ABSTRACT
The war in Chechnya between 1994 and 1996 has been by far the most tragically destructive conflict on the territory of the former Soviet Union, surpassing even the Tajik civil war in numbers of people killed, wounded, or made refugees. The war in Chechnya also distinguished itself by the discrepancy between the adversaries: the great power Russia having at its disposal the bulk of the former Soviet army, and the tiny but stubborn Chechen nation. Given this uneven match, many observers indeed agreed with Russian officials that Chechnya would be subdued within days of the Russian military intervention. Nevertheless, this did not happen; in one of the most singular events of military history, the Chechens actually inflict a humiliating defeat on Russia with their excellent command of the tactics of guerrilla warfare. Consequently the war had grave consequences for Russia’s status as a great power, which are examined in chapter eight. However, the roots of the Chechen conflict and the reasons for its eruption and eventual outcome are in themselves a puzzle. An understanding of the Chechen war necessitates an understanding of these events, but to an even larger degree of the impact on the Chechens and other peoples of the genocidal deportations of the Stalin era.
