An annotated foreign affairs syllabus on the caucasus. Geographically, the northern caucasus territory north of the greater. Caucasia includes the caucasus mountains and surrounding lowlands. While the balkans was the western, the caucasus region was the eastern frontier of these empires. The site of the winter olympics is also located in the caucasus, a region ravaged by decades of war as the populations continue their struggle for independence. Despite the fact that the peoples of the caucasus profess islam, the behavior of women, their status in the family and society is increasingly governed by ethnic laws, which are more liberal than islamic laws. Stratfor eurasia analyst eugene chausovsky discusses the importance, geography and history of the north caucasus, which has been a continual security. For most of the 19th century, the three powers dueled for dominance of the region. The best book on the history of the caucasus caucasian challenge. By the time of collapse of the russian empire and the creation of the first nationstates in the south caucasus in 191821 georgia, azerbaijan, and armenia, the approach has become more systematic. And the caucasusa region loosely encompassing armenia, georgia, azerbaijan, chechnya, dagestan, ossetia, and ingushetiahas always occupied a mystical place in russian literature. Text, index of places by geographic coordinates, and directory of placename changes on verso. In america, white people are referred to as caucasians, but outside the u.
Nov 01, 2012 the north caucasus region of russia faces perennial instability, with violence occurring on a regular basis in places like chechnya and dagestan. The caucasus mountains rise at the intersection of europe, russia, and the middle east. Apr 19, 20 and the caucasusa region loosely encompassing armenia, georgia, azerbaijan, chechnya, dagestan, ossetia, and ingushetiahas always occupied a mystical place in russian literature. Russian expansion in caucasus 18001864 caucasus in the 19th century 18001878 caucasus, 1801. History and politics of the caucasus ponars eurasia. How russias writers saw the caucasus financial times.
It followed the official end of the decadelong second chechen war on 16 april 2009. Each handbook includes chapters written by experts in the field, covering all aspects of the people, including their history, religion, politics, economy, culture, literature and media, plus pictures, chronologies and appendices of uptodate statistics, maps and. The two suspected suicide bombers have been identified by the countrys counterterrorism agency as being from dagestan, a semiautonomous region in the caucasus. May 16, 20 the greater caucasus range, with its spectacular peaks including mt. Western interest in the caucasus has grown rapidly since 1991, fuelled by the admixture of oil politics, great power rivalry, ethnic separatism and terrorism that characterizes the region. This seemingly banal statement is not only rather exceptional in the caucasus region, but it is also very bold for various reasons. Music and documents used for creation are in the credits at the end of the video. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. The caucasus and its people, with a brief history of their wars, and a sketch of the achievements of the renowned chief schamyl. The role of the caucasus in russian cultural and intellectual. It attracted people from the middle east, north africa, europe, and central asia, who then participated. The insurgency in the north caucasus was a lowlevel armed conflict between russia and militants associated with the caucasus emirate and, since june 2015, islamic state of iraq and the levant isil groups.
The caucasus ancient traditions and a complex history. In the 19 th and early 20 centuries one more common. The caucasus is the point where russia, iran and turkey meet. Modern linguistic mapping of western caucasus tribal composition, 17741780. Heres a look back at the caucasian fight for freedom from russia. The history of the caucasus region may be divided by geography into the history of the northern caucasus ciscaucasia, historically in the sphere of influence of scythia and of southern russia eastern europe, and that of the southern caucasus transcaucasia. The term is also used as a synonym for the north caucasus economical region of russia politically, the northern caucasus territory north of the greater caucasus range includes the russian republics of the north caucasus as well as several regions of georgia and azerbaijan. The book presents a critical view of the historical role of russian imperialism in events in the caucasian countries, and the violent struggle of some of these. The term is also used as a synonym for the north caucasus economical region of russia. See the history of the vital region connecting europe and the middle east, the south caucasus every year. However, until now there has been little understanding of how these issues came to assume the importance they. Various empires, including the byzantines, persians, ottomans, and soviets have all fought to control the entire area but with limited success. Two new books examine a regions complicated history.
