History of the Russian-Circassian War

Abstract

The last outbreak of hostilities between Russian troops and the Adyghe occurred in 1878. The deportation of the remaining Adyghe to Turkey did not cease until 1910, sometimes several thousand people per year. In 1888, 3,421 people were expelled, in 1890 - 9,153 people, in 1895 - 3,999 people. On March 9, 1857 (seven years before the end of the Caucasian War), the government of the Sultan adopted a law on the resettlement of the highlanders of the North Caucasus to the territory of the Ottoman Empire, which promised that: anyone wishing to move to Turkey will be under the personal protection of the Sultan; the lands provided to the settlers are exempt from all taxes; everyone who moves to Thrace is exempt from military service for 6 years, and to Anatolia - for 12 years. In 1860, three years after the adoption of this law, the Administration for Muhajir (Emigrant) Affairs was established in the Ottoman Empire [Fasih Baderkhan. "The North Caucasian Diaspora in Turkey, Syria and Jordan (the second half of the 19th - first half of the 20th century)". Moscow: Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 2001. p. 25.]. However, as a modern Russian historian, one of the leading experts on Adyghe history, Professor Anzor Kushkhabiyev writes: "On the Ottoman coast of the Black Sea, the Circassian exiles found themselves in rather difficult conditions. Local authorities, not expecting the arrival of such a significant number of Circassians, did not have time to provide them with temporary housing and a minimum of food. The exiles were housed on the coast in tents, empty barracks, etc. Fearing the spread of epidemic diseases among the local population, the authorities created quarantine camps along the coast where the Circassian exiles had gathered. Epidemic diseases (typhus, smallpox), food shortages, and inability to adapt to new climatic conditions caused the death of a significant number of exiles. The Ottoman authorities took certain measures to assist the Circassian exiles. State funds were allocated for their needs; a campaign to collect donations was launched. However, despite these measures, the assistance received by the exiles was insufficient and did not always reach their destination. According to eyewitnesses, in 1863-1864 the number of Circassian exiles who died in the Ottoman Empire amounted to over 100,000 people. According to official data from the Ottoman government in 1867, the number of Circassian exiles in the Ottoman Empire (excluding those killed) was 595,000 people." Review of D. Syromyatnikov's article "War as a means of constructing a nation." A Circassian officer of the Turkish army, Nuri, who endured the hardships of emigration, later recalled: "... We were thrown like dogs into sailboats; suffocating, hungry, ragged, sick, we awaited death as the best for our fate, nothing was taken into account: neither extreme old age, nor illness, nor pregnancy! All the money that your (Russian) government allocated to support the settlers, it all went somewhere, but where? We didn't see them, we were treated like cattle, we were dumped on common beds by the hundreds, without distinguishing who was healthy, who was sick, and thrown out on the nearest Turkish shore. Many of us died, the rest were stuck wherever they could." Soon after, Generals Nuri Pasha and Yusuf Izzet Pasha, having formally resigned from the Ottoman army, took up the posts of commanders-in-chief of the armed forces of Azerbaijan and the North Caucasus, respectively. Many of the officers and soldiers under their command also expressed their willingness to remain in the Caucasus, having concluded military contracts with the aforementioned republics. Only after a note from the British command demanding strict compliance with the terms of the armistice were the new Istanbul authorities forced to give an unambiguous order to evacuate their units from the Caucasian territories they had occupied. At the end of November 1918, the forces led by Yusuf Izzet Pasha left the North Caucasus. Then in the spring of 1919, the Volunteer Army of General Anton Denikin entered the North Caucasus with fighting, and the government of the Mountain Republic was dissolved. In the autumn of the same year, after the victory of the 11th Red Army, members of the Mountain Government emigrated to Turkey and Europe. The first attempt at historical revenge, the implementation of the project of creating an independent Circassia, ended in failure. The project remained a project - for the time being, as many Circassians believed. Meanwhile, bad times for the "Circassian cause" unexpectedly came to Turkey as well.