Ana Paula Prado Andrea Freer

“The Chechen War”

By

Ana Paula Prado

Sara Tretti

St. Mary High School

August 8, 2014

Mrs. Bonzer Language Arts 9

Have you ever wondered What the Chechen War was and how it was influenced as a mayor battle in the Russians history? It wasn’t a well-know or famous war in the social media or in the news, so most people don’t really know about it. But this doesn’t mean that it is not worth knowing about it. Chechnya, a rebel country, had to fight for its autonomy from Russia in a violent and long-lasting war. Throughout this essay the reader will discover the causes as well as effects that the war caused in this region of the world (Chechnya and Russia). During the first 20^th and 21^st centuries, wars have been common in most parts of the eastern world. During the 1990s a war started to bring devastation to the country of Chechnya; this war is known as the Chechen war.

When and where did this happen? There has always been a long-lasting conflict between Russia and Chechnya; this has included many battles. Russia and Chechnya have been in disagreement since 1994, causing the first phase or first war to begin.

During this first phase, Russia’s goal was to gain control over the mountains of Chechnya, but it was harder than they expected. Chechnya’s soldiers did not permit this to happen. Two years after several confrontations, in 1996, both of the countries signed the “The Khasav-Yurt Accord”, a peace agreement that tried to get rid of "any basis to create ill-feelings between Moscow and Grozny” (Maskhadov).

The Khasav-Yurt Accord lasted about 2 years, and in 1999 the second phase started. Apparently Russia was incapable of respecting the agreement, and once again invaded Chechnya. Now Chechnya was convinced that they would never be able to reach an agreement, and Russia felt the same. Chechnya was fighting for independence, and Russia was fighting for Chechnya to stay as part of Russia.

Both of these wars that happened were in both Russia΄ and Chechnya’s territory. Two of the most affected cities were Grozny and Shatoy Dagestan (important cities for both countries). The second phase of this war is still happening, almost 15 years later and they haven’t been able to decide what to do.

After analyzing when and where the Chechen war is occurring, it is fair to say that the two most involved countries are Russia and Chechnya. But, who is the most impacted from this conflict? Well, both countries have been impacted in different ways. Considering that Russia invaded Chechnya (victim), the most affected cities have been in Chechnya, seriously affecting their citizens. During these past years Chechnya’s citizens have lived in a complete and violent chaos, caused by Russians soldiers. On the other hand, Russia has also suffered some consequences.

If Chechnya gains independence, then other countries will also be encouraged to try for their own. This would bring serious problems to Russia’s power; losing territory for them is not an idea that they like. As you already know, this has been a very long war. Both countries have suffered losses of soldiers. Over the many years the amount of soldiers lost during this conflict has been “150,000 and 160,000 people, this is the total death toll of the two wars in Chechnya” (Djabrailov). Another way in which both countries are being impacted, are the resources (guns, oil, tanks...). The amount of resources used for this war are as extreme as are the lives lost. So basically, both counties have been negatively affected the same amount in different ways causing no benefit to either one.

The Chechen War's main cause is that Chechnya wants its independence from Russia, but Russia doesn't want to give it up. However, there are other contributing reasons to this conflict. It all started because there were protestations in Chechnya to gain its independence. Russia does not want to lose Chechnya, so after the protestations, Russia intervened militarily.

It is very important for Russia to win the war or it will bring them terrible consequences. First of all, Chechnya has a very important supply of oil which brings Russia great economic benefits. If Russia loses the war, the Soviet Union and all Russia's power may fall apart. If Chechnya wins the war, it will gain its independence and this will inspire other Russian's territories to reveal too. Also, Russia could lose very important territories and its resources. According to Nicolla Melloni “The Chechen War resulted from the combination of five major factors: the political instability in Russia; Russia’s desire to maintain its territorial integrity; mismanagement by both Russian and Chechen elites; and the lack of a proper institutional and legal framework.” (Melloni). These factors contributed for the war to start and they also keep the war going on.

Since 1994, war has been fought. There have been constant invasions into Chechnya, as well as many battles. Some battles that occurred during the war are: The Battles of Grozny, Battle of Dolinskoye, Battle of Khankala, and some others. In 1996, the First Chechen War ended, but the peace did not lasted so long because a few years after, the Second War started.