A land of astonishing natural beauty and a dizzying array of ancient cultures, the caucasus for most of the twentieth century lay inside the soviet union, before movements of national liberation created newly independent countries and sparked the devastating war in chechnya. Until now there has been no single book for those wishing to learn about this complex region. After the collapse of the soviet union, the region degenerated into violent. The north caucasus includes dagestan, chechnya, and other small republics that are part of todays russian federation.
Maps of asia minor, the caucasus and the neighboring lands. But the caucasus has played a significant role in the politics of russia, and in its cultural history as well. The title seems to indicate the entire history and the entire region, but this book is really focused on the postsoviet saga of the three republics of the south. Caucasus mountain region that includes armenia, azerbaijan, georgia, and russia population. Known for its alpine terrain, the caucasus is home to mount elbrus, the highest mountain peak in europe, on the russogeorgian border. The descendants of the mediaeval alans, a scythic iranian people, live in the north caucasus today and are called ossetes. When in the beginning of the 1990s armenia, azerbaijan and. This series of handbooks provides a ready introduction and practical guide to the many peoples and languages of the caucasus. Caucasia includes the caucasus mountains and surrounding lowlands the caucasus mountains are commonly known as a line between asia and europe, and the. The caucasus is one of the most complicated regions in the world.
Thousands of chechens, ingush, karachaybalkars, meskhetian, turks, kalmyks, kurds, and germans caucasus were deported to central asia and siberia in the 1940s leading to the death of many of them. Caucasus have agreed that neither older nor newer history must divide the region s nations and be an instrument of political conflict. The region is considered part of the natural boundary between europe and. The caucasus is a mountainous area nestled between the black sea and the caspian sea, consisting of southern russia, georgia, armenia, and azerbaijan. The caucasus or caucasia is a region in eurasia bordered on the south by iran, on the southwest by turkey, on the west by the black sea, on the east by the caspian sea, and on the north by russia. The north caucasus region of russia faces perennial instability, with violence occurring on a regular basis in places like chechnya and dagestan.
North caucasus simple english wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Extremly detailad an increasingly difficult super thick book too read. The caucasus region is separated into northern and southern parts the north caucasus ciscaucasus and transcaucasus south caucasus, respectively. Iranian cultural influences were strong among the armenians, georgians and other peoples of the caucasus and many times in history large parts of this area were under persian rule. Politically, the northern caucasus territory north of the greater caucasus range includes the russian republics of the north caucasus as well as several regions of. The atlas of the ethnopolitical history of the caucasus is a magnificent collection of fiftysix original maps with commentaries that detail the ethnic, religious, and linguistic makeup of the caucasusthe region located between the black and caspian seas that contains europes highest mountainfrom the eighteenth century to the present. Nov 01, 2012 stratfor eurasia analyst eugene chausovsky discusses the importance, geography and history of the north caucasus, which has been a continual security challenge for russia. It consists of southern russia, georgia, armenia, and azerbaijan. The greater caucasus mountain range in the north is mostly shared by russia and georgia, as well as the northernmost parts of azerbaijan. This transitional region has a foothold in both eastern europe and western asia, but is generally viewed as part of modern europe. Not so much history about ancient history of the region for obvious historical reasons. I would say it is a fine book for a reader or a researcher of history of the caucasus region.
And the caucasus a region loosely encompassing armenia, georgia, azerbaijan, chechnya, dagestan, ossetia, and ingushetiahas always occupied a mystical place in russian literature. Between the black and caspian seas rise the caucasus mountains, stretching in a line 1,000 km 600 mi long. The role and status of women in the traditions of the north caucasus in the past and current times differs substantially from islamic norms. The north caucasus is a region of the caucasus located in southern russia, bordering georgia to the south and krasnodar krai, stavropol krai, and kalmykia to the north. The caucasus is a strategically and economically important region in contemporary global affairs. Elbrus at 18,510 feet, divides the region into the north caucasus and the south caucasus.
