Chiak47
25th April 2003, 18:07
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/europe/chec...ya/history.html (http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/europe/chechnya/history.html)
Less than a decade later, Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, who had ordered numerous purges of the communist party, the military and other ethnic groups, decided the Chechens could not be trusted in such a pivotal region.
Accusing the Chechens of being pro-Nazi, Stalin deported nearly all of them — more than 500,000 men, women and children — to Kazakhstan. He also deported the entire population of neighboring Ingushetia. Stalin's deportation orders were carried out on Feb. 23, 1944, a date that remains a touchstone in Chechen history.
The Chechens stayed in Kazakhstan for more than ten years, isolated from the local Kazakhs and resentful of the Soviets. Following Stalin's death in 1953, the Soviets eased their restrictions on the Chechens and Ingush and almost all had begun to return to their homeland by 1957. Although reports vary widely, experts estimate some 200,000 Chechens died during the exile.
Although the Chechens were allowed to return and their limited republic was restored, the Soviets continued to curtail their ability to practice Islam, and many of the region’s mosques were not rebuilt until well into the 1970s.
Ingushetia would later separate from Chechnya to form its own autonomous republic. When Chechnya declared itself independent of Russia after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Ingush objected, preferring to keep their ties with Moscow.
Richard Clogg, professor of modern Balkan history at the University of London, wrote in a 1995 article for the Times of London that Russia's moves to limit Islam's religious influence in the region only strengthened the Chechens' beliefs.
"Far from crippling the influence of Islam, as the Soviet authorities hoped, such policies simply drove religion even further underground, and the influence of the Sufi tarikats, or religious brotherhoods, if anything, increased," he writes.
The region once again experienced an uneasy calm during the 1970s and 80s, but as the Soviet Union began to unravel, Chechnya once again made a move towards independence. Like prior attempts, the independence movement would soon devolve into a guerilla war between the Russian army and militant separatists aimed at ending more than 150 years of Russian rule.
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Less than a decade later, Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, who had ordered numerous purges of the communist party, the military and other ethnic groups, decided the Chechens could not be trusted in such a pivotal region.
Accusing the Chechens of being pro-Nazi, Stalin deported nearly all of them — more than 500,000 men, women and children — to Kazakhstan. He also deported the entire population of neighboring Ingushetia. Stalin's deportation orders were carried out on Feb. 23, 1944, a date that remains a touchstone in Chechen history.
The Chechens stayed in Kazakhstan for more than ten years, isolated from the local Kazakhs and resentful of the Soviets. Following Stalin's death in 1953, the Soviets eased their restrictions on the Chechens and Ingush and almost all had begun to return to their homeland by 1957. Although reports vary widely, experts estimate some 200,000 Chechens died during the exile.
Although the Chechens were allowed to return and their limited republic was restored, the Soviets continued to curtail their ability to practice Islam, and many of the region’s mosques were not rebuilt until well into the 1970s.
Ingushetia would later separate from Chechnya to form its own autonomous republic. When Chechnya declared itself independent of Russia after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Ingush objected, preferring to keep their ties with Moscow.
Richard Clogg, professor of modern Balkan history at the University of London, wrote in a 1995 article for the Times of London that Russia's moves to limit Islam's religious influence in the region only strengthened the Chechens' beliefs.
"Far from crippling the influence of Islam, as the Soviet authorities hoped, such policies simply drove religion even further underground, and the influence of the Sufi tarikats, or religious brotherhoods, if anything, increased," he writes.
The region once again experienced an uneasy calm during the 1970s and 80s, but as the Soviet Union began to unravel, Chechnya once again made a move towards independence. Like prior attempts, the independence movement would soon devolve into a guerilla war between the Russian army and militant separatists aimed at ending more than 150 years of Russian rule.
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