ABSTRACT
After conquering the Northwest Caucasus and deporting the vast majority of the indigenous peoples, the Russian government was faced with the task of governing those who remained. One can only imagine the resentment of the peoples there as they buried their dead, tried to rebuild their destroyed auls, and watched the very people who had brought such destruction upon their homeland receive their best lands as reward from St. Petersburg. Still, it was necessary to survive, and the peoples of the Northwest Caucasus had already survived the Huns, Mongols, Timur, the Crimeans, and the Ottomans. As the war ended, they prepared to endure yet another occupation.
