THE CHECHEN

STRUGGLE FOR
INDEPENDENCE

Shahina Gantiwala
December 3, 2015
SJI

FACTS ABOUT THE CHECHEN

REPUBLIC
- categorized as part of Asia-Pacific
- currently part of the Russian Federation
- Head of Government: Ramzan Kadyrov
- Religion: majority = Islam, minority = Russian Orthodox
- Legislature: Parliament
- Established: January 10, 1993
- Population: 1,346,500
- Official languages: Chechen, Russian
- Natural resources: oil, natural gas, minerals (spas), foods, wines, and
fruit

HISTORY
- 17th century: Recognized as distinct people
- 1818- 1917: Ongoing war with Russia
- 1858: Russia defeated Imam Shamil; absorbed Chechnya
- 1922: Chechen autonomous region established; forms republic in 1934
- 1944: Operation Lentil by Stalin; 400-800,000 people (100,000+ dead)
- 1957: Nikita Khruschev restores republic of Chechen and Ingush people

OPERATION LENTIL

1944: Chechen-Ingush people waiting to be

deported

HISTORY CONTINUED
- 1991: Soviet Union collapses Dzhokar Dudayev proclaims Chechnya
independent of Russia
- 1992: Chechnya adopts own constitution defined by independent secular
state ruled by president and parliament
- 1994-1996: First Chechen War
100,000+ killed
Mostly Chechen civilians

1997: peace treaty signed, but the issue of Chechen independence is not
resolved.
-

- 1999-2009: Second Chechen War

Russia invades Chechnya
25,000 50,000 + people dead or missing (those that were accounted for)

- 2010-current: Chechnya being rebuilt by Kremlin

1995: Grozny

CHECHNYA TODAY
Grozny at night

Women in turmoil

CITATIONS
BBC News. BBC, 03 Mar. 2007. Web. 28 Nov. 2015.
"Chechnya Redux - General Shit Talk."My Posting Career. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Nov.
2015.
"Crisis in Chechnya."- Global Issues. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Nov. 2015
"Grozny City. Grozny, Chechnya."Zastavki.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Nov. 2015.
"Map of Chechnya - Map of Dagestan Russia."- World Atlas. N.p., n.d. Web. 28
Nov. 2015.
"Russia-chechnya-war-eru102563.jpg | The Jeremy Nicholl Archive."Russiachechnya-war-eru102563.jpg | The Jeremy Nicholl Archive. N.p., n.d. Web. 28
Nov. 2015.
Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 28 Nov. 2015.