Mountain Bandits and Forest Outlaws: The Chechens and Ingush under Soviet Rule, 1918–1944

This study examines the armed underground that existed in Chechnya and Ingushetia in the period from the establishment of Soviet power until Stalin’s 1944 deportation of the Chechens and Ingush for alleged collaboration with Nazi-Germany. It challenges some of the dominant assumptions in current historical scholarship: that the Chechens and Ingush constantly resisted Sovietization and launched a major revolt against Soviet power in response to the German invasion of the Soviet Union. Using a wide variety of sources from the Soviet secret police and the German military intelligence, this study finds that much of the popular resistance in Chechnya and Ingushetia was related to collectivization campaigns; that the core of the Chechen and Ingush armed underground consisted of bandits and refugees who were primarily concerned with personal survival; and that politically motivated rebels among them never managed to trigger a nationwide rebellion during the German–Soviet War. Instead, it...Show moreThis study examines the armed underground that existed in Chechnya and Ingushetia in the period from the establishment of Soviet power until Stalin’s 1944 deportation of the Chechens and Ingush for alleged collaboration with Nazi-Germany. It challenges some of the dominant assumptions in current historical scholarship: that the Chechens and Ingush constantly resisted Sovietization and launched a major revolt against Soviet power in response to the German invasion of the Soviet Union. Using a wide variety of sources from the Soviet secret police and the German military intelligence, this study finds that much of the popular resistance in Chechnya and Ingushetia was related to collectivization campaigns; that the core of the Chechen and Ingush armed underground consisted of bandits and refugees who were primarily concerned with personal survival; and that politically motivated rebels among them never managed to trigger a nationwide rebellion during the German–Soviet War. Instead, it is found that the number of Chechens and Ingush who served the Red Army far outnumbered those who sided with the Nazis. The accusations against the Chechens and Ingush were largely fabricated and exaggerated by the Soviet leadership in order to justify wholesale deportation.Show less

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Mountain Bandits and Forest Outlaws: The Chechens and Ingush under Soviet Rule, 1918–1944