranny on Chechnya, which had been temporarily pacified, provoking fierce resistance from all the Chechen military and civilians. In 1875, Russian troops carried out another inhumane mass killing of Chechnya. After several violent crackdowns, two different voices appeared in the Chechen region, some of whom believed that there should be an armistice and peaceful coexistence with Russia, and some of whom were pro-Russian factions; and some of whom believed that they should persevere to the end and fight resolutely for the independence of the country, and this part of the people were the anti-Russian factions.
After several more large-scale massacres, the anti-Russian faction in Chechnya has been almost completely annihilated, and those who were not annihilated have also chosen to surrender. After The beginning of industrialization in Russia, the Chechen region was basically calm. But this calm is nothing more than an illusion before the storm.
How terrifying are the disobedient Chechens? During World War II, when the Soviet Union and Germany were fighting each other, the Chechens, who had been quiet for a long time, secretly colluded with Hitler, hoping to use Germany's strength to help Chechnya regain its independence. Fighting in the nest is a common thing, but Chechnya actually chose to defect to the enemy Germany, which made it difficult for the Soviet Union to accept.
Furious when Stalin learned of this, he directly ordered the execution of 10,000 Chechens, sent 30,000 Chechens to prison, 50,000 in concentration camps, and the last 300,000 Chechens, he chose to exile them in batches to Siberia and Central Asia. Siberia's environment is harsh and the road is difficult, with 140,000 Chechens dying on the road alone, and tens of thousands more lost lives under the bitter cold of Siberia. The exile of Chechens ended only in 1957 during Khrushchev's administration. Although the Chechens have returned to Russia, the exile of more than ten years has filled their hearts with resentment, and they are only full of malice towards the Russians. This hatred was completely unleashed after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
With the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the independence enthusiasm of the people of the regions was unprecedentedly high, that is, during this period, some people took the opportunity to incite hatred and aroused a strong anti-Russian independence sentiment among Chechens. In November, Chechnya's then-president, Dudayev, immediately declared Chechnya's independence and formed an army of 60,000 men. Unfortunately, this declaration of independence was not recognized by the Russian Federation.
Russia has repeatedly competed for Chechnya, not only because it once belonged to Russia's history, but mainly to obtain its resources. The Chechnya region is rich in oil and gas resources, which has always been the target of russia's internal forces, and after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia must obtain the resources of Chechnya if it wants to continue the glory of the Soviet Union. One wants independence, one wants resources, and that's what really caused the first Chechen war.
After half a year of struggle, although Russia has not yet verbally recognized the independence of Chechnya, they have withdrawn all administrative organs of the Federation and have recognized it in action. In 1993, the Chechens began committing atrocities against Russians within their borders, forcing them all to leave Chechnya. It seems that by this point, Chechnya has completely separated from Russia and become an independent country, but it is easy to fight and defend.
Chechens have always had a strong nomadic character, the style of life is very primitive, robbery, theft, kidnapping and other vicious incidents occur from time to time, coupled with the territory of Chechnya is ruled by religious and ethnic extremism, the country is not to say modern, even basic sustainable development can not be done. For a long time, Chechnya's main source of income was counterfeit currency and ransom. On the other hand, the Western forces led by the United States are also secretly financing Chechnya, in order to balance Russia's power by the hand of Chechnya.
In December 1994, three russian armies entered Chechnya territory, and then Defense Minister Grachev said contemptuously:
"It only takes an airborne battalion to take Grozny in a few days."
Grozny is the capital of Chechnya, and the result of the war also made Grachev be severely beaten in the face, 80,000 Russian troops were unable to defeat 20,000 Chechen soldiers, and how terrible was Chechnya that made the "woolly bear" cry? After the outbreak of the First Chechen War, Russia, with its strong military strength, quickly broke through the external defenses of Chechnya, and three troops advanced from the east, west and north to Grozny, the capital of Chechnya. It was here, however, that the famous "Grozny Street Battle" took place. After the Arrival of Russian Paratroopers in Grozny, Chechen troops relied on the terrain to engage in fierce street battles with the Russians, and overnight, more than 1,000 Russian troops were killed.
No matter how brave the Chechens are, they are also difficult to defeat with two fists and four hands, although the street battles have caused heavy casualties to the Russian army, but their strong military strength has still made Chechnya defeated and retreated. The Chechens retreated and fought, and on the way they carried out inhumane massacres of local Russians and prisoners of war. The madness of the Chechens aroused a very strong anti-war consciousness among the Russian people, and under the constant pressure of the people, Yeltsin chose to retreat and signed a ceasefire agreement with Chechnya. In this way, the battle was lost both, the President of Chechnya was killed, and the Russian army suffered more than 20,000 casualties, and at the same time, more than 100,000 civilians were killed.
In the first Chechen war, the Russian army paid a terrible price, still failed to successfully recover Chechnya, but made Chechnya famous. Things always have to be resolved, and with the intensification of the Contradictions between Russia and The Car, the Second Chechen War broke out, which was the period when Putin began to enter the center of the Russian political arena. In August 1999, the second Chechen war officially began, and with the lessons of the last time, Putin did not rush to the scene, but formulated detailed tactics and adopted extremely tough measures, he once said:
"Catch him at the airport and shoot him at the airport, drown him in the toilet, and all the problems will eventually be solved."
Under Putin's iron fist, on June 15, 2000, Russia won a comprehensive victory in the war at the cost of more than 7,000 casualties. In this battle, the Russian army eliminated more than 20,000 Chechen soldiers, and the local armed forces were severely damaged. However, this alone is not enough to make the tough Chechens truly convinced.
On 23 October 2002, a group of illegal Chechen armed men broke into a theater in Moscow, took more than 850 hostages and threatened the immediate transfer of Russian troops from all troops stationed in Chechnya. This time, Putin's choice was different from Yeltsin's, instead of backing down, he chose to confront the kidnappers head-on. Before the operation, he first had the army anesthetize everyone in the performance hall to protect the hostages, but in the rain of bullets, a large number of hostages were unfortunately killed, and all the kidnappers were killed. This incident made the Russian government suspicious of the masses, but it made the Chechens see Putin's tough attitude.
On 1 September 2004, 33 illegal Chechen militants again launched a horrific kidnapping operation, this time kidnapping more than 1,200 teachers, students and parents of a school. This time, the Russians still did not choose to accede to the kidnappers' demands, but tried to fight with them, and finally, after paying the price of 334 people, the terrorist incident ended with the victory of the Russian army.
Since the Chechens advocate force, Putin has truly subdued them in the same way, and chechnya has become a solid backing for Russia.