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Understanding Chechens
The topic of the Chechen Conflict in my experience is greatly misunderstood by the world if not completely unheard of and I would like to shed light on it. If you do not read the entirety of this post then PLEASE at least read the final paragraph.
The history of the Chechen resistance to Russian aggression goes back to the late 17th century, but I will start from the more recent period of WWII as otherwise what is already a long post will drag on.
It is important to note that I do not support Modern day Chechnya, its current government or 'president'.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operati...%28Caucasus%29
On 23 February 1944 the entire Waynakh (often translated to Vainakh) population which comprises mostly of the Chechens and Ingush were forcibly expelled from their ethnic homeland under orders from Stalin. They were loaded up onto unheated and uninsulated freight cars and sent to Siberia. The official accusation laid against them was collaboration with Nazi Germany. Many times, resistance was met with slaughter. This was deemed by Stalin 'the final solution to the Chechen problem'.
In one incident (well known to the Chechens) it was impossible to convoy deportees to the railway stations on the plains due to a snowstorm, "700 villagers, including women and children, were locked in a stable and burned alive; those trying to escape were shot. After the incident, Gveshiani was reportedly congratulated for his success and good work by Lavrenty Beria, who promised him a medal."
However "various authors dispute the Chechens' ties with the Germans. They did have contact with the Germans. However, there were profound ideological differences between the Chechens and the Nazis (self-determination versus imperialism), neither trusted the other, there was an influential Jewish clan among the Chechens (who were not "Aryan" to begin with according to Hitlerian theory), the German courting of the Cossacks was not pleasing at all to the Chechens (their traditional enemies which with they still had numerous land disputes and other conflicts) and Khasan Israilov certainly had a strong dislike for Hitler."
More than 50% of the entire Chechen-Ingush population were killed or died during or within 4 years of the deportation because of the harsh disease ridden conditions, cold and starvation. All of this despite the fact that more than 40,000 Chechens and Ingush fought in the Red Army during WWII (50 of whom received the highest recognition of the Hero of the Soviet Union).
After the deportation the "names of repressed nations were totally erased from all books and encyclopedias. Chechen-language libraries were destroyed, many Chechen books and manuscripts were burned. Many families were divided and not allowed to travel to each other even if they found out where their relatives were.
Some of Chechen settlements were totally deleted from maps and encyclopedia. Many gravestones were destroyed in places that were renamed to be given Russian names, along with pretty much the whole library of Chechen medieval writing (in Arabic and Georgian script) about the land of Chechnya, its people, etc., leaving the modern Chechens and modern historians with no existent historical treasury of writings.Tombstones of Chechens with a history of hundreds of years were used by Soviets for the construction of pedestrian footpasses, foundations of houses, pig pens, etc."
Russians may make up any excuse they like but we Chechens know the truth of their motives was and still is to erase the nominal existence of the Waynakh nation. We Chechens have always been a thorn in Russia's side, we're stubborn and just refuse to submit no matter what. We simply do not know when to quit. You probably cannot fathom the sheer tenacity of my people. We have been described as 'congenital rebels' by Yermolov. Author of The Gulag Archipelago, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, had this to say about us, "There was one nation that would not give in, would not acquire the mental habits of submission -- and not just individual rebels among them, but the whole nation to a man. These were the Chechens -- They had been treacherously snatched from their home, and from that day they believed in nothing -- The Chechens never sought to please, to ingratiate themselves with the bosses; their attitude was always haughty and indeed openly hostile. They respected only rebels. And here is an extraordinary thing -- everyone was afraid of them. No one could stop them from living as they did. The regime which had ruled the land for thirty years could not force them to respect its laws."
As you can imagine this has left a deep scar in our mentality that has yet to heal. I admit that we as a people are traumatised and psychologically affected by our past dealings with Russia and therefore not fully sane. It is atrocious and hurts us deeply that this act of genocide which is at the very least on par with the Holocaust is almost completely unheard of in the rest of the world and not even recognised by a single country in the entire world or by the general Russian population. It is especially painful that the Western world which are supposed to be the 'Champions of Democracy' and 'Guardians of Human Rights' have stood idly by and remained deaf to our desperate cries for help. And then you wonder why we turn to Islamist extremists who are the only ones that provide any semblence of support. Ours is not and never has been a religiously motivated struggle. Religion is not the key to understanding Chechens; our painful past is. I remember a time during the First Chechen War around 1994-5 when every Chechen genuinely believed with all their hearts that the USA or the UK would eventually step in and stop these atrocities from happening. I suppose one can say we were naive because in the end we were left a disappointed mess.
A link on the deportation for further reading if interested (tedious reading).
A much more readable article on the nature of the current situation (1990-onwards).
A video of the deportation (post produced, not actual events) accompanied by a song about it.
EDIT: It is important to mention that it was illegal for independent journalists to enter Chechnya during the Second War (which started in 1999) because of course it is better for Russia to control the flow of information from the region allowing them to spread their own propaganda. Fortunately some brave (or completely mad) Western journalists did manage to smuggle themselves into Chechnya.
Here are two of the best Western documentaries I've seen on the recent conflict.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHVKSW6NKPk (by Journeyman Pictures)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_2medFkNhI (by BBC Dispatches)
And this one produced by Chechens.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIxMv40Z2Hg
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Originally Posted by Noxcho
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