ABSTRACT
The history of the Caucasus is complex, and therefore is not always easy to comprehend. It is full of wars, changing coalitions, betrayals and a fair portion of ethnic cleansing. History is kept alive in the form of myths, stereotypes and prejudices, but not that much via objective historiography. Although it plays a major role in their minds, many Caucasians tend to have a very narrow and partisan knowledge of the history of their own nation and an even more limited understanding of that of their neighbors and enemies. This chapter aims to give a general overview of the overall trends without going into too much detail. More specifically, it deals with the history of the states and foreign rulers in the Caucasus, which should also make it clear how recent are the current geographical borders. A common mistake when studying history is to consider only what took place within the borders of the contemporary states rather than looking beyond them or taking into account the influence of neighbouring nations.
