The 150th anniversary of the end of the Caucasus war

By Vestnik Kavkaza

This year the 150th anniversary of the end of the Caucasus War is being marked. The peacemaking treaty which brought an end to the war that had been ongoing for 60 years was signed on May 21 (June 3) 1864 in the Circassian village of Kvaabe. Today various view on the period exist, but the majority of experts are sure that the Russian presence in the Caucasus contributed to establishing peace there, even though it was fragile.

Victor Sadovnichy, President of the MSU, told Vestnik Kavkaza that “the Russian state was undergoing a process of establishment at that period; many nations, ethnic groups which lived close to the center of Russia expressed a desire to be together with Russia. This wasn’t the demand of a separate leader; it was the demand of common people as a response to the challenges of development. It was a demand of all the leaders and intelligentsia of the Caucasus countries; and the people are wonderful, they have original cultures, beautiful lands and nice people. Today they say that they will never separate from Russia willingly; and we are happy to live in a multinational state.”

Vladimir Tolstoy, director of the memorial museum of “Yasnaya Polyana”, great-great-grandson of Leo Tolstoy, told Vestnik Kavkaza that, “unfortunately, the Caucasus wars had never had an end. It is a real hot spot. So, when we have a date which is marked as an end of any war, it is a hope that someday all wars will be over. The Caucasus is very important for the geopolitical history of the world, not only for Russia. Everything that happens in the Caucasus is specifically significant for international historic processes. As for me, the Caucasus is a place where my great-great-grandfather began to write. He loved, knew, and understood the Caucasus. Perhaps his best works are directly connected with the Caucasus.”

Vyacheslav Nikonov, chairman of the State Duma Committee for Education, told Vestnik Kavkaza that “the Caucasus War is one of the most important events in Russian history. It was started for idealistic reasons. For centuries the Armenians, the Georgians had been asking “a white tsar” to protect them; and Russia was involved in the war to save the Georgians from Turkish and Persian oppression. Russia got a serious war, as it stirred up the complex world of the North Caucasus, which was on the supply route to the army in Transcaucasia. It was an awful war, great losses; and Russia didn’t want it, but couldn’t withdraw. And the Caucasus peoples couldn’t withdraw either. Even today we are overcoming the consequences of the events. And many conflicts in the Caucasus are a consequence of that war. Not all wounds have healed. But I am sure that, as Russia is becoming a conscious power, as the people of the Caucasus develop economically, politically, morally, the unity of the Russian and other nations which live in the Caucasus will improve.”