An examination of Russian imperialism: Russian military and intellectual descriptions of the Caucasians during the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878
Abstract
In nineteenth-century Russia, the Caucasus was a large region composed of various territories and ethnic and religious groups. This region included Circassia, Mingrelia, Georgia, a part of Armenia, the ancient Media, Daghestan and the territories of Suanctians, Ossetians, Abkhazians, Karakalpaks and other mountaineer nations. During the nineteenth century, Persia, Russia and the Ottoman Empire wanted to establish their influence and power on the Caucasus. Due to this conflict, these powers, especially Russia with Persia and Russia with the Ottoman Empire, fought with each other. In this study, focusing mainly on the nineteenth century, I explain why and how Russians occupied the Caucasus because the way Russians occupied and controlled the Caucasus had great impact on relations between them and the Caucasians. Russian conquest, forced migrations and other brutal measures that the Russians used for their conquest of the Caucasus inflicted scars upon the relationships between the invaders and invaded. They influenced the ways in which the Russians and the Caucasians perceived each other. © 2004 Association for the Study of Nationalities.