Our goal is by no means to find a single view of history in the south caucasus, as was the case in an unsuccessful project funded by the council of europe, which tried to compose one comprehensive history book for the region. We only visit the south caucasus, but even this small region is home to many languages, diverse cultures, and rich histories. Your first book is the russian conquest of the caucasus by john frederick. An introductory chapter outlines the regions geography and early history, attempting also to give a feel for the linguistic and ethnic diversity hidden by the rather too neat modern division. His book, a searching portrait of the national and cultural complexities of. Readers with still more questions about the region might turn to my general history, which covers the main themes of the regions past. Nov 17, 2016 see the history of the vital region connecting europe and the middle east, the south caucasus every year. Although the caucasus is a comparatively small region, its cooking is unique and has become one of the dominant cuisines in russia. As the course focuses on the history and politics of the caucasus, i especially encourage papers on historical, political.
Five things worth knowing about the caucasus pulitzer center. The caucasus region features more than 50 ethnic groups across six recognized countries and speaking dozens of languages. Your next choice is nabokovs translation of a hero of our time by lermontov lermontov wrote this novella directly after the unsuccessful decembrist revolt against tsar nikolai i in 1825 which led to savage repression and resentment amongst young members of the intelligentsia who lost the ability to express. The most prominent russian poets and writers, including alexander pushkin, michael lermontov, and lev tolstoy, traveled through the region and described it in their renowned books. The caucasus and its people, with a brief history of their. Caucasus simple english wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The caucasus and its people, with a brief history of their wars, and a sketch of the achievements of the renowned chief schamyl by moser, louis. Unfortunately, while this should be one of the worlds most exotic and thrilling destinations, it is currently very dangerous and inadvisable to visit due to extremely high levels of corruption and criminal and political v. Available also through the library of congress web site as a raster image. This region ranks among the worlds most exotic and thrilling destinations to visit, boasting of nearly 50 distinct ethnic and linguistic groups in a space roughly the size of the state of pennsylvania. The institutionalization of history education in the south caucasus has a relatively recent past, dating back to the beginning of the 20th century. Oct 16, 2009 the caucasus is one of the most complicated regions in the world. An introductory chapter outlines the region s geography and early history, attempting also to give a feel for the linguistic and ethnic diversity hidden by the rather too neat modern division. Despite the misleading title the book focuses on south caucasus exclusively, this is a pretty good historical and geopolitical primer when it comes to georgia.
The greater caucasus range, with its spectacular peaks including mt. Apr 25, 2017 recent conflicts in the caucasus region. The mind boggles at first, but then begins to see the. Caucasus mountains violent history the history of the caucasus shows a region riven by war and struggling to reconcile ethnic, religious and political divides.
Byzantine empire, and the muslim ottoman empire played a key role in the history and cultural evolution of the region, as much as they did in case of the balkans. Covers transcaucasia and southern part of the north caucasus. Caucasian albania, georgia, armenia, azerbaijan in the sphere of influence of persia, anatolia and for a very brief time assyria. The russian experience of the caucasus is clearly central to books on the region.
The north caucasus is the northern part of the caucasus region between europe and asia. Sochi, where the 2014 winter olympic games opened this week, has been twinned since 1959 with the genteel english town of cheltenham. The second written assignment is a research paper on a subject of your choice, but one which is specific enough to allow for original research. Atlas of the ethnopolitical history of the caucasus. Despite the challenges this area poses to moscow, it is a longstanding geopolitical imperative for russia to control the north caucasus. This book fills the gap, providing a clear, comprehensive. List of books and articles about caucasus region online research. The north caucasus is a region of the caucasus in southern russia, bordering georgia to the south and krasnodar krai, stavropol krai, and kalmykia to the north. The caucasus caucasia is a region between the black and caspian seas. Russia main force which determined the development in the south caucasus region for more than two centuries. Caucasian dishes are traditionally rich in spices, herbs and pepper. In no other region of its size in the world are there so many different races and languages.
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