ABSTRACT
With the removal of the Crimean Khanate from the scene and Russia’s alliance with the Georgians, the occupation of the North Caucasus became the focus of Russian policy in the Caucasus. The economy of the mountaineers was based on trade with the plains communities, and with Russian disruption of free access between mountain and plain, the peoples of the North Caucasus began to feel the pinch. Surrounded in their redoubts, they began to view the Russians as a collective enemy, and the built-up pressure found release in the launching of an implacable struggle against Russian expansionist ambitions.
