Georgy Anchabadze: "The English relied on highland resistance"

Interview by Georgy Kalatozishvili, Tbilisi. Exclusively for Vestnik Kavkaza

The Caucasus has recently marked the 150th anniversary of the end of the Caucasus War, a decisive moment for the region and its peoples. The involvement of Western European countries, mainly Britain, played an important role in the events back then. Doctor of History Georgy Anchabadze has described the war.

- What position did the Western European countries England and France take in the Caucasus War that lasted over a hundred years?

- After the establishment of Russian influence in the South Caucasus, in the early 19th century, it quickly expanded its borders from the Black Sea to the Caspian Sea. However, it encountered serious resistance from the highland peoples of the North Caucasus. Even in the West Caucasus, where resistance was shown by the Adyghe, Ubykhe and other tribes. The war with them continued until 1864.

Europe was closely monitoring the events in the Caucasus during the war. It was especially important for the English to prevent Russia from moving south from the Caucasus Ridge. "The jewel in the crown of the British Empire" was India. London was very possessive about any other European country moving closer to communications connecting the mother country with India. Russia had been taking such a geostrategic position that it could reach out to the routes connecting England and India in a certain situation. Signing the Tilsit Treaties in 1807, Napoleon noted that he wanted Russian support to confront Britain and said: "All you need to do is touch the Ganges with a French sword and the glory of England will fall."

- But Russia entered Georgia in 1801. Why had London and Paris not been so actively engaged in Caucasus affairs as they were in the final period of the Caucasus War?

- In the early 19th century the Russian positions on approaches to the Middle East were not firm. Besides, the situation in Europe itself was different at the beginning of the century: the French Revolution had ended, the war with revolutionary France started, then the Napoleonic Wars when England was confronting France and so on. In other words, Europe was too busy with its own affairs to react actively to the Caucasus events. The situation became a lot different in the middle of the century, although Napoleonic minister Talleyrand was in correspondence with Abkhazia owner Keleshbey. This is a historic fact too.

Interest in Caucasus affairs was gradually growing after the Russian-Turkish war of 1828-1829, when Western European countries realized that Russia was changing the geopolitical map of the region and that the Ottoman Empire, a decaying and ramshackle state, could not hold out against Russia's progress. The same can be said about Iran on a bigger scale: the Russian-Turkish and the Russian-Iranian wars of the 19th century were triumphs for Russia.

It was then that England started worrying about other approaches to India and its other eastern colonies in the 1830s. After that the Caucasus became an important place to contain Russia, at least on the Caucasus Ridge. This is why the English relied on highland resistance. Especially considering that it became a permanent factor then. I will quote a member of the British parliament, the political writer and public figure Thomas Attwood (1783-1856): "Cherkessia is the gate to Asia." The words "Cherkessia" and "Circassians" in the European rhetoric of that time had a dual meaning: in the narrow sense, "Circassians" were understood as the Adyghe peoples, but to a wider extent, the North Caucasus was called "Circassia," and all highlanders were "Circassians."

Another British politician, Urquhart, was saying that "Circassians" were the sentinels of Asia. In other words, Britain hoped that the Circassian resistance would exhaust Russia and it would be too weak to continue moving east. According to English philosopher and social analyst Herbert Spencer, "The Caucasus for England is a more important foothold than Turkey."

- Is not this a bit too much?

- No, it is a natural and relevant evaluation. In the English view, highlanders in the Caucasus could put up much greater resistance than the ramshackle countries of the Middle East, including Turkey. That is why the English started supporting highlanders, mainly Circassians, as more "amenable" to English aid. Russia is doubtlessly reacting and confronting.

There was a notable incident with the British trading vessel Vixen. In November 1836, the Russian brig Ajax seized the trade vessel filled with salt and ammunition for the Circassians - some very important products in those times. England was trying to break the Russian blockade of the Circassian coast of the Black Sea that way. The incident had almost caused a Russian-British war. It did not start then, but the English opposition was heavily criticizing its government. Some were saying that "cannons should be firing, not protocol batteries."

As a result of the 1853-1856 Crimean War, the question of who should dominate in the Caucasus - Russia or England - was resolved. In that war, the allies - England and France that is - managed to defeat Russia in Crimea, the main theater of military activities. But the Caucasus became an important theater of the Crimean War. The events in the Caucasus were not as bad for the Russians as they had been in Crimea: Russian forces managed to repel the Turkish offensive, start a counter-attack and capture Fortress Kars, the key to Eastern Anatolia, in 1856.

After the fall of Kars on one side and Sevastopol on the other, the Treaty of Paris was signed, recognizing Russia as the side that had lost the war, suffered casualties, but preserved many important positions, including the Caucasus.

That caused serious concerns among English politicians. English Prime Minister Palmerston put all the blame on the French who, as he said, "had no patience and, because of them, we signed a peace treaty and failed to help our old friends, the Circassians."

Thus, the Caucasus was left in the hands of Russia. The resistance of the highlanders was finally broken and Russia triumphed in the Caucasus.