Author: Vladimir Degoyev, professor of MGIMO of the Russian Ministry for Foreign Affairs, exclusively to Vestnik Kavkaza
Continuation. See “Who will answer the Circassian question? Part 1”
France, Britain and Turkey
Meanwhile, in Europe, dark clouds had gathered again. French Emperor Napoleon III was seized by the temptation to finally break the old (established after 1815) international order, using the Polish insurrection of 1863. Under the pretext of protecting the Poles, Napoleon III was preparing to wage war and take the left bank of the Rhine. Bringing together the union of the European powers against Russia and Prussia, he found some benefit in the use of the Circassians.
Napoleon III proposed a plan for the formation of independent Poland, including Galicia, the concession of which is to be compensated for the Austrian part by the Turkish possessions in Europe, and Turkey in exchange for its losses would get Cherkessia. The question "whether they want this?" was not asked by the Emperor.
The Caucasus became an important part of the complex diplomatic combinations, a bait designed to involve the Sultan in the conflict with Russia.
England also considered the "liberation" of Circassia a strong incentive for Turkey to start a war that is sure to turn into a Europe-wide and make Poles and Circassians "independent".
In this environment, military assistance to mountaineers against Russia was provided by the Turks, Poles, French, British, not to mention all kinds of European adventurers. A large multinational expedition arrived in Circassia, the members of which led the fighting of mountaineers and attempted to make them organized.
Napoleon III failed to ignite the war in Europe. As a result, the European interest to the Circassians cooled. Despite international aid, the mountaineers were defeated. Their battle and moral spirit was broken.
Circassians
Highlanders were also tired of the Caucasian War. Having made sure they can live with Russian settlers on the principles of good neighborliness and of the benefits of fair trade and communication in other areas, against the background of the lack of intent of Russia to punish, simple Circassians began to want peace. And part of the elite that suffered during the war sought reconciliation with the Russian authorities, but on the condition of retaining their privileges. According to a foreigner, who fought against Russia, it was time when Highlanders “did not want to even listen anything about the war with Moscow. ".
The process of demarcation of the social forces in the mountain communities accelerated by thoughtful and forward-looking measures of chief of the Russian army, Baryatinsky, who had long recognized the widespread inefficiency, without the concrete situation, of the colonial policies of tsarism - supporting the local nobility. He violated this principle, guided by the need to complete the Caucasian War.
In August 1863 Abadzekhs laid down their arms, and on May 21, 1864 - Shapsugs and Ubykhs did the same. Thus, one of the dramatic periods in the history of the Caucasus was ended.
In the rest of the sixties, the government of the Sultan, encouraged by England, provoked mass migration of mountain people to Turkey.
Masterminds of the ambitious resettlement campaign relied primarily on the mood of the Circassian aristocracy who worried not so much about military or political issues as about personal socio-economic prospects under the Russian government. The news of the abolition of serfdom in Russia raised the suspicion that the dependent class would be released in the Circassian communities. The hesitating part of the mountain elite felt convincing incentive to emigrate.
Russian administration has announced its willingness to make slaves from the mountains free and settle them in the comfortable land. In expectation of the disposal of their owners, they showed defiance. At worldly gatherings they decided not to pay their rent to the princes.
Being afraid of losing income and high social status, high-born Circassian aristocracy provoked migration movement. In this case, they meant not just to move to the power of the same faith - the Ottoman Empire, but also to relocate the existing social structure in the mountains and to play the old way of life. In other words, the Circassian elite in Turkey would like to remain an exploitative estate.
To be continued