According to Fixit895“The First Russian-Chechen ended in 1996 when Chechen rebels captured Grozny, the capital of Chechen republic. Chechens won the first war.”Fixit895 (WikiAnswers). The Chechens won the first war and signed a peace agreement with Russia, but they still had many problems. They were an independent country but were not recognized as one by the UN and other important organizations. This and other problems in Chechnya affected the stability as a country and caused the Second Chechen War to start in 1999, which is still going on.

Chechnya is looking for alternatives to end the war, but Russia will not give them independence easily. Other Russia's territories are also having problems and battles with Russia, for example Dagestan.

What has this whole war, along with the battles that have happened through it caused? Or more importantly, why has it become a known war? As a member of the Soviet Union, Chechnya has been causing concerns. Chechnya's territory has become a land full of kidnappings, rapes, murders...These are some of the consequences and impacts that the war has brought to this land. But even though Chechnya has faced much loss of military soldiers and other people, it has retained its territory, not falling into other countries hands.

Because of the war, many Chechens have moved from Russia and become homeless. According to an article posted by Oliver Bullough, "there are less Chechen citizens, than soldiers in the Russian army." (Bullough) We can easily deduce that the war has been one major reason why this has happened; no one would like to live in such an insecure land. This loss of citizens has brought an economic challenge, because people bring wealth to the country. They buy goods that will provide money to the government through taxes.

Even though Chechnya has been consider end independent more than once, Russia is not willing to recognize it as an independent republic. Russia is causing more and more problems to Chechnya. Even though Prime Minister Putin is trying to stop terrorism attacks towards Chechnya, it is still difficult. "Yes, life in Chechnya looks more like a life after a natural disaster." (Putin)

What will happen if Russia recognizes the Republic of Chechnya as an independent land? First of all, Russia will have a loss because Chechnya is a constituent republic of Russia. Russia isn't going to accept this easily. Besides, the Soviet Union would be weakened from losing territory previously under control.

A very important reason why Russia doesn't want to give Chechnya is because of the rich resources that Chechnya. But even though Chechnya is very in oil, the wars have been causing economic problems.

Finally, Chechnya’s independence could cause other republics reasons to fight for their independence. There could be hope for them to enjoy independence and that is what Russia and the Soviet Union are trying to avoid. The Soviet Union has many territories under their control and the more they lose the less authority they will have.

Chechnya has been continually involved in war. The last one has lasted 15 years. This has been happening because of Russian´s control over Chechnya and the Russians not wanting Chechnya to be independent. It has brought problems as well as personal losses to many citizens .Even though Chechnya has been under this violent, long-lasting war, it is important for the country not to give up. They need to show others how important it is to fight for what they believe is important. When will Russia and Chechnya be able to find peace with each other? How much longer can Chechnya resist?

Works Cited

Akande, Zainab. “Russia-Chechnya Conflict: A quick guide.” News.MiC. web. 14 June, 2014.

Anonymous. “Chechnya and Russia: timeline.” 16 April ,2009. Web. 22 June, 2014.

Anonymous. “Foreign Affairs”. Foreign Affairs. 2000. Web. 22 June, 2014.

Djabrailov, Taus. “Russia: Chechen official put war death toll at 160,00”. Radio liberty. 2014. Web. 6 June,2014.

Fixit895. “Who won the Chechen war?” WikiAnswers. Web. 29 July, 2014.

Gonzalez, Walter. “La Guerra en Chechenia sus antecedentes y sus repercusiones en la política intenacional.” El centro de tesis. 2004. Monografias. Com. Web. 13 June, 2014.

Zakman, Amy. Ph. D. “Russia, Chechnya and Terrorism A timeline of Russian-Chechen conflict.”Global Terrorism.2014. about.com.web. 21 June, 2014.

Melloni, Nicola. “ The Russians Chechen War.” Irenees. November 2007. Web. 21 June, 2014.

Menon, Rajan. “Russia’s Ruinous Chechen War”. Foreign Affairs.2000.web. 16 June, 2014.