NATIONALISM IN THE FALLEN SOVIET UNION The Caucuses and slow moving Russian nationalism

Trouble in the Caucuses after 1991  Northern Caucuses stayed Russian  Mountains provided natural frontier for Russia  Southern Caucuses were free from Russian control  Why would Russia worry about owning the Northern Caucuses?

Chechnya: The Rebel  1994 – Chechnya declares independence from Russia  Late 1994 – Russia invades but Chechnya wins and is granted independence  1999 – Chechens try to influence Dagestan and Ingushetia  Russia reinvades and wins this time  Chechnya is absorbed into Russia  Leads to insurgency situations by the Chechens  Beslan School and the Moscow Theater

Russian Intervention Speeds Up  2008 – Russia attacked the Southern Caucus state of Georgia  Today, Russia controls Abkazia and South Ossetia  Not recognized by the international community  Still an area of tensions in the world

Creeping Russian Expansion  Feb – Protestors overthrow pro-Russian Ukrainian president Yanukovick  New gov’t is very quickly established  In response pro-Russian and pro-Yanukovich areas vow not to recognize new gov’t in Kiev

Russian Intervention  Late Feb 2014 – unmarked Russian special forces started to occupy the Crimean Peninsula  Special election leads to Russian annexation  March – April – other areas in the East experience occupation  April – “talks” are held between Russia and Ukraine