Gianna Rocca

Block 2
Chechen Terrorism
1. Where in the Russian Federation would you find Chechnya?
Russias Republic of Chechnya is a federal subject of Russia that is located in the
mountainous North Caucasus region, situated in the southernmost part of Eastern Europe.
Chechnya is surrounded on nearly all sides by Russian territory.
2. How are the Chechens different from the Russians?
The Chechens are a largely Muslim ethnic group, who, unlike the Russians, have resisted
Russian rule for the past two hundred years. The Chechens have been fighting with the
Soviet Union for their independence.
3. Did the Chechens gain independence from tsarist Russia after the 1917 Russian
Revolution? Explain.
The Chechens did gain independence from tsarist Russia in 1921, four years after the
1917 Russian Revolution. Chechnya joined four other republics known as KabardinoBalkaria, Karachay-Cherkessia, North Ossetia, and Ingushetia, to form the Mountain
Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. However, this bit of independence Chechnya has
experienced was very brief: the Soviet Union seized control of Chechnya and turned it
into a Soviet province a year later.
4. What did Stalin do to the Chechens during WWII? Why did he do this?
From 1940 t0 1994, Chechen nationalist Khasan Israilov led a revolt against Soviet rule
which subsequently was a rebellion crushed by Soviet troops. Since Stalin accused the
Chechens of collaborating with Nazi invaders, he disbanded the Chechen-Ingush republic
altogether and forcibly deported the entire Chechen population to Siberia and Kazakhstan
during WWII.
5. Who changed their fate, and how was their fate changed?
Stalin's successor, Nikita Khrushchev, was able to change the fate of Chechen by
restoring the province amid de-Stalinization of the Soviet Union Because of Khrushchev,
the Chechens were allowed to return to their homeland in 1957.
6. What was the first Chechen War? [Who started it? When? Why? Results?]
Following the Soviet collapse, separatists in the newly formed Russian Federation
Republic of Chechnya started an independence movement in the early 1990s. The
movement was called the Chechen All-National Congress. Although, Russian President
Boris Yeltsin opposed Chechen independence reasoning that Chechnya was an integral
part of Russia, eventually provoking the First Chechen War. From 1994 to 1996, Russia
fought Chechen guerillas. As a result of the war, tens of thousands of civilians died, and
Russia failed to win control of Chechnya's mountainous terrain, giving Chechnya de facto

independence. However, the following year in May of 1996, Yeltsin signed a ceasefire
with the separatists, and they agreed on a peace treaty.
7. When was the second Chechen War? [Who started it? When? Why? Results?]
Three years later, violence flared again and Chechen militants invaded the neighboring
Russian republic of Dagestan to support a local separatist movement in August 1999. In
addition to the invasion, five bombs exploded in Russia killing almost three hundred
civilians. Due to the Dagestan invasion and the Russian bombings, the events prompted
Russian forces to launch the Second Chechen War, also known as the War in the North
Caucasus. As a result of the war, tens of thousands of Chechens and Russians were killed
or wounded in the two wars, and hundreds of thousands of civilians were displaced. Since
the end of the second war, Chechen separatist activity has diminished until 2008, when
violence began to increase in the North Caucasus.
8. Prior to his death in 2006, the separatist Basayev was deemed to be responsible for the
most notorious event to that point in time. Identify this event. How many deceased
militants in this event were NOT Chechen? Why might this be a significant change in the
Chechen Wars?
In September 2004, Basayev ordered an attack on a school in Beslan, a town in North
Ossetia. This event became the most notorious and devastating attack. More than three
hundred people died in the three-day siege, most of them children. All but one out of the
thirty-two militants were reportedly killed, though only three or four were Chechens.
Since the Chechen Wars, this attack was a significant change because the violence has
generally targeted individual officials and government offices rather than large groups of
civilians.
9. According to the American ambassador to Russia, what terrorist group is assisting the
Chechen rebels? How/why might Americans who were once sympathetic to the Chechen
cause for independence from the Russian Federation have changed?
According to the U.S. ambassador to Russia, the al-Qaeda network has been assisting the
Chechen rebels. The Americans who were once sympathetic to the Chechen cause for
independence from the Russian Federation has changed due to how the Chechen militants
reportedly fought alongside al-Qaeda and Taliban forces against the U.S.-backed
Northern Alliance in late 2001.
10. Do you believe the Russians should grant Chechnya their independence? Why or why
not? [Answer this question in paragraph format (minimum of six sentences).]
I believe that the Russians could grant Chechnya their independence, but under one
exception: if the Chechen agree to put an end to their excessive, ruthless, and unnecessary
behavior. Although, this exception is a tad bit irrational, so I do not believe that the
Russians should not grant independence upon Chechnya for various reasons. First off, it

can be argued that Chechnya is an integral part of Russia: so why grant a republic
complete independence if it is geographically apart of one country? Nevertheless, it
would be quite dangerous if Chechen were able to regulate their own government due to
how there are various terrorist groups that operate in Chechnya. In addition, Chechnya's
long and violent guerrilla war has attracted a small number of Islamist militants from
outside of Chechnya, some of whom are Arab fighters with possible links to al-Qaeda. In
all, Chechnya's violent history and current acts of and participation in violence should
make Chechnya ineligible for independence from Russia.